Flora
Page 13
"Flora Faodail—your highness," she said, with a bob of her head "A cousin of—."
He held up a finger stopping her. "No. Manners. Here," Swiping his finger saved her from continuing. "Though, it is my pleasure to meet you Miss Faodail" he finished with a wink. "I am Fergus."
Flora looked at him, working hard to keep her one eyebrow from rising.
"So Miranda," Prince Fergus continued. "What did you think of last—oh damn it, Miranda, you aren't supposed to be serving me, not here, let me get that," and within a moment Prince Fergus was up and gone motioning Lady Dells back to the couch while he prepared his own tea. Lady Dells hobbled back to where she had been seated with a wry smirk lifting her cheeks.
Watching Prince Fergus stir cream into his tea Flora noticed that the arrogance that he was coated in last night had disappeared. He was a young man, full of happy energy, ready to relax with companions and waste the afternoon away.
"I was just talking with Miss Faodail about elementals and the ghosts that used to haunt our citizens, but you already know all about those by now if I have done my job I would say?" Said, Lady Dells.
Prince Fergus's eyes whipped up in alarm. First glancing at Lady Dells, then at Flora, then back at his cup. The dinging of the spoon on his cup got louder and faster as he stood there silently.
Apparently, Lady Dells was being too casual with her about talk of magic. Flora knew it, and had to bite her lips as she watched Prince Fergus fidget. Her mind whirled, wondering why Lord Reynald would be using her to hunt down secrets of magic.
Prince Fergus mumbled and stirred his tea while. He must have wondered what he had gotten into. Sneaking glances at her as he came back to the couch.
"Come now," said Lady Dells more harshly, glaring at the young man above her glasses. "Speak up Prince, you are keeping us waiting."
"Well, um, from what you taught me, there is a bond, an um, magical bond," he said, pausing. Flora thought Prince Fergus was going to choke on the word magic.
Lady Dells kept up her stare and soon Prince Fergus's resolve broke farther. He went on while staring at his tea with interest. "For some reason that they had not understood, there is a tether that forms. It is nearly impossible to cut through. It is written that in history it has been done, by those who do not wish to help the ghost along. Ghosts rarely appear now. One has not been sighted in years."
"Such a sad explanation and you well know it," Lady Dells said, waving a light finger at him before continuing. "I told you to listen to me rather than your father in that regard." Prince Fergus leaned back into the couch, still staring at his cup, a sigh of relief betraying his gratitude to stay silent. "Ghosts still visit, people just think they are crazy now. So many don't understand that what they see is legitimate. Many are not educated enough to know better. Many a death can be attributed to the, for lack of a better word, haunting of ghosts. The ghosts who are powerful enough still, and care enough to stop themselves from even appearing in order to not scare those they follow. Remember Prince, they had feelings once. They understand."
"Let us talk about other things," said Prince Fergus. "You know the dangers of the city led to me getting hit in the eye and—."
"Oh but magic is so interesting! Would you not agree Flora? It is, after all, the reason I am here in your home," said Lady Dells firmly, fanning herself with her hand to take off an edge of heat. "Besides, Flora is Lord Reynald's niece. Surely that position deserves some trust?" As Prince Fergus mumbled and stared down at his lap Lady Dells looked over at Flora and winked. "Come now do not look as if you need to drown in your tea," Lady Dells said again raising her cane to point at the young man. "You must become comfortable even talking about things that make you squirm Fergus."
"Why is everyone afraid of magic?" Flora asked, almost feeling bad for the spoiled man beside her. "Well, I mean, I know why the—peasants are afraid of talking about it for fear of death from the crown, but why is the crown?"
Prince Fergus cocked his head as he leaned towards her. "Can you, another mere human like myself, compete with raging balls of fire that can be whipped up out of thin air and thrown at your face? Or controlled earthquakes that could rip open a hole in the city," he said. "If your Uncle has not told you then I am not sure—"
"You are being rude young Prince," Lady Dells said followed by a heavy sigh of disappointment.
