Hidden Deep (24 page)

Lad’s expression was miserable. I hoped he was. How could he keep such a secret from me?

“
That’s
why your men broke the rules and responded to me when I ran through the woods with your necklace, screaming your name. They weren’t going to take any chances with the life of the prince, were they? That’s why I was allowed to come with you. And stay. Why I’m allowed to be walking around here now with you. No one else would get away with blatantly breaking the rules, would they? But they can’t stop you—because… you’re their ruler.”

Why was this so shocking after the discovery that I had fallen for an Elf? I wasn’t sure—but the knowledge that he was, in fact, an Elven
prince
was just about to send me over the edge.

“No,” came his quiet reply.

“No, you’re not a prince? I thought you never lied.” My tone was surly.

“I’m not their ruler. Not yet. My father is the ruler of the Light Elves. I am his heir.” Lad didn’t seem proud of the fact. His voice was quiet and solemn. When I didn’t reply, he looked over at me, his brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

“No!” Several heads turned in the direction of my raised voice. “No,” I began again more quietly. “I am definitely not okay. I never even believed in Santa Claus for God’s sake—not the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy or… or… Cinderella and Prince Charming.”

Lad’s forehead furrowed. “Don’t most children in this country believe in those legends?”

“Yes,” I hissed in irritation. “But not me. Oh no—my parents didn’t want to fill
my
head with make-believe—that would have created confusion between what’s real and what’s fantasy. Ha! And now, here I am—me—talking to the Prince of Elves in his magical underground kingdom.”

My sarcastic sing-song tone made Lad’s eyes turn sorrowful. But I was finally,
finally
beginning to get it through my head. Sure, I felt closer to Lad than I’d ever felt to anyone other than my parents and grandma. Lad understood me. He cared for me—I knew it. But This. Was. Impossible.

I looked at my hands and realized they were shaking. Tears were sure to be next—the pressure was already building behind my eyes.

Lad pulled at my hand, and I stiffened my legs like a mule refusing to be moved. Then he placed one arm around my back and gently guided me along the path as it sloped upward into the dark river cavern.

His voice was soothing, low, and quiet. “It’s all right. Everything’s fine. Come on, Ryann. We’ll sit and talk.”

I shuffled along beside him in silence. After walking a ways in relative darkness, we came to another open space, lit by a crevice in the rock overhead. In the center was a basin of crystal clear water, fed by a waterfall. From the surface above, it must have looked like a rocky hillside. Underneath, from our vantage point, the crack served as a perfect skylight to illuminate the beautiful underground pool.

Lad sat on a rock at the water’s edge and gathered me into his lap, cradling me in his arms. The gurgling sound of the flume spilling into the pool began the work of soothing my sprung nerves. He rocked me gently, allowing me no wiggle room as he crushed me against his chest.

I started sweating from the heat of his body, and still, I didn’t move, just sat passively on his lap with the side of my face pressed against his sauna-like warmth. That felt real, if nothing else in the world did at the moment.

“This is why I didn’t tell you,” he softly crooned to me. “It’s too much. You’re okay, my sweet girl.” He continued the gentle rocking motion, petting my hair, trying to give me comfort.

Finally I lifted my head and looked at his face. Lad smiled at me. Then he laughed softly at my expression, a light coming into his eyes. “Oh no, don’t tell me… you’re going to ask me if I’m real again, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Yes, I am. Tell me I’m not crazy, Lad, please.”

“Of course I’m real, love. I’m still just me. And you are perfectly sane—unfortunate, but sane. It’s my fault—you’ve simply become involved in something you were never supposed to know about. As I said, it’s too much for humans to handle. It makes you question reality. Do you see what I mean now? Imagine if others found out about us, too. If Elves are real then what else is possible? Ghosts? Aliens? It’s too frightening for humans to believe.” He pressed his nose and lips softly against my cheek. “Are you still mad at me?”

