The Queen's Garden Mage

I sat beneath the great oak in the ball room examining my hand with a warm bowl of water, a rag, clean bandages and a premade salve laid out beside me. I hadn’t wanted to go to the infirmary and have to explain my recklessness to people who sometimes looked to me for answers. As I’d said to Libeth I was a healer and any other day I’d have healed myself, but after what I’d done for Rosen the thought alone made me tired. With a grimace of pain, I scrubbed the small lacerations clean before slathering my hand in an anesthetic salve that would help me to heal more quickly. I sighed softly leaning back against the rough bark, the pain though bearable, was draining. I couldn’t bring myself to struggle with the bandage, I closed my eyes willing myself to action. The fingers of my good hand twitched, I didn’t bother to open my eyes. Instead I dozed for a time feeling warm and safe beneath the glowing canopy of the great oak I’d grown.

The sound of the double doors, only a Gardener or her Majesty could open, closing caused me to flinch fully awake. I sheathed the blade I’d drawn in the moment between wakefulness and slumber, once I caught sight of who approached. “I didn’t know anyone save the Queen and her Gardeners knew how to open those doors.”

Her Highness started, turning to find me resting as I was beneath the glow of the great oak’s lights, while she stood in mostly darkness. The sun had set some time ago and I hadn’t fully activated the magic in the shards resting somewhere high overhead. I didn’t want to be found after all. I supposed her Highness hadn’t wanted to be found either, walking through a place not many entered, especially not the way she’d come. “My mother told me the secret of that door before I had enough magic to actually open it. Not because she knew that I would follow in her footsteps but because she knew I loved the gardens and would find that bit of magic enchanting…” She moved closer allowing me to see her eyes in the darkness. “I still do.”

“Did she ever tell you the story?” I asked softly listening to the plants of the palace as they murmured about the goings on that day, people’s reactions to the Tournament were foremost in their minds.

“About how those doors were made by the very first Gardener, how he cut down the trees and crafted the wood and put them up with the aid of the Queen and the dragons so only they knew the secret of how it worked.” She smiled softly half turned away from me. “Yes I’ve heard the story many times, it was one of my favorites as a child. I had thought the Gardener seemed more befitting the Queen than her husband I recall…”

I chuckled softly at that, “There’s was a marriage of politics, it was needed at the time and they loved each other…eventually.”

“I really don’t want eventually Denarii…” Her Highness murmured softly bowing her head.

I felt my laughter slip away as the reason for Adri’s absence from her own Tournament reached me, the voices of the plants fading, ever present but not as all-consuming as they’d been but a moment before. “Have faith Highness, your Prince…Princess or commoner will come…someone will come for you.” I said unwilling to believe otherwise.

The Princess tipped her head in acknowledgement of my words catching sight of the bowel of water now pink with blood, the rag now permanently stained, the salve practically gone and the bandages some soiled, some fresh, still neatly rolled. Her Highness stepped into the light without hesitation coming to kneel beside me taking my hand in hers gently afraid to cause me more pain. “What happened? Who hurt you?”

I gazed into the fierce twilight inferno that had become her eyes and felt those saplings once more taking root in the pit of my stomach. “I can protect myself Highness,” I grumbled gently but firmly pulling my hand away.

“Yes but you belong to the Queen and… I will one day be Queen.” I think that was the first time she said those words with conviction.

I smiled softly as she took my hand back examining how I’d expertly salved the lacerations. “In essence you’re saying that one day I’ll belong to you?”

Adri flushed refusing to turn away, “Yes.”

I raised my good hand to trace the large bruise encompassing the left side of her face, “I was careless in the archery competition…”

“You shouldn’t be,” Her Highness rebuked gently, frowning. Concern softening the fierceness in her eyes.

“I know…but,” emotion formed a lump in my throat. “The song she sang Highness; it was beautiful…they all are in their own way.”

“Why are you so…different Denarii?” Adri voice full of more than curiosity, I found in her words a need, an unobtrusive need. Not an order or a demand, but simply a question.

My lips curled in amusement at the fact that I couldn’t help but ruin this moment between us, “Well you know Highness I wasn’t born here…”

She rolled her eyes dropping my hand, “Idiot,” the insult was muttered so softly I wasn’t actually sure if I heard it or not.

“Highness who hurt you?” I cupped her chin turning her face to more fully examine the blue, black, purple mass spanning literally the entire lower half of the left side of her face. The Princess took a seat in front of me sighing softly.

“The ground,” I raised my brow waiting for an explanation.

