The Five Realms

“You cannot reveal yourself to Thom!” Mel pleaded when they found a deserted corner, his wings giving an agitated shiver.

“...and why is that? What has that bloody dragon Nathan not informed me again? I'm going to wring his neck the next time I see him...”Samandiriel threatened as he took off his hat and raked his hair with his fingers. “Why can't I introduce myself to my charge? Is there something you people have failed to explained to him about the situation?”

Mel was uneasily shifting from one foot to the other. His eye's wouldn't meet Samandiriel's.
“Well... wehaventtoldhimthewholetruth...” He was mumbling, his words coming out too fast to be understood.

“Huh! Can you say that again?” Samandiriel looked at Mel with suspicion.

Mel wrung his hands, tensing as he readied himself to reveal everything.

“We haven't told Thom the whole truth. When he first came here, he was in bad shape...so quiet and cold, like a statue. He looked like a little lost boy whose only companions were his books..” Mel stared in space as if he was trying to remember. “Savyn was really worried, so she only told him the basics and a little about the guardian business. We agreed to give him time to adjust until Nathan deemed it okay to tell Thom his own part in all this. He knows about the Royals dying but has no idea he's one. In fact he still thinks Savyn's his blood sister, so we can't tell him we're HIS guardians either.” The fairy finished with a pained expression on his face, watching Samandiriel as if expecting him to flow into a rage, but the angel just crossed his arms and looked thoughtful.

“Alright, I won't tell, but how do we go on from here? I've made quite a mess of things. Our boy already knows we've met before.”

Mel sighed with relief when he realize the angel wasn't angry. “Oh that? We could always tell him you are a family friend and used to visit his family when he was a baby. That would take care of your little slip.”

“You're a genius, Lemuel my dear. That's a great idea!...and I won't be lying. Queen Idril and King Maeglin were my good friends.” Samandiriel sadly smiled when he thought of the royal couple. “Enough already, since we have settled this little problem, let's talk about other things.”

Mel beamed at him and proceeded to ask him if he'd talked to Cinnead lately.


XX


Thom sat at the table toying with the napkin as he sipped his soda inside the Bar Shee. Savyn had gone to the rest room to retouch her make-up and he was left waiting for the club sandwich they had ordered. He examined the place. It was small but clean. A vacant pool table was set at the middle, and a few customers sat at the bar, watching TV. There was also door at the back with a big scary guy guarding it.

He wished Lyle, Jake, Sven and their newfound friends had come with him and Sav to the bar, but the 3-stooges refused and stated that masked balls were not their thing and if Mel and Nathan sees them, they would have no choice but to come. They had escaped as soon as they had reached the end zone of the parade and no entreaties to stay for a while from the elven siblings could sway them.

The dwarfs and giant had entertained Thom at the parade after Mel had gone with the angel in suit tails, and he had laughed himself silly with their antics, forgetting his questions about that Samandiriel person. The onlookers had also enjoyed their little show. He wondered if all dwarfs were born tricksters since their new dwarf friends were just as full of jokes and pranks as Lyle and Jake were. He gave a shudder at the thought of a whole town of dwarfs causing mischief. No wonder dwarfs don't have villages or towns. The havoc they could cause would be huge.

Footsteps stopped near him, signing the arrival of his order. His stomach rumbled as he smelled the aroma of toasted bread, eggs, ham and mayonnaise when the waiter placed the plate in front if him. He took a fourth of the sandwich and finished it in seconds. The parade and the cold night had made him hungry.

Thom had not bother to see who had come in when the bar door gave a rattle and swung open. He was surprised when he looked up from his plate to find Mel and his friend Samandiriel sitting themselves at his table. The same waiter that had delivered his food was taking their orders as Mel pointed to the list of names in the menu book one after the other.

“Are you sure you can finish that?” Thom questioned Mel after the orders where finally taken. The fairy calmly reassured him, pointing out that he was going to share it with his angel friend. That so called angel friend had been smiling for a while now and chuckling from time to time. Thom gave him a suspicious look.

“Where is Savyn?” Mel was asking.

“Ladies' room....She left me here 20 minutes ago...” was the piqued reply from Thom.

“...and where are the guys?” Mel continued, his head turning from side to side to peruse the room, looking for the 3-stooges.

“They escaped.” Thom vaguely answered as he finished his plate and wiped his hands with the napkins on the table.

Mel just rolled his eyes at Thom's answer and proceeded to excuse himself to the men's room.

Thom turned his attention to Salmandiriel and watched him. He noticed that the man's wings had disappeared and thought it was a shame that it was gone because the feathered limbs looked magnificent from what Thom had seen an hour ago. He unconsciously reached for his necklace and gave it a squeeze, thinking that maybe the stones were not working. He dismissed that idea when he faintly remembered reading about angels and their wings, and how they can will it away if they want to. His eyes had shifted to the wall, becoming glazed and unfocused.. He was about to start fantasizing again, like he always did when he was in deep thought about the things he read, when he was interrupted by a chuckle coming from the angel man.

Thom peered at Samandiriel's face and saw that he still had that crazy grin on his face. Thom was getting quite annoyed with that, so he decided to rile the angel up. He stared at Salmandiriel's face, his gaze never waivering. The angel answered him with a stare of his own. They kept that silent eye contest until Thom got bored and decided shift to another tactic. Narrowing his eyes , he proceeded to fire questions at the angel.

“Mister, How do you know me?”

“I knew your parents and saw you when you were a baby. I used to visit your family years back. I don't know if you can still recall.” Salmandiriel replied, smiling at his last sentence. Of course he can't remember. After all, you had your glamour on.

“I have no memories of your visits, but you do look familiar.” The boy paused, then changed the topic. “How do you know Mel? Do you work together?”

“I'm a guardian like he is. So yes, we do work together.”

“How come you don't live at the warehouse like the other guardians do?”

“I was on vacation.” Salmandiriel looked amused when he said this. This was partly true since he was given a 6 months sabbatical after he completed his latest mission.

“Where did you go on vacation?”

“Realm of Mystic, the capital to be precise.”

“Do you have a lady friend there? Is that why you chose that place?”

Crazy questions kept coming one after the other but Samandiriel never quit answering. He knew the boy was trying to get a rise out of him but he wasn't willing to give up and take the bait. Thankfully they were interrupted by Mel and Savyn who came back from their sojourn to the comfort room. Mel looked quite pleased with himself while Savyn, who was clutching the monstrosity which was her bag, had a guilty look on her newly made up face.

“Sorry for taking so long in the ladies room, Thom. I just had to redo my make up. You know me...” Sav apologized as she sat herself beside her brother and plunked her precious cargo on the table.

“..is okay.” Thom replied. “I ate the whole sandwich so we're even.”

A little chagrined, Savyn grinned weakly at Thom as the others laughed.

The food Mel ordered arrived shortly and as Thom predicted, it was too much even for three persons, so he had to eat his share. However, that didn't bother him since he loved to eat.

Sav's cellphone rang just as they were finishing their meal. Digging it out from the depths of her bag, she flipped it open and after seconds of talking to the person on the phone, handed it to Mel.

“It's Nathan.”

Mel took the phone and listened. After a few yeses and okays and Samandiriel's name coming up, Mel passed it to Sav who put it back inside her bag.

“Nathan says he'll meet us at the ball. Let's finish eating and go.” Mel said and signaled for the waiter to get their bill. They hurriedly consumed the remaining food on their plates and stood up from the table when Mel finished paying.