"I’m not sure what I expected," Adrin said. The betrothed couple was setting a ward around their campsite while the humans cleaned up the remnants of their dinner. Lainnys was trying to explain the workings of magic to her magically-untrained fiancé, who was eager to learn but not responding as well as his teacher would have liked.

"About what?"

"The humans," Adrin replied.

Lainnys shrugged. "I guess so," she said. "They’re not as smelly as I expected."

"No," Adrin replied. He looked off into the distance, and Lainnys grabbed his hand.

"You’re losing the pattern," she said. "You have to concentrate."

"It’s all right," he replied. "I set it already."

"What?" Lainnys gasped. "No, no! It’s wavering already! There’s no way it can hold all night - let alone an hour!"

"I’m sorry," Adrin said. "I’ve never done this before."

"I can’t believe you," Lainnys sighed. "I can’t remember not being able to use magic...I thought all kids learned..."

"I was too busy," Adrin replied. "I didn’t need to learn this kind of stuff."

"Well, you’ve got to learn now, if you’re going to be the Prince of Dreams," Lainnys said. "A solid magical education is essential for anyone in a position of power, and even more so for the King of Dreams. We have got a lot of work to do."

"Lucky me," muttered Adrin.

"What was that?!"

"...Nothing," Adrin sighed. He looked back over at the campfire and the humans. "They’re really not so different from us, are they?"

"Concentrate! You can blither on about whatever you want after we’ve cast the barrier."

"All right..." Adrin sighed, and got back to work.

*

"Magic, huh?" Jeremy said. "I’m not sure what’s scarier, the fact that they can do it or the fact that I’m starting to get used to it."

"I wish I could," Merene said. "Use magic, I mean."

"Who hasn’t?" Jeremy said. "But, as Lainnys is so fond of pointing out, you and I are only human."

"Yeah..." Merene sighed. "It stinks."

"You would say that," Jeremy replied. "I never thought the sight of Chicago would make me happy..."

"It could be worse," Merene said. "At least it’s interesting."

"Life’s interesting enough for my taste back home, thanks," Jeremy said.

"But don’t you want to do something?" Merene said. "Don’t you think we were brought here for a reason? I mean, you’ve got that key - it’s attuned to you, somehow - "

"I don’t know what the hell it means, and our hosts haven’t exactly been open with the information, have they?"

"Then we’ll ask them. They can’t expect us to just come along for the ride without telling us anything."

"The walk, you mean," Jeremy drawled. "There isn’t anything to ride, here."

"Man, what are we gonna tell people when we do get back? There’s no way to explain this. It shouldn’t be possible..."

"Is it possible for you ever to shut up?" Jeremy groaned. Merene pulled back, embarrassed.

"I’m sorry," she said. "I guess I talk too much..."

"Well, there’s a way to cure that," Jeremy replied, without sympathy. Merene bit her lip and went to prepare her bedding.

*

"If you’ve gotta go through the barrier, do it like this," Lainnys said. She squeezed her hand around the faintly glowing ring that encircled their campsite and it melted beneath her fingers. Keeping hold on it, she stepped through, then closed the circle behind her. "Now you try it," she said.

"What?" Adrin tried to put his hand around the barrier, as he’d seen Lainnys do, but when he squeezed the circle disappeared. He pulled his hand back, and Lainnys made a frustrated sound. "Sorry..."

"You’re hopeless," Lainnys said. "That’s what you are, hopeless." She closed her eyes and a new circle took form around the campsite.

"What did I do wrong?" Adrin asked, looking dubiously at the circle. It was only a few inches in diameter, and nearly impossible to see unless one looked for it. I can’t do this, he thought. I never was any good with magic.

But I can’t give up now, can I? I’m the Prince of Dreams. I have to keep pushing myself, as hard as I can, or the whole world is going to pay for it.

Damn. He reached out again, slowly this time, concentrating on what he wanted that loop to do. Stay, he told it with his mind. I just want to step through. But don’t disappear, all right? He felt silly, talking to a spell, but it seemed to be listening. His hand melted through, and the ends started to dip away before he caught them. He stepped through carefully, then pushed them back together behind him and turned around.

He coughed. Their campsite appeared to be beneath a dome of thick, dark, warped glass. Lainnys giggled over his shock. "You’re just as naïve as the humans," she said.

"Well, thanks for teaching me," Adrin said, ignoring her teasing. "I think I’m going to go for a walk, now."

"Mind if I come with you?" Lainnys asked. Adrin frowned, deliberating, and Lainnys pouted. "I bet you’d take Merene with you..."

Adrin turned red. "What’s that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"Don't play dumb with me," Lainnys said. "I see the way you look at her! You seem to be forgetting you're already betrothed to someone, and that someone happens to be me, d'you hear me, Adrin?"

"As clearly as can be expected when you're screaming in my ear," he replied, wincing. Lainnys drew in her breath to let loose another barrage of scorn, but Adrin raised his hand to silence her. "Please, give me a moment, just until my ears stop ringing." There was a pause. "Continue."

