Chapter 19

NINETEEN

The bean, now damp with Jackson"s tears, sank into the earth as he gently covered it with soil. Lark"s reassuring words about her falcons patrolling the sky above did little to ease the worry in his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing away the visions of the cloud-tossed world he had left behind.

Barrett"s hand on his shoulder was a comforting anchor, grounding him in this moment, in this realm. Jackson turned and pulled the prince into a searing kiss. The passion between them flared, a brief respite from the looming threat of their separate worlds. The kiss lingered, heavy with the knowledge that it may be their last.

"And now?" King James asked with a hint of impatience in his tone.

"Now we wait."

"Or I help," Barrett stepped forward and set his hands on the ground.

As with everything Barrett manipulated, a familiar tendril broke through the earth. The ground tossed them all back a second later as another tendril broke from the soil and began to stretch to the sky.

The beanstalk seemed to unfurl before him, its thick stem providing a natural ladder into the unknown. The vine stretched skyward, its trunk thickening before his very eyes, twisting and turning as if alive. The scent of earth and magic mixed together.

With every step he took closer to the base of the stalk, he felt himself being pulled toward it—not just because of desperation but also curiosity and wonder he"d experienced every other time. It was as if the Realm Above called to him somehow.

In the distance, the clouds parted, as the stalk split them in the center. When no giants poked their heads down, Jackson breathed a sigh of relief.

As the beanstalk reached its zenith, Jackson hesitated. This time, he was not some na?ve farmhand chasing dreams of riches and adventure. This time, he had something to lose, and the thought of leaving Barrett behind weighed heavy on his heart.

He reached out and ran his roughened fingertips along the rippling green skin, feeling the pulse beneath it. It hummed under his touch, almost as if in agreement with his decision. Looking up into the clouds that loomed overhead - no, not clouds anymore but a whole new world—he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Jackson," Barrett"s voice drew Jackson"s gaze back to him. "You get back down here. I don"t care what you find up there. You get back down here to me. I"m not leaving this spot."

His smile came of its own accord. The climb up would take hours, but he knew Barrett would wait.

"I love you, too."

His heart pounded in his chest as he began to climb, placing one calloused hand over another on the smooth surface of the beanstalk. The air grew crisper with every rung he ascended he could hear the distant melody of creatures he couldn"t begin to imagine living their lives among such regality. His muscles ached from the unfamiliar exertion, but he pressed on, regardless. This was too important to fail now.

Jackson"s muscles, though stiff with disuse, remembered the rhythm of the ascent, and soon he found himself at the impossible heights he"d once explored. His heart pounded in his chest, but not from exertion alone.

The beanstalk swayed gently, its trunk thick enough for him to wrap his arms around comfortably. Vines snaked up beside them, tendrils lashing against each other in a slow dance. Jackson could almost hear their whispered conversations as they swayed back and forth. The scent of flowers filled his nostrils now—exotic blooms unlike any on Earth—mixing with the crisp air filling his lungs with every step upwards.

An invisible hand seemed to press against his back, propelling him forward. His heart in his throat, Jackson Walker, Jack of the Beanstalk, stepped into the unknown, and the clouds swallowed him whole.

Breaking through the clouds, Jackson knew he was almost there. Almost about to learn what became of the abandoned kingdom.

The once-bustling kingdom lay in ruin, just as they"d left it, but there was something. . . off. The absence of any signs of life was more unnerving than the destruction itself. This place should have been bustling with activity, the very air alive with the buzz of daily life.

Jackson"s steps echoed on the cobblestones as he ventured further into the deserted kingdom, his senses on high alert. He couldn"t shake the feeling that they were being watched, but by whom or what, he couldn"t say.

As he neared the center, he spotted the familiar silhouette of the castle looming ominously against the sky. Heart pounding in his chest, Jackson crept closer, his every sense on edge.

If the magical barrier was still up, he couldn"t see it now as he couldn"t see it before. The castle still stood, and that gave him hope.

The palace doors stood ajar, swinging ominously in the breeze. Jackson hesitated, his courage faltering. He swallowed down the lump of fear that had formed in his throat and took a deep breath.

"I"ve come this far," he murmured to himself, squaring his shoulders. "Might as well see this through to the end."

Inside, the palace was just as deserted as the rest of the kingdom. Dust motes danced in the shafts of light that streamed through the stained-glass windows, casting eerie patterns on the dark stone walls.

He crept up the grand staircase, his boots silent on the thick carpets. The usually bustling corridors were now silent as the grave, save for the occasional creak of an ancient floorboard or the distant echo of his own breathing.

He reached the topmost tower, his steps quickening with a sense of urgency he couldn"t name. The door to the giant"s chambers was ajar, and he cautiously peered inside.

The room was as he"d left it—the four-poster bed unmade, the feather-stuffed comforter in disarray, as if the occupant had simply vanished into thin air.

Relieved, Jackson slumped onto the edge of the bed, running a hand through his hair. "No one"s been here?" he asked the empty room. "It really is just safe?"

Only the echo of his words filled the room, bouncing off the towering walls and tall tapestries that adorned them

No one came to Jackson. He waited hours, watching through the windows, listening for any sound. The wind blew outside, sending chills down his spine as it howled through the abandoned kingdom.

A sense of loneliness coiled in his gut, but he would not leave without waiting to make sure no one came to the kingdom before he reported it as safe. He took slow deliberate steps back down the stairs and out of the castle, his heart already knowing there was nothing coming.

"And will you come back up here with him? Will you leave behind the farm that means everything to you? Or will you ask Barrett to leave the father he'd only just found. Jackson's farm was too far from the motel to make regular visits, and they couldn't just come and go through the giant's kingdom.

The thoughts plagued him as they were all he had for the company.

Only when fatigue began to overtake him did Jackson decide it was time to return to Barrett. The motel"s bed called to him nearly as much as the man he loved.

The sky was safe again.