“Holy crickets!” Charlotte brushed a curl of wind-swept hair from her face. “Oh Micah, this is absolutely incredible. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life!”

She scampered up a large rock to get a better view. The Desert of Life stretched south before them, unbroken to the horizon. Deep green grasses, bubbling streams, and flowers of a million different colors consumed their entire vision. No roads, no towns, no people – it seemed to exist solely to evoke the paramount ideas of Heaven. The rivers ran through the fields in unnatural numbers – hundreds and hundreds joined and broke apart to spider through every visible acre.

“Can you believe this?” she whispered as he joined her atop the rock. “How I’ve longed to see this place. It’s so breathtaking… I feel like I could die in peace, here and now.”

“Interesting,” he said. “I’ve crossed the Desert of Life several times, but this is the first time its splendor has struck me.”

“Seriously? How could this fail to blow you away?”

For several minutes, they stood in silence, watching the frondescence sway in the wind, a strident rush from east to west like endless ocean waves. Micah felt the same awe written on her face, but they had to keep moving.

“From here on, we walk,” he said, dropping off the rock. “There won’t be any roads for a long while.”

She took his offered hand and dropped as well. “Why can’t we travel by the wagon we’ve been using?” she asked.

“My fire chariot spell doesn’t work over water. If it’s even in short proximity, it weakens and dies. In such a place, we wouldn’t get anywhere. Once we get to a road, we can resume riding, but until then we must walk, and this particular area of the desert is unpopulated. We have a ways to go and little time to waste.”

“So what’s in the Twin Cities?”

“Hopefully, the remaining information about your eyes. I’ve told you what I learned from my source in Steamtown. He didn’t know everything, but he told me there is a man in Castor who should be able to tell us the rest. John Halifax.”

“Castor’s a big city. How will we find him?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem, but I’ll know for sure when we get there.”

They began their trek through the fields at a moderate pace. Micah would help her over the streams and look out for any mud so she didn’t dirty her dress too much. He didn’t mind. He found his concentration lacking lately, and she caught him several times looking at her for what he realized carried no reason. Something to do would keep him focused. They walked for many miles, and to his surprise, she was up to the task, never complaining about aches or fatigue.

“Why is it called the ‘Desert of Life’?” she asked him. They had stopped to have lunch, and Charlotte sat on the bank of a brook, picking the petals of an orange flower and wading her bare feet in the water. “It’s such an odd name for a place like this.”

“It used to be an actual desert,” Cal replied. The Murr sat in his usual spot on the bureau, picking through a pile of sliced ham Micah gave him. “Seven hundred years ago, it was called the Desert of the Dead. No living thing survived here, and it was said to harbor a great wickedness capable of sucking up any and all life. As a result, no one could enter the desert, and travelers were forced to trek around it. But that changed when Gransaiga and Wynn of Orion, legendary sorcerers, made it their life’s task to end the blight consuming the land.”

Micah nodded, sitting beside Charlotte and handing her a ham sandwich. “That’s right. Both experts in elemental magic, Gransaiga and Wynn discovered after much research that the desert was unnatural, inflicted with a poisonous curse. It was first thought to be a desert like any other, but one that simply harbored incredible danger. However, they realized it was the curse that caused the danger, and with it an uninhabitable desert.”

Cal scarfed down a collop of meat before continuing. “Yes. Once they came to that conclusion, they slowly worked to undo it. With the help of many other great minds of their time, they finally found the source and destroyed it. The Desert of the Dead then truly became like every other desert: hot, dry, and sandy, but no longer incapable of being traversed. To this day, it remains one of the outstanding accomplishments in Carnel’s rich history, and Gransaiga and Wynn increased their legend. To this day, their busts can be seen in libraries, schools, and even merchant trading posts, which benefited greatly from the opening of new trade routes through Carnel. But they didn’t stop there. The remaining years of their lives were spent converting the desert into the haven we know today. Through ingenious methods of irrigation and much hard work, the desert gave way to majesty, and Carnel unified. Queen Crimson of Arcadia dubbed it the Desert of Life years later, and the name stuck.”

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Charlotte sat smiling at Cal, who suddenly realized it. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.

“No particular reason,” she said. “I’m starting to see why you and Micah get along so well, though. You enjoy history as much as he does.”

Cal looked away. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re wings flutter when you’re excited, and they were beating the whole time you were talking.” She giggled.

He looked back at her in shock.

Micah shook his head. “She found you out, friend.”

Cal rested his head on his paws in irritation, licking his chops. “She’s more observant than I gave her credit for.”

She got up and approached him, clasping her hands behind her back and bending slightly to look him in the eye. “You and I are going to be friends eventually, Cal,” she said, smiling. “You may as well accept it.”