“Well a recruit…he was really large and well I kind of overstepped a bit, got overconfident and he slammed me.” She hissed no doubt remembering the pain, “Into the ground, I wasn’t ready, I didn’t brace and so really it’s my own fault. The healers told me as much and gave me some medicine to relieve the pain. I threatened to have them executed for not healing me fully outright and they laughed of course. Quoting my own policy on how we do not reward stupidity.” Adri huffed blowing her hair from her face. “The nerve.” Her eyes sparkled with mirth despite the fact that she’d truly been frustrated at the time.

“Not even the Heir?” I wondered aloud.

“Well I’m sure they would have, but…” She leaned forward as if we were in a crowded room instead of alone and whispered. “I didn’t really feel up to going to the Tournament.”

I laughed softly, “You used your injury to your advantage?”

Adri nodded smiling softly, “Pure genius I know.”

I stroked her cheek again, “Surely it must hurt?”

“Yeah but it was worth it for a day of being left alone, no suitors, no Councilors just me enjoying the Gardens alone.”

I continued to stroke her cheek watching the bruise slowly fade away as I used my magic to heal her, “You’re just full of the brightest smiles Highness,” I murmured once she was fully healed gazing at me curiously raising her hand to stroke her cheek.

“You healed me…Thank you.” I caught my breath feeling overly warm at her gratitude.

I turned away, “It was nothing.”

The Princess took my hand while I watched raising it to her lips. She pressed a kiss to my one of my wounds, then another, then another. “What are you…” I tried to pull away but she held fast.

“Trust me?” I relaxed my hand watching as she kissed each and every one of my lacerations, salve and blood staining her lips. I watched in fascination as her lips formed a small oh and she breathed fire, flickering flames of red gold flowing over my fingertips spreading down along my palm and falling over the edge of my hand. I felt warmth and I felt heat, but no pain. My hand was engulfed in flames but I was not burned…

After a moment Adri pulled away and the flames flickered out leaving my hand pink and tender, the lacerations that had once adorned my flesh gone without so much as a scar. I flexed my fingers. “You just…”

Her Highness smiled, “Yeah.”

“That was pretty amazing.” I offered softly, stroking the blood and salve from her lips with my thumb, heart thundering in my chest from the excitement of what had just occurred.

“It really was,” Her Highness stroked her fingers through my hair bunching it slightly as she leaned closer pressing her brow to mine, “You keep telling me to find my Prince, my Princess, my commoner but what if that’s not what I want. What if I want a Gardener?”

“I would tell you that Eden loves men, even if he’s too shy to admit it and the Emery despite his girlish features loves a little bit of pain though he’d love you with a fierceness like no other. I’d say that Libeth would bring you the most joy, she’s very vibrant, the way she sees the world. Rosen…is perhaps a little older than your mother and that would be awkward to explain.” I furrowed my brow just thinking about it.

“My mother is actually Rosen’s senior; she was not yet the Head Gardener when my mother became Queen. She gained the title a few sun cycles thereafter. She actually didn’t want it in the beginning, she really did not want it when my mother brought on four children still aching for their homelands. Rosen is like a second mother to me…I cannot even imagine wanting her in that way.” We shuddered simultaneously.

“What about you Denarii, what if I wanted you?” I chuckled softly unable to move away due to her fingers twinned in my hair.

“You don’t want me Highness, I’m bluntly honest… to a fault actually, my temper when aroused can be…frightening. I tend to care about my gardens more than actual people…I shy away from any form of real responsibility or power. Tis not my place to stand beside someone so grand as you.” I shook my head suddenly feeling uncomfortable with this line of conversation.

“Bluntly honest and yet perfectly respectful even when being disrespectful, a frightening temper, and yet you’re the calmest person I’ve ever met. You care about your gardens yes, but no one that knows you has said you care about them any less than your gardens. I think those you love are equal to your plants in that respect. You never fail to get your brother out of trouble and everyone…save you thinks of you as Rosen’s Second, her protégé, her Heir in that regard. You will one day take her place…” I pulled myself away from the Princess, untwining her fingers from my hair.

“I do not want it…” I countered as I stood leaning back against the great oak taking comfort in its quiet murmurs as I tried to catch my breath. “I never have…I don’t think I ever will. I did not ask to come here...”

Adri stood, not the Princess, not the Heir or Her Highness in that moment just Adri. A woman who loved her gardens, who wished to make one of her own and explore it with the person she loved. “And yet here you are.” Her words were bittersweet, “You did not ask for it and yet you are as I am, the Heir to power you do not truly want, you can refuse yes?” Her eyes were full of pain, her words husky with unshed tears. For the first time, I looked away unable to meet her gaze. “You can refuse but where would that leave your people…your gardens that you love so much? What then Gardener Denarii, do you hope that someone, anyone can do a better job than you because you were afraid…”

“I am not afraid.” I countered watching the tears fall unbidden.

