Welcome to Gaia! ::

No more of that queen crap; I'm cutting to the chase in this next chapter. Having her character lurking around is super annoying.

Yeah...he's not really quick-tempered, but he still has anger issues. Like, with Kamile...

(>>.>)>*poke*

"Stop it."

*poke*

"Stop it!"

*poke*

*fistfight out of nowhere*

-_-

And that's about all that happens. She'll forget in about ten seconds.

But with Everan....

*poke*

....

*poke*

...

*pokepokepokepokepokepokepokep--*

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!

<(X.x)>

twisted

.....

...yeah.

mrgreen

Is "six" a number?

Which one?

And what's ADD? And the other thing?

IS it bad?

...I'm confused.

I think I have it, Everan.

Is that bad?

you have a few misconceptions about ADHD ( which i have) and the medicine does work because sometimes i dont realize ive not taken it until i feel the full fledged effects.

To start attention is aprehension, focus, and interest. adhd affects the interest part. I personally beilive that the thresh hold for the intake of information in external perception is high enough to cause stress when employed. this results in an unwillingness to pay attention ( or rather a feeling of uneasiness) in which it is sometimes inadvertatnt to switch from external perception to your internal one ( IE. the one you use to muse)

trust me i want to pay attention a whole lot, however it becomes stressful for me and my aprehension rockets to higher levels when i do so.

My postulate is that adhd merely makes it more difficult to concentrate your focus due to poor interest, too many external sources, and abnormally high external aprehension when envoked. of course, im failry certain that this happens to many people some times and that its only that people who are clynically clasified as having attention defficit dissorder merly have it to a greater degree.

im sorry if some of that is a bit scattered, but im tired. on that note let me say that it is much easier for me to concentrate in the silence ( which reinforces my theory of aprehension to too many outside sources, but then brings up a certain doubt as to whether or not that happens to everyone- im fairly certain it does)

I was really just getting it off my chest. Feels nice ^_^

Chapter Seven

Too early, Kamilé complained…again.

Just a little further, Everan said, tugging her along, and that was that.

Crickets chirped all around them as they walked down the path, Everan leading a half-asleep Kamilé down a rambling trail created by wild game large and small long ago, while she stumbled along behind. The mist just above the horizon glowed bright silver, lighting their way through the forest.

An owl hooted, something rustled dimly in a bush, and Kamilé yawned.

Way too early, she moaned, for the hundredth time at least. Everan sighed in exasperation.

It’s not, he objected. You got plenty of sleep.

I TOLD you, she replied, sullenly rubbing her eyes. You’re s’posed to get up when the sun goes up, and I didn’t see a sun before and I sure don’t see one now…

Everan rolled his eyes. Just c’mon…

Kamilé promised herself that she would beat him up as soon as she was properly awake. Bad enough that he’d woken her up two hours before dawn, with the order to get up and put on her best clothes—really, the sky-blue jerkin and black pants she’d borrowed from Everan fared no better than the rest of their clothes—but now he was dragging her through the woods without even telling her where they were going! UnbeLIEVable, she would have groaned, had she any idea how to pronounce the word.

Didja see the moon, Kamilé? he queried, uncharacteristically pleasantly, even downright happily. Apparently, said large glowing object was transforming him from his usual taciturn self to someone very Kamilé-ish…she’d had something called sugar, or something, once, and it had had much of the same effects on her. This would never do, she decided, sensing another opportunity to berate him for his cursed love of all things nocturnal.

Yes I did, she sniffed, and I told you over an’ over, when the moon’s up you’re s’posed to SLEEP, not—

It’ll be the seventh day of summer, he interrupted impatiently, smirking. ‘Member?

So? she grumbled, stepping moodily over a rock. She missed the sun.

His smirk widened. And the moon looks like THIS. He tapped the crescent-shaped scar on her forehead.

Ohh. She was starting to understand. ‘S our birthday, huh?
Not yet, he reminded her. That’s why we’re goin’ to the river…did you really forget?

Mm…dunno…

She thought about it. Everan had shaken her awake, already dressed in a clean white shirt and pants identical to hers, and scrambled down the tree trunk to wait for her down the path. She’d ferreted around for clothes, grabbing his present from behind the bookcase… she’d used her hair ribbon to tie it up so the chimes wouldn’t clack together, and slipped it in her pocket…she’d hardly thought about it all the while. Their birthday… in about an hour, it would be their birthday…

Huh, she murmured. That’s funny, I didn’t ‘member but I still got your—

She cut off at once, slapping a hand over her mouth, but the damage was done. He gave her a knowing look, both familiar and despised.

Oops.

My what?

Nothin’. She knew how easy it would be for him to make her talk, even if he didn’t resort to tickling.

It’s gotta be something, he pointed out. The logic swept completely over her head.

Well, it’s absolutely none of your business, that’s what it is, she scoffed, though secretly hoping he wouldn’t persist. He didn’t, merely shrugging as if he’d find out later. Which, he would, she realized with a grin. She hoped he liked it.

You awake now?

Nuh-uh.

He shrugged again, pulling her along mercilessly as they walked on.

A while later, they could hear the distant roaring of the waterfall, and then, the quiet rushing sound that the clear water made as it flowed through the forest. The trees grew no less dense; rather, the trees spread without a pause across and even in the river, in the case of their “spot”, as if a great rut had been hewn into the earth all across Ametris, and the water from the mountains and the lake had followed the path to the southern sea regardless of earth, rock, and tree. And perhaps the woods were eons older than the river itself—to them, the roots of the trees soaked up not only water, but the bewitching aura of the Great Root itself, and breathed that radiance with every leaf the trees fanned across the heavens.

The river was just a river.

No matter how many times they had taken this journey, they made exactly the same mistake; Everan rounded a tree trunk, stepped over a root, and nearly fell into the deep, cool water. Kamilé stumbled into him, still not quite awake.

Whassamatter? she muttered, looking around. We there yet?

She peered over Everan’s shoulder; their spot wasn’t more than fifty yards downriver. Everan wasn’t too pleased about it.

Too deep, he judged edgily, backing away. Let’s go around.

She sighed impatiently. It’s NOT too deep, she scolded. And the current’s not fast at all, let’s just swim—

We’re wearing our good clothes, though, he said quickly. And we can’t get ‘em wet. C’mon, Kamilé…

They’re not good, they’re just the same as all the rest!

Yeah they are. He tugged at his spotless though rather worn shirt, which seemed to glow in the pre-dawn gloom. See, it isn’t green. Neither’s yours.

