“Linnea. I’m the...” She froze up. Admitting that she was the princess would be a terrible idea. “I’m a guest staying with the dragon, Nicolaos.” Her hands wrung against one another behind her as her eyes actively sought any direction that wasn’t him. This was utterly embarrassing.

“Nicolaos?” The man darted about her with a laugh, grasping at her hand and shaking it vigorously. “A guest of his is a guest of mine. I have been told that he protects this realm from… What do you call it? Man? They are evil sorts of creatures who seek only to kill all in their wake.”

Linnea laughed nervously. “I-I see.” She looked up at the stars, avoiding Oleander’s movements as he tried to get a better look at her face.

“Tell me, which tree are you?” He grasped the edge of her skirt and traced his fingers along the embroidery. “Such elegant and textured skin. You must surely be a flower.”

“A flower?” She glanced at him but looked away when she caught a glance of his pink colored eyes. “I don’t recall ever being a flower. What might you be?”

Oleander leaned in, as though he were about to reveal a grand secret. His expression was one of excitement. “A nymph. From the tree over there.” He gestured to the oleander tree. “Are you not also a nymph?”

Linnea shook her head. “No. I’m afraid to admit that I’m human.” Her words did nothing but confuse him.

“Human? But those are humans.” He gestured to the will-o-wisps that still illuminated the air. “You needn’t worry about their destructive natures.” Oleander leaned in again. “They’ve been cured of their harmful ways, but I can’t exactly remember how.” One of the will-o-wisps floated down and made a ringing sound. “Was it death? I believe they might be dead.”

“My goodness, all of them?” Linnea hesitantly poked the will-o-wisp. It felt frigid to the touch, and let out a ringing sound that seemed slightly offended. “What could have happened?”

Oleander waited for the will-o-wisp to ring again. “Humans tried to conquer the lands, and Nicolaos stopped them by creating a border.” The nymph perked up at the thought. “He must have truly been our savior during those days. These spirits are all that remain of the invaders.”

The princess furrowed her brow. “They’re all ghosts then.” She then frowned. “Are you the only nymph here?”

“Perhaps.” Oleander also frowned at the idea. “My kind, those who humans called fae, were hunted down as the humans feuded. Few remain, such as these spirits, and I am their king.”

He held out his hand, and the will-o-wisp landed on it. The glow from it faded slightly, as though it were calmed by his presence. Linnea quietly watched the scene before quickly turning away, embarrassed by Oleander’s nudity.

Oleander finally came around to noticing her nervousness. He waved away the will-o-wisp before reaching forward to touch her cheek. “You’re warm. Are you perhaps some form of fire spirit?”

“N-no!” Linnea stepped back, and his fingers had left a burning sensation that left her skin tingling. “You’re… N-naked. That might be comfortable for you, but I find it to be inappropriate.”

“Then perhaps I should find a more suitable skin.”

Oleander headed back to the tree and stood underneath the waterfalls of nectar. The gold liquid weaved into a golden tunic that covered his body. Linnea began to wring her hands behind her back again. She also wanted to touch it to see what would happen but was afraid that it would somehow burn her.

“It won’t hurt you,” laughed Oleander. He jogged over and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards the tree.

Her hand was forcefully held underneath one of the waterfalls. It felt warm and somewhat sticky. As it coated her skin, it created a glove that was as soft as silk, leading her to put her other hand within the nectar so that she would have a matching set. She let out a soft gasp of delight, and the will-o'-wisps once more formed into vague visages of people and begun their singing and dancing anew.

Oleander joined them, pulling Linnea along with every step. “Are you planning on staying in the woods?”

The princess gave a shake of her head. “No. I would only be staying a little while. I will need to go home to see to my father’s health and seek out a suitor… Which is but a few of the many tasks that are waiting for me.” She made wide circles with her hands. “I have many tasks, but no time to complete them all if I stay here for long.”

“A suitor?” Oleander was once again confused by her words.

