Life, Death, and Strange Encounters

When Isaac and I were both representable, he gently took my hand in his and led me out of our bedroom. We walked through many long corridors with stone walls and dark wood floors. The decorations were amazing – the walls were full of paintings and covered with dark red drapery. I was pleased to see that although the people in this world had taken over the use of electricity and other modern wonders, they still used magic that wasn’t available in our world.

Small faeries were flying around in the corridors, acting as messengers for the people living in the castle. Elves and other humanoid creatures saw us passing and they nodded or bowed to Isaac. All of them were also staring at me and whispering amongst each other. It made me a bit uneasy, but they seemed just curious.

Where would the king and queen be? In the throne room? Somehow I didn’t imagine going into a great hall and curtsying before the otherworldly rulers. “Where are your parents?” I asked Isaac when we passed yet another corridor.

“I believe they’re in my father’s study. That’s where we’re going.”

“Oh.” We walked for a few more minutes in silence, hand in hand. My heart was beating so loudly in my chest, I was sure everyone in a five mile radius could hear it. Isaac also seemed to sense my nervousness.

“Relax, darling. Everybody’s going to love you. And even if they don’t, you and me is all that matters. I love you.” He gently rubbed my palm with his thumb.

I sighed. “And I love you. I just hope they will accept me. After all, I’m just a human…”

Isaac chuckled. “You speak as if humans were bad. Actually, since a human is such a rarity here, I bet everybody will be over-excited to meet you.”

“And is that a good thing, then?” I chuckled nervously. “I hope they won’t smother me.”

Isaac sighed and laughed his musical laughter. “Love, you worry way too much.”

I allowed myself a nervous chuckle. “I know, that has always been a problem for me.”

My lover pulled me closer to him and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Well, now is a good time to get over it.” He looked at me and winked.

“Easier said than done, but I’ll do my best.” I grinned at Isaac.

“Good girl. Now prepare yourself, we are here.”

I gulped and took hold of Isaac’s hand more firmly. He opened a big oak door and led me into his father’s study. The office was of course fit for a king. It was big and spacious, with windows that almost took the whole wall. The furniture was carved from dark wood and the draperies were red and golden. A fireplace was crackling at the other end of the room, facing the door we had just come in from.

A man with long white hair stood up from his desk, which was at least 2 metres long and full of papers and books. It was unmistakably the king of Avalon, standing tall and proud in his golden robe. I was surprised that he looked so young, but then I remembered Isaac’s tales about the royalty not aging. He smiled at us and met us half way to his table.

Embracing Isaac, he said “I’m so glad you’re back, son. Your mother will be here in a moment.” He then turned to me. “And who is this charming little lady?”

Isaac stepped out of the way and gave me a reassuring smile. “This is Johanna, she’s my girlfriend.”

The king inspected me more closely. “A human? Interesting. She’s very beautiful. Looks more like an elf than a human.” He extended me his hand, which I carefully shook. He then kissed my hand and embraced me for a brief moment.

Isaac opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, the door of the study opened an in walked a tall dark-haired woman, about the same age as the king. She was wearing a dark red dress with golden lace and ribbon decorations. Her neck was bare, but she had big gold earrings and her hair was styled into a complicated-looking bun. Despite looking royal, her eyes held great tenderness and love.

When she reached us, she embraced Isaac without a word. I knew instantly that this was the queen, Isaac’s mother. When they parted, the woman tried to dry off the tears that had fallen on her cheeks. The tears were silver and glistened in the light. I then remembered the woman was of Elven descent, this was probably one characteristic of elves. That and the amazing beauty of the woman, who was not in her first youth anymore. Although she was nearing her forties in appearance, she still gave off a glow many twenty-year-olds lack.

Her eyes landed on me and went wide. When she spoke, her voice was like music. “Isaac, who have you brought with you?”

“Mother, this is my girlfriend Johanna.” I managed a shy smile and offered my hand.

She looked at my hand and then at me. The queen laughed then and embraced me in a tight hug, ignoring my outstretched hand and taking me by surprise. “I am so delighted to meet you! It has been so long since Isaac brought a girl home.”

I laughed nervously. Isaac’s mother seemed to sense my discomfort. “Oh, loosen up, darling, we are just the parents of your boyfriend.” She smiled a beaming smile. “My name is Lania. I hope my husband introduced himself already?”

I shot a nervous glance towards the king. “Um…”

The queen rolled her eyes and chuckled. “I suppose he was too shocked to introduce himself. This is my husband, the king of Avalon. His name is Sebastian.”

“Thank you, wife, I am perfectly capable of introducing myself,” the king grumbled, but then winked at me. “You can call us both by the first name, darling.”

I nodded and smiled. “Thank you.”