Blue, she murmured, wondering how to spell it, and often she’d seen blue lower than the sky.

See, none of the other elves have blue shirts…

Will it dry off?

He shrugged. I guess.

Then what’s the problem?

I told you, it’s TOO DEEP, now c’mon…

You’re making that up!

But it really is, Kamilé! he insisted, a hint of pleading in his voice as he turned to her. She faltered—the honestly-Kamilé-I’m-being-totally-sincere-this-time-please? look always worked on her, and she knew how he felt about deep water.

Okay, she agreed. But I GOTTA teach you how to swim…

He nodded, and she could tell he was grateful as he took her hand and led her downriver. She tripped over a protruding root and pondered again why she had been so nice to him, and when no reason came to mind, other than just being his sister, she decided to be difficult.

No, no, no, the water’s too deep, she imitated grumpily, her mental voice obnoxiously high-pitched. Current’s too fast, there’s mud an’ slime an’ dirt an’ I’m so girly that I can’t swim, so we’ll just walk another mile or two, Kamilé…get up earlier next year…

He ignored her, though his eyebrows met when she said “girly.” Getting no reaction whatsoever, she stopped, feeling a little guilty as she allowed the familiar, almost-constant fondness for her twin to return.

Look, Kamilé! He stopped and pointed, not at their spot, but at the river just before them. See, I told you it’d go down eventually…

About nine days earlier, it had rained so hard that their spot had been a foot underwater. The current had been treacherous, so Everan declared their spot unsafe until the water went down. It finally had, and in its place was a surprise. A tree root jutted out from the bank, just wide enough for their tiny feet, and the trail continued to a half-submerged rock, a sandbar, and an unfinished beaver’s dam with its own miniature waterfall spanning between it and their place.

Bridge… She looked at it with wide eyes—bridges were something they rarely saw, as the Iiyana, the pride and joy of Ametris, had long since been considered too wide to bridge from the lake to the elves’ very own waterfall. In fact, she’d heard people say that it would be easier to build a bridge across the lake, and though she’d never seen it, it sounded pretty big.

Everan grinned. We won’t even have to get wet.

Girl, Kamilé muttered, leading the way across the crossing to show Everan exactly how it was done. He followed behind, complaining in a disgruntled mumble that she didn’t bother making sense out of…most likely something about how for the last time, Kamilé, he was not a girl. She spun airily on one foot as she perched on the rock, splashing across the sandbank and giggling as the water dotted her jerkin, and skipped carefully across the dam, admiring the beaver’s craft-beaver-ship. About halfway across, her foot hit a weak spot, and she tripped and tumbled through a curtain of willow leaves into their secret hiding place.

Ages before they were born, the woods had spread unhindered across the south. Perhaps the river had been shallower then—and in any case, this place was more elevated than the surrounding riverbed—but the seed of a weeping willow had taken root right in the middle of the current. In an even odder twist, a large boulder had managed to be right in front of it as it grew; the top had been hewn off and battered smooth by the water. The result was, when the river was low, a little grotto surrounded by curtains of leaves, with a “window” overlooking the river as it wound its way south. A tiny rivulet, just deep enough for their small hands to dip into, ran through a crack in the rock, and soft moss and river grass covered patches of the little space.

Kamilé sighed and flopped onto a bed of moss, with the intention of catching up on her lost sleep.

Why can’t we live HERE? she inquired, curling up into a tiny ball. Everan poked her into the side, and she started, squeaking in indignation before curling up again.

How d’you do that? he asked her, twitching his nose to accompany his curious expression. It’s like a hedgehog…

‘S easy, she informed him matter-of-factly. You just put your nose in your stomach and put your legs over your shoulders, I’ll teach you if you want.

No thanks. He poked her again, making her squirm as she tried not to giggle. I think it’s only easy if you’re a contortionist…

Whatever that is. She resumed her nap. Why can’t we live here, Everan? It’s prettier and warmer and easier to get to and it’s like it was made for us, right?

He didn’t reply, only folding his legs and trailing a hand through the tiny rivulet.

Right? she repeated.

No, he said flatly.

Why not?

Because it’s in the middle of the river, that’s why…

Yeah…she answered slowly, not quite seeing what he meant. That’s the point…

And when it rains, it’ll flood, and the current’ll be pretty fast…

So we sleep in the tree. She shrugged. We do it alla time…

And if there’s lightning, he continued, since it’s all by itself and everything we’re as good as electrocuted…and the wind would shake us out, and we’d get wet, and you KNOW we can’t get sick…

Well…we could…still live here, when it’s dry…or…On a sudden idea, her eyes brightened. Everan, won’t it be cool out here in the winter? When the river’s all frozen, we could slide around and stay in here where it’s warm and everything…

The leaves would be gone, he said shortly. No protection from the snow and the wind and everything…and if the water rises before the river freezes over, it’ll just be ice here, and the river might not even freeze up to here, what if you fell in, or me?

All right, all right… She scowled. We’ll turn into a big icicle, catch a cold and die…I get it…

AND, he added solemnly, I found stuff.

Stuff?

Yeah. A doll.

The way he said it, it was the most tragic event that occurred since the Thousand Year’s War.

Wait, she thought slowly. A doll…a doll…what’s…?

Y’know, he explained. Those things that girls have that’re supposed to look like people…they make ‘em with rags and yarn and stuff…
Oh! I’ve seen those! She bounced excitedly up and down; she’d never had a doll before, or even seen one more than ten feet away, and even though, admittedly, she had no idea what they were for, she’d always wanted one. What’d you do with it, Everan?

She had hoped he’d pull it out of nowhere and present it to her, or even say it was a secret and give it to her for their birthday…but his evil grin killed her hopes all at once.

I threw it in the river.

What? She stared. Why? It belonged to someone, y’know, and I bet they miss it—

The evil grin faded, replaced by a scowl. It’s theirs, Kamilé…the others… He glared at the water as if it had personally offended him. They come here too…All the time, I think…I mean, it’s only half a mile away from Kocha…

So? she asked him, though she was beginning to understand.

So they’ll come here again, he explained. And if they do, we can’t be here…

Why not? We’ll just tell ‘em we live here and they’ll go away, right?

He shook his head, sighing. You know they won’t, Kamilé…they won’t listen, or they’ll destroy all of it…

She scowled. Mean…they ruin everything…

It was more of a rhetorical question, not the sort of thing she needed him to answer, so he didn’t. But after awhile, he spoke.

