"Maybe dark and broody does it for her?" he said.
Valentine pulled a face. "Don't be childish."
"It's more to do with your magic," Charlotte said and slipped onto the bench beside Reeve. "She's never seen anything like it before. So dark, but you aren't evil."
"Not yet anyway," Apollo slurred. Charlotte kicked him under the table. "Ow! That was mean."
"Keep it up, and I'll get Lachie to take your fool ass home," Reeve threatened.
Apollo muttered under his breath but went back to his food.
"Why does she care about my power? None of the other dragons do. She's the kind of girl that would cry over a butterfly, not be curious about dark magic," Valentine said, his words slurring just a little. He was more wasted than Apollo but was hiding it better.
Charlotte snorted, trying to hold back her laughter. "No, she isn't. You know why she's here with the knights? Because she's so powerful, she terrifies the rest of Taran's court. They are worried if they step out of line when Taran is not there to control her, Yelena will eviscerate them."
"Baby Girl Galadriel couldn't eviscerate shit," Valentine argued.
Bas let their drunken rantings wash over him and gently dissociated from his body. He instantly felt calmer. It wassomething he had done since he was a boy when all his brothers’ personalities became too much for him to deal with. It probably wasn't healthy, but his magic was all about his mind, and letting his consciousness go off to the astral plane was as easy as breathing. His body was in no danger where it was, and his family was used to him drifting off into his own little world.
Instead of his usual mind palace, Bas found himself walking through a forest in the astral plane. He had never been there before, but the astral plane was infinite in space and weirdness. As long as he was careful of anything that would try and eat his consciousness, he was totally safe.
The forest was brightly lit with twisting gold and green trees. Like a lot of places in the astral plane, the usual laws of nature didn't apply. Trees were covered in autumn leaves, sitting next to those in full spring plumage. He crossed a pretty bubbling stream of crystal clear water. Nothing tried to jump out and eat him, which was nice. He followed the path and began to spot stone statues of animals in the trees, along with stately people who looked like they could have been gods and goddesses.
"So this is feeling more and more Narnia by the second," he whispered under his breath. He kept walking until he found the ruins of a great building that looked like a Gothic cathedral that had been overrun by trees.
Inside was filled with piles and piles of books. It was like someone had dumped the Library of Alexandria in the middle of a fairytale forest.
The rustle of a page turning had him looking behind him. A woman was sitting in the bower of a tree that was filled with velvet cushions. Her black hair was in braided pigtails that hung to her shoulders, and she had a small spray of freckles over one golden brown cheek.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" she demanded, making Bas startle.
"Ah…" he said.
"You can't be in here! This is my mind palace, and you aren't welcome," the woman said, lifting a heavy tome like she would slog him with it.
Bas lifted his hands in surrender. "I hate to be the one to break it to you, sweetheart, but this isn't a mind palace. It's the astral plane."
"No, it's not. It'smymind palace, and I don't think I would create some scruffy nerd to bother me." She was still holding the book defensively in front of her. Her bower was higher than him, and he couldn't see what other weapons she had up there.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, keeping his hands up. "But I don't understand how it's possible I am in your mind palace right now when I specifically went to the astral plane."
The woman laughed. "Haven't you figured it out yet? Anything is possible here, nerd," she said and tossed the book at him. Bas caught it before it could hit him, and the woman was suddenly a hawk. She dive-bombed him, making him duck, and then she was gone.
"What in all the fuck…" he murmured.
Strong hands shook him, and Bas hit his body with a start. Apollo was shaking him. "Hey, you in there, little…little Bas bro?"
"Yeah, I'm here," Bas said, jittery still from being ripped back into his body.
He had never seen someone transform like that so quickly in an astral plane before apart from him. What the hell was that all about? Who the hell was she? If hehadbeen in her mind palace, he didn't know how that was possible either.
Bas rubbed his smoke-sore eyes. Maybe the elves had put some fun mushrooms in their mead. "What's wrong, Apollo?"
"Need…need you to take me somewhere to lie down," Apollo said, resting his head on Bas's shoulder. "Gonna pass out. Too much magic in the air."
Now that he mentioned it, Bas could feel currents of power rising up from the earth. It was close to midnight, and he had to assume it was just a part of the elf's bond with their land that made the natural power almost heady on a solstice.
Was that the reason he had casually wandered into someone else's head? It was a worrying thought, but the magician in him was intrigued.
