The Treachery of Beautiful Things

Beware a kiss, he told her. Kisses are powerful things. You expose part of your soul.

Kings were not patient. Not even the fallen kind.

Jenny threw back her head and laughed, laughter that rang out through the leaves if the oak tree above them. Jack pulled her to him, to kiss her and whisper her name again. And the oak tree above them whispered back, of love and sacrifice, of a king and a queen, and a future made anew.

She was talking to a tree. Just talking to a tree. Totally normal. People probably did it every day here. They're only trees. She fought an insane urge to laugh.

Every game has its Jacks,' she said, the sadness of it pulling down the elation of sudden understanding. 'The thing that acts as a wild card. It can't be counted on or predicted. A weapon, even. But he's in other places, too, isn't he? And do you know what else a Jack is, Puck?...I do.

They're only trees. Only trees. Whose afraid of lonely trees?

Even the things that showed him his path seemed to point at what a fool he was. Another of life's ironies? Or just fate's way of mocking him?

Beware a kiss' he told her. 'kisses are powerful things. You expose part of your soul