Prince Fergus barely contained rolling his eyes but flopped back on the couch with poor posture.
"So, what does the crown do with that? Lord Vander had said that the Folk are being hunted, which I knew of course with the war. But why? Surely they are not that horrible?" Flora asked. "Or even that powerful."
"You have talked to the Folk then?" Prince Fergus asked, turning his head to finally look at her for the first time since they had begun the scandalous talk of ghosts and magic.
"He asked me to dance at the revel. It would have been rude not to," Flora said raising her chin.
"I had no idea either them or you were there. Everyone I knew was trying to avoid the creatures," Prince Fergus said with a laugh.
Flora could feel the edge of her lips go up before she opened her mouth. "Except your sister, I believe it was her who invited them," she said.
Prince Fergus's cheeks went red but he ignored her remark and continued on. "Well, uh—back to the uh—magic—," Prince Fergus stumbled. "The hope is at least—that once the Folk are eradicated, magic will truly disappear," Prince Fergus paused to think. "They seem to thrive on it. It runs in their veins or something," Prince Fergus said. "With magic gone, life will get better for the rest of us."
"You are the Prince of a country. A nation. How do you expect life to get better for you when you kill an entire nation over hope?" Lady Dells asked, staring at him over her glasses.
Prince Fergus's cheeks flushed deeper till his entire face looked like it was on fire. He took a long sip of his tea while Flora pulled at her skirts. They talked of meaningless things for a while, Lady Dells filling in most of the conversation as Prince Fergus stumbled through any of the simple questions posed to him.
Flora heard none of it. She only stood to curtsy as soon as Prince Fergus finished his tea and was bolting for the door. She barely finished standing before he was nothing but a memory.
"He is going to have to get less skittish with subjects of death and magic if he ever wishes to be king. It is a shame really," Lady Dells said rubbing her cheek. "He is really a harmless lad still. He just spends his parent's money and stays out of their way."
Even with Prince Fergus gone, Lady Dells continued to talk about the magic that was once in their realm. Flora listened intently as her knowledge filled some of the gaps she had from what she had learned from stories. They talked more of elementals and fairies. As wells as fairies and gnomes; ghosts and rare sea creatures; unicorns and giants. Flora gasped when she discovered that dragons could come back to their world.
"I am not sure I believe you," Flora said.
Lady Dells nodded her head. "I have something to show you, dear girl, since we are now alone. I am sure you will find it interesting," Lady Dells said finally as the sun was going down. "It will be our secret."
Lady Dells stood walking up to the bookshelf. She reached into the far back corners, her hand hidden behind books. Her hand cupped something only she could make out as she waddled closer to her.
Lady Dells then handed her a small egg. Flora wondered at the silver streaks throughout it. It was smaller than the tip of her thumb, and so light she could barely feel the weight to it as it rested in the centre of her palm. "What sort of bird is it?" Flora asked.
"It is no bird. It is a dragon," Lady Dells said. Flora's eyes widened and she pushed her palm away from her and back to Lady Dells. "They stopped hatching decades ago. None have hatched since King Adriat's family started their rule. People have still found their eggs around, and you can still find an adult dragon if you search remote corners of the world. Though they are slowly being hunted to extinction," Flora pier
ced her lips as Lady Dells lifted the egg from her palm. It was unbelievable.
As the light of a changing sunset struck her eyes through a window she started and Lady Dells quickly backed away with the egg cradled in her hand. "It is getting late. Perhaps you should go?" Asked Lady Dells with an easy shrug, holding the egg behind a thumb and forefinger, staring at its one side. "There is a book beside the door I think you would find interesting. Please take it with you."
"Yes, certainly Lady Dells. Uh, thank you for the tea," Flora stood, quickly curtsying, before heading to the door.
"Will you find your way?" Lady Dells asked, her eyes peering over the glasses she had perched on her nose.
"Yes, I will be fine. Good night," Flora said, shutting the door behind her. Oswald was already there, waiting casually down the hall for her to leave. He looked relaxed enough to not raise any suspicion. Flora wrapped her arms around herself and started walking towards the prison before Oswald could force her that way.
