The Witch of Flowers

Iris had been surprised when she heard that the prince had removed on of the candidates because they had talked bad about her in front of him. In the following week, the selection events were much quieter. Fewer ladies were verbal in their distaste of her presence. It was strange to say the least, but at the very least it gave her a chance to relax slightly. She always tried to stay at the edges of these events, gazing outside the windows. If she could go outside then none of this would matter, but with the slavers still out there, nobody was willing to let her go alone. Now, all she could do is wait for a chance, a chance when a selection event was held outdoors.

In the current event, Iris was struggling with the glares from the young ladies as she embroidered a handkerchief, the current test. Her grandmother had taught her embroidery as a way to embellish clothes, to personalize them, so she knew the gist of the requirements, but Iris wanted to grimace, she had never absorbed much of the more skilled aspects of embroidery. Wait, why did she care about the results? She wasn’t trying to win this event, she was just here to stay safe until the slavers were caught. She was supposed to be trying to avoid attention so that there would be less problems with the rest of the ladies.

Iris noticed the lady who had talked to the one who had led the first event watching her. The gaze felt different from the others, not hostile but inquisitive. Iris didn’t know what to think of it. Was the young lady hiding her intentions because of what had happened to the first lady to be eliminated from contention? She didn’t know, but the lack of hostility was a relief. Perhaps she wasn’t seen as a threat. It was true that she had no desire to stay in the capital, let alone as a princess. She just wanted to go home, sleep in her own bed, talk to her friends, see those familiar trees and plants once more. Iris let out a small sigh and continued with the embroidery. Of course her embroidery took the shape of a flower. A red hibiscus adorned the cloth, along with the start of a hummingbird. Iris remembered seeing hummingbirds drinking nectar from hibiscus flowers when she lived in the forest. Unfortunately, the embroidery didn’t didn’t capture that image as well as she remembered it. It felt too flat, and Iris had no idea how to fix that.

She worked on the handkerchief up until the last moment, never managing to fix the issue that she had never known how to fix. Luckily, none of the other candidates would see her substandard embroidery. Only the one who led the event would see and judge. Iris was relieved that at least those people knew her situation, knew that her participation was only a formality to keep her safe from the slavers who had captured her in her forested home. Iris wanted nothing more than to go home immediately, but with nobody there to support her, she couldn’t argue for the ability to do so. Never mind the fact that the slavers were still out there. She couldn’t fight back if they they caught her unaware. Their tools stopped her from using magic, as did the slavery crest that they had embedded into her skin back then. Iris had no idea if she could escape if she was captured again. No, she would find a chance to touch the earth and then wait for somebody from the forest to come to fetch her. That would be the safest for everybody involved. Prince William and Brent were tracking down those slavers, trying to rescue the rest of their victims and stop the chance for future victims to suffer the same fate she had. She could wait until they were captured to risk breaking the rules she had been given for her stay.

Iris woke with a start in the middle of the night, a sense of unease running down her spine. What woke her? Iris slid out of the bed, but then she felt the chill again, and heard a faint scream from somewhere down the hallway. Iris quickly darted for the door to her room and threw it open. Where were the guards? She charged towards the source of the scream. As she grew closer she found the source of the scream, one of the princess candidates. In the darkness of the night, she saw the young woman cowering on the ground blood dripping from a rather severe wound on her arm, that she must have used to protect her throat. There was a large figure towering over her, holding a knife, covered in blood. Iris charged forward without thinking, activating her unique magic much like she had back when she had stopped the slavers from recapturing their other victims. Thick thorny vines stuck to the walls before snaring the attacker, wrapping around his limbs as more vines grew. Iris darted forward and pulled the young lady away from the attacker.

Blood, Iris swallowed. There was so much blood. It reminded her of the various injuries she suffered at the hands of her captors. Iris took a deep breath trying to calm down. Right, she needed to stop the bleeding. Iris let her magic out, first water then the herbs. The young woman gasped before iris realized she had never created a potion in front of any of the other candidates. Right, she was supposed to avoid attention, and this was the very opposite of avoiding attention. “I didn’t think. There’s no container,” Iris murmured.

