“I am a member of the Princess’s Royal Guard. I’m sure myself and the others can keep her away, if that’s what you want.”
“I think… yeah. But could you do it, in a not obvious way?” I asked.
“I’m not sure how that would be possible,” he said and frowned a little in thought. “But I’d give it a try. And when I see the captain next, I’ll tell him what we spoke about—and that you would like the girl to leave you alone.”
“Captain?” I asked. “You mean Rylan?” He nodded.
“That’s the one. We’re not on first names basis. Not sure we ever will be, but he’s my captain—the guy in charge. Head of her Royal Highness’s personal guard,” he told me.
I laughed. “Rylan is nice. I’m sure you’ll be on first name basis soon,” I told him. He nodded and turned his body towards the door of the bus before turning back to me.
“The Princess is approaching with others. I need to step back now,” he informed me and ran from the bus without waiting for a goodbye. It was a little funny to watch him run—it wasn’t so fast that I couldn’t follow, the way Selene moved sometimes—and he had an odd bounce to his movement.
“Adamantia and Sasha,” I said as they entered the bus together and I stood from my seat.
“Selene tells us you have been exploring the bus,” Adamantia spoke as she approached me.
“Yes,” I said and looked around. “I don’t know how long we’ll be living here.” I felt a little awkward. I didn’t really know the two women, but from the way Selene behaved I knew they were important people to her, and I wanted them to like me. Even if Adamantia made a terrible first impression.
“When you return, the coldest days will be over and warmth returning to the land,” Sasha informed me. “I’m going to clear some ground so you can start a garden. I’m quite excited by the idea. It will be a joint Petra and Flores project. My magic to clear the topsoil of rocks—that make the ground here notconducive to gardening or farming—and your magic to help grow a flourishing garden that would otherwise struggle.”
I smiled. “I would like a garden,” I told her and accepted the hug she offered. But I wasn’t truly pleased. If Selene wanted me to have a garden—because it was obvious that it had been Selene’s idea—then that meant she truly wanted us to stay in Ardens, and I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted. But a new garden of my own would be nice. Maybe I could grow an orange tree—it would take a lot of maintenance but I could make it work.
“Petra and Flores have a long history of working together in the north,” Adamantia told me.
“They do?” I asked, curiously.
“Oh yes,” Sasha said excitedly. “Of course our role was mainly in the mines, but the land here has always been difficult to farm. More suited to grazing herds than growing crops. Petra and Flores were the backbone that built the north.”
“Is Petra a big House?” I asked. Sasha looked momentarily embarrassed.
“No, no, at one time, a long time ago we were. But not anymore. We formally joined Ardens some years ago, after the death of my younger brother, my father had no other heirs.”
“House Petra still exists today, in the North-east reaches of Ardens,” Adamantia said.
“Yet we fall under Ardens jurisdiction. We send no representatives with voting rights to the Royal Conference,” Sasha interrupted. “We are House in name alone, only the coven still stands,” she clarified.
“Who is the head of the coven?” I asked.
“My great aunt Nina,” Sasha replied. “A terribly old witch.” She laughed. “I don’t know how she is still going—as old as stone now.”
I smiled. Sasha may have been mocking her coven leader and aunts age, but the way she smiled at the mention of Nina was so bright and warm it was contagious.
“I don’t know any other Flores witches,” I admitted. “Truthfully, I haven’t had much experience with other witches. Before attending Sanguis and making friends there, the only other witch I sort of know is the enchanter back home.”
I felt a sadness. A sadness at not knowing my own. Ana had a coven to rely on, to call in times of need—willing to help a complete stranger at her request. Heidi would one day be her coven leader. The only other Flores witch I knew of was the enchanter from Sanguis town. And she was practicing enchantment magic now—a form of magic that all witches could theoretically learn, but you had to cut ties with your coven if you wanted to join the Enchanters Guild. As far as I knew, it was all very secretive. Even the enchanter back home wouldn’t say much. I didn’t even know his original coven.
“I don’t know if there is even a Flores coven. Everyone is always so surprised to meet me,” I said a little more pitifully than I liked to sound.
“Flores have always been in high demand for being so low in number. They have never had a land of their own. Nomadic by nature. But they were once in greater numbers. No one really knows what happened. They simply never returned one winter, a bit before your time. I have only very early memories of Flores witches in Petra,” Sasha replied.
“The rumours were preposterous. I remember Father sending out search parties to find as many Flores witches as possible, andthey manged to scrounge up a measly group. None were easy to find. None were happy to return and help the land like they had done so willingly for as long as anyone could remember. They also had no idea where their fellow Flores witches had gone to. It was as though they had simply disappeared.” Adamantia scowled with her retelling.
“An entire coven doesn’t just disappear,” I said.
“No,” Adamantia agreed. “But Flores have done a good job. Occasionally one turns up—usually not practicing any magic or having joined the enchanters guild.”
“Flores were, and are, so well loved. By all. There isn’t a single people—now or in the history of the land, long before the House system that we have today was established—that wasn’t helped by Flores. Free of charge. And often in their most dire moments. When they near enough vanished, when it became clear that they would not answer calls for help, and they did not want to be found,” Sasha paused and shrugged sadly, “a universal consensus was drawn—to honour their clear desire to be left alone.”