"She's human, Adrin! You saw yourself what humans have done to their world! And you - "

"Sheesh, save your breath. I'm not in love with Merene, Lainnys," Adrin replied patiently. "No more than Jeremy's in love with you," he added with a chuckle, hoping to get the conversation focus off of him.

"What?! Don’t even joke! Ew, I’d rather kiss a lengin!" She made a disgusted face. "But really. I saw the way you were sticking up for her in the river today..."

Just can’t drop it, can you? "She just needs someone to defend her," Adrin said. "I’m the Prince of Dreams...I’m supposed to protect people who need me."

"Elorhans," Lainnys replied sullenly. "I doubt if it extends to humans."

"Well, she’s in Elorhe, and she’s still a person, even if she is human. She’s not at all how I thought humans would be...if you’d just give her a chance..."

"Oh, Merene’s nice enough, she’s just not that bright," Lainnys said. "And Jeremy’s just a pain in the butt."

Adrin gritted his teeth and tried to calm down a bit before he opened his mouth again. "Have you even tried to get to know them at all?"

"Why should I?" Lainnys had that set to her chin again, the stubborn haughtiness that made Adrin feel a strange urge to smack the little princess. "I already know more than I want to."

"And you’re going to become Queen," Adrin said, "even though you’re as stubborn as a rock and you’ve got a mind like a locked closet - "

"My mind is not closed!" Lainnys said. "I care about Elorhans, but humans are different! Humans are the ones who almost destroyed this world! They - "

"You don’t really believe all those stupid legends, do you?" Adrin interrupted.

"What do you mean, stupid legends?" Lainnys said. "You mean the history of Elorhe? I’ve studied it all my life!"

"You may be the princess, but which one of us has been through the Ocean of Dreams, you or me?" Adrin said. "Believe me. They’re nothing but legend. And don’t treat them like they’re powerless, either...we both know about the human potential for magic..."

"But they can’t use it," Lainnys reminded him.

"No...not when we last made contact with them. But they may have found a way around the restrictions since then."

"Not without Elorhan blood!" Lainnys said. "You can't use magic if you don't have Elorhan blood!"

"Could sephlim have done the same thing to Jeremy, over the years?" Adrin said. Lainnys crossed her arms, glaring at him.

"If it did, wouldn’t we know by now?" she retorted. "God, if Jeremy had magic, would anything be left standing?"

Adrin sighed. He was simply tired of listening to Lainnys go on, and she didn’t want to abandon him to let him go on his walk alone. I guess I can do my walking in the dreamspace, he thought with a sigh. I can’t believe that I’m expected to marry this girl.

"What are you sighing about?" Lainnys asked.

"I’m tired," he said, not quite lying. "Let’s go back in."

Lainnys shrugged. "Whatever."

Adrin looked at the dome dubiously. "Um...how do we get back in?"

Lainnys rolled her eyes. "I’d be pretty pathetic if I couldn’t get through a spell of my own making, wouldn’t I?" As she spoke, a doorway appeared in the shield. "Go on," she said, and Adrin shook his head and walked through it. Lainnys followed and closed it behind them.

Merene was curled up in her bedroll, apparently asleep, but Jeremy was sitting up looking at them. "Welcome back," he drawled.

"What are you doing?" Lainnys demanded.

"Well, I couldn't help overhearing," the human said with a smirk. "In fact, I'm sure the whole forest can't help but hear you."

Adrin felt suddenly weary. He didn’t want to deal with another Lainnys-Jeremy argument. Even the dreamspace was better than that.

"What the hell is a lengin, anyway?" Jeremy wondered.

"A crustacean," Adrin began, but Lainnys cut him off.

"Don't listen to him! They're disgusting!" she said. "All rubbery and - "

"But you’d rather kiss one of those? I’m touched, really, I am," Jeremy said.

"Can’t you give it a rest for just one night?" Adrin snapped. "This trip is bad enough without the two of you bickering all the time."

"Well, Merene seems to be enjoying it," Jeremy groaned. He fluttered his eyelashes and made a flipping motion with his hand. "‘Oh, Jeremy, I can't sleep, I'm so excited,’" he said in a mockingly feminine voice. "‘Oh, Jeremy, isn't this the most beautiful place you've ever seen?’" Adrin and Lainnys chuckled at his impression of Merene; she did seem to be the only one who was enjoying the journey.

That’s not fair! Merene protested silently, still pretending to be asleep. I don’t think I really sound like that...maybe I should just learn to keep my mouth shut. I wonder if they'd laugh like that if they knew I could hear them. Probably - why should they care? If only...if only Adrin weren't laughing, too! She tried to burrow even further down into her bedroll, as if it might drown out some of the sound. I thought he liked me, at least...

But then, I’m just a human. I don’t even have a key to make me special. Why should anyone care about what happens to me?