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A corset constricted my ribs in a tight embrace, accentuating the smallest part of my waist before flaring out at my hips. The long skirt, a few shades lighter than the bodice, ended in a white lace trim. Delicate pink roses dotted the puffy sleeves that gathered at my elbows. A shawl made of the same material as the gown rested on my shoulders. I pulled the skirt up slightly and stuck out a foot, admiring the laced white boots underneath. Aiden watched me with a wide grin and I gazed at him in wonder.
    “ How did you do that? I look like a fairy princess!” I spun around with my arms out wide. “I love it, really I do! But how did you change my clothes and pin up my hair without even touching me?”
    He chuckled and twirled me around with one arm. “I’m glad you like it. You’re as bonnie a princess as I’ve ever seen.” He gave me an admiring smile and I giggled, then bowed to him ceremoniously. “And now I’d best be changing as well, I suppose,” he said.
    Again the edges of the room became blurry, and I felt that same shimmery sensation, but the room came back into focus quickly. He stood before me in a dress kilt and a cream-colored linen shirt with long, flowing sleeves. A cloak of matching plaid rested atop his broad shoulder, secured with an ornate gold brooch. Knee-high socks with a criss-cross pattern covered his calves and his black leather shoes laced above the ankle.
    “ Wow, you look amazing,” I said, awed.
    “ I was just thinking the same about you,” he replied and lifted my hands to his lips.
    “ But you still haven’t told me how you’re doing all this,” I protested, trying to ignore the zipline of tingles from his touch. He tucked my hand into the crook of his arm and led me outside, explaining as we walked.
    “ So I haven’t. Well, I call it ‘casting’. If you can see it in your mind, you can make it real here. You just have to think of it and cast it out from your head and then it appears around you.” He shrugged, like this was commonplace and a pretty simple concept. “If you want to change location though, it's best if you’ve been there before because it's easier to remember details than to imagine them.”
    “ So anything I can think of, I can just project it out and it comes true?” I asked.
    He paused for a minute and shook his head. “Well, not just anything, really. You cannot cast people. Animals, yes, but not people.”
    “ But what about the car accident? There were definitely people there.”
    Out in the courtyard, rows of manicured hedges framed a meticulously edged lawn with a large fountain in the center. “There were, but that’s different. You can cast a memory, somewhere you’ve been and the events will play out again before you. But you can’t change anything, and you can’t interact with the people. Or you can cast a place you know without any people, and then you can control everything in it.”
    I thought about it for a moment as we walked along. “Hmm… so if it’s a memory of something that’s happened to me, then the people can’t see or hear me, but if it’s someplace I’ve been before and I don’t include any people, I can imagine it and the atmosphere changes to what I am picturing. Is that right?”
    “ You’re a quick study,” he replied.
    The humid air of the stables enveloped us with its warm, earthy smell when we entered through the gate. A dry bed of straw crunched under our feet and rows of horses whinnied in welcome as we approached. Aiden spoke to them in a foreign language, scratching each one affectionately.
    “ Uncle Fraser raised them especially for the royal court, mostly Andalusian and Lusitanian. The cream-colored beauties with the blue eyes were a favorite of King Louis’.” When I gingerly reached out to one, it sniffed at me and turned its head. “He likes you,” Aiden said. “Scratch him behind the ears and pet his face. Just go slow and you’ll be fine.”
    I’d never seen a horse with blue eyes