‘How cosy.’
Oliver felt something soft touch his face. He was sure that he was dreaming, but the surroundings were too dark for him to see. Intrigued by the soft touch, Oliver opened his eyes steadily.
The first thing he saw was a lush landscape of trees, which made Oliver feel cool. He tried to raise his head and saw the same woman he saw last time before his eyes closed. She was still wearing the same dress and still looked stunningly graceful.
The woman placed her face a few inches in front of Oliver’s. Oliver blinked his eyes a few times and stepped back to make some space for them. Oliver was made uncomfortable by the woman when she moved even closer.
“Who are you?”
Instead of answering, the woman repeated Oliver’s question. The woman repeated the question twice and ended with her hand touching Oliver’s face once again. Oliver was so taken aback by the woman’s actions that it raised a question in his mind.
“Didn’t you understand what I said? Ah well.”
Oliver took the woman’s hand and shook it. He introduced himself as Oliver Sherwood and got a response with a head movement that looked down to see their handshake. The woman nodded and said, “Jovanka.”
“You finally understand too.”
Oliver let out a breath of relief. After learning her name, he unlinked their hands. Oliver had many questions in his head, but he was certain that his questions would be difficult for Jovanka to answer. Communication between them faltered as the woman had a local accent that Oliver had never heard.
Oliver felt his stomach rumbling with hunger. Hearing the sound from inside Oliver’s stomach, Jovanka got off the bed made of leaves and twigs. She stepped over to the stone table and picked up a wide-leafed basket.
Jovanka gave the basket to Oliver. Oliver assumed that Jovanka was giving him food, and it soon became apparent that the basket was filled with wild fruits. Oliver hesitated because he had never seen the type of fruit that was in the basket.
“Eat.”
Oliver saw Jovanka’s hand gesture, which forced him to take the fruit from the basket. Oliver complied because he saw the sincerity in Jovanka’s eyes that went down to his stomach after they met earlier.
He bit one handful-sized orange-red fruit into his mouth. The first sensation Oliver felt was a starchy sweetness on his tongue. He continues to chew on it and gets a smiling reaction from Jovanka. As he ate from the container in his hand, Jovanka kept looking at him intently.
“Forgive her. My daughter has never met a human before.”
Oliver’s gaze was distracted when someone came from behind a door that was more like a string of vines. He saw the figure of a woman in her early forties standing in the doorway of the vines. Instead of being disturbed, Jovanka remained in her position, as if she hadn’t seen the woman.
Oliver felt confused. He was surprised by Jovanka, who ignored the woman’s figure even though the woman was her mother. Oliver looked at Jovanka and the woman, in turn wanting to ask for an explanation of what happened.
“I’m sorry if we confused you, Mr. Oliver Sherwood. We are the Veelan. Jovanka is my daughter, and I no longer have a real existence in this world. Perhaps you humans call it a spirit. We have no bad intentions, especially towards humans. Jovanka saved you from the blizzard two days ago.”
Oliver had no idea that he had been unconscious for two days. He kept listening to the woman’s explanation but also kept looking at Jovanka at the same time. The two women mesmerised Oliver with their fairy-like visuals.
“Veela? Does that mean you’re fairies?”
“Still in the same family but different in power. Our magic is stronger than that of fairies. Jovanka used her power to make you recover.”
Oliver spontaneously grabbed his head. He realised that his head was wrapped in something. He saw a pond not far from where he was.
Oliver got out of bed to walk towards the small pond. Once he arrived, he looked at his reflection with his head wrapped in something like a light green leaf surrounding the circumference of his head. He touched his head again, right where the bandage was, and felt a slight pain.
“How do I communicate with your daughter? She’s spoken very little since earlier.”
“She is studying.”
“How can I go back to where I came from?”
“After you’ve recovered, Jovanka must have mastered your language. You can ask her to drive you down these mountains. I’d better go; I only have a short time, or Jovanka will be weak.”
“Wait, I still don’t understand…”
Oliver was too late. The woman’s figure had already disappeared, leaving him and Jovanka in that place. Oliver looked down weakly, as he was still confused by the situation. After the blizzard, he had to be in a strange place with a woman who was not human, and he did not know his own future.
Oliver remembered his friends. He alone still had to recover and could not mobilise his energy to look for his friends. He could only depend on the woman named Jovanka.
He would try to compromise with her in order to get out of that place and return to London. From the visuals he had observed, Jovanka didn’t seem like a scary or dangerous creature. Even earlier, Oliver heard for himself that Jovanka had healed herself.
*
One month later…
“So this is how you healed me so quickly.” Oliver looked at the wound on his leg, which was closing quickly.
“I used to only be able to do basic healing, but after I claimed you as my immortal mate, my healing magic got better and faster. Remember when you survived the blizzard? It took me two days to make you recover.”
“Yeah, I remember that. You’re the most beautiful gift I’ve ever had, Jovanka.” Oliver caressed the woman’s face as she smiled at him.
“I’m also lucky that you believed in me and stayed by my side until now. I love you, Oliver.”
Oliver kissed Jovanka. Their lips intertwined with each other. Both of them were immersed in the sensation of tenderness called love. Neither of them even realised that the ground around them was shaking from the effects of the woman’s overwhelming emotions.
Oliver laid Jovanka down on a blanket made of leaves. Both of his hands clasped hers tightly. As Oliver watched Jovanka close her eyes, he whispered in her ear, “I love you so much, Jovanka.”
Under the star-studded night sky and the melodious sounds of night creatures singing like a symphony that accompanies the intimacy of two people who are being spoilt by love. The union of the two seemed to have been determined by fate. Behind the bright moonlight, a smiling figure can be seen, seeing the destiny that has been determined by him running smoothly.