“Yes you are!” I flinched. “You’re afraid of your power, afraid of taking Rosen’s place and letting people down because what…because your different, because you don’t think you’re good enough?” She shoved me against the tree clenching her hands in the fabric of my shirt.

I stood motionless taking the abuse, “Afraid to accept my feelings…because I will one day be Queen. You tell me I will be great, that I will be happy one day, that I will be good for the people and yet we have the same fears. I am afraid, the only difference.” Adri loosened her hands from my tunic stepping away from me and wiping her tears. “The only difference is that you can say no. Perhaps in another life I could have done the same, but I did not want to hope someone could do a better, I want to do better.” She gazed at me and I saw a Queen in full glory, the spitting image of her mother despite the fact they looked nothing alike, it was the pose, the strength and the unwavering conviction in her eyes. “I may hate the position I find myself in, I may hate my title, for all the fact that it is but a word. I carry the weight of my entire people on my shoulders and I do it because I love them.”

I watched as she took a step backward, and then another, “And I was wrong about you,” her lip quivered with emotion, she bit it firmly shaking her head as she turned away.

I caught her hand, she glanced over her shoulder waiting for me to speak. “I am not afraid…I just do not want to deal with the strife that power brings. I do not want to be used for the power I hold…”

Adri pulled her hand free of mine, “That sounds a lot like fear to me.”

“I’m sorry…” I couldn’t even explain why I was apologizing.

“For what Gardener?” More tears streamed Adri’s face as she walked away without waiting for a reply. I did not have one to give.

I stood there leaning against the great oak for a long time after that, for the first time in forever I felt no peace despite the comforting embrace of the ever present green. What I felt could not so easily be absolved.

I stood preparing my mare, Carina, for the hunt that would take place that day. My fellow Gardeners and our new friends Dahni and Tailaan looked on me with concern. I hadn’t said a word since I joined them that morning.

At last Libeth found her courage first, touching me gently on the arm, “Are you well?”

My lips twitched in the imitation of a smile I felt no desire to give, “Tired from my healing yesterday.”

“You healed yourself then? I spoke with the Healers you did not at all even attempt to approach the infirmary. You promised.” I turned away from the reproach in her eyes.

“That I would be more careful and I will be. A fri…someone I know healed me. I will be well. Just tired today is all.” I stroked Carina’s mane while she nipped playfully at my tunic searching for treats.

Princess Mariel took the stand waiting for silence. Libeth opened her mouth to speak but thought better of it. “Yesterday we lost ten, more than we thought we would, and so today’s challenge is no longer a group activity.” My fellow Gardeners and I shared a look but not one of us dared speak. “There are fifteen Royal Guards hiding in the forest and twenty of you, each of you will be given an orb.” She held up a small ball of glowing light. “Inside it is the guard that you must find, it will change if someone else finds them first. You will all be blindfolded and drugged, so that you may sleep while you are placed by our recruits at your starting point. You must make it back here with your guard by nightfall.”

She smiled softly, “None of them will come willingly once found. The rules of the challenge are such, if you find your guard in another’s hands you may challenge their captor for them, the winner of said challenge wins the guard, you may use whatever magic or skills you have to aid you, you may not, maim, kill or permanently scar any of your fellow suitors. Those that fail to make it back to the Training Fields by nightfall will be removed from the Queen’s Tournament, those that attempt to maim or kill their fellow suitors will be removed from the Tournament.

Those that return with a guard will gain ten points, there is no team work, one person claims one guard. You may aid each other in returning to the Training Fields, you will not be removed from the Tournament for failing to bring back a guard, not everyone is a warrior after all. This phase tests your survival skills, your sense of direction, and how you act under pressure. The orbs you carry will track your progress. A marker on a map in case you find yourself lost and need help returning, toss it in the air and gently request Guidance. Does anyone have any questions?”

“Is there a perk for extra points like in the last challenge?” Someone asked from behind us, I did not turn to look curious as to the answer.

Her Highness’ eyes sparkled with mirth, “I am glad you asked. The Heir has agreed to participate in this challenge, she is out there hiding as well, hidden better than all the other guards combined. If you find her you may choose to pass any portion of the Tournament you wish and of course you will still gain your points, this incentive is for those out there who are horrible fighters, or horrible at some form of politics or another. The catch…she must come willingly, if you ask and she refuses that is it. You will have gained the points for finding her, give her your orb and she will in turn give them to me so that your effort is not in vain, but you will not gain the pass. You may not challenge for the Heir if found in another’s possession.” Princess Mariel tipped her head to us.