You wanted it, didn’t you…? I mean, that doll…

Once again, he showed an uncanny ability to read her mind…not surprising, as he was telepathic. Still, it was the last thing she expected him to say, and what he said next was even more so.

‘M sorry, he mumbled to the ground. I forgot…

She sat up, giving him an odd look. Apologies with him were very rare. Even more surprising was that he had admitted his knowledge of her desires, something he pretended not to care about. After all, he was a boy, and if he acted as considerate as he really was, she might call him a girl again, and bruise his sensitive pride.

‘S all right, she told him, as cheerfully as she could make her voice. I bet it was funner to see it fall over the edge, hee hee hee…

A reluctant smile crept across his face. You’re evil.

Yeah, I know. She grinned. Isn’t it great?

He said nothing, but the smile stayed. After a few minutes, it was replaced by a pensive expression, the water’s pattern reflecting in his eyes as he stared into it. Finally, he spoke.

We can live here…for the rest of the summer…if you want, Kamilé.

She looked up at him, beaming. Really? She flew towards him, hugging him tightly. Ooh, thankyouthankyouthankyou—

Eww, he muttered, shoving her away. Get off…

She consented, performing a little dance on the spot as she thought about it. It’ll be so much fun, just us, you an’ me an’ our fireflies and we’ll be warm in here, Everan, it’s not as cold as our house…

Mm…

And the water’s so pretty…and we’ll be by it all the time…and we can go swimming every day…I’ll teach you, Everan…

Mm-hmm…

And if anyone comes near here, we’ll tell ‘em no way, they gotta leave right now, and if they don’t we’ll push ‘em in the water and then they’ll leave us alone…we’ll protect it, Everan, just like chosen, with their big swords and bows and axes and everything, like we’re guarding a castle or a treasure or a princess! …But I dunno why you have to guard a prin—

He stiffened as she said the word “chosen,” cutting across her rambling at once.

Kamilé, he said sternly. What’d I tell you ‘bout the chosen?

Oh…She realized her mistake, hugging her knees to her chest guiltily. I’m sorry…

It’s okay, he told her absently, relaxing as he stared into the water. The reprimand only sobered her for a moment before she started bouncing again.

I’m so exited! she squealed. We’re gonna be ‘leven now, eleven is when everything fun happens—

How d’you know? he asked her, amused. You’ve never been eleven before.

EVERYONE knows that, she sighed, as if he was being totally naïve. It’s muchmuch cooler than being ten, y’know, that’s when everything fun happens, when you’re eleven… you just wait, you’ll see…

Hey, Kamilé… He pointed through the “window” to the eastern horizon. The sun’s coming up.

Ooh. She bounced at a faster pace, wriggling in pure joy. You ready?

He nodded. Ready.

‘Kay…so’m I…

Everan sat beside her at the water’s edge, crossing his legs comfortably as she did the same. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small dagger, plain, with a wooden handle, and it glimmered innocently in the light as he held it out. Kamilé held out her right hand, palm forward, and he placed the tip of the knife right in the center; wincing a little, he applied pressure to it, cutting a small yet deep hole into her hand. He quickly did the same to his left hand as her palm bled freely; the process bothered him immensely, though she didn’t mind the pain a bit.

Then, just as the sun was coming up, he set his palm against hers and interlocked their fingers. It wasn’t the first time they had done this—more like the fifth—so the two holes lined up perfectly, and not a single drop of blood was spilled. Instead, Kamilé’s blood flowed into his hand, and his into hers, mixing, combining, blending in every way possible as they held hands as tightly. Kamilé closed her eyes, and knew Everan was doing the same as they both made their wish. Just like every year, their wish was the same, and just like every year, they both knew exactly what it was.

Without saying a single word, they both wished with all their hearts that they could be together forever.

The mist was shining bright gold, and she felt the change beneath her eyelids, so she opened them; Everan’s were open, too, glancing warily at their palms as if afraid they were still bleeding. He met her eyes, and they both smiled.

Happy birthday, she said, beaming and hugging him tightly, not caring if he resisted her.

Happy birthday, he replied, with a fondness most unlike him, and to her immense surprise, he hugged her back. He didn’t pull back this time, either, and she knew to enjoy it while she could. She tightened her grip on him, breathing in his smell—crushed pine needles and rain and ice and something she supposed was soap and lemons and old books. She loved it so much that she had forgotten where exactly she was, and what she was doing.

Um…Kamilé? Everan said after a while, shifting his shoulders restlessly.

Huh? she answered dazedly.

You can let go now.

Oh… She hastily drew back, averting her eyes and dusting herself off awkwardly. Right…sorry…

Finding that her hand was bleeding, she dunked it into the water beside Everan’s, laying on her stomach as she watched the blood swirl in little red ribbons around her fingers.

Does it hurt? Everan inquired.

Nope, she said airily, sweeping her hand from side to side. Does yours?

Mm, a little.

What’d you wish for? she asked him, resting her head on her elbow and gazing up at him. He smirked knowingly.

Not telling.

Well, me neither then, she informed him regally, picking her head up. But I WILL tell you a secret…

What? He looked up, more than mildly interested. She sat up, grinning, as she leaned closer.

YOU need a bath.

Wha—AUGH!

Without another word, she shoved him headfirst into the water, giggling madly as he sank like a stone. He surfaced moments later, flailing his arms in panic, fingers scrabbling at the edge of the rock she was sitting upon.

Kamileeeeé! I can’t swim, pull me out pull me out…

You can touch, silly, she said calmly, dipping the red-tipped knife into the water to clean it off. His cheeks reddened as he scraped the bottom of the river with his feet, and he hastily grabbed onto a rock, glaring indignantly at her.

Hey, don’t touch that! he said suddenly, seeing the knife in her hand. Don’t, you’ll get hurt and—

All right, all right, she sighed, like a true martyr, shoving it to one side. Guess I’d better go rescue you…

She leapt to her feet and dived gracefully into the neck-high water, straightening her arms at just the right moment and performing a little underwater flip. She popped up right beside Everan, scaring the living daylights out of him.

Can’t swim… he muttered under his breath, the semi-deep water making him nervous. Can’t swim, can’t swim…

You can swim just fine downriver, at the bank, she reminded him, floating skillfully on her back and spitting a mouthful of water at him. Whassamatter now?

He cast a nervous glance at the bank, as if he longed for nothing more than the protection of the trees. Uh…well…

She understood. It was one thing to drown out in the middle of the river, where the current was strong and the water deep, but it was quite another to drown in the still bank water two feet away from the shore.

