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"The giants I remember are not the smartest. If you have been gone for months, they have moved on."
"Your Majesty, I will check." Jackson spoke only to ensure that they did not just assume it was safe.
Too much could go wrong if they all climbed back up. Jackson wasn't taking any risks.
CHAPTER
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 naïve 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."