Spilt Milk
"Learn anything?" Came Lord Reynald's voice, as he crawled from the shadows along the stone corridor to her cell. He grabbed her shoulder, causing her to gasp out in surprise. His rounded fingernails biting in deeply. Below the fabric, her skin screamed. Flora breathed through the pain. It was no worse than anything she had had in the past, but Lord Reynald continued talking. "You were with Lady Dell all day."
"What do your spies usually learn when you send them in there?" Flora said back breathing shallowly, looking up at him through her lashes. He was not in his bright royal Lord's uniform, but a grey shirt and jeans.
"Fl—My Lord, is everything well?" Oswald said, his eyes wide at the sight of Lord Reynald in front of him.
"Keep out of it Sir Oswald," Lord Reynald said, eyes on Flora. She could hear the creaking of his teeth grinding. Flora could see Oswald's chin bob as he took a few steps back, anxiety showing itself with his hand on his sword.
Lord Reynald laughed as he watched his guard. "You need to toughen up Sir Oswald, maybe we can use Flora here and get you practiced up."
"You go right ahead and try," Flora said back with a matching laugh. "Been up to anything improper yourself Lord Reynald? You look much prettier in your uniform you know. It makes all of the people quiver. What could you be doing sneaking around in such drab clothes anyway?"
"None of your concern," he said pausing. "I am wise enough to know when I am being mocked," Lord Reynald said without evening raising his voice. "Do I need to find a better way to persuade you into following my orders? It can be arranged if necessary."
Flora stared back at him.
"Now tell me, what did you talk of, who was mentioned, and who was there?" Lord Reynald said again, his neck strung tight with tension.
"Prince Fergus was there so we talked with him," Flora said.
Lord Reynald pushed his hand off of her making her step back. His head snapping to Oswald, glaring. "How could he have been allowed in there with you?"
Oswald kept his head down, not answering.
Lord Reynald turned back to Flora. "What did you talk about?"
"Nothing," Flora lied.
"Something must have been said," Lord Reynald whispered.
"I got a book," She flashed him the cover.
Lord Reynald rolled his eyes and his neck muscle gave one last twinge before it seemed to inflate to twice the size. "A book of dragons that all children have read. I should have burned all of those for how much they have wasted my time."
Her shoulders relaxed as she realized he thought she had discovered nothing today. Let him think her dumb and stupid, as long as she was trying, or he at least thought she was trying she would be fine. They would be fine.
"You are just like all of the others on the street aren't you?" Lord Reynald said, his hands now bunched in his pockets. "And here I thought you were something special. Even if the Prince was in your way, I thought you would be more useful."
She smiled. "I think that—,"
Though Lord Reynald noticed her smile first before she could say anything. His arm reached out faster than she could even realize it had left his pocket. He grabbed her by the neck lifting her up and smashing her against the hard brick wall. Her toes scrambled for purchase against the rock she could barely reach. She could feel the warmth of dribbling blood soaking into her hair.
The stone bit into her shoulders. His other hand reached up to grab her scalp pulling her hair away from her head. She let out a small scream before his grip narrowed in tighter.
He paused there silent. Watching as her face slowly turned purple while her feet scrambled for purchase along the ground. Her fingernails scratching and pulling against his arms.
It felt like he was holding her there, against the wall, for hours. Her vision was starting to fade to black when she could no longer lift her hands.
"Don't tempt me. I haven't even gotten started," he said dropping his arms from her neck. She scuffed along the floor gasping for air.
"Get her up," Lord Reynald snarled, turning back towards her cell. "I don't want her infecting the Prince. Make sure he doesn't stop by again when she is supposed to be working."
"Yes, sir," Oswald said as he moved towards her.
Oswald quickly grabbed her arms and reached one hand around her waist. He pulled her up so high her feet were not even touching the ground. He held her there until her vision came back and she was able to get her feet under her. Once she could, Oswald quickly dropped behind her and she followed Lord Reynald the last few steps towards her door which he held open with all the apparent manners of someone who has been at court a long time. She stopped just inside, turning to stare at him.