C’mon, she said, tugging his hand. I’ll teach you.

He looked as if he’d like anything at all better than letting go of that rock, save being safe and dry on land, but with her persuasion he let go, balancing as best as he could on the tip of his boot underwater.

Well, first you gotta get rid of those shoes. She turned upside-down, pulling off her own and tossing them on the bank. Seeing that he was still reluctant to put his head underwater, she pulled his off for him, too. He scrambled to touch as many toes as he could onto the bottom.

Okay…all you gotta do is kick your legs, not real fast, and think light, and you’ll float, easy.

He tried it…she thought he was doing pretty well, until his nose sank under the water. Then he panicked and knew he was doomed to life as a fish.

Helphelphelphelphelp…

She sighed and pulled his head above the water. By the way he gasped for breath, she would’ve thought he’d been underwater for days. He coughed.

Tha-anks…

C’mon, Everan, she coaxed. It’s real easy, even if you can’t keep your head up all you gotta do is hold your breath…

He hesitated, treading water as he held on for dear life. But…but I can’t hold it really long…

She wrinkled her nose at him, splashing him playfully. Hon’stly, she sighed. Sometimes you really act like you’re ten…Encouraged by his smile at her little joke, she decided to persuade him again.

You’d like it underwater, she told him. It’s coldish and kinda dark and real pretty, veryvery wet, y’know, and you can look up and see the sun through the water and it’s so quiet you can hear your heart, and nice, and you could fall asleep if you could breathe water, and…Everan?

For she now realized that he was not listening to her—his wide eyes were focused on something far above her head.

Kamilé, watch out!

She turned, and registered the sight for a fraction of a second before her instincts kicked in and she pulled Everan underwater.

A behemoth stood proudly in the middle of the river, a great big thing that seemed as huge as the giant tree itself, and towered over them, a sort of gigantic grace about it… though what it was, she couldn’t say. She registered for a split second a huge wide surface that looked like tree bark, rubbed smooth, with wooden poles sticking out of its sheer walls east and west and a curved beam hugging the underside, rising to a narrow point. There was canvas looped around a horizontal beam, perpendicular with another thicker thing that looked like a branch-less tree trunk, and a carving of a fish in midair staring them down from the front.

And then all was silent and vaguely aquamarine as she submerged them both.

Everan started struggling at once, the surprised gasp forced from his mouth in a stream of bubbles.

Let go, Kamilé, let go let go I can’t breathe—

She covered his mouth and nose with her hand, so he wouldn’t breathe in the water, and was about to scold him when she saw something flick through the river. She froze, searching for movement…and then, without warning, three or four dark shapes circled around the wooden monstrosity, twirling and spinning and flitting around like dolphins…to her, they looked like giant fish, big enough to swallow them whole (which Everan noted and promptly panicked over), but the odd thing was, there were people swimming with them, completely unharmed…

Everan started writhing in desperation, pulling on her hand, but before she could release him, a deafening splash and a maelstrom of bubbles knocked them both backwards into the current. The force propelled them to the surface, where Kamilé pulled Everan’s head up and led his hands to the rock in midstream. He lost no time in scrambling upon it, pausing to cough up water, and she followed. She grasped his arm with a pincer-like grip, completely awestruck by the sight before her.

A heavy metal object rested on the riverbed, hook-shaped and connected to a thick chain, which rose up to the side and over the edge of the bark-clad behemoth. There were people walking around on top of this…this sin against the river deity, whatever it was; it resembled a tree but was not a tree, it was made of trees but it did not look like one at all—what kind of trees grew that smooth, and without branches, and floated?

But then this phenomenon was partially explained as she saw one of the people jump down from the thing, onto the little sandbar, and knew, instantly, that he was human. Perhaps her sharp eyes picked up the rounded tips of his ears…or perhaps it was simply her damp hair rising on the back of her neck. His clothes were rather flamboyant, purple and red and white, his belt woven with beads, his shoes completely unpractical for anything but sitting down, though shiny—so unlike the style of the modest immaterialist elves that she stared. Rounded ears, what a strange thing…

Humans, Everan clarified, wrinkling his nose.

What’s wrong with ‘em? Are they nice?

They’re just like elves, he replied, studying them closely; she guessed that meant no. And see their ship?

What’s a ship?

He pointed to the huge brown giant. THAT’S a ship.

She ran her eyes over it again. A ship…woooooow…

Humans were shouting, a woman and several men, and then, so suddenly that she jumped, a wide plank of whatever the ship was composed of slapped into the mud on the riverbank, and people disembarked. Some jumped straight down like the first man, whom they called “captain,” disregarding the walkway and splashing around on the sandbar, checking…something. From the ship, first, dashed small children, all human, laughing like mad as they splashed around in the water, wrestled on the riverbank, and in all other ways completely ignoring the warnings of their mothers. Kamilé noticed that they, in their prim dresses and little shoes, were careful to keep completely dry, and glared at the water and mud as if it had personally offended them. One of them glanced at the two perched on the rock, whispering something to their neighbor, who shook her head sadly. But they were too busy staring…so busy, in fact, that they took no notice when someone tugged on Kamilé’s foot from behind and said, “excuse me,” in a demure voice, until they turned to see who it was.

Kamilé started and shrieked with surprise, and Everan scrambled to hide behind her. The mermaid laughed, smiling disarmingly.

“No need to be frightened! I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Not scared, Kamilé disagreed, but completely amazed…

From the waist up, she seemed a normal woman: young; with long hair that was tinged faintly green, as the hair of one who neglects to wash her hair after swimming in the sea; wearing a top of woven seaweed, a necklace of polished stones, coral earrings, and nothing else. An inch below her navel, the skin grew hairless and sleek, a transparent blue, changing smoothly to scales, blue, purple, green, and black, fanning out to a wide tail like a fish’s. She folded her arms on the tock, her tail splashing water droplets onto the top of her head, where a water-lily was nested in her damp curls. When she spoke, her voice was like music, played underwater and released to the surface in a congregation of bubbles.

“So…you’re elves, right?”

Kamilé and Everan exchanged a glance; either she had never seen an elf before or she was rather dim. Kamilé nodded cautiously, and the mermaid beamed, a sparkling smile with white teeth polished by a lifetime of clear water.

