162 Gambling With The Heart
He watches me with dark eyes before quickly standing up and walking towards me. I back up a few steps and put my hand up as I say "Woah, woah, woah, slow down cowboy." He comes to a stop with my hand on his chest again but he frowns and repeats "Cowboy?"
I'm over a hundred years old and yet this guy still has the ability to make me feel nervous like an innocent little girl. I clear my throat and say "I would send you back to your world today but you can't go back and forth while riping portals open within the same day. If it was an established portal, it'd be different. We'll send you back tomorrow, okay?"
His frown only deepens as he tries to understand what I just said. He blinks and says "So... I go back to my world tomorrow?" I smile up at him and nod my head as I say "Exactly! I knew you'd still grasp the important things. Would you like to see my world?"
He blinks again before looking past me. His dark eyes slide back to me as he says "Is that allowed? Your Dad didn't look too thrilled to have me here." I give him a knowing smile as I say "It's not my father you have to worry about."
I giggle and pull him out of the cell. My magic was back and full of life. I shift us both to my favorite garden and say "This is where I spend most of my time." He looks around the garden with a bored look but the moment he sees it, he does a doubletake.
My smile grows as I slowly release him and step further into the garden. I lift my arms as I say "Welcome to the fae world..." Hundreds, if not thousands, of fairies come flying over to greet me. Jinhai's eyes widen when he sees the tiny flying humans with strange colored hair.
How was this even possible!? When he feels something hit his foot, he looks down to find a strange, short but angry-looking... human? Willow giggles in delight as she says "That's a garden gnome named Timber. He's tended and guarded this garden for... well, forever. Way before I was even born."
Jinhai suddenly feels at a loss as he quickly lifts his foot out of the way. It was a guardian? Does it grow in size and battle those who try to invade??
Willow watches him and giggles again. If only he knew that Timber guards against harmful animals like snakes and bugs. Nothing grand but I wasn't about to correct his very obvious train of thought. I greet all the fairies with a smile and giggle. I watch with delight when they return the giggle.
Their giggles sound like tiny, tinkling bells. Almost like music. Jinhai's eyes widen again at the sound. He watches the little flying humans with a mixture of fascination and fear. When he feels his hair move, he quickly looks back to see a few of them trying to play with his hair!
When he looks back to Willow, MORE of them appear! He puts his hands up and nervously glances over to Willow before saying "Call them off." Willow chuckles at his distress and says "I can't 'call them off' they have a mind of their own. Plus, you NEVER want to get on their bad side. The worst mistake anyone can make."
Jinhai stiffens as his jaw tightens. Will they kill him? There's so many of them and they're everywhere! Willow bites her lip as she strains not to laugh. You should never get on the fairies' bad side because they can be very spiteful. If you upset them, they will constantly play tricks on you. Trip you, pull your hair, and even bite!
Their bites hurt for such tiny little creatures but if you're kind, they will like you. They'll bring you flowers, give you some of their fairy dust and more! Again, Jinhai was thinking they were much worse but again, I wasn't going to correct his train of thought.
Plus, fairies love pretty things and even if he doesn't like to admit it, he's pretty. I giggle again, burning this image in my mind.
Jinhai tries to step away but they block his path. They keep making this strange tinkling noise! A tiny human with bright pink hair flies up and touches his face. He holds his breath, knowing that the thing will drop dead and they will launch an attack but nothing happens!
Jinhai becomes even more shocked when they all move closer to touch, rub, and grab him! Why are they acting like this!? They didn't do this to Willow!!! He quickly looks up to find her leaning against a small tree... holding her stomach as her whole body shakes.
Jinhai glares at the woman and snaps "GET. THEM. OFF!" She stands up and wipes a tear away before waving her hand and saying "You heard the man, ladies. It's rude to grope those who don't wish to be groped."
Their giggles fill the air again as they all fly back and leave. Jinhai straightens his hair and robes with a frown of annoyance. I start to giggle again until someone yells "Willow!" I nearly jump out of my shoes as I turn around and see someone approaching fast.
Uh oh... why is he here!?! And why now!!!? The light Fae walks over, almost as if gliding and comes to a stop before slightly bowing to me and saying "When I heard that you disappeared, I quickly rushed over but when I met your brother, he told me you were here." Of course, he did...
My entire body stiffens as I awkwardly smile and say "Yes... here I am. Arlan... why are you really here." I can feel Jinhai's presence behind me growing colder as Arlan says "I know you don't want to go through with it but I don't want you to be too hasty. This involves both or Kingdoms."
His silver-blue eyes slide past me as he asks "Ah, who's this?" I clear my throat and say "Let's discuss this at another time. He's my guest." Jinhai's eyes narrow, trying to understand what we're saying but still knowing he can't.
Arlan ignores me and slightly bows towards Jinhai as he says "I've never seen your kind before. My name is Arlan. Willow's fiancé." Jinhai's irritation climbs but he still doesn't give away the fact he doesn't understand.
My anger floods my veins as I snap and say "Enough! I told you before, we're friends Arlan. That's it! I can't see you as anything else! Our Kingdoms are just fine the way they are. Please leave."
