I lifted my head, which had fallen to rest on his shoulder, to look at his face.

“A month?”

He tipped his chin to catch my eyes.

“I wish you to see the Doors. I also wish you to see the Lights.”

“The Doors and the Lights?”

He nodded and explained.

“The Doors are in the southern part of the Great Thicket Forest. Centuries ago, gnomes made their homes in the trees, using magic. They carved out the trunks and built up, but in so doing, their castings kept the trees alive, which they still are to this day. The gnomes still live in them, and if they allow you in,” he grinned at me, “and they like me, so they allow me in, they’ll show you.”

“Of course they like you,” I said.

He made no reply, just gave me a squeeze. But the skin around his eyes softened.

“And that sounds remarkable,” I continued.

“It is,” he agreed. “Mighty trees with these beautifully carved doors in the trunks, dozens upon dozens of them. I can only stick my head in and look up in most of them. Some of the bigger ones, I can enter, only crouched low. But they’re extraordinary and they’d be most proud to show you.”

“I would like that,” I said softly. “And the Lights?”

“Direct in the middle of Great Thicket,” he shared. “There’s a tall rise there, and I do not know what causes it, you can’t see them anywhere else in Wodell, but some nights, the skies dance with lights. Bright pinks and blues and greens and violets. The sprites have hung lights in the trees that are attuned to the dancing lights. When the skies light up, little balls illuminate in the trees. It doesn’t happen every night. It doesn’t even happen often. But when it does, it’s magnificent.”

“It sounds so,” I agreed, for it did. I’d never heard of anything like it.

“We shall hope it happens when we’re there. And we’ll remain if they don’t, for a time, to see if they will. There’s a charming village close by with an inn that has warm, inviting rooms and a pub where they make delicious pies and sandwiches. There’s also a bakery that makes chocolate custard swirls, the best in Wodell. And a shop that sells crystals from all over the earth. Even the Northlands and Southlands and Mystics.”

“I may wish to go there just for the village.”

His face grew gentle and he used the backs of his knuckles to stroke up on down my arm, murmuring, “You need some magic, sweets. And you need some time. Last, you need to fall in love with your new home.”

“The Beast is rising, True,” I reminded him.