“Then just imagine you’re about to be taken on an adventure in a book.” He smiles and bites into the pizza. His eyes go wide and I swear his pointy ears twitch several times. “This is so good!” he says with his mouth full.
I offer him a wide smile and dig in too, despite the waves of hot and cold clashing inside me. “But I have a life here. Friends. Grandparents. I can’t just leave.”
Tristan hums. “Hm. How about I eat and you tell me more about all that?”
I pick up a slice of my vegan pepperoni, trying to work out how much I believe my own senses, because everything I know denies the existence of what he just showed me. Am I hallucinating?
I pinch the side of my throat so hard it almost brings tears to my eyes, but Tristan remains where he was, rolling the softer end of his slice up so it doesn’t flop and lose some of the toppings. But that’s still not enough, and after a moment’s hesitation, I reach to his massive plate and pick a piece of hardened dough from the very edge. It tastes… like pizza, and clearly exists too.
“So… I live with my friend, Viola, who helped me do my hair tonight.”
“Very pretty,” he says between one bite and another. “Black and wavy like the Sea of Sorrows.”
Tristan wraps an entire slice of pizza into a roulade of meat and cheese and stuffs it into his mouth whole. Well, that settles it. I shall be the one to speak.
“My parents died in a car accident when I was still a toddler, so I was raised by my grandparents, on their farm. They are the best people I know, and I try to live in a way that will make them proud.
“They do know I’m gay, and Grandma specifically kept saying positive things about the community to encourage me, and I did eventually come out to them at the end of high school. They sold the farm last year and are currently on a year-long cruise. I miss them, because they are getting old, and we will only have so much time together, but they said they don’t want me to organize my life around theirs.” I run out of steam and quickly fill my mouth with the pizza, which tastes surprisingly bland today. Maybe because everything that happened has been such a rollercoaster… I’m about to tell him about my job, but then I realize I got fired and I don’t want to sound like a loser, so I skip that whole topic. “Do you… have family?”
Tristan nods and pokes my foot with his. “My father died, and my mother is away often, but I have a sister who just had a baby last year. Can you imagine he’s called Nathan? What are the odds? A human friend of mine suggested it, saying that it’s very nice and respectable.”
I find myself nodding as the reality of my job loss sinks in. What if my manager sends warnings about my conduct to other vet clinics in the area? What if I need to have a long commute or move somewhere else altogether, all because I tried to do something good?
“It is. A lovely name, I mean.”
“For lovely people, apparently,” Tristan adds, winking at me, and heat rises to my cheeks.
“A human friend? How many humans are there where you’re from?”
Tristan glances through the window with a thoughtful expression. “Three at the moment at the Nocturne Court, but Carol and Lady Gueneviere were planning a trip, so I’m not sure if you will get to meet them as soon as you come.”
This is way too much information, and not having the proper context is making it all spin in my head with no rhyme or reason. “But why? You mentioned I made a bond. What for? Why are you abducting people?”
He raises his hands, palms up, but it takes him a while to swallow before he can speak. “I didn’t put you in the River of Souls. You died. Souls that end up in that river the way yours did are filled with despair. I don’t know the exact mechanics of it, but the shadow of a person pulled out of its waters can be used for shadowcraft. You are now Captain Lorsen Gloombane’s promised, and on the next full moon, he will make you his Dark Companion. Once the bond is forged he will be able to use your shadow.”
All this just sounds like a fairytale.
Or the plot of a romantasy novel.
“He didn’t seem to like me much.”
Tristan waves it off. “He’ll get over himself. Some Dark Companions don’t even spend that much time with the one they’re bound to.” He pokes my foot again with a smile. “So what other hurdles do we have? You want to say goodbye to your friends?”
My first thought is that I do need to inform those closest to me if I’m to disappear, but— “Wait, I will be able to visit, right? I can’t just never see my grandparents again,” I say, shocked that I’m discussing this strange situation as if it’s very real and similar to moving to the other side of the world.
“I’m here, right? So while it’s a journey and needs to be approved, you will be able to visit. Are you excited? This is my fourth visit to the human realm, and I love discovering new things here. The Nocturne Court will amaze you. The title of Captain Gloombane’s Dark Companion comes with privileges you cannot even fathom.”
The moment he says the wordcourt, I imagine myself dressed in fancy clothes on a balcony and him serenading from down in the garden.
I’m so embarrassing.
At twenty-five I really should be more focused on reality rather than fantasy, but fantasies do come true sometimes. My grandparents love each other like crazy. Why would I be willing to accept any less?
Well, the magic, unicorns, and being the chosen one would definitely be a bonus.
“What does this entail exactly?” I ask, because if this is something creepy, I’m running. “What will I do all day? What will Gloombane expect of me?”
“You will most likely have a duty to practice with him, so he can safely use your shadow, but other than that, it all depends on your preference. You won’t have to earn your keep.”