“Good fortune to you all.” As she finished those words and stepped down weakness overcame me. I watched in slow motion as Libeth fell to her knees eyes rolling back in her skull. I had time to think that it must be magic as my legs buckled beneath me, because if it had been a plant I’d have known to avoid it. Darkness bled in and stole my awareness of the world. I did not feel the softness of the grass pillowing my cheek, by then all I knew were the shadows of my own mind.

I woke with a start in the center of the forest a pack of supplies beside me, Carina’s reins looped around a tree branch. A blindfold hung from my neck I pulled it free as I pushed myself into a seated position stuffing it into my pocket, the orb holding an image of my guard sitting in my lap. I rubbed my face gazing up at the positon of the sun now high in the sky. I had little more than half a day to find a Royal Guard or the Heir respectively.

I opened my pack examining what I’d been given. Inside I found a map and a compass I did not need, a water skin, some jerky, I could not tell what kind by looking and some dry biscuits, as well there were bandages and medicine to clot the blood and relieve pain. There was a cloak in case it rained and a small written note for luck. I closed the pack after putting the orb inside, slowly pushing myself to my feet, the slight headache I’d felt had faded as I’d become more aware of my surroundings.

“What should I do Carina?” I asked my horse gently stroking her muzzle, “I am not the best at politics, my honesty often gets in the way. Should I seek out Her Highness despite the fact that she will likely refuse my request?” Carina softly butted me in the chest with her head. “It is worth the risk is that what you’re telling me?” I questioned laughing softly as her large head bobbed up and down her dark mane falling to cover her eyes. “My brother has trained you well in our language I do wish I could understand you half as well as he does.”

Carina nipped at my hair affectionately while I wrapped my arms around her thick neck in a hug, we were at a height with each other Carina and I. Which is why I think my brother chose her for me. I needed a companion that stood as my equal he said, someone who would not have a problem looking me in the eyes. Carina had yet to fail as staring match, it made me laugh to even remotely try.

“They should not have said that we may use our gifts Carina,” I murmured tying my pack to her saddle before taking hold of her reins. Checking to make sure I still held my blade and my pouch hidden by the fall of my tunic. “I may not have planted these trees, but I have walked these paths often enough to know every trail.” I smiled softly listening to the slow drawl of the ancients, different but no less soothing than the constant chattering of my garden flowers. “Every lake, every stream, I know it all Carina. I learned patience in this forest, when I was young and missing my home.” I moved quietly deeper into the Griffin Forest, named for the fact that you had to be as intelligent as a griffin to actually get anywhere without a map. “I learned patience through the trees, older than you or I Carina. Ancients I call them, they have survived the rise and the fall of many nations. They have been named by more monarchs than I care to remember.”

Carina followed in my footsteps each of us silent in our movements. “They know every living thing that exists in their presence, magic or no magic. They know the ants, the wolves, the bears. They even know the fish can you believe it Carina; how can a tree know fish?” I chuckled as my mare rolled her eyes at me, she did not care much for my babbling, though she understood my words it meant nothing to her. I had not once mentioned food after all.

“Yes they know the fish, because all trees need water and fish exist in the water do they not? They know the squirrels, the rabbits and every rodent you can think of, as well they know the birds, all predators and all prey. They know us Carina…they know the footsteps of man. Each individually unique and yet achingly similar. The Ancients know it all,” We came to a clearing. A small field full of tall grass where several deer grazed, the sun had passed its midpoint in the sky, the sky was free of clouds and a breeze blew cooling the sweat that had formed on my brow from our journey, the day was hot despite the breeze.

I sighed softly releasing the reins and untying my pack from Carina’s saddle. “Why am I annoying you with all this useless babbling when all you really want is sweet grass?” I smiled softly stroking the line of her strong jaw. “Well Carina the ancients know all and I can understand them and so the conclusion to all my seemingly senseless chatter is that I know exactly where the Princess is hiding despite magic.” I listened to the ancients speak of such wonders, slow to communicate but still fascinated by the magic of man. I saw in my mind’s eye the river by which her Highness hid peeking out from a small grove formed by the lapping of water against an ancient that knew the river as a lover would and I smiled whistling softly as I once more disappeared into the forest. Glancing only once more at the sun slowly sinking towards the horizon. Regardless of the Princess’ answer to my request, I would be back long before nightfall. After all I knew this forest. I knew exactly where to go to get to where I wished to be. It was sad really, to think that the Heir never even stood a chance. Rosen did not call me her better for nothing after all…