Page 33 of Enchanted By a Pirate
13
Leisurely, Anton rose from the meadow. The blades of grass immediately stood back up as if the heavy weight of a giant hadn't been pressing down on them. He offered her his hand. Anna hesitated. It was pretty darn high — but that was why the view from there was so spectacular. Hesitantly, she agreed. She felt slightly dizzy at the height, but Anton curled his fingers like a railing. She felt safe and as the giant pressed onward, her fear of heights slightly subsided bit by bit.
His great strides thundered across the plain. "This meadow used to be white and pink from the blooming clover. And there was at least one fairy on every tenth flower."
Anna listened in surprise. Had there been so many fairies? How many must have already disappeared if all the remaining ones fit into an oak tree?
"You are a hard-working kind. I've always admired that. I could never be on my feet all day, spending most of my time taking care of someone."
"So, where did the fairies live?"
"They slept out in the open. The oak tree Iris and Margerite retreated to has always been something like your headquarters.You often had parties at the pond with the water lilies. Once, you hid me there so I could watch. The others were so angry when they noticed." He laughed, slowly and deeply, and Anna automatically joined in the laughter.
"Someone couldn't watch the celebration?"
He shook his head sedately. "You pushed for an exception to be made for me, but the other fairies wouldn't hear of it. From then on, you stopped attending parties and instead spent the evenings with me." His expression was mawkish.
A quiet voice throbbed inside her, trying to tell her about the past. But before she could seize onto it, it disappeared. What remained was the feeling of why she hadn't left him alone. He had been her friend, had been dear to her, and she had known how much loneliness bothered him. He had left the giants because life there had been too monotonous and boring for him, but also too heartless and solitary, and she didn't want to subject him to such isolation. She looked at him with a smile. There by his side, many things from before were coming back.
"So, what did we end up doing?"
Anton let out his slow, deep laugh. "We watched sunsets, told stories, and philosophized about the seemingly endless nature of the sea."
As Anna listened, her heart started to beat faster. "We've been to the sea? Can you tell me how I met the captain?"
He furrowed his bushy eyebrows. "I hate to talk about him."
"But I have to find out as much as possible about the past, Toni. That is the only way I can find out who did this to me and the fairies. At least there's a chance he wasn't the one who banished me and robbed me of my memories."
The giant said nothing, but from the deep lines on his brow, she could tell he was considering what she'd said. She left him to his inner debate and examined the fairy realm. Unfortunately, there were hardly any flowers to be seen. The bushes, trees, andmeadows they passed on their way didn't appear in any other than the green of the grass and leaves. And even that green did not look fresh and rich, but rather withered, with a brownish hue.
The landscape was monotonous. Where were the inhabitants? The villages or cities? Were there any left in this part of the land? She held back the question so as not to offer any distractions from the topic at hand. What she wanted to find out more about now was the captain. Then she'd ask him about the people.
The giant sighed deeply and a gust of wind swept through a hazel bush, causing countless leaves to sail to the ground. It was no wonder the fairies weren't too keen on a giant wandering through their realm, considering what Anton could do with a single breath.
"All right, I'll tell you. But only the short version. And I want to make it clear that I don't trust him — him or any other pirate."
"Understood." Curious, Anna sat up in the huge hand. She was so nervous that she was no longer looking at her surroundings. Had the pirate saved her from the clutches of unscrupulous thieves? Had she met him in a port bar? But as a fairy, what would she have been doing there? Except she wasn't a fairy. That was entirely possible. Perhaps she had once been the daughter of a gardener and had met him on the job — that would also explain where she obtained her knowledge of plants. Since when did pirates care about floral decorations on their ships?
Before her imagination ran away with her, Anton finally started to tell the story.
"You and I were on our way to the Kingdom of Rocks."
"To see your relatives?" Anna blurted out before pressing her lips together tightly. If she interrupted him after every sentence, she would probably never find out how she'd met the captain.
"Not exactly. You wanted to see the kingdom. Like me, you have always been curious…"
Hadn't the captain said that too?
"…and that's why you showed me your kingdom first and then I wanted to show you mine. Unfortunately, I underestimated how much my species dislikes visitors and how quickly they are disturbed."
Anna frowned. "What happened?"
"We hiked over the Thundering Mountains, which lie just beyond the border of the Kingdom of Flowers. You were so euphoric that you jumped from my hand and flew away. The sun's light reflected off your wings and the beam of light shone straight into the cave of a sleeping giant."
"Uh oh." Anna had a bad feeling.
"He was mad as hell, just like any giant who is disturbed while sleeping. He stomped out of the cave and immediately charged us. You flew away, but our giant strides are so large that in exceptional cases, we can move at great speeds — the same speed as a flying fairy, if not much faster."