“Cool, because we were wondering, the other merpeople and I, and the humans… see, we can’t exactly find the elven capital…Kocha, I think…Merchieftain Italis said that it’s changed since he was last here…but anyway, Lady Lina—the human leader, you know, she’s over there—” The mermaid pointed to a tall, fair-haired woman, conversing with the “captain” on the shore—“has something to deliver to your elders, and we’ve been swimming nonstop beside these two-legged wonders over here for three days, and we’re all very tired, just exhausted, and now we’re lost, so do you mind telling us which way to go?”

Another glance at Everan; he was just as shell-shocked as she was, still, and all they could think to do was suggest that Kamilé point to the great tree, which she did. The mermaid sighed, giving them a look familiar from their childhood that said come-now-children-play-nice-and-I’ll-give-you-a-sweet, or something like that.

“All right…well…no one knows the forest like the elves, so…do you think you could lead us there?”

Kamilé ran the idea by Everan, who was still preoccupied with keeping out of sight, and okayed it without argument. She nodded.

“Great! Thanks!” And then she ducked underwater and sounded something like, “Oy! Chief!”

Then, Kamilé knew exactly what the dark shapes in the water had been.

Merpeople popped out of the water all around them, twoscore at least, strands of hair and strings of glass beads glistening in the water. Their eyes were slightly protuberant, either dark like a fish’s or a clear blue or purple or green, almost like their silver, but not quite. They followed every move that she and Everan made, exactly like a school of curious fish; their hair was in every shade from white to dark green, and their tails were of a myriad of colors—green, purple, blue, black, silver-grey, even orange. A white-haired, blue-tailed male, bare-chested like the other mermen, ducked and dodged his way forward with smooth, graceful ease.

“This is our Merchieftain,” the first mermaid informed them. “Chief, this is… someone…and someone.”

“Kamilé…” Kamilé said faintly, pointing to herself. “And Everan.”

The merman smiled and raised a hand for them to shake, transfixing them with ice-blue eyes the color of his tail. “Italis,” he said politely. “It’s a pleasure.”

“Uh…huh…” It suddenly struck Kamilé that she was on first-name terms with one race’s leader, and under close scrutiny by another.

“And I’m Lily!” the first mermaid piped up, obviously too eager to jump into the introductions. “Which is strange, as I’ve never seen a lily in my life, unless you count a water-lily, but that isn’t my name, now, is it? But I bet you see them everywhere—”

What’s a lily? Kamilé asked Everan. He send her a mind-picture of a white flower that she didn’t recognize.

“Thank you, Lily,” Italis interrupted the girl who seemed to be his protégée of some sort, “for finding us a pair of guides.”

He smiled at the two; Kamilé felt as suddenly shy as Everan, and did not reply.

“We’ll follow you,” he assured them. “Is it far?”

Kamilé found her voice. “A…a half-mile…”

Italis nodded, smiling encouragingly and beckoning towards the shore. “Lead the way, if you please, Kamilé.”

He remembered my name. Kamilé found this amazing, as she had already forgotten his. Everan nodded, and together they jumped to the little island—he barely made it—and pulled on their shoes. The dagger was halfway inside her boot—she left it there, as all adventurers should have such discreet hiding places for their weapons, in case the humans were hostile, or became so. The merpeople followed them with an almost unhealthy curiosity; Everan said it was in their nature. They reached the bank, deciding to stay on the jutting tree root, as the humans were giving them funny looks. Italis rose smoothly out of the water; it frightened Kamilé, but the human kids seemed used to it.

“Lina,” he addressed the leader, “these two offered to show us to the city.”
Lina fixed a piercing gaze on them, and they felt like she could see into their heads. “Good,” she said, though she didn’t sound too excited. “If you will…”

The merpeople were watching, the humans staring, their leaders fixing them with expectant gazes…the only choice they had, it seemed, was to cut and run, or follow the dim path along the riverbank. They chose the latter, leading the pack of humans over roots, around deep holes filled with loam, over a snake’s nest, through a small rivulet. The merpeople followed in the water, as was expected of them. Italis stayed with Lina; Lily dived over her companion’s head and swam alongside them, turning over and floating backwards with the current.

“You guys are so lucky…living so close to the sea, you know…and in this beautiful forest, too…every merperson wants to go to the sea, it’s the river deity’s birthplace, holy ground, or water, whatever. Have you ever been there?”

Kamilé shook her head.

“Oh.” Lily heaved a tragic sigh. “I envy you elves…it might be a closer journey from the east shore of the lake to the sea, but we don’t have legs to walk there, so we have to follow the river…it’s difficult, there are rapids and shallows and that waterfall, I’m sure you’ve seen it…”

“What’s a ship?”

Lily blinked. “huh?”

“A ship, what’s a ship?”

“Why, it’s that big wooden thing the humans came in, didn’t you see it? They can’t swim too well, so they use it to bring them across water, they think it’s faster but I think they’re just lazy…still…But haven’t you ever seen one?”

“Nuh-uh. What kind of tree is that?”

“Well, it’s…I think it’s oak, or pine, or something. Honestly, this is the first time I’ve ever seen trees…”

“But trees are s’posed to have bark…and they can’t grow like that…”

“No, they’re made of the part underneath the bark, don’t you know that?”

I don’t get it, Kamilé muttered to Everan. He frowned.

They cut the trees down, he explained grimly, and take the bark off, and make stuff out of it.

Ooh—Kamilé thought about it. Do they hurt ‘em?

They kill them.

Her eyes widened; the idea was horrible. Well, I won’t let them do that to OUR forest, she said fiercely.

They won’t, probably, he assured her. Just theirs.

Lily was still talking.

“…So hard to get here, you know…lucky it flooded around here, or we’d’ve never made it across Serra Ford…outside the forest, you know.”

Outside the forest? Kamilé repeated. Everan nodded.

There’re other places besides here.

Whoa…she said. Weird.

“…and we all have little ones, even the human children get tired, though they hardly show it…and see…”

She gestured to a little merboy, riding on his father’s back and yawning sleepily under the surface.

“…but it’s all right, completely worth it…”

“How’ll you walk?”

Lily stopped mid-ramble. “Sorry?”

“The river’s too far from the square, we got no water, how’ll you get there?” Kamilé wasn’t exactly observant to a fault, but this was pretty obvious.

And yet, to her surprise, the mermaid grinned. “You just wait. It’ll be fantastic.”

“But—”

“Now, don’t worry about us. Is that it, up there? The path to Kocha?”

“Huh?”

“See, right there…” She pointed. “Between those two trees…that little hollow…”

“Oh…no.”

“It’s not?”

“Nope.”

“Where is it, then?”

“Show ya, ‘s right here. C’n you get out?”

