And while she would never step foot into the land of the South again, I could at least provide her with a crumb of comfort.
I was still clinging to the hope that if I behaved, those I held dearwouldn’tabandon me.
Like Father had.
Like my twin had.
Like I’d thought Mother had.
No, the word bounced around in my mind, cutting off my spiraling thoughts.Not again.
Taking a stabilizing breath, I realizedwe’dalready arrived before the greenhouse doors. And with the concern etched onto Mother’s face, I assumedshe’dbeen trying to get my attention for a moment or two.
“Pardon?” I asked, slowly sinking back intomy reality.
“I asked if you were alright, dear,” she responded, tilting her head. “We can turn back and find Hugo if you need.”
“No,” I said, though it came off sharper thanI’dintended. Before she could try to intervene again, I cleared my throat and motioned to the tall, foggy glass doors in front of us. “We’vealready come all this way.Let’sgo inside.”
Mother shot me a skeptical look, but when I held the door open for her, she proceeded throughwithout another word.
Upon stepping into the greenhouse, thesubstantially warmerairimmediatelyengulfed us—so unlike the frigid temperatures almost year-round inside the rest of the castle and outside.
The entirety of the greenhouse was constructed of giant panes of glass in the shape of a dome overhead. The main doors connected directly to the castle, and another door on theopposite side of the dome lead straight into the forest behind Gatlyn Castle. The top of the dome had a perpetual layer of ice and snow on it, though with the slightly warmer weather this summer, one could see out from all the other windows. At the very center of the greenhousefloorlay a giant mosaic of theHeartshirefamily crest—an extended wing overlapping a crescent moon.
The same one that I could see inked onto the inside of Mother’s left arm as she lifted her arms into the air, taking in the warmth the greenhouse offered.
That crest marked her as the North’s.She’dhad it since she and Father married—though Icouldn’trecall Father ever having a crest marked onhisarm.
“Come this way,” I said to Mother, motioning for her to follow me.
Making our way around the largest of the overgrown flowerbeds—something my twin and Aurora used to tend to by hand just often enough to keep the plants alive—I stopped in front of one of the smaller, raised plots. This one had its dirt freshly turned, and the soil was dark with recently applied water. On the surface, it simply looked like an empty flowerbed.
But not to me.
No, I knew what lay beneath.
Waiting.
“If I take your cuff off,” I said, turning to Mother, “would you use yourziriliumto make whatever is under this dirt grow?”
“It’d be an easy task,” she answered, peering at the dirt with a newfound interest.
Crouching, I slipped the key Ikept on me at all timesout of my pocket and unlocked heralychitecuff, then placed it on the edge of the flowerbed.
“If you would,” Irequested ofher, waving an arm toward the bed of dirt before us.
Mother eyed mecuriously, butobliged as she moved closer to the dirt and sunk her hand into the wet earth. She closed her eyes momentarily, and I could tell she was simplyreaching out with herzirilium—likeshe’dtaught me to do over the past couple ofweeks. And with her reach, I was certainshe’dfeel the dozens of seedsI’dplanted there just a few hours before.
Within another moment, her eyes flew open as green stalks began to sprout rapidly, shoving the dirt out of the way so they could make their appearance for the first time. The stalks quickly started to resemble a real plant as they grew bright green leaves up their stems and gray bulbs on top.
And in mere seconds, they bloomednearly allat once, causing Mother’s mouth to fall agape at what was then before her.
Moon lilies.
Her—and my twin’s—favorite.
The white and gray petals of each flower appearednearly silveras the moon shone onto them through the glass overhead. The centers, though, were a bright purple color—unlike any other plantI’dseen before. It was native to the North and only grew there, as theyweren’ta flower that was easily accessible to ordinaryfae. It was rare tofindin the wild, and it was said that if they were, that whoever found them had the Stars on their side. Yet, most of all, the flowers served as a symbol of wealth and prosperity for my people.
