I laughed, bits of half chewed chocolate escaping my mouth. To my surprise, Rhylan rose and brought a tissue, then stepped closer to me and used it to wipe my chin. My body vibrated at the touch, at the contact with his skin, and I immediately rose from my seat, startled. He had the audacity to look disappointed, as if wiping my mouth was the biggest gesture he could have made and I owed him gratitude.
“You need to go now.” I was being rude but did not care. Something wrestled in me and Rhylan was at fault. His presence, his touch, him. All of it needed to go.
“Come on, Anwen, don’t start with this again,” he reprimanded, following me out of the kitchen. Each step of his made me want to take a step back. Run from him. Keep him away. But he came closer, so close that my muscles tensed, expecting an attack.
Rhylan stood inches from me and his breath pressed against my face. “Don’t you want a bit of fun?” His fingers pulled a lock of my hair and caressed it. “Or more than a bit?” he grinned.
My breath came out in interrupted sighs. “If you touch me again, I will report you to Isak.”
His fingers released me in the next second and he turned back towards the sofa, planting himself in the seat Ansgar used to love, without an invitation.
“You are a faithful sprout, aren't you?” he smiled and a line of pride appeared on his face, fading instantly back into the blackness.
I didn’t reply. I only lingered there, pinning him with an angry look.
“Noted, you don’t like fun. But honestly, how are you still sane in this depressing place? This forest used to be nice to visit, now it’s as glum as the dead.”
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be leaving soon.” I had been debating whether to call this off and ask my dad for a plane ticket back. He was right, what was I doing here? I didn’t find what Erik wanted me to, instead I discovered an entire civilization and messed things up in an epic way.
Rhylan’s eyes almost gauged out at my words.
“You’re leaving?” he asked, almost shocked. “You can’t leave!” he interjected.
“There’s nothing left for me to do here, and the place is glum, just like you said.” I didn’t want to get into details and tell him how this entire situation and the appearance of the forest was my fault.
“Just give up then! Of course you would.” Rhylan stood from the sofa and stepped closer to me again, although this time, respecting my private space. “Is this all you’re made of, sprout? One hardship and you give up? There’s so much more to do here, so much more to discover. People around the world are begging for a chance to be here, even for a few hours, and you have two months left and want to abandon it all?”
His words made me feel ashamed. He was right. He was so right I wanted to stop and start crying. I was taking things for granted and I still needed to find whatever Erik wanted me to. I had yet to discover the connection to the four kingdoms and his travels and I could not give up just because of my wounded heart.
I didn’t need to give an answer to Rhylan, the realisation on my face must have been enough, because he threw me a satisfied smile. To my surprise, he stayed for a few hours to visit, just as a normal person would, and we talked about the forest, about its history and all the crazy request letters they received from all round the world. It felt nice to see him like that, unselfconscious, free. He truly knew the place, he even talked me back to the queen’s visits and the rumours that she had found a fae male to keep her company.
I laughed at the absurdity of the gossip, for his sake, but I knew better. When he left, a feeling of peace had settled over me and I could not believe it was because of Rhylan. The few hours of normalcy he had given me did wonders for my mental health and placed me on the right track. That was until I remembered I had to sleep alone again and Ansgar was no longer joining me. That’s when the tears returned.
This morning, however, my eyes remained pierced outside the window and a burden lifted. The leaves turned green again, the plants around them flourished and the grass reflected a bright vivid colour. For the next few days, I debated whether to email my father and ask for a ticket back home or stay isolated inside the mansion’s side of the forest, where I knew no faeries would step into, for the next two months.
The girls tried to visit a few times but every time I saw them I would burst into tears and by the third visit, they only settled to wave at me from time to time, when they were passing by the mansion to make sure I was alright.
I spent my days researching Erik’s travels and googling so many supernatural theories I used to end up with migraines, but nothing seemed to piece together anymore. I reached the conclusion that it was highly unlikely for my brother to know about the faeries, because I couldn’t believe he would have kept something like this from me.
My guess, though I still not know if true or not, assumed that Erik had investigated the magnetic force around the four places and wanted to learn more on it, from a scientific perspective. He had always been the brainiac amongst the two, always inventing things at school and planning research for the business.
When delivery came that day, I was lying in bed, too lazy to react until I remembered that a fresh batch of pain au chocolat would be on the way so I apathetically went down the stairs to see Rhylan already making himself comfortable on the sofa. In the past month, it had become a tradition. Rhylan popped up in the mornings and we ate chocolates together all day long. We talked about life, the guard and I told him the many theories about the forest I found online. His visits became a grounding point in my life and his entire demeanour seemed completely changed. I even dare say he became friendly.
“Hey, busy week?” was my best greeting as I eagerly grabbed the bags from the table and moved them into the kitchen, searching for the frozen goods to save them from the heat.
“Yeah… I’ve been busy organising things,” he replied with a detached greeting as he selected another magazine and started skimming through the pages. What was it with him and these magazines?
“No uniform today?” I had to ask, noticing how he adopted a fully black attire, a tailored suit and black shirt, much too sophisticated for a mere drive into the woods.
“I have plans after this,” his vague answer the hint that I needed to stay out of his business.
“Cool,” I replied. If he planned to make me jealous, I was far away from the feeling.
“How’s the new handle treating you by the way?” he turned his full attention to me, gawking at every gesture, as though he was prepared to commit them to memory.
“Yeah, fine,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.
“Did…” he paused for emphasis, “your friend enjoy it?”