Lily nodded. “Of course. Don’t worry about us, we’ll follow behind you.”

Kamilé shrugged and turned to the humans. The entire crowd had stopped behind them, watching impatiently. Kamilé beckoned them forward, leading the way between two intermeshed branches as the elven path revealed itself to be passable only to elves.

Whassamatter with them? Kamilé asked Everan, sighing. He did not reply, glancing behind them…and then he tugged her sleeve urgently, persuading her to turn around.

If the merpeople had amazed them before, it seemed they had yet to begin.

The merpeople had dragged themselves onto the shore, waving sparkling drops of their tails, waiting patiently for something, save Lily, who was fiddling with her bracelet… and then they changed…their tails were no longer tails…they molded into the shape of two legs, the scales fading into their new skin, and the wide fin disappeared…and suddenly, the merpeople were no longer merpeople, but clearly humans, with long legs of a very pale blue, purple, green, whatever their scale color had been, the females wearing skirts of this color that fell to their knees, made of some shining, rippling cloth, the males’ clothes in pants of the same material. They stood, brushing themselves off, and balanced unsteadily on two feet.

Kamilé and Everan stared.

The mer-children immediately dashed off to the human kids, and a new game started, a race of real legs versus fake. The adults watched Kamilé and Everan expectantly, until finally, Kamilé found her voice.

“Woooooow!” she gasped. “That’s so cool!”

A ripple of appreciative laughter rang out from them, and Lily, who now thought herself a walking expert, waved her bracelet in the air.

“It’s these,” she explained eagerly. “Merchieftain Italis made them for us, they—”

But then a merman covered her mouth with his hand. “Shh,” he said sternly. “’Tis a secret, our Merchieftain won’t want that spread around.”

He gestured to Kamilé and Everan’s right, where Italis was striding from the back of the human crowd, having already changed and looking as if he’d walked from birth.

“Are we ready to move on?” His voice was quiet, but he radiated calm authority, and his piercing gaze transfixed them to the spot. “If you would, saya Kamilé, saiyo Everan…”

What’d he call me? Kamilé demanded furiously.

Everan rolled his eyes. He wasn’t insulting you, stupid. He was being polite.

Well why didn’t he say so?

Because he wasn’t expecting you to be braindead, he teased. C’mon, they’re waiting.

Indeed they were; every one of them was watching the two of them expectantly. Feeling Everanishly shy all of a sudden, she muttered, “This way,” and ducked into the little gap between two trees. Beyond it was a little deer trail, no more than two feet wide and by no means smooth. But they were used to it—in fact, they loved it. Every right-minded mortal would…

But when she glanced back, she saw that the humans and merpeople were gaping at the entrance, cautiously, as if it was a venomous snake.

“Whassamatter?” she asked them. This shook them out of their daze, and without a word Italis followed, his faithful merpeople behind, and in their wake the children and then the humans.

Kamilé and Everan found themselves stopping to wait for the third or fourteenth time—gods, those humans were slow…and loud… they literally crashed through the woods, their clumsy, heavy footsteps punctuated by exclamations and curses, which they tried to keep to themselves but which Kamilé and Everan heard anyway. They didn’t see the problem; it was just the forest, it couldn’t hurt anybody. The children acted like they should’ve, ignoring every warning their parents gave them and laughing and playing all over the place. They started doing strange things like, gathering clearly inedible mushrooms and trying to swing on vines, besides the normal stuff—picking flowers, eating berries, climbing trees. They grown-ups told them not to…Kamilé guessed that grown-ups in general just didn’t understand that children were supposed to get all dirty and icky and muddy and do things that were clearly dangerous.

The mermaid’s grown-ups were okay—they followed their leader in stoic silence, and didn’t say much, just gave quiet warnings to their children to keep as clean and healthy as possible. The weird part was, the kids actually did it—Kamilé had seen dirt slide right off a merboy’s arm, as if there was too much water in his blood for it to stick, and now she could hear a mergirl saying that she didn’t really like forest-y things, unless they grew seaweed here. Good thing too, that hadn’t been edible anyway. The human kids weren’t very bright at all.

They lingered patiently in a little hollow, sitting on a big tree root and playing little games they’d made up when they were small, most of which involved telepathy—it made up for being unable to play guessing games, Hide, and games that required a lot of intelligence. The clearing was no more than ten feet across, with a roof of leaves overhead, the partial light just right for a plethora of forest plants, mostly flower bushes and vines, to grow. This particular clearing, one of many, was overgrown with azaleas, wild climbing roses, a holly bush draped in a tangle of honeysuckle, and weeds, the pretty kind. These were all right—they were the kind that clumped in the grass, tiny, tiny flowers of all different colors, and couldn’t kill a plant if they tried.

Italis was the first to emerge from the forest, followed by his people, his pale eyes scanning his surroundings with something akin to respect, bordering on amazement.

“It’s beautiful here,” he told them, his eyes trailing over the pine trees, the ivy—he probably didn’t know it was a weed—the small, twisted tree with tiny, tiny white flowers falling from it like rain. Kamilé nodded in agreement as she and Everan stood up, watching the children, then the humans stop behind the merpeople.

“What’re we stopping for?” Lily inquired, right behind Italis.

“Just catching up,” the Merchieftain replied, turning to Kamilé. “Shall we go on?”

Kamilé nodded, leading the way back into the woods. In about a minute they found themselves far ahead again, and slowed down, but didn’t stop. This was taking way too long as it was. And then they heard clumsy crashing and a tiny “ow!” and found that Lily had run up ahead to keep them company…or something.

“Hi!” she said breathlessly. “Wow, sure is crowded in here…”

She ducked under a branch that Kamilé and Everan had just walked under, accidentally bumping her head in the process.

“Ow…you know, we’re not really…good at walking, so I just wanna be sure…we’re going the right way, aren’t we?”

“Sure we are.” Kamilé found the question rather offensive.

“Oh, okay, just making sure. Gods, walking is hard, how do you do it every day?”

“Um…”

“Well, I guess that’s a stupid question, I bet it just takes practice, huh? It’s actually kind of fun, you know, I’ve never been in a forest before, it’s very pretty…you guys are so lucky…”

“’S just a forest.”

“Yes, but you’re so close to the sun…and the ocean…it’s not like we can walk there, we have to swim, but there’s no river, so…”

“’S it dark underwater?”

“Oh, of course not…it’s so pretty how the light kind of comes down in strands, and as long as we stay close to the surface we can see just fine, but if you go very, very deep you can’t see anything…”

Sounds like fun, Kamilé told Everan, beaming.

