Steve stared down at the ornamental lake through the soft mist. Two years ago he had stood in this same place, nervous and unsure, with a Rupert the Bear annual from 1936 in mint condition. Since then he had dealt with the faerie realm, with arrogant lords and crazy tricksters, with werewolves and boggarts and all the madness that went with it. He had seen and done things he would never have thought possible. He had fallen in love, had his heart broken and acquired an imp. He could feel Armani in his jacket pocket, curled up and gently snoring.

The mist swirled gently over the lake and under the bridge. Steve stared at the glimpses of his reflection that broke through the haze. He looked the same. He took the same size shoes and the same size shirts, but he was completely different. For a moment Steve wondered about calling up his old friends from the Call Centre. What could they talk about? His friends were now paladins and princes, werewolves and elfen, the strange and the wonderful. He didn’t look up as he heard the motorbike, nor when he heard the footsteps approach.

Lord Marius leant on the rail next to him. “It seems many seasons since we met here last,” he said after a comfortable silence. “Although this time it is you that created this mist, not I.”

“Thank you,” Steve said. “It’s been an amazing adventure.”

“You are not stopping your work as messenger and merchant, I hope?” Lord Marius watched the ducks slowly circling.

“No, I shall not stop.” Steve didn’t look away from the water. “But I am grateful that you sent me on this wonderful journey. If I hadn’t had that annual, if Lord Cerdig hadn’t heard of the deal, if you hadn’t met me here, my life would have been much poorer. Thank you – father.”

There was a long silence. Faint echoes of the joggers and dog walkers reached through the mist and the ripples of the lake underneath them chimed gently.

“How did you break through my defences?” Lord Marius straightened and turned to Steve, tension in his lean body. “And, perhaps more importantly, how did you break through my defences without me noticing?”

“I didn’t.” Steve didn’t move. He kept watching the patterns of the mist over the lake. “I went through my mother’s memories, the traces of you through the traces of my mother. It was tricky.”

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“I loved her, you know.” Lord Marius turned back to the lake. “She was so bright and joyful. I turned away from her before she knew what I was, before I burned her up.” His voice sank to almost a whisper. “Love for mortals so rarely ends well for us.”

Steve glanced at him. For once there was a gleam of genuine emotion in the emerald green eyes. “I think she loved you. It’s hard to know. She died when I was only a toddler. It was a hit and run accident.”

“I knew that she had been killed.” For a moment Lord Marius’ long fingers clenched on the rail of the bridge. “I dealt with the driver. But I did not know about you. Fates would have been very different if I had.”

“My grandad brought me up.” Steve turned fully towards Marius. “I think he did a good job, as well as anyone could. He died a few years ago, just before I met you.” Steve smiled briefly. “It was his annual that I was selling when we met.”

Lord Marius straightened up. “And what do you do now, with the father you never knew, who did not deliberately abandon you but who was absent nonetheless? What do you want from me?”

Steve finally stood and faced Lord Marius. He could read a gleam of uncertainty in the elfen eyes. “I don’t know, not exactly. I suppose I want to know if you are proud of me. If you think I’m worthwhile? Whether we should, I don’t know, be father and son?”

“No vengeance?” Lord Marius said softy.

“If you had known about me then the exchange on this bridge two years ago would have been very different.” Steve tried to gauge what was going on behind Lord Marius’ fixed expression. “You didn’t know. Once you did, you helped me out. Like that vampire that was waiting for me, outside Lord Ragnar’s realm. How many other times did you watch my back when I didn’t realise?”

“You are my son,” Lord Marius said helplessly. “We do not love as you love, but we love.” He held out a tentative hand.

Steve warily held out his own hand and their hands clasped. A wave of emotion he had not expected broke over him, leaving him stunned. Lord Marius’ head fell forward and Steve was shocked to see the trace of tears. From all he could tell, they were probably genuine. “Hello, father.”

“Hello, son.” Lord Marius took a deep breath. “So, what do we do now?”

Steve paused. He hadn’t thought about it. He had been so consumed with this meeting that he hadn’t considered what happened next. “I don’t know.”

“Meet up for a pub lunch once a month after church?” Lord Marius suggested.

Steve laughed. “It’s a good start. And we’re friends?”

“I think we are more than that.” Lord Marius visibly relaxed. “So why don’t I buy my son a meal and a drink to show my pride in him?”

“That’s a great idea.” Steve let the enchanted mist fade. “There’s a great burger place just up the road.”

“I think I can do a little better for my son.” Lord Marius said loftily. “We have some time to reclaim.” He turned and looked at Steve. “I can feel your happiness overflowing from you, just like I felt it in your mother. I share it.”

Steve followed his father over the bridge and headed up out of the park. The sun was up, and the weather was fine. It had been an amazing journey.