Rooted

Brynn

He did not laugh with me, instead his face turned sad, and the green of his emerald eyes turned dark.

"I am no knight," was his reply.

" Then what, may I ask, are you?" I said, hoping he would let me guess.
" I, told you, I do not know." He said avoiding my gaze, with impressive determination.

" Then I shall guess," I said excited to try and pry him open. I used to do this with a boy from my village when he would avoid talking to me; I would guess what was bothering him. I have become a master. He sat down, looking rather defeated.

" I doubt you will, but you may try," he said, trying to sound disinterested.

" Alright. You have said you are not a knight, I suppose I should have known. Who is there to knight you?" I tried to add humor but this only seemed to darken his face more. Nervous, I started fiddling with the necklace my mother made me, out of habit and continued. " You are the only one who seems to be part of a tree but not in it," I said not sure how I knew it. "Which must make you some sort of forest Prince," I added, trying one last line to make him smile. He did not smile, only laughed a dark, haunting laugh.

" I am right aren't I?" I asked, hoping he would start playing along,

" You see right through me," he said, looking at me with defeat.

" Well, that's my magic," I said.

"Very well, yes I was a prince," he said with a sigh. He couldn't look me in the eyes when he said this; his eyes were fixed on the Red Cedar that stood next to us, and he was tapping his thumb against his leg to an imaginary rhythm.

" I knew it!" I said smiling. His gaze caught mine again, and all I could think of was a story my mother used to tell me. We lived in the woods when I was small and my mother used to say that if I ever got lost, the tree spirits would keep me safe and help me home, but I had to help them in return. When I asked how she only said, I should ask them. She would talk about the Tree spirit Prince and his river spirit lover. I loved those stories, but I always thought she made them up.

" Are you the Prince of the tree spirits?" I asked excitement seeping into my veins. As I said this, a strong wind started to blow around us, and I heard a whisper on the breeze, but they seemed angry. I started to get worried but the prince only looked around the grove, smiling. Of all the things that would make him smile, why this?

" I would not say that. You might make the others mad," he said. " I said I was a prince, but it was long ago, in a different form."

" What do you mean?" I asked, "Are you saying there are other tree sprits here?" "And how does one change form. That is nonsense."

" Not if you come across a very determined kind of magic I suppose," he said. "And yes this whole grove is full of us. But do not be fooled. None of us were supposed to be this way." He seemed to be struggling to explain himself; his thumb was tapping faster against his leg now, making me think he was trying to think of an excuse before I could understand what he meant.

" What, are you saying this whole grove is cursed?" I said, hoping the joke would calm him down. " Did a Witch catch you steeling her Rapunzel and make you a tree as punishment?" I said laughing, a little too nervously. He was not laughing, however.

" Something like that," he said darkly.

My laughter was caught in my throat and it ended up coming out as a cough. He did not seem to notice. He simply stared at that cedar, contempt growing on his face. The rhythm in his head seamed to stop because he was no longer tapping his thumb to his leg. Now he was twisting his hand around an imaginary ring on the root-like pinky on his left hand.