Too much water. She’d forgotten that he couldn’t swim or anything.

What’s her deal about the ocean?

She’s a mermaid, I guess she just likes water. Sounds like it’s some big achievement to get there—

What’s achee…um…

Nevermind.

But she thinks it’s the greatest thing in the world, it’s just the southern sea, isn’t it?

I’ve never been, Kamilé recalled sadly.

I haven’t either. Everan didn’t seem too disappointed.

Can we go, Everan? Plea-a-a-se?

Why?

Because I wanna go! Why haven’t we gone before?

You didn’t ask.

So we can go?

Not today…

Well, duh, but like, tomorrow?

No.

Why not?

We can go next week, but first we’ve gotta find some food and pack it, there isn’t any there unless you’re a crab or something.

What’s a crab?

You’ll see. Is that okay?

Yeah, it’s gonna be really, really fun! Thanks, Everan…

Mm.

Lily was talking again…really, she hadn’t stopped.

“Do you think the humans act really weird? I do. I mean, sure, this path is so tiny, but it’s kinda nice…it’s pretty, I like it, but I guess that’s just humans for you, they don’t really appreciate stuff like this, have you ever seen their city? It’s all stone and grass and wood, it’s so boring…ow…so, um, when are we going to be in the…the city…?”

She slowed and stopped, blinking as Kamilé pushed aside a tree branch to reveal a wide dirt path. She and Everan stepped onto it, dusting themselves off. Kamilé watched Lily absently as she untangled a twig from her hair, wondering what she was so surprised about.

“So there’s a path?” the mermaid finally managed. “Like, a real one?”

“Yeah.” The twig came out, and she tossed it carelessly aside.

“And, uh…” Lily stepped onto it, too, her eyes following its wandering way due west. “Where’s it lead to?”

“The river.” Kamilé really didn’t see the point.

“Then why’d you take us through there?”

She froze, surprised by the anger in the mermaid’s voice. “Huh?”

“Why’d you lead us through there instead of taking us through here?” Lily sounded very, very mad—Kamilé didn’t really know how to respond.

“Um…because…I dunno…”

“What’s going on?” Italis’s voice said as he joined them on the path, his faithful merpeople behind him. “Saya Kamilé, you didn’t mention that there was a path here…”

“But…but I…” Confused by all the angry glares, she didn’t know what to say.

“Merchieftain,” Lily offered furiously, “apparently there was a real path that goes straight to the river, but someone forgot to mention it.”

Italis turned his scrutinizing eyes onto Kamilé, who flinched as if he had hit her. “So it seems…it would have been much easier for my people, as we have so much trouble walking…”

“’M sorry,” Kamilé murmured to the ground, feeling like crying as she heard the merpeople tell the humans what had happened, making them equally enraged. “It’s just…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lily interrupted venomously. “Which way’s the city? We’ll find it ourselves.”

Kamilé pointed down the path, and Lily tossed her hair angrily over her shoulder, called, “C’mon,” to the others, and led the way to Kocha. Italis gave them one last mild, perturbing look before he, too, followed, leaving them alone. As soon as they were gone, Everan rounded on her.

Kamilé! Why didn’t you tell them that the path was blocked? They’re gonna think we did it on purpose now!

She sniffed hard, trying her very, very best not to cry…too late. Tears fell between her fingers as she attempted to brush them away. I’m sorry…I forgetted…

You KNEW we couldn’t go through there, didn’t you remember, we tried to go but that tree fell during the storm and we couldn’t? Why didn’t you TELL them, now they’ll hate us!

The tears fell faster, impossible to wipe away. ‘M sorry…I really am…don’t be mad…

Everan’s expression softened; the day either of them stayed angry with each other would be the day the world ended. He put an arm across her shoulders and shook her, roughly, but not enough to hurt. It was his sole gesture of voluntary affection—sure, he had his moments of soft-natured-ness, but they were rare, and it wasn’t the same if he was embarrassed of her. Don’t cry, he pleaded. I hate it when you cry…c’mon…it’s our birthday…

It certainly was, she remembered. But she still felt bad about it.

‘M really sorry, Everan…

It’s all right. He shook her again, wrinkling his nose. We don’t need them anyway, do we? ‘Cause there’s plenty of fish around here…

She giggled, hugging him—this was going too far, and he was forced for the sake of his dignity to shrug her off.

C’mon, he said, beckoning her to follow him down the path. Let’s go.
As they made their way along the wide road, Kamilé reached for Everan’s hand—he jerked loose, but when she did it again he sighed and let her do whatever she wanted.

He didn’t say what she knew he was thinking: As long as no one sees us…; he just said, Fine, let’s just go.

But it wasn’t going to be that easy; as they rounded a corner, something that was definitely not a tree slid out of the shadows and onto the path. They froze as they recognized him—Italis, the Merchieftain, blinking as if the bright sun hurt him, no doubt staying to give them an earful about Kamilé’s little lapse of memory. Everan took his hand back at once, but Kamilé beat him to the half-hiding-behind-the-other-twin thing.

“Kamilé, Everan…” He had left off the “saya,” she noted with small satisfaction; it was very confusing. “I wanted to apologize to you for my people… Perhaps you should understand that we were all very tired from our long journey, though none of us had the right to take it out on you. I’m very sorry if we’ve offended you.”

“Um…okay…” Kamilé didn’t know what to make of this…it must be a trick. Yeah, that was it. He was using big words to trick her…what did offended mean? Everan nudged her lightly, and she remembered now—“There’s a tree,” she blurted, “on the path…so we couldn’t go that way…it falled during the storm…”

Italis nodded, smiling mysteriously. “Yes, I know.”

“Oh.” She found this no less than creepy. “How?”

“I’m a little more observant than my fellow merpeople,” he explained. “They’re rather nearsighted from living underwater for so long, and many of them have never seen trees before. Though I must admit, I didn’t think it would actually make the road impassable…”

“Yup,” Kamilé agreed, nodding, but inside her head she was saying, Huh? Everan explained it to her in very, very small words, which she appreciated.

Italis smiled again, gratefully this time, and bowed to them—to them! This “manners” thing was kinda cool…“I thank you,” he said, sounding relieved. “And I thank you for leading us through the forest. You’ve been very helpful, more than I can say. If there’s anything I can do to repay you…”

“‘S just the forest,” Kamilé muttered, a little embarrassed. And, on a sudden query from Everan, “Why’d you need us if you’ve been here before? ‘Cause you know the way, right?”

