“Fine,” I said. “I’ll walk around and see what’s outside the pavilion.” I headed in that direction, awash in the music and the scent of fairy trees. I had searched the branches on the way here for white fruit, for an overlooked wish. I hadn’t seen any.
At the back of the pavilion, a garden spread out that put the castle’s to shame. Lampposts lined alabaster paths, spilling gentle blue light everywhere. A mixture of flowers made the ground look like exotic bouquets were growing everywhere. Intricately-carved stone benches sat behind a pond with a fountain gurgling from the middle. I strolled around the pond, watching silver fish dart around the edges.
“Donovan?” I whispered. I didn’t know if he’d followed me or was still inside the pavilion scoping things out.
No one answered. It was silly to feel disappointed. Donovan had kissed me, but that didn’t mean he had to shadow me twenty-four seven.
Don’t turn into one of those naive girls who meets a guy and thinks she’s in love, I told myself firmly.
I’m not, I told myself back.
It’s a good thing my nose didn’t grow when I thought lies. I still felt a sort of shiny gladness at the thought of Donovan, a desire to hum a love song, an urge to write one.
Ridiculous. I couldn’t be in love, not really, not this fast. I was more reasonable than that. But then, how did people know for sure? People talked about love at first sight. By that measure, love that took place the next day seemed downright reasonable.
My parents said they loved me before I was born. Clearly love came in many different shades. Was what I felt now one of them?
I kept walking around the pond. Diamond trees lined the path, glittering and wishless. Finally I sat on a bench and gazed at the golden light flecking the fountain water. It was such a beautiful setting, such a romantic one. Would it be so bad if Donovan and I had to stay here?
If I had to choose someplace to be stuck, this wasn’t the worst place.
A noise to my side made me jump.
“It’s just me,” Donovan said. “Can you believe this orchard? There are more diamond trees here than in the forest.”
I had noticed diamond trees rimming the pavilion. Apparently more grew in the surrounding gardens.
Donovan’s hand appeared from underneath his cloak, untangling three small twigs. A silver, a gold and one with a diamond hanging from its end. “I didn’t see any ripe wishes,” he said. “Only diamonds.” He let out a small laugh. “That’s a phrase I never thought I’d hear coming from my mouth.”
“Don’t pick anything here,” I said. “We don’t want to set off any owls—and that’s also a phrase I never thought I’d say.”
He turned the twigs in his hand, making them glitter in the lamplight. “How do trees make silver, gold, or diamonds? I can’t wrap my mind around it.”
I ran my finger across a golden leaf, feeling its unbending ridges. “Is it any stranger than the way trees take water, dirt, and sunshine and make those into peaches, pears, and oranges?”
Kailen was right. Magic was all around us. We just didn’t see it most of the time.
Donovan put the twigs back into his cloak. “Peaches are made through science, not magic.”
“As my fairy godmother told me, ‘True magic, like true love, is open to interpretation.’”
“I imagine the chlorophyll in the trees’ cells help.”
I couldn’t comment on that. I’d forgotten what I’d learned in biology about plant cells. Donovan seemed to know more about most subjects than I did, and it bothered me I kept coming up short. I wanted to be one of those people who could talk about any number of subjects. But I wasn’t.
Back on the dance floor, the princesses’ dresses swirled across the room, colors swishing like blossoms in a breeze. Queen Orlaith sat watching them, waiting for their love to cure her trees. So far, the trees didn’t look any different than they’d looked last night.
“What do you think true love is?” I asked.
“It’s walking two miles to an all-night pharmacy to get medicine when your brother is sick.”
I glanced at where Donovan sat, forgetting I couldn’t see him. “You did that for Shane?”
“No, he did that for me.”
And that was why we couldn’t stay here. Donovan would never be happy here, not when his brother needed him.
“We’ll get back,” I said.
“Right.” He didn’t sound certain.
“What’s the first thing you’ll do when you get back home?” I asked so he’d think about happier things.
“I’ll call you to make sure you got back home too. Which reminds me . . . you’d better give me your number.”
I did and then asked for his. Once I’d memorized it, I said, “What’s the second thing you’re going to do when you get home?”
“Am I still on the phone with you?”
“Sure. And we’ve set up a date for next weekend. We’ll do something we’re both good at.”
“What would that be? Stealing? Monster truck racing? Evading the police?”
I nudge him. “No, dancing. Seriously, have you really ever been monster truck racing?”
“There’s always a first.” His cloak brushed against my arm, then his fingers caressed the back of my hand. It looked odd—my hand had vanished. I didn’t move away though. Just that small caress made me want to lean into him and disappear all the way.
“After I hang up with you,” he said, returning to my question, “I’ll buy planting supplies, graft my branches onto a normal tree, and see if they take.”
“I can see wanting silver and gold trees, but the diamond branches? Do you actually want more wishes? They seem a lot more trouble than they’re worth.”
“Wishes, yes. But a tree with diamond fruit would be nice. I’ll pick them before they’re ripe.”
“You never did tell me how you got your wishes.”
He didn’t answer. I didn’t like that I couldn’t see his face, couldn’t read his eyes. “Come on,” I prodded. “It couldn’t be more embarrassing than my experience.”
His clothes rustled a bit, indicating he was shifting on the bench. “Back in Hamilton, I was walking home from my job at the lumber store . . .”
He hauled lumber around. That, I supposed, explained his muscles.
“It had rained earlier,” he went on, “and the night was getting cold. I saw a homeless lady sitting by the building, shivering, so I took off my coat and gave it to her. The next thing I knew the homeless lady vanished and Jade Blossom stood in her place. The rest, you know.”
“You gave a fairy in disguise your coat?” I should have figured as much. That’s how the soldier got his fairy godmother in the story. Still, it surprised me. Impressed me. Living in my suburban neighborhood, I didn’t think about people shivering in the cold. Would I have given my coat to a homeless woman? Donovan had done it even though he had so little.
Donovan squeezed my hand. “I told you it wasn’t going to make you feel better about your own story.”
“But it makes me feel good about you.”
Too good. Melting good. Maybe I wasn’t a reasonable girl after all.
We talked about other things as we sat watching the fountain splash into the pond. School, family, what we planned to do in the future. Donovan wanted to go to college and major in business.
“You’ll go to college?” I asked. “Even if you bring back gold, silver, and diamonds to live off of?”
“Money is gone once you spend it. An education stays with you. Besides, why shouldn’t I know as much as everybody else?”
I opened my mouth to say I was skipping college to work on my music career, but the words didn’t come out. I wasn’t sure about that choice anymore. Suddenly I wanted to know as much as everybody else—or at least as much as Donovan. If I skipped college, would I end up like Jason, only talking about myself?
I could go to college and still work on my music. I could study Bach and Beethoven, learn how different composers approached music, and be well-rounded. And another plus—maybe people would forget about my viral video in four years when I tried a music career again.