For two weeks, the Royal Gardens of Aethelgard witnessed the strangest courtship in the kingdom's history.
It involved a lot of dirt.
"So," Princess Elara said, hovering three inches above the grass, staring intensely at a worm Leo was holding. "It lives inside the ground? Without light? And it eats... the ground?"
"It eats dirt, yeah," Leo explained, gently placing the worm back into the soil. "It aerates the soil. Makes the flowers grow."
Elara gasped, her violet eyes wide. "A subterranean gardener beast. The Surface is terrifying."
Leo laughed. He brushed the dirt off his hands onto his stiff guard uniform. "It's just a worm, Elara. Wait until you see a cow. They're like giant milk-producing tables."
"Show me!" Elara demanded, grabbing his hand.
Her touch was cool, like touching a cloud, but her grip was firm. Leo felt his face heat up. He had spent his whole life looking at the mountains, dreaming of what was beyond them. He never imagined that "beyond" would come down to him in the form of a girl who floated.
They spent every waking hour together. Leo showed her how to skip stones on the pond (Elara cheated by using wind magic to make her stone fly into orbit). Elara showed him how to catch lightning bugs in a jar without crushing them.
They were from different worlds—literally—but they shared the same wide-eyed wonder at the universe.
But gravity always wins in the end.
On the fifteenth day, a horn blasted from the upper atmosphere.
It wasn't a pirate horn. It was a clear, crystalline note that vibrated in the teeth.
Leo and Elara were sitting on the roof of the greenhouse, eating sandwiches. Elara froze. She looked up at the sky, her smile vanishing.
"That's the Recall," she whispered.
"Recall?" Leo asked, a knot forming in his stomach.
"My father," Elara stood up, drifting off the roof tiles. "The High King. The delegation is leaving. I have to go back to Aeris."
Leo stood up too, but his feet stayed planted on the heavy, unyielding stone. "Now? But... you haven't seen a cow yet."
"I have to go," Elara said, tears forming in her eyes. "Protocol. A Princess cannot remain on the Surface without a diplomatic escort."
She looked at him, then down at the gap between them—her in the air, him on the roof.
"I'll write," she promised.
"Letters take months to reach the Sky Kingdom," Leo said, his voice cracking. "Elara... I..."
"Princess Elara!"
A voice boomed from the courtyard below. A tall, severe-looking man in silver armor floating on a disk of light beckoned to her. "The Cloud-Strider is departing! We must make haste!"
Elara looked at Leo one last time. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek—a fleeting touch of cold air and lavender.
"Goodbye, Earth-Boy," she whispered.
Then she flew down to join her guards.
Leo stood alone on the roof. He watched as a sleek, white airship descended from the clouds to pick up the delegation. It looked beautiful. It looked impossible.
It looked like it was taking his heart away.
An hour later, the Cloud-Strider was docked at the highest spire of the castle, its engines humming a low, harmonious tune.
Leo stood by the heavy oak doors of the docking bay. He wasn't allowed inside. He was just a recruit. A farmboy in a borrowed uniform.
He kicked the wall, frustration burning in his chest. "Stupid ground. Stupid gravity."
"You're scuffing the masonry, Recruit."
Leo spun around.
Queen Erika walked down the corridor. She was flanked by Arthur, who was looking at his friend with sympathy, and Maya, who was holding a scroll.
"Your Majesty," Leo hastily straightened up, saluting. "I was just... guarding the wall. From... scuffs."
Erika stopped in front of him. She looked at his red eyes. She looked at the airship.
"She's leaving," Erika stated.
"Yes," Leo muttered, looking at his boots.
"And you're staying here," Erika continued. "To polish armor and chase ducks."
"I guess," Leo shrugged miserably. "I'm not exactly cut out for international politics."
"True," Erika agreed. "You have no tact. You speak with your mouth full. And you once knocked over a suit of armor in front of a visiting Duke."
Leo winced. "You don't have to list them."
"However," Erika smiled, a glint of cunning in her eyes. "You also made the Princess of Aeris laugh. You taught her about worms. You have become good friends with her."
She held out her hand. Maya placed a rolled parchment into it. It was sealed with the Royal Wax of Aethelgard.
"Aethelgard is rebuilding," Erika said, her voice becoming official. "We need allies. Strong allies who won't try to buy us with predatory loans. The Kingdom of Aeris is powerful, isolated, and difficult to reach. We need a permanent representative up there. Someone trustworthy. Someone stubborn."
She handed the scroll to Leo.
"Leo of Oakhaven," Erika commanded. "I hereby promote you to the rank of Royal Liaison to the Sky Kingdom."
Leo stared at the scroll. "Liaison? Me?"
"It comes with a pay raise," Maya added helpfully. "And a cabin on that ship."
"You... you're sending me with them?" Leo looked from the scroll to Erika, hope exploding in his chest.
"I'm sending you on a mission," Erika winked. "Secure an alliance. And... maybe show the Princess a sky-cow, if they have them."
Leo grinned. It was a wide, blinding grin that lit up the gloomy corridor.
"Yes, Your Majesty! I won't let you down!"
He turned to Arthur.
"I'm going to the sky!" Leo shouted, grabbing Arthur by the shoulders and shaking him.
"I heard," Arthur laughed, hugging his friend. "Try not to fall off the edge."
"I'll write," Leo promised. "Every week. I'll drop the letters in bottles. Look out for falling glass."
He hugged Maya next. "Keep them out of trouble, smarty-pants."
"Go," Maya pushed him toward the doors. "Before the ship leaves without you."
Leo ran. He didn't look back. He sprinted through the docking bay doors, waving the scroll at the confused sky-guards like a golden ticket.
Arthur, Erika, and Maya stood at the window, watching.
A few minutes later, the Cloud-Strider released its moorings. It rose majestically, turning toward the north. On the rear deck, they could just make out two small figures waving frantically—one in silver, one in a dusty Aethelgard uniform.
"He's gone," Arthur said, a strange mix of sadness and pride in his voice. "The group is breaking up."
"Expanding," Erika corrected, resting her hand on Arthur's arm. "Not breaking. We're just casting a wider net."
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Maya asked, watching the ship disappear into the clouds. "Aeris is... different. The gravity is inverted of course."
"He's Leo," Arthur smiled. "He'll probably accidentally become the King of the Sky within a week."
They laughed, but as the ship vanished, the silence returned. One bird had flown. The nest was getting smaller.
"Come on," Erika said, turning away from the window. "We have work to do. And Arthur... Conrad is waiting for you. He looked angry."
Arthur groaned. "He always looks angry."
As they walked back into the castle, Arthur touched the hilt of Bellona. He felt a pang of loneliness for his friend, but also a resolve. Leo had his mission. Arthur had his.
They were all growing up. And growing up meant moving apart to cover more ground.