"If you learn anything—odd—I would advise you to tell me," His eyes narrowed. "You don't want to become someone useless to me. That's the only warning I will give you," Lord Reynald said. Shutting the door softly so soft it didn't even make a sound.
Flora's fingers drifted to her neck, rattling with compressed anxiety. The touched tenderly at her neck, as soreness blossomed around them.
Talons
Flora cherished how little her door creaked opened over the next few days. She spent her time remembering how to read the letters of the book Lady Dells had given he. The tittle was A Dragon's Tale. It was something she could do in the daylight as she waited for night to fall so she could continue her escape.
She found it fascinating as she ran her fingers along the painted bones of a dragon's wing displayed between the many pages. She had seen the book before in the market, but had never thought to take the time to read it. Or more specifically, steal it, though she had not had the time for reading regardless. She read snippets of the book, but it was the pictures that captured her imagination. She would flip through it for hours over the passing days.
Nevertheless, when the door opened and a bath was brought in, her peace was shattered. A bowl of slop was brought in as well, then a dark red grown that was set carefully on a clean blanket on the floor. Throughout the bath she could not help but stare at the dress with a nervous wonder. Her fingers shaking as she scrubbed. Wondering what the day ahead held for her.
The red was too much, to vibrant, to blood like, and she covered it in the only rags she had so she did not have to look at it till she dressed in it. It's silk as soft as the last dress.
"Where am I going?" Flora asked as she swept along after Oswald, the day half over. Huffing as she climbed the hidden stairs from the prison, but glad of it. Each step on their way up strained the muscles in her legs while Oswald seemed unfazed. They reached the place where Lady Dells's door stood and Flora stopped outside it as she sucked a breath but Oswald continued on. She rested a hand on the shoulder of the minotaur whose eyes seemed to bore into her as she did it.
Flora looked at it and flinched."Hey Oswald—" Flora said, backing away, she would have sworn the sword had been in its other hand when she first say it.
"Follow on," Oswald said, hefting his sword on his hip with meaning as he went.
Lady Dells was at the top, of course. Her nimble frame wandering between the large bits and bobs that were strewn throughout the tower room. She seemed to be pulling small a chair behind her as her glasses perched peerlessly on the edge of her nose.
"They always do this. Damn servants. When I ask for them to not touch something, you think they would enjoy the release from work and not touch it!" She spat before she noticed them and her eyes lit up. "Ah good day, Miss Faodail, welcome to my stone tower. Please excuse the mayhem."
Flora wove around barrels, telescopes, and arrows strewn around the room following a worn trail along the wood floor at her feet. A clear stream where the dust had been moved free, leading directly from the top of the stairs to the window that showed the world below.
Flora tried not to look too eager as she hurried over to it and looked out. Meanwhile, Lady Dells came over to her, chair dragging behind her before she set it right. She sat with a heavy breath rubbing at her hands as if they ached.
"Have you had a chance to read that book?" Lady Dells asked.
"Briefly," said Flora. "I have been distracted by the pictures."
The corner of Lady Dells lip lifted and she nodded her head. "This place was used to spy on people coming through the gates in the first wars before the terraces were built down the hills, taking over the western horizon with its shops and walls," she said, watching Flora's eyes pick apart the horizon. "Thought this is also one of the few spots you can see the gardens from inside the castle. Just magnificent."
This drew Flora's eyes to the base of the castle. The land below was extremely complex. She could see false walls, with hollow insides, with enough room to hide someone. Followed by other walls that only from this angle she could see doors hidden behind. Twists and turns of a wall's edge destined to lead people into confusion, with ornamental spikes over so many surfaces. There were a few streams, a few piles of dead garden material secretly hidden. Private nooks and crannies filled with chairs, tricking people into thinking they got away from any watchful eyes, but not hidden enough to hide two kissing people from the windows above. Though as she looked down, she realized how few windows there were on this side of the castle.