First Meeting (Bloom 5, Valtor 7)

"It is much too soon to be discussing marriage Marion." My father said to my mother.

I was leaning against the throne room door straining to hear their conversation.

"It is never too early to start thinking about these things Oritel." My mother replied.

"She's five." He countered

"Exactly." My mother fired back.

"did you know it's rude to eavesdrop."

I jumped away from the door as a new voice joined those of my parents. I looked around wildly and my eyes fell on a boy, not much older than me, leaning against one of the walls smirking. He was very pale, tall for our age, with sandy blond haired and grey eyes.

"Were you trying to give me a heart attack?" I asked rhetorically "Who are you anyway."

He peeled himself off of the wall and extended his hand "They call me Valtor."

I took his hand and shook it. "Well they call me Bloom."

"It's very nice to meet you Bloom." Valtor replied "But you never answered my question."

I went over our entire conversation in my mind before I realized that he was referring to the way he had caught me, leaning against the throne room door listening to my parents fight.

"Yes," I replied "I know it's rude to eavesdrop but it is ok when you factor in the fact that they were talking about me."

He was nodding before I even finished my statement "You have got a point." He conceded.

"Yeah," I replied, flipping my shoulder length fiery red hair over my shoulder "I know." Suddenly, a thought struck me. "Why are you here?"

"My parents are here." He replied, his eyes not meeting mine "I was bored so I decided to wander around."

There was something off about his story but being the young naïve girl I was I let his suspicious cover slide. "Well come on, lets go to the garden."

"Wait; now I'm curious, what are they talking about in there?" He jerked his head towards the door.

"They are trying to decide who I'm going to marry." I snorted appalled by the idea of marriage.

"Who's on the list?" Valtor asked curiously, leaning his head on the door.

"I don't know," I replied, placing a hand on my hip "Someone interrupted me before I could hear."

"Well, now I'm on your side, so are you going to listen or not?"

I debated for all of about two seconds before I decided that I was really curious about who my parents wanted me to get married to.

"How about Nabu, that noble from Tides?" My mother asked.

"He's already engaged to the princess of Tides." My father replied

"Prince Thoren of Eraklyon."

"No."

"Prince Sky."

There was the sound of shuffling from the other side of the door. "That could be a possibility, how soon could we have the Earklyon royal family here?"

I groaned and just barely kept from banging my head against the door.

"You hate the prince of eraklyon." It wasn't a question.

"With every fiber of my being." I replied "He's a pompous jerk who thinks that he controls everyone around him, and besides, I honestly thought that he was already engaged to some witch named Diaspro."

"You know, for a fairy you can be very dark at times."

I jerked up and stared at the boy who was quickly becoming my best friend "How did you know I was a fairy?" I asked.

He chuckled "I'm a wizard so I can sense your powers from down the hall."

"You're a wizard?" I gasped surprised; I had never met a wizard before.

"Yep," he replied proudly smirking down at me. "And one day I'm going to be the most powerful wizard in the magical dimension."

"Well, I'll be the most powerful fairy in the magic dimension and we can be powerful together."

He chuckled and there was something almost sinister about the sound. I took a step back and his laughing stopped immediately.

"What's wrong Bloom?" He asked

"Your laugh," I replied "It made you sound evil."

"I'm sorry" he said quietly "I didn't mean to scare you."

The tone of his voice was so soft, innocent, that I couldn't help but approach him again and place a hand on his face. "You didn't scare me." I lied.

"Don't lie to me Bloom." He said, gripping my wrist and taking my hand away from his face.

Any sensible person would have been terrified of is sudden change in attitude but I wasn't. His darker side made him even more attractive in my eyes. It was what made him human to me.

"I get angry too and people become afraid of me." I said matter-of-factly.

The dark glare in his eyes brightened immediately and he laughed. "I don't believe that anyone could ever be afraid of you." He said.

"When I'm angry my hair catches on fire." I said. He stopped laughing and stared at me.

"Are you serious?" He asked. I nodded watching as his face twisted probably trying to imagine it.

"Alright than, you can be dangerous."

I beamed oddly happy that he thought of me as dangerous.

"How old are you?" I asked suddenly, realizing that he knew my age but I didn't know his.

"I'm seven." He said proudly

"How long are you going to be here?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Today or in general?" he asked

"Both"

"I'm probably going to have to leave soon today but I can come back every day" He promised

"Really?" I asked, probably more excited about seeing this boy again than I should have been.

"Really" He replied, nodding his head once.

"Well, in that case I will be awaiting your next visit." I said

He smirked. The throne room door opened and my mom and dad walked out. The stopped the second they saw Valtor.

"Bye Bloom." He said to me before turning and running off down one of the hallways.

"Who was that?" My mother asked "is he one of your friends?"

I thought about the question for a minute before I nodded "Yes, yes he is."

I didn't know it yet but that was the first of many meetings me and Valtor would have.