At that moment, Damien and Lucy burst through the door. Sebastian looked at Damien in surprise. “And you’re also back, Damien, my boy! How glad I am to see you, too! What brings you here in such a hurry?”

Damien grinned at us. “Well, I wanted to see how you like Isaac’s new girlfriend. And I also wanted to introduce mine.”

Sebastian and Lania both turned towards Damien and Lucy. Lucy was very nervous, I had never seen her react to meeting new people this way. “Hi… um, your majesties. My name is Lucy.”

The king and queen looked at each other and burst out laughing. “Oh, Damien, you have a funny one. Look up, child. You can call us by our first names which are Sebastian and Lania. You are the girlfriend of my son’s best friend and therefore considered as family,” Sebastian said.

Lucy chuckled nervously. “Thank you.”

Damien laughed at her and then looked at me and Isaac. “So, what do you think of Johanna?”

Lania smiled sweetly. “Well, she certainly is a beauty. And I can sense her soul – it sings to me a very pure melody. She is golden.”

I was very confused, but Isaac whispered in my ear: “My mother has elven powers, she can detect what kind of soul a person has. If she says yours is pure and golden, you are considered very special.”

I blushed. I had never considered myself special, and to hear something like that from a queen was certainly very flattering. But I’m sure if she said it, she really meant it and I was very happy for that.

“Well, since you all approve of Isaac’s girl, I am forced to abduct them from you. We are going to the city to formally introduce her to our other friends,” Damien said.

Sebastian and Lania nodded. “Go on, children. Have fun,” the king winked at us and ushered us out of the room. When the door closed behind us, I let out a shaky breath. This went better than I had expected!

Isaac laughed at me. “Darling, what were you worried for? My mother and father are two of the most laid-back people in the whole kingdom. And they loved you!”

I sighed. “I know. I’m so happy!” Smiling, I took his hand and we followed Damien and Lucy down the corridor.

“Where are we going, again?”

“We are going to the city, to a bar Isaac and I always visit. I have arranged our closest friends to meet us there. They’re all dying to meet you girls.”

Lucy and I looked at each other. Great, more introductions to important magical people. We rolled our eyes simultaneously.

Damien, who saw our expressions, laughed. “Relax, girls. Everybody is going to love you.”

***

When I woke up next morning, or rather next afternoon, I had trouble believing where I was at first. Avalon was already starting to seem natural to me, but waking up next to Isaac while actually being in a couple with him was something I had a hard time believing, still.

Last night at the bar went surprisingly well. I met the closest friends of both Isaac and Damien, mostly vampires and a few elves. There was also one shape shifter. At least I think he was a shape shifter; he appeared as a vampire most of the time, though. Probably because he wanted to seem more similar to his vampire girlfriend.

They were all very sweet and welcoming and didn’t seem overly excited or intimidated about Lucy and I being the only humans currently in Avalon. They did want to know everything about life on Earth, though, and seemed generally pleased with what they heard. We had fun explaining the most ordinary things to a group of amazed supernatural beings.

Shrugging off the thoughts about last night, I turned around to face Isaac. Surprisingly, he had his eyes open and was staring right back at me. He smiled and pecked my lips.
“Good morning, sweetheart.”

I laughed. “I’m pretty sure it’s more like the afternoon.”

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t plan on moving from this bed today.”

Nodding my head, I stretched and yawned. “Best idea you’ve had in a long time.”

He playfully smacked my hand. “Hey! Watch it!” I only grinned at him.

“I’m only joking…”

Now it was his time to grin. “I know, darling. But now be quiet and let me kiss you.”

He was just leaning in for a kiss, when we heard a knock on the door. Sighing, we sat up, draping the blanket over ourselves, and Isaac called for the person to come in. We were greeted by a very flustered looking maid, who had her gaze on the floor at all times. She told us meekly that she had been sent by Isaac’s mother to bring us something to eat. Indeed, she was carrying a big tray of food. My lover kindly told her to put the tray on his desk and the girl quickly did what was asked. She then left, leaving me and Isaac alone again.

When we were done eating, I plopped down on the bed again, staring at Isaac. “Tell me more about what happens when you become king.”

He stared at me. I stared back. “What? I just want to know more about the system.”

He chuckled. “Alright, darling. The system is not a very complex one, at least I hope I can describe it to you in an understandable way. Well, every king or queen rules for a total of 400 years. I will take over the throne in a century’s time. When I appear to be only 24 now, then the moment I take the throne I will slowly start aging again. So by the time I’ve held the power for 400 years, I will appear to be about 35. When my descendant takes over, I will stop aging again, permanently.”

I stared at him, wide-eyed. This was some weird system! “But what about your mother? You said that she is immortal now that she married your father, but does she age the same way?”

Isaac nodded. “Since she became the queen, she ages the same way my father does, so that they could be together.”

“That’s sweet!”

He chuckled. “I know.”

