Free Enchanted Revenge by Theresa M. Jones

porta again, coming to the end of my journey and seeing the bright white light at the end of the triangle, multi-colored tunnel. But it was just the sun blinding me through another strange window.
    I saw Alec walking around in the kitchen and remembered why I was there. I threw my legs over the edge of the couch and tried to stand, but as they groaned in protest I immediately remembered the crazy long walk yesterday. I tried but failed to withhold the moan from escaping my lips.
    Alec walked in and nodded at me.
    “Breakfast is ready.” He walked back into the kitchen apparently not noticing my painful situation. I willed my legs to cooperate and tried to stand again. My feet shouted at me in anguish and my legs twitched with an ache I had never felt before. And yet, I knew it would only get worse. If only I had been in track back home or something, maybe then I would have been better prepared for this. But really, how could anyone ever prepare for a situation like this?
    Alec was sitting at the table when I walked into the kitchen. I sat on the chair, and finally regained control of my mouth, forbidding the moan of pleasure to escape. How ridiculous that it could feel so good to sit, after I had just been lying down for hours.
    At the table, the blue liquid filled the glass I had used the day before, and beside the glass was a large leaf with flowers. The flowers were unfamiliar to me but I wasn’t a botanist or anything. They were yellow, with a brown center, and the pedals were so large and thick the flowers almost looked fake, like plastic decorations.
    I sat and watched as Alec ate one after another while reading a book. The flowers weren’t really that big, but I probably couldn’t fit the whole thing in my mouth at once. That didn’t stop Alec though, he stuck the entire thing in his mouth, chewed and swallowed, before grabbing another. Between my leaf and his was a bowl that looked very regular and was filled with many more of the flowers.
    “Flowers?”
    He looked up at me, taking his eyes from the book he read, and smiled. It was the first time he had smiled since just after we arrived. For someone who loved this place so much, he didn’t really appear happy most of the time.
    “The ruptin flower is very good for you, and tastes pretty great too. We’re lucky I found some behind the house. They’re not nearly as plentiful as the cheslins, and they don’t last long at all after being picked. We will take the cheslins with us for our trip, but even though they taste so good, they can get boring after a while. Believe me.”
    So I just went with it. I picked up the flower closest to me on my leaf-plate, and stuck it in my mouth. Just as I had thought, I couldn’t stick the whole thing in my mouth, so I bit it straight down the center. It wasn’t crazy juicy like the cheslins the night before. But it was still sweet. In fact, it tasted just like a cherry, the same consistency and everything, just a different color and shape.
    As we ate, I asked, “So, are you all vegetarians or something?”
    His eyebrows twitched just a little, before he smiled at me again. “For the most part. The animals have their place in this land, just as we do. We are all connected, as I explained back in the Mortal Realm. We do not harm them if we don’t have to. And most of us don’t eat them. The vegetation is enough for us…Well, it always had been anyway. It’s not as plentiful as before, since so many of the Fae are losing their magic.
    “The only exception is really the Pixies. They eat just as much meat as most mortals do.”
    “Hmmm…so the plants and stuff are connected to your magic too?”
    “Yes. We are all connected. The animals, the sky, the water, the land, the plants, the fae, and the fire. All of it is connected. All of us .” He emphasized the ‘us’, I guess wanting to remind me that I was Fae too. Whatever. I didn’t feel Fae. I was just me. An orphan. Homeless.
    “So, I was wondering why we