Excerpt

Edrin was lost. Again.

It was always slightly humiliating to be lost, but especially to be lost in one’s own forest; that is, the forest that one was king of; the forest that one was supposed to have magically inferred skills and gifts required to navigate said forest as sovereign ruler.

With these irritating musings flitting through his head, Edrin closed his eyes to attempt to orient himself. He could feel that low throb of the forest inside himself, but it was so blasted quiet- how on earth was one supposed to navigate from that?

“Drat,” he muttered, opening his eyes.

“Lost?” inquired a voice.

“Who was that?” Edrin demanded, spinning around.

“Me. Or, I, rather,” said the voice. A thin, tallish boy with vaguely reddish hair walked out from behind a tree into the clearing Edrin had stopped in after his fruitless wanderings.

“Ah.” Rather belatedly, Edrin realized that his twirling around may have seemed, well, rather less-than- kingly. Best to correct that, then. He straightened his shoulders and looked down at the boy (rather difficult, since the boy was only slightly shorter than Edrin himself, but he could manage it with only a slight craning of the neck). He cleared his throat.

“Are you aware of my sovereign status of this forest?”

The boy looked him up and down, assessing him.

“If you mean you’re king, that doesn’t prevent you being lost.”

“As king of this forest, I am equipped with all I need to rule.”

The boy smirked. “Well, then, I supposed I’ll be off. Seems as though you don’t need my help, since you know exactly where you are and all.”

Drat. Of course the boy would know where he was, he probably lived around here. “Wait,” called Edrin. “I, erm, require your assistance. For a royal matter.”

The boy turned around, folding his arms and slouching against a tree.

“I, um, I require- lodging!” Yes, that was it, lodging was a perfectly reasonable request of a king to his subject, and after all he must be some ways from the palace at this point. Surely if the boy brought him to whatever hamlet he resided in, Edrin would be able to find his way from there.

“Lodging,” repeated the boy, eyeing Edrin lazily. “Well then. Seeing as it’s a royal matter and all.”

With that the boy strolled over to Edrin, grasped his hand, and made a vague waving motion, and then- They weren’t in the clearing anymore.

Or rather they were, but it was an entirely different clearing, and the trees were much smaller, and there was a cottage with a garden in the center of it, and a path running through it.

“What’ve you done!?” spluttered Edrin, yanking his hand from the boy’s and twirling around in a unkingly manner again.

“You asked for lodging,” stated the boy. “This is my home, mine and my sister’s. I could hardly give you somebody else’s lodging, could I?”

“But how did you-“ Edrin stopped. The boy was smirking at him again. Blasted little wart, he knows I’m lost. Edrin cleared his throat again.

“Precisely. I thank you for the, um, accommodations.”

“Well, come inside then,” the boy answered, rather ungraciously.