Amelia Merlin and the Game for Okamila

Part 48: The Islands of Imagi

"Amelia!" Fred called out. "Amelia where are you?"

"I'm right here!" she came around the corner with a stupid grin on her face.

"I've been looking for you." his brow furrowed.

She stood on her tip toes and kissed him. "Sorry. Jeremy and I had to talk."

"But where were you?"

"We just went walking around the house. Don't worry about it." Amelia smiled again and Fred grinned back at her after a moment.

"So you got everything sorted?"

"Yeah. It's all going to be fine. I fixed it all, and it's going to be fine." she beamed, thinking back on her time in Kalishterya, Amelia was proud she had fixed it all. She felt like she could really be a queen now. She smiled and took his hand in hers. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"More than anything." They walked towards the door, past the portraits of her family and outside to where the sun was shining. "So where do you want to go now?" he opened the car door for her and she climbed in.

Amelia gave a small sigh. "I don't know. Where should we go?"

"Well, we have one week until you and your friends need to be in Kalishterya. So what would you like to do with our seven days of summer vacation?" he pulled out of the driveway and started down the dusty road.

"We could have more time if you would come with me." she said quietly.

"Don't start on that Amelia. You know I have to stay to get the business sorted." he replied.

"Okay okay. How about a compromise? For our week together, will you come to Kalishterya? I want to show you the cities and the forests and everything. We can explore together and sleep in castles and-" she spoke so quickly she almost didn't hear him interrupt her.

"Yeah let's do it." 

Amelia felt her heart leap out of her chest. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah of course. I want to see this place you don't shut up about." he reached over and took her hand. His eyes stayed on the road but he kept stealing glances over at her to gauge her reaction.

"Holy shit Fred." she laughed. "Yes! This is going to be so exciting. Oh thank the gods! I am so happy right now."

"I can tell." he grinned and Amelia could tell how pleased he was with himself. "So we are going on vacation to a mysterious magical kingdom? Where do you want to go in this place of yours?"

"There's this archipelago of islands Al told me about. They're called the Islands of Imagi. Apparantly they're very beautiful with crystal clear waters, bright flowers and singing birds. But the family who lives there, nice as they are, are also fucking crazy. That's what Al said. And I dunno, they just sounded so incredible and I really want to go see them." her heart wouldn't stop beating so fast she could feel the blood pulsing through her.

"Okay." He pulled the car over and looked at her. Fred leaned in and with one hand placed on her cheek, he kissed her. "I love you Amelia Merlin."

"I love you too." her face hurt from smiling so much but she didn't care in the slightest.

..................

She got out of bed and grabbed a silk robe to wrap herself in. Walking towards the balcony she could hear him moving. He wasn't quite awake just yet but she knew he would be soon. The view was unambiguously lovely. The ocean waves below them were calm and as blue as the sky above them. The palm trees blew lazily in the wind and the bird sang songs about warriors and princesses. Their voices sounded like humans and it took her a while to realize the sounds came from beaks not mouths. A vase stood in the corner of the room filled with flowers the size of watermelons. It was just the perfect temperature, the breeze made her comfortable while the humid air kept her warm.

She felt arms wrap around her and he kissed the side of her neck. She couldn't help but smile.

"Good morning." his voice was rugged and deep.

"Hey."

"What do you want to do today?" they both looked out on the ocean and were quiet for a moment before she spoke.

"The Bellgarathon family wants to treat us to breakfast and then we're going to the market. It's supposed to be fantastic because everyone on these islands are extremely smart so they all come up with crazy inventions." she turned to look at him. "What do you think?"

"I think it's weird we've been staying here for three days, we haven't met our hosts and all we've done is go swimming." he grinned down at her. "Well, we've done a little more than just swim."

"Yeah I would say so." Amelia laughed. "You were so exhausted last night I'm surprised you woke up this morning."

"Oh please." he rolled his eyes. "Like you're not tired right now."

She grinned at him and said nothing. Fred couldn't help but kiss her again. Everything stopped moving around them when they touched. It was a little trick Amelia could do, make everything still so she could preserve the moment for a little while longer than most people had.

"We should get dressed." she whispered and he groaned, hugging her tighter.

In a low voice that made her spine tingle he said, "But you look too good just the way you are right now."

"We should really get dressed." Amelia replied unconvincingly and closed her eyes. The small breeze that had been blowing around them stopped and the world came to a slow halt. "But maybe a few minutes wouldn't hurt anyone."

She could feel Fred smile triumphantly. "Nobody ever died from putting off breakfast for a little bit."

"True-" he cut her off with a passionate kiss that literally took her breath away. She had to pull away from him just to get oxygen into her body. She felt bliss, she felt unbelievably happy and she wanted to do this for the rest of her life, she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life.