Evryn looked up, only now beginning to comprehend his surroundings. A few paces away, enormous tree-like structures towered impossibly high, their trunks a soft lavender that darkened to deep purple at the base. But these were no ordinary trees. Their canopies consisted of what appeared to be massive plumes of spun sugar in varying shades of pink, their lavender branches bearing glistening golden apples.
“What in all the stars …”
He started to swivel around, but before he could complete the motion, Mariselle cried out, “Oh wait!” and scrambled behind him. “Don’t look yet,” she said as her hands came down over his eyes.
He tensed immediately. “What are you?—”
“Close your eyes,” she whispered, her breath warm against his ear in a way that sent a shiver dancing through him. “And count to three.”
The sudden intimacy caught him entirely off-guard—her fingers pressed lightly against his eyelids, the unexpected proximity of her body, her breath a whispered caress against his ear. A peculiar warmth unfurled in his chest, spreading outward until his skin seemed to tingle with heightened awareness.
The music around them began to shift, its tempo increasing, its melody growing more complex. The rhythm pulsed with a new urgency, building toward some unseen crescendo as Mariselle’s voice counted softly near his ear.
“One … two … three?—”
She pulled her hands away, and as the music swelled to its triumphant peak, Evryn opened his eyes to a world beyond anything he could have imagined.
The sky above them had transformed into swirls of cotton candy pink and lavender blue. Beneath their feet, the ground had become a mosaic of polished candy-colored stones that sparkled with each step. Flamingoes dressed in rainbow tutus promenaded along a stream of flowing silver that tinkled like wind chimes as it passed. Kites shaped like butterflies and dragons drifted lazily upward.
And at the center of this otherworldly space rotated a magnificent carousel, its platform inlaid with swirling patterns of mother-of-pearl and opal that shifted colors with each revolution. But unlike any carousel Evryn had ever seen, the carved creatures that adorned it—crystalline horses with flowing manes, iridescent sea serpents, and phoenix-like birds with rainbow plumage—were not fixed in place.
As he watched, a shimmering horse detached itself from its golden pole and stepped gracefully off the revolving platform. It trotted a few paces before spreading previously hidden wings and soaring into the star-filled space above, leaving a trail of luminescent particles in its wake.
Golden pathways branched out from the central carousel, leading to floating islands where fountains sprayed not water but liquid light in ever-changing colors. Gardens of impossible flowers bloomed and transformedbefore his eyes—roses that opened to reveal miniature galaxies at their centers, and vines that twisted themselves into animated shapes that danced with each other when they met.
The air itself seemed alive, carrying not just music but also ephemeral scents—vanilla one moment, cinnamon the next, then something that somehow evoked the memory of a childhood game he’d once loved.
He was vaguely aware of Mariselle moving to stand beside him. Her voice softened to a whisper filled with wonder. “Look what we created.”
He stared in awe, utterly transfixed by the impossible spectacle before him.
Look what we created.
A warmth bloomed in his chest, expanding outward like ripples in a pond, a feeling so intense and unfamiliar that he couldn’t begin to name it. It was something primal and profound—pride and wonder and astonishment all tangled together with something else he dared not examine too closely.
Mariselle looked up at him, her joy so unfiltered, so achingly lovely, and something in his chest … stuttered. He looked away, hoping the feeling would drift past, but it settled over him instead, quiet and certain and resolute.
Oh dear.
“This is Dreamland?” he murmured, feeling a little unsteady, his awe now entwined with the quiet thrum of something he was trying very hard not to feel. “We’re inside Dreamland?”
“We are,” she said proudly. “A piece of the dream realm brought into physical reality. It can be anything, not only this, but this is what I chose to build tonight. Oh, and look at this!”
She stepped away from him, arms spread wide as if about to begin a performance. The music shifted again, adopting a slow, hypnotic rhythm that seemed to pulse through Evryn’s veins. Mariselle lifted one hand and gripped the imaginary brim of a hat, and as she slid her hand across this non-existent brim, it began to take form before his very eyes.
Not only that, but her entire outfit began to change, her practical riding gear transforming as the magic rippled downward from her hand. The plain fabric of her jacket lengthened and deepened in color, becoming a magnificent coat of deep amethyst, embellished with pink satin accents and gold embroidery. The coat’s tails flared dramatically, partly forming a skirt thatswirled around her legs as she moved. A fitted pink and gold corset cinched her waist, and atop her head sat a tall, angled hat of midnight violet with a single rose-gold feather arching elegantly from the side.
Evryn’s thoughts scattered at the sight of her. Whatever treacherous thing had stirred in his chest earlier was now joined by a sudden, vivid awareness of her body—the confident set of her shoulders, the playful gleam in her eyes, the way the fantastical costume accentuated curves that, while more obvious in her riding gear than in a dress, he had studiously avoided noticing before.
Heat flared low and sharp, catching him off guard. He swallowed hard and tried valiantly to remember how breathing worked.
Mariselle danced away from him, twirled, and called out, “Welcome, one and all, to Dreamland, the Enchanted Carnival of Slumbering Wonders!” She removed her hat and tossed it into the air, where it spun rapidly, growing larger until it burst into a kaleidoscope of stained-glass butterflies. They scattered in all directions, their wings glittering in the cotton candy light.
She laughed, spun around again, and sashayed back to Evryn’s side with a mischievous twist to her lips. “Terribly theatrical, isn’t it?” she said, eyes sparkling with mirth. “My mother would suffer an immediate apoplexy if she saw me prancing about in such attire. Can you imagine? She’d probably lock me in my chambers for a month. No, this little performance is purely for my own amusement. And yours, I suppose,” she added with another lilting laugh, seemingly unaware of the effect her current appearance was having on him.
She twirled once more, her figure briefly enveloped in a ripple of iridescent light. When the shimmer faded, her carnival attire had vanished, replaced by her familiar riding gear, the startling blue braid once again tumbling carelessly over one shoulder.
And at that moment, watching her manipulate her own appearance, her words struck him again:This is what I chose to build tonight.Suddenly he realized what should have been obvious from the start: “You’re an architect. A dream architect.”
