Total pages in book: 208
Estimated words: 209645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1048(@200wpm)___ 839(@250wpm)___ 699(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1048(@200wpm)___ 839(@250wpm)___ 699(@300wpm)
There was nothing for several steps.
And then the entire forest came alive.
Vines swinging. Branches shaking. Leaves rustling.
Gnomes approaching from every side.
And that was when I witnessed what Silence told me I’d see.
We had been treated with deference by everyone we met throughout our journey so far.
And outside me thinking that True’s guard was rather small for his personage (yet I never felt concern we were in danger due to the manner in which True interacted with people, and the way they reacted to him) I had not seen this.
Welbrix and Galbdor might tease their prince and further do so by flirting with his woman.
But the rest did not, it would seem, even notice I was there.
By the time two or three had arrived at him, True was swept away from me by gnomes crowding him, touching him, clasping his hands and dragging him, with many more joining them as they went.
He smiled down at them, greeted many by name, shook hands, and often glanced back at me, only ceasing in doing this when he saw Alfie and Wallace take places at my sides, grips on my hands, and continue to help me across the damp leaves at my feet.
In fact, I was so fascinated by watching True with his people, the way they greeted him, chattered at him, welcoming him into their place like he was a favored son returning from a long adventure and they missed him, I did not notice we’d entered The Doors.
But when I did, I stopped short and stared about me in awe.
The trees here were far stouter and much taller than elsewhere.
And I knew then that I had not yet encountered the magic that was Wodell.
This was the magic that was Wodell.
The sunlight shafted down, seeming diffused, softened, and I did not know how.
And there were doors.
Doors everywhere.
Some seemed hidden, like the mouths of caves, in a tangle of vines.
Some were majestic, with grand, sweeping steps carved in the expanse of great roots at the base of the trees, guiding you to elegant double doors in the trunk.
Others had simple stepping stones leading to extraordinary wooden doors shafted with curlicue iron hinges.
And still others had shallow, hewn-stone steps that time had covered with moss and dusted with packed dirt and leaves that led up to the door in the tree.
One had a wide, studded wooden door, a lantern at the side, and a window protruding from the tree above it with diamond panes in the glass.
Indeed, there were many iron lanterns lit against the dim of the forest floor that did not see shafts of sunlight. These were overhanging a web of paths between the trees, but they stood perhaps only four feet high (thus I made note to keep track of them as I walked, for I didn’t want to run into any of them).
The earth was a tangle of great exposed roots as well as dirt, turf, and fallen autumn leaves.
And the earth was not flat but held gentle, undulating swells that in the end rose up relatively high so all you could see was the homes built in nature speared with sunlight and dotted with lanterns, cut by earthen paths.
I took it all in, slowly pivoting to do so, Alfie and Wallace stepping away to give me an unhindered view.
And when I finished, I whispered, “It’s simply magnificent.”
I sought True with my eyes, only to find him again smiling at me (as it seemed this was one of True’s most favorite things to do).
“I’ve never seen anything this beautiful, True,” I told him where he stood some fifteen feet away, thus I had to raise my voice. “And I’ve seen the sun rise over Fire Lake. I thought I’d never see anything as beautiful as that. But this…” I swung my hand out. “Nothing is more wonderful than this.”
When I stopped speaking, it took some moments to realize there was a hush in the forest.
And when I realized that, I again became aware that True and I were very much not alone.
I felt a tug on my skirts and looked down to see Galbdor.
“You need ale,” he declared.
And a cheer rang up. It was not great, but it was jolly, and that was when I found myself swept in a sea of gnomes.
It nearly swept me past True, but he caught me in his arms and held me there, awarding me that beautiful smile on his handsome face, but this time, up close.
However, something else was there too.
I felt my breath catch at that something else.
Right before I felt my belly dip when he bent his head and pressed his lips hard to mine.
Another cheer rang up, but this one was loud, and True released my lips.
“I’m pleased you like it, darling,” he whispered.
Still feeling his lips against mine, smelling the musk of him mixed with forest, a scent that was the perfect combination, and truly the most beautiful thing I’d ever smelled, I could do nothing but gaze up at him.