Gregory

Greg was pulled through white light and thrown out into the snow. He hit the ground with a thud, and Mellissa smacked into his back. She rolled off him, and he turned so he was looking up at the grey sky. They both lay in the snow for a couple of minutes. People stared and whispered behind their hands as they walked by the pair. They must have looked odd. “Sorry,” Greg said, finally breaking the silence. “It is possible I was annoyed with them for their antics last night when I set up the alarm, but I should have told you what I’d done.”

She sat up and glared down at him. “Yes, you should have. It is freezing out here, and I’m covered in snow. These pastries better be good, unless that was another lie.”

Greg got up, shaking snow from his body. “That was definitely the truth, but whether we get them all depends on where you teleported us to.”

Snow splattered on the side of his face. Mellissa got to her feet and threw another handful of snow at him.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“For being super annoying,” she shouted.

“I said I was sorry.” Mellissa’s eyes narrowed. She picked up a ball of snow. Greg put both his palms up to signal surrender. “All right, I will make sure you get those pastries.”

She dropped the snow and tucked her hands under her cloak. “Good,” she said, pouting. “Where is this bakery?”

Greg looked around. She had brought them to the clock tower. Made sense—it was probably the most memorable thing they had passed last night. Luckily, it wasn’t too far from their destination.

“This way,” he said, walking in the direction of the bakery.

At first, Mellissa didn’t say a word. She was obviously annoyed, but rows of shops eventually broke her. Every so often, something would catch her eye. She would gasp, tug at his arm, then ask a million questions about what the shop sold. It slowed their journey, and more people gawked at them, but it was better than awkward silence.

They smelled the bakery before they saw it. The smell of freshly baked pastries sailed down the street. Mellissa perked up and skipped off ahead of him. The smell warmed Greg’s soul. It was an old comfort that he had missed. When Greg made it inside, Mellissa was already eyeing all the items on display.

“You didn’t tell me they did pastry sculptures.” She pointed at a bunch of animal shaped pastries.

“It must have slipped my mind.” Greg walked over to the counter. “Let me guess—you want a cat one.”

She skipped over to his side. “No, I want a rabbit.” She pointed at pastries sculpted to look like rabbits on their back legs holding a carrot.

“As you wish, my lady.”

“Don’t start with that again.”

They brought enough pastries for everyone. Once outside the shop, Mellissa took a big bite out of her rabbit. “Oh, this really is the best pastry ever. It is so buttery and flaky.”

“Glad you like it. We should head back. Do you think you could teleport us? Wouldn’t want the others’ pastries to get cold.”

“Yeah, sure,” she said, walking over to the quill shop. Greg sighed. She hadn’t heard a word he said. He walked over to her. She had one hand on the window and was gazing at all the quills on display. “I didn’t know there were so many different types of quills.”

“Yeah, but it’s all a con. It’s the different nibs that affect the style of writing, not the handle.”

She pointed at a large, white quill. “That says it’s made from the wing of a Pegasus. Is that true?”

“Yes, it is. They are hard to find, since the Pegasus like to live in secluded areas and tend to shy away from people.” She looked up at him, her big brown eyes full of wonder. Greg’s heart melted a little. Everything here was so new to her. It was like seeing his home in a whole new light.

“Oh my Gods,” came a shrill voice. “Greg, is that you?” A tall blonde ran at him and threw her arms round him, almost knocking him over. “I heard about your mission, but I didn’t know you were back.” The hug lasted way longer than Greg was comfortable with. When she finally let go, Greg’s throat tightened as he recognised the girl’s face. The last time he’d seen her, her hair was chestnut brown. She must have dyed it while he was gone.

“Hey, Lucy,” he said, trying to sound cool. “Good to see you. Well, I was just on my way home, we’ll see you around.” He grabbed Mellissa’s hand and walked away.

“Wait.” Lucy stepped into his path. She stroked his arm and fluttered her eyelashes. “I heard you found the new keeper. Do you think you could get me an introduction?”

