Kael, without knowing what was happening, looked away again while touching his cheek.
He could still feel the slight warmth on his skin, not from a blow nor from magic, but from something much simpler and, for some reason, more disconcerting: her closeness. That smile disarmed him with an insultingly easy way.
—Well, since you're here, demon king, how about we go for a little walk to practice a bit...?
Said the elf queen while taking a few steps, passing by his side with a naturalness that to Kael seemed almost dangerous. Her tone was not formal nor distant. It was light. Warm.
—I... I think it's fine. Where will we go?
Asked Kael while turning around, trying to recover the composure he felt slipping away for reasons he didn't understand.
—Well, I don't know. It's been a while since I left the castle for some things. How about we take a walk through the forest?
Kael, without understanding what was making him so nervous, accepted without questioning. Maybe it was curiosity. Or maybe it was something more.
She, with a smile, walked in front of him.
At one moment she turned around and the dress she wore moved softly with the air, as if even the wind accompanied her.
The light fabric danced around her legs, creating an image so serene that Kael stared at her more than he should have.
He immediately looked away.
—Well, then let's go, Mr. demon king.
The title sounded strange on her lips. There was no fear in her voice. There was no distrust. Only a slight amusement.
They walked side by side, crossing the castle corridors, descending stairs carved into living rock, until they passed through an arch covered in white flowers that marked the exit to the outer domains.
After a few minutes, the landscape changed.
Before them stretched what seemed like an enormous forest that expanded beyond the elf kingdom.
Tall and ancient trees rose toward the sky, their canopies forming a green roof that filtered the light in soft gleams.
The air was fresher, more humid, loaded with the aroma of leaves and living earth.
Kael frowned.
He didn't understand how that was possible.
Weren't they on top of a mountain?
—Aren't we on top of a mountain, elf queen?
She tilted her head slightly, as if analyzing the question with genuine curiosity.
—Mmm, maybe. But this world is very giant, you know? And also very strange at the same time. I don't know, and I don't know if my ancestors knew, since this place has been like this since I have memory. It's like a completely strange place, right?
Kael observed the horizon. There were no visible cliffs nor signs of height. Only endless trees.
—In my kingdom —he murmured— the mountains are hard and cold. They don't hide forests on their summits.
—Maybe this place doesn't follow the same rules as your kingdom.
She smiled and began to enter the dense green forest in front of them.
The light descended in golden beams between the leaves.
Small particles floated in the air like luminous dust.
The silence was not absolute; it was full of life: the whisper of branches, the distant song of invisible birds, the murmur of the wind.
—But even so it's beautiful —she continued— since for me the strange is enchanting and I like it... Maybe it's also because my little friends are always with me... since I have memory.
Kael raised an eyebrow.
—Friends?
He replied while following behind her, attentive to any threat, although he perceived no hostility at all.
—Yes... don't you know the spirits?
Kael stopped for a second.
—Spirits? What is that? Are you sick and see weird things?
He looked around, instinctively alert. He felt a chill run down his back, not from fear, but from the sensation that something invisible was watching him.
She let out a small laugh.
—Hahaha, you're funny, demon king. The spirits are small figures that have a high amount of magic, that help their master, although they are the ones who choose their master and manifest before him.
—So... not anyone can see them?
—No.
She shook her head softly.
—Only those who have been accepted. They feel the heart, the intention... and the magic that flows inside one.
Kael remained silent. In his world, magic doesn't exist, although he doesn't remember it very well; he knows it doesn't exist, and everything he was seeing was completely strange.
—I see. And what shape do these spirits have?
He asked, this time with a more genuine interest than mocking.
—Well... the truth is, they have the shape of very illuminated little balls, and each one has a color that represents their style of magic that they can lend you. If it's blue, it's water; red, fire; brown, earth; and more and more.
—A color?
—Yes —she responded amused— Magic is like a lake that flows through our whole body or something like that...
Kael inhaled deeply. He couldn't understand everything, but at the same time it seemed to contain it.
—I see, that sounds great. And how many spirits do you have?
The elf queen stopped.
In front of them, the forest opened, revealing an enormous crystalline lake that originated from a small waterfall.
The water descended down a moss-covered rock wall, breaking into white foam before spreading into a surface so clear that it reflected the sky like a mirror.
The scene was calm. Too calm.
—Well the truth is I don't know —she responded in a low voice—, since not even they themselves know how many there are around me.
The wind blew softly.
And then it happened.
At first it was barely a flash.
Then another.
And one more.
Before Kael's eyes began to appear small floating lights: bluish, red, golden, green. They lit up like stars being born in full daylight.
In a matter of seconds, thousands and thousands of small bright circles of different colors filled the air around the lake.
They moved slowly.
A slight fresh perfume arrived, like a floral sweetness that perfumed the whole place.
Kael stood motionless.
Not from fear.
But from astonishment.
—They are... too many.
He said without more.
The lights spun around her with naturalness, as if they recognized her presence as the center of their small universe.
—Yes, there are many, but they are very kind, all of them.
One blue descended to the height of Kael's eyes.
It stayed floating in front of him.
For an instant, Kael felt something strange. It wasn't pressure. It wasn't threat.
It was curiosity.
He slowly extended his hand.
The spirit moved away a little, as if evaluating him, and then returned, barely touching the tip of his fingers.
A cold and clean sensation ran through his skin.
—It seems they don't reject you —she said softly.
—They don't fully trust.
—That's normal.
The spirits began to spin faster, forming spirals of light that reflected in the lake like liquid constellations.
The entire landscape seemed transformed into a dream.
Kael observed the elf queen.
She didn't seem surprised.
She didn't seem proud.
Just... calm.
As if that everyday miracle was part of her breathing.
It seemed that she was not lying. It really seemed that there was no end to all the spirits that had chosen her as their master.
And, for the first time since he had arrived in that kingdom, Kael felt something very different from what he had felt until then. At that moment, he felt peace.
The sound of the water, the glow of the lights, the reflection of the sky in the lake... and her figure in the middle of everything.
—Ah, right, I'm very sorry. My name is Elirya. Nice to meet you, Mr. demon king.
The introduction came late, but not out of place.
Kael blinked, as if returning from a trance.
—The pleasure is also mine, Queen Elirya. You can call me Kael.
She nodded.
—Then you can also call me Elirya.
There was a small silence.
Not uncomfortable.
Just new.
The spirits began to rise little by little, dispersing among the trees like eternal fireflies.
The two seemed a little embarrassed.
Not from weakness.
But from the strange sensation of being in front of someone who didn't fit the image they had imagined of the other.
A demon king.
An elf queen.
Because of the place, the moment and the situation in which they had presented themselves until that instant, a friendship between two kingdoms began like this.