Chapter 2
Magbert
opened the door to Crystal's room, his heart light with the thought of her
presence. It had only been a few days since he'd first heard her sing, but he
was determined to win her heart, to tell her he loved her, even if it meant
telling her he was a gnome. That part was going to be hard, but he was already
in love with this facinating woman of endless energy. Hopefully, he could
explain to her and...
But
Crystal wasn't the one he saw in the room. He did, however see a small light
gracefully moving around the bedspread. A tiny, yet beautiful melody emanated
from the spark and he moved into the room to peer at it. As he did, he could
make out the figure of a winged woman, surely no taller than three inches,
pirouetting blissfully, almost lazily in her light. She took no notice of him,
as she was obviously lost either in her own thoughts or her lovely song.
Precious little on her was clothed; in fact, her only raiment was a roughly
torn swatch of a fine looking silk which hung softly, yet decently around her
the way a towel might.
A
sprite!, he thought, slightly bemused. What is it doing in Crystal's
room? I had no idea she kept company with...
He
paused in thought as he watched the little wisp of a creature rise up from the
bed and being dancing in midair, her voice growing stronger and more beautiful
as she rose. Magbert began feeling strangely as if he knew something more about
this. Then it came to him in a sudden burst of inspired memory.
Oh,
I love music!, Crystal had said. If only I could dance and sing now the
way I can when I'm...
And
she had stopped there, leaving the most important word for him to realize only
now.
Flying.
"Crystal!"
he breathed aloud, the spell of the music lifting.
The
sprite stopped singing abruptly, her light disappearing as she did. She froze,
eyes wide with fear, then moved deftly in an attempt to escape.
"Crystal,
wait!" he exclaimed, leaping into motion. He cupped his hands together
quickly around the spark and drew his hands carefully toward himself, so as not
to jostle her. "I promise I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to talk to
you," he said, feeling her trying desperately to escape.
The
violent motion in his hands ceased and was replaced by a gentle shivering.
Slowly, he opened his hands and looked into them. She sat looking up at him,
trembling in fear as he spoke. "Crys... you are Crystal, aren't you?"
The sprite nodded morosely. "Why didn't you just tell me you were a
sprite?" She was silent for a moment, then finally burst out,
"Because
I never tell anybody! Everyone either disregards me as a useless little thing,
or worse, tries to take advantage of my size or my magic. All I ever wanted to
do was be a singer, Bertie and look out for myself. I didn't want to fall in
love with anybody, let alone lie to some I care about. And when I realized I
loved you..."
"You
love me?" he exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes!
I was afraid you might hate me if you found out that I...who I really was. But
I really wanted to tell you, I really did!" Crystal's face was strained
with her anguish.
"I
believe you, really!" he assured her. "An enlarging spell," he
added thoughtfully. "No wonder you seem so tired sometimes. It must be
terrible, doing a spell of that magnitude as long as you do."
"It
gets tiring," she murmured.
"I
wish I'd known," said Magbert, with a frown.
"I'm
so sorry if I've hurt you, Bertie, but I truly love you," Crystal said.
"These past few days with you have been the best of my life. I know you're
the one for me and I'll gladly stay any size you want, if it makes you
happy."
Magbert
sighed and stroked her hair tenderly with his thumb. "Crystal, you don't
have to go through all that for me. I..." He paused sheepishly, then added
"...well, I came to tell you that I loved you, too."
"Y-You
did?" came the shaky reply. "I mean, you do? Really?"
"Really.
In fact, I have...well, I've been keeping a similar secret." He set her
gently on the bed and said, "Dispel magic," softly. Almost
immediately, he lost a good two and a half feet on his height.
"Bertie!"
Crystal exclaimed. "You're a gnome!"
"Genetically
speaking."
"But
why didn't you...?" She caught herself and nodded sympathetically.
"You were doing the same thing I was."
"For
almost the same reasons," he replied.
Crystal
beamed at him and flew to his outstretched palm. She grabbed his thumb (which
was slightly taller than herself) and hugged it fiercely, then fluttered up and
kissed his cheek.
"Do
you still love me?" he asked.
"Endlessly
and boundlessly," she replied, pirouetting in midair once before alighting
on his palm again. "And do you still love me?"
"More
than you know. Of course, this does make proving that love in a physical manner
rather difficult..."
"I
can grow back again, if you want," she replied, preparing to do so.
"No,
no, let me come to you this time," he replied, sitting on the bed and
reducing himself to her size. She kissed him passionately and he grinned.
"Never made it with a sprite before," he said shamelessly.
"Well,
you're not going to right now, either," she replied with a teasingly stern
gaze, "but you might come awfully close."