He nodded, sounding pretty impressed with her—Everan’s—astuteness. “I do. But no one knows the forest better than an elf.”

“Yeah,” Kamilé agreed. Fact was fact. But he should’ve added that no elf knew it better than them.

Italis seemed to be thinking about something at length—he took a lo-o-o-ong time, too—and after a moment, he beamed and said, “Why don’t the two of you find me later? I’ve got something for you.”

“Ooh, what?” Kamilé said eagerly. He shook his head, smile widening.

“It’s a surprise…consider it a birthday present.”

“Okay!” she agreed, excited at the prospect of two presents. He nodded to them politely, uttered a goodbye, and made his tall, soft way east.

Didja hear that, Everan? Kamilé asked him at once. TWO presents, two for you and two for me, isn’t that so cool? We’re like, the luckiest ever, huh?

But Everan was frowning. We didn’t tell him it was our birthday, Kamilé…

So? They started walking again, Kamilé hopping around excitedly with one foot, the other, both, singing aloud some song she couldn’t remember hearing before.

So, why should he care so much about us?

I dunno. She didn’t see the big deal. Maybe he likes us, about time, too…

Everan sighed, giving up and allowing her to dance around happily, sometimes taking his hands and spinning him around too, though remaining thoughtful…but he half-laughed when she told him passionately that this was the best day of her life, and he hadn’t even given her his present yet!

You just wait, he assured her. It’ll get much better.

How? She ceased her dancing and ran to catch up with him. Whatcha mean, Everan?

A hint of a smile crossed his features. You’ll see.

But Everan, I hate it when you do that! she complained. Why can’t you just tell me?

‘Cause it’s a surprise.

A surprise? She perked up at once. Is it my birthday present?

Nope. He shook his head. It’s not QUITE as good, but you’ll like it a lot.

When’ll I see it?

Mm…He thought about it. In a minute. But you gotta close your eyes.

Okay! She did so cheerfully, not even thinking of cheating.

No, cover ‘em so you won’t peek, it’ll ruin it if you look.

Right, noooooo peeking. She pressed her palms over her eyes. ‘Kay, now what?

He put his hands over hers, for added protection; she followed obediently as he directed her to walk…keep walking…step over a root here, turn right there, watch that rock…and…open.

So she did.

The sight took her breath away; it was as if a magi from a fireside tale had transmuted the plain, ordinary square into a wonderland, a spell cast just for them on their birthday. Flowers hung like ropes of jewels around the freshly swept square, crowded from end to end with people of all races, elves, humans, merpeople…they even saw a dwarf, smoking a pipe on a doorstep, a rough man, small but stocky, with skin as reddish-brown as rusted metal. Every man, woman, and child was scrubbed clean, wearing their best clothes, talking, laughing, smiling; the races were divided into their respectable groups now, but that would soon change. Breathless with wonder, Kamilé caught vague scents of perfume and food wafting from the crowd, and heard distant music beneath the noise of chatter, laughter, and footsteps. It was beyond amazing…it was wonderful.

WOW! she gasped, clasping her hands and bouncing on her heels. Wow, wow, wow, oh…WOW…!

Everan almost, almost smiled. You like it? They were working on it for a long time, I saw ‘em…

She jumped on him, hugging the breath right out of him. It’s so pretty, Everan, it’s the best birthday present ever, ever, EVER!

Ick… He pushed her off of him for what must have been the tenth time that day. No hugging, and it’s not your birthday present, I TOLD you it wasn’t…

She ignored the warning, refusing to refuse him of the affection he deserved. But Everan, ‘s the nicest present ever, and ‘s not fair ‘cause I didn’t get you nothing else…

He attempted to shove her away again, but it didn’t work this time. It’s just…I just thought you’d like it…I didn’t do it…

You’re SO nice…you’re really really really nice, Everan, why’d you do all that just for ME, I woulda got you something better, I would’ve, really…

Ow…Kamilé, I SAID no hugging…

Oh. She let go, though not without a parting shot at his dignity. Y’know, you can’t go and act like a boy when you’re really NOT, silly—

Don’t call me a girl, he said sternly. Dammit…try to do something nice…

Just to prove that he was no older than her, and couldn’t boss her around, she grabbed him and kissed him on the cheek. He nearly suffocated, gagging with disgust and scrubbing hard at the spot with endless profanities and exclamations to accompany. He was furious; they would’ve gotten into a fist-fight then and there if Kamilé hadn’t pulled him headfirst into the crows, laughing excitedly as she gasped and pointed at everything she saw, every turn of her head bringing a new surprise.

Around them were people everywhere, but they could never get a clear view of what and whom—they saw kneecaps, belt buckles, elbows, abdomens, chests of children around their age, which annoyed them immensely, but they ignored it. Overall, there was a musty, crowded smell of people—the smell of grass and tree sap from elves, the smell of salt- and freshwater form merpeople, the smell of white smoke and fresh air from humans, the smell of dark earth and stone from dwarves. Kamilé saw with her eyes wide stones that were clear and bright around people’s necks and fingers—jewels, Everan told her—bright cloth, every shade of hair and eyes and skin, smelled the scent of the flowers, pine needles, hot food, perfume…so many scents that her nose kept twitching, her keen elven senses overpowered. They had never seen so many people all at once, had never been assailed by so many sighs, sounds, smells.

Everan, look! she cried, giggling madly and pointing this way and that. See that, that thing over there? And that? And what’s that dwarfy guy doing? And what’s THAT? She was completely overwhelmed by the decorated square, teeming with people of all kinds…it was really, really cool. Ooh, didja do all this just got me, Everan? You’re the best twin brother EVER!

I don’t think there ARE any other twins, he objected—it was all moving a little too quickly for him. And I didn’t do it for you…I mean, it wasn’t me…the elves did it for the other people, but I would’ve…if I’d thought of it…I mean…ooh… By then, he was confusing himself.

But Kamilé didn’t hear a word of it, and refused to believe that her twin was anything less than the nicest, most considerate and most perfect person in the whole world. Poor Everan, as shy and reclusive as he was, couldn’t bear keeping this false image up much longer.

I was just…just trying to…make you feel better…

This is the best birthday ever! she squealed, hugging him so fast that he couldn’t catch her to resist. Being eleven is so cool, let’s be eleven forever, Everan, can we? ‘Cause I—

But then she broke off with a gasp of sheer delight. She tugged on

oooh, it gets better ninja

And by better I mean, better for me.

Which usually means worser for them.

>.>
<.<