The rest of the first half of the journey passed uneventfully. Daphne chattered to Justin all day in Vigan, but Brian didn't understand half of what she said, for she spoke too quickly. But he was content simply to walk beside Justin. He never had been much for talking. He always felt out of step with everyone else. The boy between two worlds. A prince with no love for the keep or most of the people in it, but who stuck out like a sore thumb in the world he chose to inhabit. Too much of a thinker to be truly happy in the keep and too much of an observer to truly belong in the Quarters.
But with Justin, he was somehow different. More. He talked, and often, and his smiles and laughter were frequent and genuine. Emmett had said that Justin was his light, but Brian knew that he was much more. He was home. With Justin, the world made sense, and Brian felt a belonging he'd never before experienced. Brian had told Justin that they were born for each other, and he believed it like he believed in nothing else.
Justin had been holding Brian's hand since they set out again, periodically smiling at him (shyly) and squeezing his hand. At such times, Brian couldn't help but smile back. On one such occasion, as Brian looked at Justin and smiled, he thought, "I love you, Justin."
Justin's eyes widened in surprise, as though he'd said the words out loud. Brian swallowed hard. He hadn't, had he? Then suddenly, Brian heard Justin saying, "I love you, too, Brian. So much." Or rather, if such a thing were possible, he 'felt' Justin saying it. He could hear Justin's soft voice, but the words were not in any language they regularly used. Yet he understood them. Brian raised an eyebrow.
Unexpectedly, they both looked down at the rings Emmett had given them. For a moment, they were glowing. Apparently, the rings made a form of telepathy possible, one that transcended their language barrier. Brian had thought his "I love you" in his language, and Justin had probably thought his response in Vigan, since he lived in the Vigan Quarter and used that language most often. But the rings somehow translated those words into some third unknown language, one that they both naturally understood. Brian and Justin exchanged an amazed glance. Brian noted that the world had certainly become more interesting since they had fled the Quarters. A moment later, he corrected himself. The world had certainly become more interesting…since they had met.
For the rest of that day's walk, Brian wondered about the rings and their strange power. He had heard stories about magic, a gift from the gods, but his father had gruffly informed him, more than once, that magic was a myth. Something one only found in children's stories, not the real world. He couldn't help but wonder what else his father had hidden from him and, more importantly, why.
Finally, as night began to fall, Brian, Justin, and Daphne stopped at the base of a large oak tree. It had to be at least thirty feet tall. Here they made camp.
Justin and Daphne set out a couple of blankets Emmett had packed, and Brian went in search of wood for a fire. The days this time of year were quite hot, but the nights were bitter cold. When he returned, he was surprised to discover that a stranger (a short boy about his age with short black hair and pasty white skin) was sitting on the ground next to Justin. Brian immediately tensed up. Justin caught sight of Brian and called out (in Brian's language), "Brian, come. Meet Theodore."
Brian was even more surprised when the strange boy looked his way and added (in the language of the keep), "You can call me Ted."