“Ah, well, it’s someone you get married to.” That did nothing to ease Oleander’s confusion. “To to be married is to have someone who will be by your side until one or the other dies. Someone who you are loyal to more than any other person.” Her eyes wandered off to the side. “Normally one becomes a suitor when they seek to fall in love, but I don’t have that luxury.”

What odd things this girl was saying. He took her hand again, this time intertwining their fingers, and his other hand was placed against the small of her back. They began to twirl together around the tree. “Is it rude to ask what love is?”

“It’s like when someone makes you happy, but it’s a very special sort of happy.” Linnea let out a sigh. “I wouldn’t really know how to describe it. I’ve never felt it before myself.”

Oleander was about to ask something else when Linnea’s stomach let out a growl. “Are you ill?”

“No, only hungry,” she whispered in a mouse-like voice. She felt horrid that it was loud enough for him to hear. “I should return to my room. There may be food waiting for me there.”

Hearing that she was leaving only made Oleander tighten his grip on her. “Tell me, Linnea, what does a fae like you enjoy eating?”

There were all sorts of foods that she ate at home but she felt she might offend Oleander if she said something so blatant as ‘meat and vegetables.’ He also didn’t seem to know much about humans at all. “What I eat is complex. Much of what I eat was once one thing, but we use fire and tools to make it into something new before I even see it.”

“So you are a flame spirit.” Before the princess could object, Oleander leaned in again so he could study her face. “You have such wondrous eyes.” From this close, she could see that his eyes had a faint gold hue to them as well. They were so much like the flowers of his tree. “Your eyes are like fire.”

“T-thank you.” Once again she found herself looking bashfully off to the side. “I would be fine with some fruit if you had some, but I fear that I should be returning.”

Oleander gestured to a will-o-wisp, who floated away in a bouncing manner. “They may find you something. In the meantime, tell me about this strange fae world of yours. Why choose to not find the one who will make you happy?”

“My future is not the stars. Not everything has been put in place and set in stone.” Linnea fidgeted about, not wanting to talk about it with someone she had just met. “And if every piece has had its shape set, then that is how it must be. It is simply the way things are done where I am from. That is all you need to know.”

“And where are you from? Though I am king, I have never once left my grove.” He gestured to the tree. “This is my true body, and only certain circumstances would allow me to escape it.” Oleander paused as he thought to say. “Escape is incorrect. I know little of what the outside world is like, and any news is welcome.”

“This realm is full of humans.” Linnea let out a quiet and nervous laugh. “They call this land Orlean. I once heard that this land was filled with oleander trees, but they were cut down during the wars. Yours is the only one I have seen, other than the ones from picture books.”

“A whole realm named after me? I’m flattered.” He pointed over his shoulder, and Linnea turned around to see a large wolf at the edge of the grove. It held a branch in its mouth that had a plum hanging from it. Oleander gestured for the beast to come closer, and the wolf dropped the branch at their feet.

“Thank you,” muttered Linnea. She had seen dogs before, but they were considered messy creatures, thus she had never been allowed near them. This wolf was also considerably larger than any dog she had seen before, and she instinctively hid behind Oleander in an effort to minimize her presence.

Oleander stooped down and picked up the fruit, examining the red flesh within his palm. “What a lovely color, but you should have a taste of something else first.”

Linnea frowned. It had been days since she had last eaten anything that wasn’t trail rations, and she was desperate to have something that was neither dry or tough on her teeth. “And what would that be?”

“Something which you have hinted that you need the taste of.” He reached up and touched her chin, angling it so that she was looking up at him. Then he leaned down as though he were about to steal a kiss. He was so close that she could smell the floral scent of his skin.

Maybe it was the lack of food, the days of travel, or the night she had spent dancing, but Linnea wasn’t right in the head. Her mind was spinning with strange thoughts. What exactly would a flower taste like? But it was just as she nearly felt the coolness of his lips on hers that she turned her head away, if only because she heard a growl come from somewhere in the woods.

“There you are, milady.” Nicolaos stepped out of the shadows just as Linnea put some distance between herself and Oleander. “Come to me before that creature hurts you.”