Again, he's acting evasive.
Silence dances in the air as he stares silently at the forest until Faraelee emerges from the trees with my present. Then all my worries briefly sail away to the moon.
"You got me a baby lilywolf tiger?" I sound like a stupid, gushing vampire, but I don't give a shit.
"Yes, I did. You're not excited, are you?" he teases with a crook of his brow.
"I'm more than excited." I bounce up and down, clapping my hands together. "I've always wanted one."
"I know."
I stop bouncing. "How?"
He winks at me. "What fun would it be if I told you how I know the secret way to your heart?"
I blink. How can this be the Rhyland I grew up with?
Maybe a shapeshifter took over his life?
His smile fades as he whispers, "Tell me what you're thinking."
My brow arches. "You can't hear my thoughts right now?"
"No. I haven't since Gabe attacked you … " He shuts his eyes, shakes his head, and clears his throat before his eyelids lift open again. "But yeah, I can't hear your thoughts."
I chew on my bottom lip. "I'm thinking that maybe you're not really Rhyland. The one I grew up with, anyway."
"Then what am I?" he half-jokes, half-worries.
I shrug. "Maybe a shapeshifter?"
A beat of silence willows by, and then he busts up laughing.
"You think I'm a shapeshifter?" He howls with laughter, hunching over.
I pinch his arm. "Yes, now stop laughing at me. I don't like being laughed at or made fun of."
He straightens, smashing his lips together. "I'm sorry." He traces a delicate path down my cheek with his fingertip, and my eyelashes annoyingly flutter. "I didn't mean to laugh, and I wasn't making fun of you. It's just that … you're so adorable and I couldn't help it."
"I'm not adorable-"
The queen reaches us and steps under the lanterns burning across the porch, giving me a better look at my new pet.
With blue-ish black fur, cat-shaped ears, a wolf's snout, and tiny silver pixie wings sprouting from its back, it's seriously the most adorable lilywolf tiger I've ever seen.
"It's so pretty." I reach out and stroke its soft fur. "Its fur is kind of the same color as my hair."
"I know. Your king requested it." She hands me the lilywolf tiger. "And it's a girl."
I hold the lilywolf in my arms, and she peers up at me with her silver eyes. "You're the cutest thing I've ever seen. Maybe that's what I'll call you-Cutie."
Her chest rumbles as she lets out a squeaky roar.
I giggle. "Okay, you're still cute, but I'll think of a better name." I pause. "How about Aeribella." Aeribella, after a town located in the Land of Moonlight. I haven't ever been there before, but I've often wondered about the land hidden in the moonlight where, as legend has it, the most powerful creatures-from fey, to witches, to vampires-live together, creating the light of the moon.
"After the Land of Moonlight?" the queen asks with her head cocked.
I nod. "I've never been there before, but I've heard it's a lovely place. Sometimes I even dream about it."
"You do?" Rhyland's brows dip.
I nod again, petting the lilywolf tiger. "I'm not sure if I'm seeing it correctly, since there are no photos of the moonlight kingdom."
"That's because it's forbidden to take photos or paint portraits of the sacred land," Faraelee explains. "Unless your blood is of moonlight descent, but that's a rarity these days."
I glance up at her, my brows pulling together. "Since when?"
"Since for decades now," she says. "Too many wars over power and leadership have resulted in too many deaths. It's also ruining the land."
"That's tragic," I say. "I heard it was supposed to be the most beautiful place that ever existed."
"It was once," Rhyland mutters, almost as an afterthought. "Until the magic made everyone go insane."
"You've been there?" the queen inquires with intrigue.
He promptly shakes his head. "No, but I've heard others speak of it and how the lands are getting tainted."
Faraelee taps her fingers against her side, her fingernails clinking against the gems on her dress. "I wonder if any of these others you heard talk have ever been to the land. Or if they just like to gossip. I've always wanted to go there, but have never found anyone who can get me in."
"More than likely, they're just passing along rumors." Rhyland's tone is neutral, his tone flat. He's obviously bothered by Faraelee's inquiry, but why?