Fairy Tale: Winter's Bite

Chapter 23: Unraveled (Part 2)

Chris raised one eyebrow, impressed. "I think I know what your fairy superpower is."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You're eerily perceptive sometimes, and you have a way with words. You can describe a head case like me and make it sound like poetry."

"You're not a head case," she assured him, and they weren't just kind words. She seemed to believe them. "And perceptiveness and poetry won't save lives or win battles."

"They might be more useful than 'acts without thinking,'" Chris replied, mocking her voice.

"I'm not convinced. I'm not allowed to train with you, and I'm not brilliant like my father or like Andromeda in any way—"

"Thankfully! I don't even want to imagine a Cassiopeia/Andromeda duo—the world as we know it would be over!"

Cassie laughed. "I suppose we may find out some day if my 'fairy superpower' can pull any weight in the war against evil."

"You never know. You might surprise yourself!" he responded brightly.

"I hope so."

Cassie then rose to her feet, her petal-like skirt settling around her knees. "I'll be right back. I have something for you." She skipped down the rocks and disappeared into the reeds by the side of the lagoon.

Chris stood, too, to watch her go . . . and return. Cassie climbed back up the rocks with something tucked underneath her arm. Whatever it was, it had flowers braided around it. He reached out to help her over the last stone, but instead of taking his hand, she placed the long bundle into it.

"That," he said, "looks like a baseball bat."

"It is," Cassie said.

"Nicely done. May I?" he asked untangling the flowers from the smooth wood.

She nodded and returned to her previous sitting position. "Happy birthday."

Chris took a few practice swings. "Thanks. And how did you know it was my birthday?"

"Joe mentioned it."

Chris snickered. Of course he did. "I'm sure Joe also mentioned that turning thirty makes me an old man. . . ." Chris had a feeling he didn't want to know, but that was the exact reason he should ask the dreaded question, How old are you?

"Let me save you the trouble," Cassie said as if reading his thoughts. "I turned twenty on December 6th. You are nine years and eleven months older than I am."

Chris felt like he got the wind kicked out of him. He pulled himself together with a few choking breaths and threw a pebble into the air. He hit it into the high trees and lost sight of it in the darkness.

"Does that bother you?" she asked meekly.

He shrugged, not knowing how to answer at first. A ten-year age gap was at the high end of being socially acceptable by human standards. But in the fairy world? Age might not have the same significance. And what Cassie lacked in years, she made up for in life experience.

After his brother had accused him of "moving on" too quickly, Chris had been up most of the night, sleepless with a combination of anger and guilt. Was Joe right? After all, Alana had died and he had met Cassie less than two weeks ago. Then it came to him. He hadn't chosen to move on from Alana. Cassie had simply come along and demonstrated both compassion and understanding, and this whole experience was something beyond his or her control. And then he had fallen into a peaceful sleep.

He didn't know how much time he had. Even if Andromeda never found them, he was training for the very real possibility of a full-blown fairy war in the Ewa Forest. Every day was a gift, and he might as well spend as much time as he could with someone who made him happy.