“No.” I realized it was true as I said it. I wasn’t mad anymore. I understood why he didn’t tell me, and I was starting to accept what it meant for us. I sat safely wrapped in his arms for a long time. My breathing calmed, and my mind gradually cleared.

I became aware of splashing noises coming from the pool and lifted my head to look. A group of children, probably two or three years old, were swimming and playing, their perfect tiny naked bodies the closest thing I’d seen to chubbiness since arriving in this unreal place. Shrieks of delight and peals of musical laughter filled the air and echoed off the cavern walls and low ceiling.

Several young women sat at the edge of the water supervising the toddlers, silent except for the occasional responsive laugh. They looked slightly older than me and possessed the physical markers I’d come to learn were common to all Elven females—long, curling hair, luminous skin, slender, muscular bodies. Put simply, they were flawless. The whole scene had the atmosphere of a classical oil painting depicting bathing nymphs.

“They’re so gorgeous,” I whispered, watching the lithesome babysitters adorning the shoreline. In the presence of these perfected beings, I felt like a dumpy extra on a film set. “They must look at me and wonder why you would bother with a human at all.”

“Ryann.” Lad sighed, shifting me to the side so he could stand and stretch. “What will it take to make you believe me? You are the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen—probably the prettiest girl in the world.”

“You must not have seen much of the world,” I muttered, but I couldn’t help feeling a little pleased. “Or maybe
you’re
the one who’s crazy.”

He walked over to the tiny beach, glancing back at me and looking one hundred percent adorable. I had to grin at him. His answering smile almost hurt my heart, but I wouldn’t let it. Not now. These were probably my last few moments with Lad.
I should enjoy them.

Lad abruptly stooped and swept his hand through the water, purposely splashing me and laughing.

“Oh… you’ve done it now. Prepare to get soaked, Your Majesty.” I leapt from my perch on the rock to the shoreline.

Lad let out a laughing yelp as he contorted and swerved to miss the payback splash. The lovely caretakers silently gathered up the children and left the pool area, sneaking glances at us as they passed by. From the kids, I got some funny faces and even friendly grins.

When Lad and I were alone again, he stretched his hands out to me, inviting me to come to him. I walked slowly to face him and placed my hands in his palms.

“There’s one more thing I want to show you before we go.” A sly smile crept across his face.

“What?” I was suspicious, but not suspicious enough.

“This!” With a loud whoop, he grabbed me and jumped into the water, pulling me under with him. We both came up laughing and dripping.

“Well,” I huffed with feigned indignation, wiping water out of my eyes. “That is not exactly regal behavior fit for a prince.”

He swam backward a few strokes. “I’m not a very regal prince. As I’ve told you, I’m an utter disappointment.”

“Maybe…” I swam after him, enjoying myself. “…you’re sowing your royal oats before settling down with a nice Elven girl and getting to the business of running the kingdom, like a good little monarch.”

“Hmmph,” Lad growled then disappeared under the surface.

Warm fingers closed around my ankle and jerked me under the water. In a flash, Lad’s arms were around me. He brought me back up with him, my body pressed against his chest in a tight embrace. He shifted one arm, sweeping my legs out from under me, to cradle me against him in the water. Our faces were level now, giving me a breathtaking view of his green eyes, which looked almost turquoise reflecting the pool.

I shivered once in spite of the comfortable water temperature. “Hey, why am I not freezing right now?”

“It could be thanks to your own personal water heater.” He dipped his chin in a gallant gesture. “Or it might be because there’s a hot spring emptying into this pool.”

Lad walked in slow circles, carrying me like a baby while I enjoyed the pleasant warmth of the water swirling around us. My gaze wandered over the sides and ceiling of our rocky enclosure. They were encrusted with sparkling clear crystals and dotted with the now-familiar multi-colored luminescent stones.

“It’s magical here,” I whispered. I needed to remember every detail of this place. And of him. I looked back at Lad and drank in the sight of his wet face, beads of water dripping from his dark golden hair and glistening on his face. Leaning in, I playfully licked one from his top lip.