Then, a thought hit me. Isaac was going to take over the throne in 100 years. I would never live to see that and the most important fact – he would stay forever young. How could I have forgotten this LITTLE detail?! I was so blinded with love that I forgot how different our life spans were. How long could we possibly be together without it becoming awkward? 10 years? These thoughts made me want to cry… Still, I made an agreement with myself to cross that bridge when we get there and not worry beforehand. This way I could still be happy with him for a while.

Isaac saw the change in my mood almost instantly and he cupped my cheek. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

I sighed. “Isaac… I’m just a human.” I felt so small and meaningless at that moment. Pulled by forces out of my control.

My love pulled me against him. “Darling, you shouldn’t think about it. I love you. We will work things out. Just don’t put yourself in this situation right now.”

Trying to smile, I looked into his eyes. “You’re right. Let’s forget about it for now. You know, we shouldn’t just waste the whole day – let’s do something.”

Isaac’s eyes lit up. “I know where to go! You will love it.”

We quickly changed our clothes and went outside. Isaac started pulling me towards a forest, making me curious. Where was he taking me? What could possibly be in those woods?

“I used to go there often when I was small. It’s my own little paradise, I haven’t showed it to anybody else.” He slowed his pace and put his arm around my waist.

“Why are you showing it to me, then?”

“I love you.”

“Hey! That’s not a valid reason!”

“Yes, it is.”

I rolled my eyes and grinned. “FINE! Are we there yet?”

Isaac looked at me and winked. “As a matter of fact, we are. Can’t you hear water?”

I looked away from his face and concentrated. Indeed, there must have been a river nearby. He pushed through some low branches and suddenly, we were in a clearing with a small waterfall and a lake with crystal clear water. Near the edge of the pool, grass became sand which was strangely sparkling like gold. I ran close to the water and saw little fish swimming around.

“This place is so beautiful! Amazing!”

“I’m glad you like it, sweetheart. Nobody ever comes here, it is a great place to think.”

We sat down on the sparkling sand and I hummed quietly to myself, taking handfuls of sand and letting it fall back down from between my fingers. Isaac put his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes. I don’t know how long we sat there like this, but it was pure bliss. So quiet, peaceful and exactly what we needed.

Suddenly, we heard a rustling in the forest near by. Isaac tensed and told me to be quiet. He slowly stood and pulled me to my feet, shielding me from whatever was coming towards us. After a few moments of stunned silence, he let out a sigh of relief. A unicorn had stepped into the clearing.
The animal came slowly towards us, eying us carefully, but with total calmness. I couldn’t help myself when he reached the place where we were standing. My eyes locked with the creature’s and I lifted my hand to touch his horn. I was surprised when he didn’t pull away – he seemed to enjoy the gesture. After a while, he snorted and backed away, locking eyes with Isaac for a second. He did something strange then: he bent his first legs as if in a bow, and then trotted away.

I looked at Isaac strangely. “What was that about?”

Isaac chuckled. “He acknowledged me as the crown prince. And I must say, we are blessed.”

“What do you mean?”

“It isn’t every day one encounters a unicorn. Touching one is even more rare. Therefore, we are blessed.”

I smiled at him. “We really are.”

Isaac kissed me for a moment, then grabbed my hand. “Let’s get going, I need to speak with my father about something.”

After we reached the castle, Isaac totally disappeared on me, saying he needed to find his father. I had nothing better to do than just walk around the castle, talking to its various inhabitants. Making my way through endless corridors and halls, I bumped into the queen.

Lania smiled brightly when she saw me. “Johanna, my dear, what are you doing here?”

I blushed. “Actually, I’m sort of just exploring. Isaac needed to speak with Sebastian.”

She nodded and chuckled. “I know, I was just leaving the study when my son walked in. He seemed to be nervous for some reason, I wonder what the two of them are up to.”

Not knowing what to say, I just smiled at her. Lania opened and closed her mouth a few times, as if wanting to say something, but then deciding against it. Finally, she spoke.

“You know, I really hope you and Isaac are meant to stay together. He couldn’t find himself a better girl, I’m sure. And don’t forget that I can see your soul – that’s why I’m so certain you would be the best for him.”

A jolt went through me. “I hope so, too, but as you know, I’m just a human… I’m not immortal like you.”

Lania smiled warmly. “This should be the least of your worries. As my son has probably told you, when you marry royalty, you become immortal as well. So this is not an obstacle that couldn’t be overcome. It’s the bond between you that counts.”

I sighed. “I love him with all my heart and hope he feels the same.”

The queen nodded. “I get the feeling that he does, when I look at you two. Don’t worry, my dear, everything will turn out the way it is supposed to. And I believe you are truly blessed.”

With that, she smiled at me once and walked away. I stood there, looking after her. Did she know something that I didn’t?