“That’s fine,” the young woman’s voice escaped, a tremor escaping her.

“I’ll bring the liquid as close as I can to your face, but I would suggest drinking quickly. My magic is a bit unstable at the moment.”

“As long as the bleeding stops, I don’t particularly care,” the young lady said through clenched teeth, obviously in pain.

Iris nodded and carefully moved the completed potion towards the woman’s face. She leaned forward and sipped up the potion. By the time she had finished half the potion the bleeding had stopped and the wound was no longer gaping open. After it was all gone, the only reminder of the injury was the blood that had dripped onto the young noble lady’s dress. “Is there any lingering pain?” Iris asked.

The young woman eyed her with a sense of awe, “That was a high grade potion.”

“That was not an answer,” Iris frowned. Was the young noble in shock? Where in the hell were the guards.

“Oh right. There is no pain,” the young woman replied looking shaken. The lady moved to stand but her legs gave out. “I must apologize. I don’t think I can stand. I believe I must collect myself first.”

Iris frowned, “Perhaps it is shock. Where are the guards? What were they doing while this person snuck in?”

The woman never got a chance to answer, as Bianca approached them at a run. “What are you doing out of your room at this hour?”

“I woke up and heard a scream,” Iris replied. “Could you fetch the guards? My magic should hold the intruder for now, but it would be better if they took care of the situation in case there are more.”

Bianca stared at her like she had said something absurd before shaking her head, “Of course. I’ll be back with them in a couple minutes. Wait until the guards are here before returning to your rooms.”

Iris nodded. “W-we have to stay here?” the young noble lady’s voice trembled.

“It is for the best. The guards will probably need to check all the rooms to make sure all of the candidates are safe and no other intruders managed to sneak in,” Bianca said before turning to rush towards the entrance of the Blue Palace.

“I guess she’s right, but why was she checking on you?” the woman asked, likely trying to distract herself from the intruder hanging from her thick vines not less than ten feet away.

“I am recovering from some health issues, some of which effect my magic control. She’s the assistant to the head palace healer and was assigned to keep an eye on me until I recover fully,” Iris was hesitant to explain the bulk of why she was there in front of an intruder of unknown origin. Given the circumstances, Iris didn’t particularly mind explaining the situation to the young lady in front of her, especially if it helped her calm down after being attacked so brutally by someone, someone who had been aiming for her life. How could anybody do such a thing? Iris pushed her questions away. She couldn’t answer those questions, not right yet anyways. For now, all she could do was help keep the young noble lady calm until help arrived.

Luckily the young noble lady seemed to calm down a bit despite the length of time it took to fetch the guards. When the guards approached nearly ten minutes later, the young woman was clinging to her arm, but she was no longer trembling. The guards shackled one of the intruder’s wrists before speaking sharply, “Remove the vines, young miss.”

Iris nodded, not liking their harsh tone in front of the shaken young lady. Iris released the magic holding the intruder in place. They tried to run towards her and the young noble but were blocked by several guards before his other wrist was shackled. Half of the guards escorted the man away before one of the guards cleared their throat. “You must return to your room,” he said, glaring at her.

The woman tightened her grip on her arm. “I want her to walk me to my room first please,” the young noble lady’s voice still held a hint of the tremble Iris had heard before. Hopefully she would feel better soon. The guard nodded and the rest were ordered to check on each of the princess candidates in pairs to ensure that no other intruders had made it to their rooms. Iris carefully stood, helping the young noble to her feet. She let the woman tug her along towards her room. Iris hoped the woman wouldn’t insist she stay when they arrived, but was willing to do so if it helped the woman calm down. Unfortunately, it would draw way more attention to her than she wanted. Iris just wanted to go home safely. She doubted she could make it home easily though, not until the slavers were caught. Were the intruders with the slavers? Iris pushed the question aside. She would find out soon enough. Right now all that mattered was getting the noble lady to her room and then returning to her own room to sleep again.

They arrived at the young noble lady’s room. Iris let go of her arm as she opened the door and the guards double checked her room for intruders before letting her enter. “Please stay with me awhile,” the noble woman spoke.

