“I’m not,” he amiablyagreed.
Angelique scowled. “I mean it. You’re.Not.Dead!”
He nodded. “Quiteso.”
She made a noise of irritation and scratched her head. “Then why do youlooklike you’redying?”
“Angel.” A playful smile that was sofamiliarit made Angelique’s heart ache lingered around the corners of Dream Evariste’s mouth. “When I get back, we need to revisit your lessons on bedsidemanners.”
Her throat nearly closed, and her eyesstung.
It’s so bittersweet to see him likethis.
She impatiently clasped her hands together. “Yes. Well. When I do find you, we’ll have much bigger problems to address.” She frowned as she stared at the familiar forest. “My magic being one ofthem.”
He touched her elbow, almost making her leap out of her skin. “Did something happen?” heasked.
She couldn’t bring herself to look up.If I see another one of his smiles, I’ll start crying again, and that’s probably the most useless thing a person can do inside adream.
“No.” Her voice was unnaturally high. She cleared her throat and tried again. “No. Or rather, something happened, but I can’t say it’s unexpected given the events of the past fiveyears.”
“Ah.”
A muscle twitched in Angelique’s cheek at that oh-too-familiar sound of understanding and sympathy.It’s not him. It’s just a dream.She stared down at the hem of her skirt and wished she’d wake up, no matter how tired she was from the wyvernfight.
“If that’s so, then I’ve a question for you. Where are we?” Dream Evariste motioned to the surrounding forest—which was cheerful and noisy with the song of birds and the occasional yip of a fox. “I haven’t been everywhere on this continent, but very nearly, and I don’t particularly recognize thisforest.”
“Of course you would want to talk about this place. If it’s going to be a torturous night, we might as well go for maximum pain,right?”
“If it brings you pain, we don’t have to speak ofit.”
Angelique scratched her nose, aware that Dream Evariste stepped even closer so their arms were always touching.It seems I am disgustingly needy, if Dream Evariste’s actions are anything to goby.
She slightly shook her head. “No, no. If I’m going through all this effort in my own dreams, I might as well face my mountain of guilt.” Angelique crossed the small clearing—hopping over the stump in the middle. She slipped past the first layer of trees and peeled back the branches of a bush to reveal an idyllicvillage.
It was a tiny town with only a handful of brick-and-plaster buildings that were worn gray with age. But most windows had brightly painted flower or herb boxes, and the cobblestone village square was painstakingly clean. Smoke curled from tall chimneys, and geese chuckled as a boy chased them off to graze in the green grass surrounding thevillage.
This close to the town, Angelique could hear the villagers call out to one another with laughter in theirvoices.
“What village is this?” Dream Evaristeasked.
She watched a villager draw water from the well. “The village I grew up in:Joie.”
“Oh,” Dream Evaristesaid.
Angelique pursed her lips. “That was an ‘oh’ ofjudgement.”
“Not at all. Rather, the size of your town explains something that had always bothered me,” Dream Evariste said. “You arrived at Luxi-Domus rather late. Usually fairy godmothers and godfathers find children with magic when they are much younger. But given the size of your hometown, it is perhaps not so surprising they didn’t find you until your magic emerged. But I’ve also always wondered what sort of place you grew upin.”
Angelique couldn’t peel her eyes away from her village. “It doesn’t look like this anymore. When the goblins attacked, they destroyed a couplebuildings.”
Dream Evariste took Angelique’s hand and squeezed it. “You are referring to the goblin attack in which both of your parents died and your magicmanifested?”
She had no words. She could onlynod.
They watched Joie in silence. Dream Evariste rubbed his thumb across the top of her hand, but she was so lost in her regrets, she hardly feltit.
“I could have saved them,” she said abruptly. “If I had used my magic sooner, I could have killed the goblinsasthey attacked—not after. My parents and all the other casualties could have lived if I’d just moved a littlesooner.”
