A Winter Admirer

Excerpt

Edwin glanced up. He sucked in a breath. A mountain nymph stood, completely still, almost blending in amongst the trees and snow. His grey skin glistened in the gentle light. He wore only a pair of woollen breeches, leaving his slender feet completely bare.

How long has the oread been standing there?

Growing up in Ores, Edwin had seen many mountain nymphs. Several who had oread heritage even lived in Ores. But something about this oread held his attention like no other had before. The oread stepped towards him, and Edwin’s lungs constricted. The oread’s long white hair swayed in the breeze.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you,” the oread said, his voice soft and melodic. He walked towards Edwin. “I’m Sinoe.”

“Edwin. I’m a… My name is Edwin.”

Sinoe’s dark-grey, almost black lips smiled, and Edwin’s heart skipped a beat. “And what is a cute human doing so intently in the forest?”

Did he call me cute? He must mean cute like a child.

“I’m a botanist. I document plants, collect samples, and send them to Bordertown, to my teacher and mentor. She is a botanist there.”

Sinoe tilted his head. “Why does someone in a faraway city care about the plants we have here?”

Edwin stared at his drawing, trying to collect himself enough so that he could properly answer. “Well, they want…they want… We want to catalogue the existence of all the different plants. They might put my sketches and notes in books, so people throughout the kingdom can learn about them.” He swallowed. “And there are potential properties of the plants that are beneficial—medicinal and healing properties, for example.” His cheeks heated as he spoke.

“And you enjoy this work? Studying plants?” Sinoe’s silvery eyes seemed to capture all the light and beauty of the mountains. Somehow, it felt like Sinoe embodied the very forest around them. And Edwin had always loved the forest.

Edwin nodded. Sinoe blinked, and Edwin realised long white lashes framed his eyes.

“How interesting.”

Edwin didn’t understand why Sinoe thought what he was doing was interesting. Or why the oread had shown any interest in him at all. He was bookish and shy. Plain and dull. There was nothing of note about him.

Sinoe stared at him as if waiting for Edwin to tell him more, but Edwin could think of no words. What could he possibly say that would impress someone like Sinoe? Even his own family found him boring. The silence stretched between them.

“Well, I should leave you to it, then,” Sinoe said. “I would not wish to disturb you during your important work.”

Edwin flushed. For a second, Edwin thought Sinoe was mocking him, but the gentle smile and the kindness in Sinoe’s eyes made him think he was being genuine when he called Edwin’s work important. It was on the tip of Edwin’s tongue to say that Sinoe wasn’t disturbing him, or that if he was, it was a welcome disruption. A perfect disruption. The best disruption he had ever experienced in his entire life.

“Good day, Edwin. It was a pleasure to meet you,” Sinoe said.

“Good day,” Edwin said.

Sinoe stared at him for a second. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something more, but then he smiled again, turned, and walked back through the forest, his feet making no marks in the snow.