Iris glanced at the guards who shrugged, obviously not wanting to speak against a noble. “Very well. I’ll stay for a short time, but I do need to leave eventually to go back to sleep.”

“Of course, I just wanted to ask you a few things,” the woman’s voice trembled as she shoed away the guards. “I would offer you some tea but I’m pretty sure I’m not in a good enough state to make anything halfway as good as any you could make on your own.”

“That’s fine. I wouldn’t usually drink tea this late anyways. Would you like me to make you some herbal tea infusion to help calm you down?”

“No, I’ll be okay. I’ll probably sleep better without tea anyways.” the young noble lady sighed. “Why are you participating in the Princess Selection?”

Iris froze at the question, “Why do you ask?” Iris returned the question, afraid to answer.

“It’s obvious you don’t want to be here. I’ve seen how you stare out the window longingly when we’re at the same selection events, and your disinterested gaze at the contents of the events. You look like you’d rather be anywhere else than the selection events, so why exactly are you here.”

“My presence here is more of a formality. No woman of age is allowed to remain on palace grounds during the Princess Selection unless they work for the palace. I was the victim of a group of slavers who sold me off around a year ago. I was only recently rescued but the slavers are still being tracked down, so I have been forced to stay here until they are captured and it is safe for me to return home,” Iris admitted.

“No,” the woman looked mortified, “That is terrible. I hope our treaties aren’t in any danger because of the incident.”

“I wouldn’t know, but considering that they were operating across at least two countries, I doubt it will cause too many problems as long as they are caught soon.”

“You seem to know a lot about the treaties,” the woman frowned.

“My grandparents taught me everything I know, and the treaty was one of the things they were insistent I learn,” Iris answered.

“When you say you were recovering, I assume it was from the injuries.”

“Along with malnutrition,” Iris admitted. “I wasn’t in very good shape when I was first rescued. Apparently the malnutrition also effected my magic’s stability.”

“But you can make high grade healing potions,” the young noble lady protested.

“They are substandard compared to my usual ones. They would only last a couple years instead of ten years like usual.”

“Ten years!” the woman nearly jumped out of her seat. “Most high grade potions don’t last that long. Just where did you learn to make potions?”

“My grandfather. Bianca, the head palace healer’s assistant asked me to describe my method of magic control when making potions. Apparently, it takes aspects of the Saudien Method and improves upon them. She called it something of an advanced Saudien Method, but I don’t know if that’s all that accurate.”

The woman just gaped at her. “You could get a job anywhere with your skill. With the potion shortage, many noble families close to the border would do anything to hire you. Hell, I’d like to write my father to have him hire you himself.”

“I just want to go home,” Iris said bluntly before adding, “I don’t mind helping with the potion shortage, I’ve already said as much to the palace healer, but I want to do so from my home.”

“That’s understandable. I’ll need to make sure to contact you once you make your way home.”

“Thank you. I wouldn’t mind hearing from you. You never...,” Iris trailed off.

“Never looked down on you just because you were a commoner?” the young noble lady sighed. At Iris’s nod, she continued, “I’m not sure what you’ve heard about nobles in our country, but a good portion of them are quite terrible towards commoners in their territories. Nobles from the south east border and nearby territories tend to be better. We depend more on commoners to manage our territories, and the commoners rely on us to help keep their homes safe from monsters. That has been especially true for the past year when monster attacks have grown more frequent. They haven’t reached our territory yet, but they are getting close.”

“I heard that there is a potion and healer shortage right now because of the monster attacks,” Iris murmured.

“So where do you live? Perhaps you could contact someone from your territory to escort you home so that they have to let you go home even if the slavers aren’t caught before they arrive.”

“I live in a forest,” Iris explained. The people who live nearby are...” Iris hesitated. “I could contact them, if I was allowed outside on my own. I have a blessing that would allow me to alert them to my location. I’m sure everybody is quite worried about me.”

“A blessing?” the young woman stared at her, “You just keep surprising me with all this new information that makes me feel like you are more important than most of the nobles participating in Princess Selection.”

Iris sighed, “I doubt I’m all that special. I’m sure there are other people who are able to use magic even better than me.”

“The fact that you don’t realize how strange you are makes you even more strange. It’s as if you were raised to believe all of this is normal,” the woman sighed.