Micah was positive the fur on Cal’s face hid a deep blush. But the Murr said nothing, resuming to grumble beneath his breath. To Charlotte’s credit, she did not attempt to pet him this time, even though Micah could tell she was tempted. Instead, she remained standing beside the bureau, basking in the sunlight and cool breeze. Then Micah noticed it: Cal’s long tail began to flick to and fro, ever so slightly. It was something he did when he felt content. Charlotte obviously noticed the same thing, because her smile grew in delight.

She truly has an amazing gift. Cal doesn’t like anyone, but he’s warming up to her already. I’ve never met anyone like Charlotte before. Even when she’s not nearby, my thoughts turn to her. It’s almost as if she can bend anyone to her will – could this possibly be something conscious? Magic perhaps?

The idea she could use magic to make people do and feel things sounded preposterous, but Micah wasn’t sure about anything concerning Charlotte. In fact, he felt insecure, realizing with sudden clarity just how exposed he was. But he also knew it didn’t really matter to him. Something about her amplified the boldness in his heart – a heart she freed from enslavement and now owed her recompense. He wanted to know more.

“Where do you come from?” he asked.

Charlotte turned, eyebrows arched. “I’ve told you that already. I was born in Rypsy.”

“No… I mean, where did you come from? Why are you in Carnel? Who are you, Charlotte Goodsteel?”

She sat in front of him, fidgeting with a few longer blades of grass. She no longer met his eyes. “There’s not much to tell. I’m just like any other girl. My parents sent me to Carnel to complete my education, since it’s our homeland. En route, I was taken prisoner by Daniel Riser. That’s all there is to it.”

“Incomplete.”

Her head snapped up. “What?”

“You’re lying. There’s more to you, just as there’s more to everyone. What are you hiding? Why can’t you talk about it?”

She grew angry. “And what about you? I tried asking you all sorts of things back in the castle, but you wouldn’t even talk to me.”

“Impossible. I’ve told you already that I don’t know about my origins.”

“That’s rich. I want to keep parts of my life private, and you call me a liar, but you tell me less and I’m just supposed to accept it. And what is it with you and your one-word answers? ‘Impossible, implausible, incomplete, incomprehensible.’ If you think it’s clever, it’s not. In fact, it’s just annoying!”

Her face was red, and moisture glistened her eyes. He hadn’t meant to upset her, but he realized now the words he used had been harsh.

“My master trained me that way,” he said.

Caught off guard, her brow furrowed. “What?”

“The first thing Coral taught me was to save my words. To use them only when needed, because they are weapons. He suggested I choose a letter of the alphabet and stick with it, so that when I used single words starting with that letter, I could train myself to answer or address people often by using only one word. In time, I realized his wisdom. You’ve seen the results yourself. When I answer with a word starting with the letter ‘I’ and say nothing more, you know that is my whole reply because you know who I am. Coral was an excellent teacher. He taught me everything I know, since the day I awoke from my Black Sleep.”

She seemed to settle down, curiosity slowly replacing anger. Still her face remained hard. “I’ve never heard you talk about anyone in your life before. Where is this Coral now?”

“He disowned me, three years ago.”

Her face fell. “Oh. Micah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“It is the responsibility of the master of a Black Son. To train them and then disown all association with them when they are ready. He only did what was expected of him. A Black Son has no friends, no family, no past, no expectations but obedience. We are but tools, and we could never know love…”

Micah paused, leaving a deep silence between them. He looked down. “Yet I loved him. At the time, I didn’t understand that. When Coral disappeared without word or warning, it left a void I couldn’t comprehend, but since the night you broke the seal on my heart, I’ve come to understand it now. It was the pain of losing him. I didn’t know anyone or anything as a child, my foundations lost and my future written in stone. So one could suppose he was like a father to me.”

He looked up to find Charlotte sobbing in great silent heaves.

“Are… are you okay?” he asked.

She wailed and threw her arms around him. “I didn’t know! Oh, you poor, brave man. I’m sorry for what I said. The way you talk isn’t annoying, even though it’s really weird. Will you forgive me?”

Though he didn’t understand why she was apologizing, he chose not to question it. Or rather, he couldn’t as the flowery scent of her hair now enveloped his face. He tentatively reached his hands to return the embrace. The smoothness of her back rushed warmth through his hands.

“There’s nothing to forgive,” he said. Cal looked at him strangely, and Micah coughed, avoiding his stare.

She parted, and he felt disappointed. Before she could get up, he took her hand without thinking, and she looked back at him in surprise.

“Charlotte… I… I was born from the darkness. I don’t know where I come from, and for the first time I don’t know who I am or where I’m going. But I’m telling you the truth when I say I’m not hiding anything. You can ask me anything you like…” He stood, bringing her up with him. “…and if I know the answer, I will tell you. It’s a promise. And hopefully, in return, you can learn to confide and trust in me as well.”

He thought she might begin to cry again, but then she smiled, wiping her eyes. “Deal.”