She flashed him a grin. “I am so glad you asked.” She then abandoned the wardrobe, ducking under his arm and reaching the glowing iris by her window. She gestured to it and said, “Your note didn’t give me any information about the typical care for these. Given the predicament we're in, it’s crucial to keep this one in good health. I’m sure you agree.”
“I would have thought someone like you already knew everything you needed to about them.” Taiyo lowered his hands, nodding. “Thanks to their magic, they’re usually resilient organisms. You already have it in a good spot. There’s no such thing as too much sunlight for them. Water it once in the morning. I’ll have one of your maids bring you a cup the right size, and just do one of those when you wake up.”
Hellebore nodded, reaching over to brush her fingers over the petals. “I’m not sure what my father claimed I was to you, but if he tried to say I was a great lover of plants and you took that tomean a gardener, you would be wrong. My studies were always focused on killing plants more so than keeping them alive.”
“That’s what you meant?” Taiyo’s eyes narrowed. “You like to rot plants from the inside out?”
“Lucky you.” Hellebore grinned before she turned back to the iris, admiring the soft glow. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this one. It will be good to have it for my work. Who knows how useful it could be?”
She was too absorbed in examining which part of the petals’ intricate design the light was emanating from to stop the hand from grabbing her wrist. She gasped as she was ripped away from the plant. Her back hit one of the bedposts as Taiyo backed her up against the wall, hand tight around her wrist. She hissed as his fingers tightened, her still raw skin hidden beneath the sleeves and bandages.
His eyes burned as he hissed, “Not on your life, alchemist.”
Hellebore tried to find a way to escape, but he had her cornered, one of her arms pinned against the stone while his other blocked her in. She sputtered, “Taiyo—”
“Swear to me. Swear on your life, alchemist, you will leave that iris out of this.”
She had no idea what was going on. Why this had been the thing that had caused him to snap. But if that’s what he wanted—
“I swear! Taiyo, I swear I won’t use that iris for anything. I won’t hurt it. I won’t touch it other than to water it.”
Taiyo stared down at her. His chest was heaving with labored breaths. Her own heart was racing under the weight of his examination. Finally, he seemed satisfied with her sincerity and his grip loosened.
He pulled back. His voice was frigid once again as he said, “See that you do. You might be an alchemist by birth, but you are a Sun Elf’s wife. The Sunrise Iris is sacred to a marriage. To deliberately harm it or neglect, or worse, has the same severityas if you were to be found in another man’s bed or if I were to raise a hand against you.”
Hellebore pushed up her sleeve, looking down to examine her wrist to see if the cracked skin had started bleeding. His eyes followed the motion, but she was too busy checking the damage to care if he felt any guilt or not. She muttered, “Then it’s a good thing this isn’t a real marriage.”
Thankfully there was no additional damage. It throbbed a little more than before, but it would ease soon enough.
Hellebore looked up, mouth open to tell him as much, but he was already across the room, disappearing through the door connecting their rooms. The door shut, and she was alone.
Hellebore dropped her wrist and glared at the iris beside her, mocking her with its glow.
She might be helping Taiyo save his kingdom, but that didn’t mean they were on the same side.
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the alchemy.
Chapter 11
Now that Hellebore was nothing but a queen and wife in name, neither she nor Taiyo wasted any time. The next morning, she was up bright and early to her maids coming into her room, both warily eyeing the belt and outfit they were carrying for her. Although, when Elaine saw the mess Hellebore had made of her wedding dress, she was distraught over the shredded fabric.
Turns out cutting herself out of it hadn’t been that hard given it had only been half completed in the first place.
Also, good to know the Sun Elves were less reserved than the other elves.
Hellebore wasn't prone to fits of elation, but she couldn't stop her savage grin as she took her things from Phoebe. As soon as she was back in her clothes and not draped in Sun Elf colors and styles, she breathed a sigh of relief. An alchemist once again.
Her mask and goggles hung around her neck as she fastened her belt around her waist and hitched her skirt accordingly so it was modest without getting in her way, leaving her boots showing and the elf maidens looking absolutely scandalized.
That was when the connecting door creaked open and Taiyo hovered in the doorway, with only a loose pair of trousers on,causing her maids to startle before quickly averting their eyes. She just grinned at him and said, “See? Now you've got your alchemist. This suits me much better.”
He crossed his arms, dark circles under his eyes. “I have a few important matters to attend to, including seeing the Star Elves off. Phoebe and Elaine will take you to a space I've set aside that should be suitable for your work. It's already equipped with the best that we have. I expect your things will arrive in a few days; it shouldn’t have taken them long to gather them from the academy and send them. I anticipate it will include equipment from your people, and should there be anything missing that you require, we will send for it after. Until then, organize your lab, review the work that I've had compiled, and at noon we'll go to the garden.”
Being given such clear and unquestionable orders didn't grate against her skin. Not now that she was his alchemist.
Phoebe and Elaine led Hellebore to her new lab, and it was about what she expected—not the worst setup to exist, but clearly the Sun Elves weren't equipped for the kind of work she would be doing. She spent the morning reading over the work of King Taiyo's previous experts while she directed Phoebe and Elaine in setting up what she did have and organizing so there would be plenty of empty places for her incoming equipment.
She hoped Taiyo was right about her things including equipment. If Callahan had been in charge of gathering it, she couldn’t be certain she’d be getting anything that would help her.