“Fine.” Greg gestured to Mellissa. “This is Lady Mellissa Hail, keeper of the Heart Crystal and heir to the elf throne. Like I said, good to see you, but we were just leaving.”

Lucy curled her lip and pointed down at Mellissa. “Wait, that’s her? You’re joking right? I mean she’s so—”

“So what?” snapped Greg. “She is exactly who I said she is. You asked for an introduction. You got one. Now we are leaving.” He pulled Mellissa around Lucy and marched off.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I didn’t mean it. If you want, I can do your makeup,” Lucy shouted after them.

Greg kept walking. He should have known better than to bring Mellissa out. Of course someone would recognise them. Why did it have to be Lucy, though? She was shallow. The only things that mattered to her were appearance and status. How he had ever dated someone like that was beyond him. She had a good family name, and good connections were the sort of thing his father expected. Wow, was his life messed up. Well, at least it was before.

“Greg,” shouted Mellissa. “Will you slow down?” Greg stopped on the spot. Mellissa was panting. “Thank you.”

He hadn’t realised how fast he was going, and he’d been dragging Mellissa along, forcing her to run to keep up. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right. Who exactly was that?”

“Just some girl I know.”

Her eyebrow arched. “An ex?” He turned way. “I will take that as a yes. So what if she was trying to use your past relationship to her advantage. She is your ex for a reason. Don’t let her get to you.”

“I don’t care about that. People are always trying to use me for my father’s influence. It’s what she said about you that bothered me.”

“About me?” Mellissa took Greg’s hand. “Look, I have come to accept that I’m not what your people are going to expect. By your people, I mean the rich elite. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter as long as I get my job done. Right?”

Greg nodded. “Right.”

Mellissa’s hand tightened in his. “If I let it affect me, I will just freak out again like I did on the boat, and I can’t do that again.” The ground began to shake. “Just because I’m not this proper glam princess doesn’t mean I’m not royalty, because I am, whether I like it or not.” Everything around them began to shake. Shop signs tumbled over and window displays fell over. The glasses and plates shook off the tables outside a café smashing as they hit the floor. People cowered under tables and ran away. “I have come here to help—to do the right thing—but ever since we left the water nymphs, everyone has been staring and looking down at me. And only God knows what you really think of me. How on earth did you put up with staying in my house? I mean, you’re practically royalty yourself.”

This earthquake was definitely another new power of Mellissa’s, and Greg had to stop it before she did any real damage. He clasped her shoulders. “I’m sorry, Mellissa. I never thought about how all of this would affect you when I brought you here. I am not royalty the way you are. My family may be wealthy, but money isn’t everything. You are so much more than a crystal and a title. You have the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met, and that trumps everyone’s opinion, including Lucy.”

Mellissa buried her head in his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. Greg stroked her hair, making soothing noises. As her breathing slowed, the shaking stopped. Mellissa’s hold on him loosened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“I know,” Greg replied.

“I didn’t even know I could do that.”

“Look, let’s get back, and we can figure out what happened later.”

Mellissa nodded. Greg felt like the air was sucked out of him as she teleported them back home. Mellissa screamed as they crashed into the coffee table, splitting it in half. Her landings definitely needed work.

“Well, that’s one way to make an entrance,” said Matt. “Good thing that table wasn’t glass.” He was on the sofa with Yuri.

Yuri jumped to her feet. “Are you both all right?” She took Mellissa’s arm, helping her to her feet. Once Mellissa was out of the way, Greg swept his feet around and jumped up.

Victoria and Samson came running in. “What happened?” they asked in unison.

Victoria’s eyes narrowed on Greg. “You’re back.”

Greg held up the bag. “We bought pastries.”

Victoria’s blue eyes sparkled as she snatched the bag from him. “This isn’t over, Flopsey.”

Mellissa slid next to him. “Did you notice they were paired off in different rooms?”

“Yuck, we interrupted something, didn’t we?”

Mellissa giggled as she nodded. “Yep.”

The sound of her laugh brought a smile to his face.