“It might not exactly be normal, but I doubt I’m the only person like myself. The world is pretty big after all.” Iris shrugged.

The young noble lady let out an exasperated sigh. “Your name is Iris right? I heard you introduce yourself to Lady Patricia at the first selection event, but your voice was so quiet that I wasn’t quite sure if I heard right.” Iris nodded, “My name is Sarah Laurine. My father is Duke Laurine. My territory is close to the south east border of the country. I don’t particularly want to be here while so much is happening near my territory, but it is my duty to participate. I’d prefer to return home quickly so I can help manage the monster situation, but I can’t just let nobles that don’t know how to care for their citizens to lead the country.”

“You’d probably do a good job,” Iris managed, meaning every word she said. “You have an air of authority around you.”

“It takes more than authority to make a good leader,” Sarah murmured.

“True, it also takes kindness and strength. I think you have both. When you talked to the noble woman who was leading the first tea party you were trying to stop the chatter about my presence. Even if you didn’t mean it to be kind, it was very kind to me. You are elegant too. You want to protect your people, another sign of strength. Grandmother always said that the people who don’t want power are the ones who usually would do better in a position of power, and are less likely to be corrupted by their position.”

“I,” Sarah looked uncomfortable. “I just want to protect the people under my care. I don’t think I could handle protecting more people. Phisofia is a large country with a lot of people to look out for. I doubt I could manage to do a good enough job to protect all of them. I only really know how to handle issues surrounding monsters, not things like poverty that are more common in other territories.”

“Still, the fact that you consider those issues at all is important in a leader. I won’t push the subject though. Your opinion is important too. I guess we both would rather be at home.”

“That’s true. You mentioned that your blessing might be able to alert your neighbors to your location. I doubt there would be any objections to you going home if they came here looking for you as long as they are capable of protecting you from the slavers. Why don’t we go on a walk outside tomorrow after the selection event? It’s better than waiting for a selection event to take place outside after all, and I doubt many people would think anything of us being together after what happened tonight.”

“I guess. I’ll do my best to talk the palace healer’s assistant into letting me do so. While she is mostly here to make sure my health continues to improve, she also seems to be here to make sure I don’t get into any trouble,” Iris admitted.

“I can understand that. After all, slavers would want to get rid of any evidence of their wrongdoing. It’s best if you don’t take any unnecessary risks, but if it gets you home sooner, then it is worth a try in my opinion.”

“No,” Bianca said sharply. “Even with another lady, it is too dangerous for you to be outside. If there were more than one, I might be more flexible, but the danger to yourself and Lady Sarah is too great.”

“It would only be for a short time. and my power can protect her if it comes to that,” Iris replied. “Isn’t exercise good for my health and recovery anyways?”

Bianca looked uncomfortable. “I suppose so, but I am currently responsible for your safety. If anything happens to you, I don’t know if my job would be safe.”

“Even though I am the one insisting to be let outside?” Iris frowned. “It’s not like I’m going to be doing anything that reckless. I’m just having a short walk within the palace grounds. Intruders shouldn’t be able to make it here again, especially since the guards will be more alert after the incident earlier.”

“I suppose you’re right. Very well. I won’t stop you, but you must be cautious. If you notice anything strange, get inside immediately.”

Iris nodded in understanding. It wouldn’t take long for her to go home now. She just had to touch the ground. Given the distance, she doubted it would be more than a week before somebody was sent to fetch her.

The next day, the selection event went by quickly. The noble ladies didn’t comment about her commoner status, but instead were all focused on the fact that an intruder tried to kill one of them. Fear was probably absorbing all of their attention. If one intruder made it past the guards, then another could just as well. Iris knew it wasn’t likely though. Especially considering that the guards would be more concerned about the possibility of intruders now. Iris let out a sigh and ignored the chatter.

When the selection event finally ended, Sarah approached her while the other ladies left the room to return to their rooms. “Are you ready?” Sarah asked.

“I’m more than ready,” Iris managed.

Sarah nodded, understanding on her face. “Of course, let’s get outside before something comes up.”