The sharp intake of his breath echoed in the quiet stillness of the pool cavern. He went perfectly still for a moment, though I detected a rush of heated thoughts charging behind his eyes. Then he released his pent-up breath.

“I have to take you home,” he hissed, tension evident in his voice. “If we start what I’d like to start right now, I may never let you go back.”

The woods seemed overly bright compared to where I’d spent the last few days. On the walk home, Lad moved as gracefully as he had before his injury.

“How do you feel?”

“Good as new.” He squeezed my hand.

“I’m surprised your father let you leave with me—I’m surprised he let
me
leave at all.”

“Well, truthfully, there was some disagreement on the issue. I assured him it would be fine with me if you stayed indefinitely. That, of course, convinced him you should leave as soon as possible.” A small bitter laugh left his lips. He looked sideways at me, checking my reaction.

“I’m sure. And he’s not worried I’ll tell someone about y’all?”

“Well.” He twisted his mouth then let it widen into a grin. “I
sort of
promised to glamour you until you couldn’t remember your own birthday.”

“Are you going to?” I teased him, sticking my chest out, daring him to try.

“No. Of course not—even if I
could
. I trust you. Anyway, I’m recovered, you’re on your way home, and as far as my parents are concerned, life can go back to normal now.”

“Yes, I bet there’ll be a big party in Elf Land tonight—Ding Dong the human is gone.”

“
I
will certainly not be in a celebratory mood. And please… don’t call it Elf Land. That sounds absurd.”

“You’re right. Elves on the TV and radio, an entire secret kingdom right under our feet—perfectly reasonable. Calling it Elf Land—absurd.”

“Really. We
do
have a name for our home that doesn’t make it sound like an amusement park. Altum. Translated into your language, it means roughly, ‘deep water.’ It’s named for our subterranean river.”

“That
is
a little better than Elf Land,” I conceded.

As we neared my house, I was surprised to see a man turning away from the front door and descending the steps. Stopping in the yard, Lad stood tensely beside me but made no attempt to hide. Apparently he wasn’t willing to leave me alone in the presence of a stranger again.

The guy was clean cut and wearing a suit—not exactly dangerous looking—but then Grandma’s house was rather off the beaten path for a traveling salesman, and with my mom out of town, I didn’t like his timing. He looked up, spotting Lad and me, then changed direction and started toward us, a huge smile plastered across his face.

“You must be Ryann!” he bellowed.

“Um, yes, and you are?”

“Tom Barr.” He stuck out his hand, looking at Lad and back to me. “You kids been swimming?”

“Yes.” I watched the man survey the property in search of a swimming pool and reached out to shake his offered hand.

“I came by to see if I could catch your mother but didn’t get an answer at the door.”

I was confused. She hadn’t told me she was seeing anyone new. “She’s… out right now. Are y’all… dating?”

“Oh, no,” he chortled.

My relief was instantaneous, but I still didn’t know who this guy was and what he wanted with my mother. He obviously read my expression.

“You may be asking yourself, ‘Who is Tom Barr?’ I work for Meyer Industries.” He widened his oily smile. “We’re a paper products manufacturer in Yalobusha County, and we offer local timber growers fair prices for their crops. I’ve been talking to your mother about a super business deal.”

“But we’re not timber growers.”

Barr stretched his arms out and twisted side to side, resembling a ringmaster under the big top. “Looks to me like you’ve been growing some fine timber right here for quite a while.”

He still wore a slick smile and looked as if he might wink at any second. All he had to do was call me “little missy” and the smarmy picture would be complete.

My mind raced, trying to comprehend the meaning of his words. Was
this
my mother’s last resort plan to come up with the money for the IRS? The one she wouldn’t tell me about until it became necessary?
No wonder
. How could she even think of chopping down and selling all the trees? Especially to this guy.