That's a lot of dead bugs. I don't even recognize most of the species: beetles, weevils, roaches, and more.

  When we boarded the ship to take us home, the Summer Rose, Reka had to do a bit more than her usual cleaning spells to make our cabin fit for habitation.

  All it took was one look for her face to scrunch up in disgust. "They've been improperly storing their cargo. This place crawls. Stand behind me, Brad. Confreia!"

  Slithering yellow ribbons of light, too sickly for sunbeams, scour every surface. I watch in awe as a great swarm of creepy crawlies marches in cadence like some insect army out of the bedsheets and floorboards to the remotest corner of the room, and then drops dead.

  "I'll sweep them up," I offer.

  "No need!" Reka pirouettes like a ballerina and spins her clothes away in a cloud of magical particles. It's so bright I have to look away for a second. When I turn back, she's in a sports bra and yoga pants, doing a victory pose, and the last formation of this cabin's previous residents has vanished into the aether.

  "Now that's a blast from the past," I say in admiration. She's in her old "lounging around our apartment" uniform.

  "I thought you'd appreciate it, dearest. Strictly speaking, my garments can take whatever form I wish. Any outfit you desire is within my power to recreate, especially now."

  "Oh?"

  She wraps her arms around my neck, radiating easy affection. God, how I've missed just being us.

  "I'm so much more powerful now," she whispers, but her voice carries, as if to say there is nothing that can hold her back. "A year we've been back. Every day, I grow more in tune with the power arcane, the living magic. Every day, your love enhances the connection. Physics, for us, is just a suggestion. This time next year, we'll be able to fly back, even without wings, mayhaps teleport! We don't even need your old computer anymore. I could snap my fingers and rearrange you another one from raw atoms! I never imagined such power!"

  Reka's eyes are wide, manic, and bright with exaltation. It's nice to know we don't have to worry about my computer breaking, though. "Is there anything you can't do?"

  Her green eyes meet mine. "No," she says after a moment of thought. "No! Haha!" Reka's laughter shakes the paneled walls. Even our bed vibrates. Oh, this could actually be bad.

  "Honey," I say worriedly, "honey, calm down. You'll sink the ship if you keep up."

  At first, it doesn't look like she heard me. Heavy air, charged with static electricity and smelling of ozone, agitates around us. My hands find her hips, grounding her. Look at me. Look at me. Gradually, her magic recedes.

  Reka places a soft kiss on my lips. "Reliable as ever, my love. I was so terribly lonely before I met you, you know."

  My lips still tingle slightly after she pulls back. "Really?"

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  "Oh, yes. Your world was so strange to me, and I always said the wrong thing, discomfiting my colleagues. For a time, I occupied myself with the study of your science, but knowledge alone is a lonely path."

  Now it's my turn to laugh. "Is that why you said yes so easily when I shot my shot?"

  She looks away, almost shyly. "Among other things. To tell it true, I had quite given up. My magic fizzled on Earth. Nothing worked, not one jot, not the meanest cantrip. With no hope of returning home, any diversion would serve." Reka's cheeks darken as she looks deeply into my eyes, connecting our souls in a way that feels physical. "Then you taught me what love was."

  This time, her whisper is for my ears alone.

  ***

  How could so much possibly change in the few short months we were gone? Just like Tar Guldrim, the fishing village clinging to the coast of Reka's land is unrecognizable: packed wharves, new buildings, and more than double the population.

  Speaking of Reka, she's back in another dress. Her skirt is a rich burgundy, trimmed with lace and rich embroidery around the bodice. Snakes, or perhaps dragons, chase and eat each other in golden thread. "Earth clothes are fine when we're alone, my love, but are not colorful gowns pleasing to the eye?"

  My wife, the fashionista.

  From where we're standing on the deck, she points out a curious scene. Fishermen are loading their fresh catch into a wagon.

  "That's headed for Malmark, right?" The road, I see, is complete, wide enough for wheeled traffic going both ways, fully Macadamized and perfectly straight. "Won't the fish go bad?"

  "Nay. Those carts with the blue stripes have a refrigeration crystal built in. Fancy seafood tonight?"

  How did she...

  Reka fingers the locket at her throat in answer to my silent question. "To the living magic, distance is nothing. All my excess is transmitted back home. Faithful Galiban, our esteemed butler, handles the crystals used for storage."

  "I'm guessing magical cooling is a lot easier than mechanical," I say absentmindedly.

  "Very much so. One need only draw a magic circle, turning the cart into a bounded system. Chilling the air is trivial, and one of my crystals could potentially last for years as a power source."

  A woman of Galiban's species, even the females have horns, is lecturing a group of humans standing in formation. Every one of them is carrying a spade and has a toolbelt around their waist. They all kneel when we disembark.

  "So many," I say as Reka takes my hand and leads me off the pier.

  "The first wave," she explains. "These will be sent to Tar Guldrim to build roads. Eventually, we'll be able to travel from Malmark all the way to Lake Ethilion beyond the forest by land."

  "All roads lead to Malmark." I chuckle lightly.

  Reka's eyes flash. "Exactly."

  We're headed to the stables, I realize. In fact, a groom is already saddling our horses when we arrive. "Backshot, I missed you!" I hug my big white boy, who neighs affectionately.

  "With the road completed, the two of us could ride to Malmark Castle and sleep in our own bed tonight. What say you, my love?" There's a teasing smile tugging on her lips. "Fancy a race?"

  "You're on!"

  As we ride, I notice it's not just the fishing village that has been built up. Reka's qanat, or underground aqueduct from the mountains, is complete, with magic crystal-powered pumps irrigating farmland on either side of the road. We discussed avoiding steam engines for now and making all technology dependent on Reka's magic, purely for security purposes.

  A mechanical reaper, with its sweeping blades, is mowing down rows of corn. It's a fascinating process, at once low-tech and surprisingly advanced. Lightly mechanized agriculture is how we have all this spare labor for building projects. Wait...is that a dinosaur pulling it? I try to catch Reka's eye. Is she seeing what I'm seeing?

  "Oho, fear not, my love!" she calls over the sound of our horses' galloping hooves. "That is just a giant desert lizard, recently domesticated. Trained properly, they're as good as oxen or draft horses."

  Now that we're closer, it really looks more like a fat komodo dragon than an actual dinosaur. "That's cool," I say, trying to sound nonchalant.

  "And yes, you can eat them!" Reka spurs her black horse onward, leaving me behind.

  "Hey, wait up!"

  Reka in the cabin