Iris followed Sarah as they walked towards the Blue Palace’s gardens. The suns rays hit her skin, warming her body to the core. Iris wanted to close her eyes and bask in the sunlight. “Amazing,” Iris murmured, gazing at the flowers that adorned the garden. They were colorful and vibrant.

“Indeed. The palace gardeners are quite skilled. It is expected for everything in the royal palace to be especially wonderful. The gardens are no exception. “I would suggest you crouch next to some of the flowers as if to smell their fragrance when you touch the ground using your blessing. It would draw the least amount of attention no matter who is watching.”

Iris nodded and did as Sarah suggested. The flowers were even more enchanting up close. Iris let her fingertips brush against the soil and felt the magic behind her blessing jump to the surface. Moments later she felt a response indicating that her location was received. It was done. Iris stood again, “I’m done with that now. Do you want to walk for a while longer or do you want to head back inside.”

“What do you want? It seems like you’ve been stuck inside ever since you were brought here and before as well. It sounds quite dreary when I think about it,” Sarah sounded worried.

“It was an unfortunate situation, but now that I’m free for the most part I feel much better.”

“Lord Lux,” Gaius said as he charged forward. “I have something to report.” Corin hadn’t seen this spirit lord all that often, but knew from Ferris and Yuki that he was responsible for overseeing the element of earth.

“Speak,” the great spirit lord Lux said sharply. The leader of the great spirit lords was there to check on him and his family’s training. Corrin felt like it wasn’t enough. Nothing would be enough until he was strong enough to take down the people responsible for his savior’s capture.

“I have a location. There was unobstructed contact with soil not ten minutes ago. I sent a signal back to let her know that I sensed her location.”

“Where?” the great spirit lord said rushing towards Gaius.

“The capitol of Phisofia, on palace grounds if I’m not mistaken,” Gaius replied.

“Was there any sign of injury?” Lux demanded.

“She appeared to be unwell, but recovering. I assume that someone connected to the royal family rescued her from the slavers or whoever had purchased her from the slavers. I can only assume that she is too afraid to request a message be sent to us directly for fear of being held there against her will.”

“If they dare to do any such thing...” Lux started before shaking his head. “Never mind that. Corrin, tell Ferris and Yuki to prepare to head out. I will prepare something to identify you and anybody else who goes with you as my envoys.”

“Envoys?” Corrin was startled by the very idea. Being the great spirit lord’s envoy was too much of an honor for someone like him. He was just a poor commoner from Sauriel, a victim of the same slavers that had taken his savior away. It was his fault that she was taken from her home in the first place.

“Yes, having at least one or two humans present will make things go a bit smoother than they would otherwise. Ferris and Yuki don’t have much experience being around humans other than Iris, you and your siblings. If anybody got in their way, they might go overboard to get Iris back. Iris’s own grandparents were my envoys as well. In fact, I best give you something proving that to hand over to the king since she appears to be in the palace.”

Lux rushed into his savior’s home, the home he had been staying in since his rescue. Corrin followed behind carefully, hoping to run into Ferris or Yuki. Luckily Ferris was at the kitchen table, “What brings the great spirit lord here?” he asked Corrin.

Corrin carefully explained what he had heard.

Ferris jumped to his feet. “I’ll tell Yuki. We’ll need to leave as soon as possibl. I want to leave immediately. Iris...I can’t wait to see her. You said that Gaius said that she was unwell. Pack all of the potions that Iris and her grandparents stored before her capture.”

Ferris rushed out the back door and shifted to his more animalistic form before rushing into the forest. Lux returned just in time to see him dart outside. “Good, you told him. I am going to entrust this journal to you. It will ensure that the king of Phisofia will listen to you and that Iris will be treated well. If the king dares to keep Iris detained then go to the Church of the Goddess and ask to speak with an oracle. Hopefully that won’t be necessary, but it is a precaution to make sure everything goes well.”

“I’ll do what I can to get Iris back to her home safely.” Corrin swore.

“Good, but make sure you stay safe as well. Iris wouldn’t have rescued you if she didn’t want you to be safe as well. If I were to let you be harmed, then she would be sad, perhaps even disappointed in me. Just do what you can and let Ferris and Yuki take care of the rest.”