Another dragon flew down beside it, and together the two dragons lifted the little pot of honey butter into the air. They flew up toward the rafters, where they were met by a small flock. She heard them coo at each other, like the chatter of children but with no distinguishable words, and she wondered if it were possible to learn to speak dragon.A task for another time,she thought.
Terlu turned to leave, and she heard a chirp behind her. Turning, she saw the little silver dragon was holding a red rock in its talons. She held out her hands, and the dragon dropped the rock into it. “Thank you.”
Looking closer, she saw it wasn’t just a rock. It was a ruby, uncut but still a deep brilliant red that looked as if it had swallowed the sunset. A treasure from its hoard. “You don’t need to—” She held it out to return it.
The dragon squawked at her as if offended.
“All right, all right. I’ll take good care of it,” she promised. “Thank you.”
Tucking the gem into her pocket, Terlu exited the maze and returned through various rooms to the one overflowing with roses, where Lotti was in a heated discussion with Dendy about the proper way to trim a rosebush.
“Everyone okay?” Terlu asked.
Lotti broke off midsentence. “Thisnonflowering plantthinks that you’re supposed to cut all but three to five canes and leave only two or three buds.” She waved her leaves in the air to emphasize her outrage. “Can you believe this?”
Stretching out his leaves as if he were waking from a pleasant nap, Dendy said in his low and slow voice, “The caaanes will grooow stronger if—”
“Not if you mistake new shoots for suckers,” Lotti said with a dramatic huff. “You can’t just prune willy-nilly.”
Dendy sniffed. “I never dooo aaanything ‘willy-nillyyy.’”
Terlu knew absolutely nothing about how to prune roses. She held up her hand. “I’m going to experiment with a spell. Can you two help Yarrow keep the other plants far away? I don’t want to risk any accidents.”
Behind her, Yarrow said firmly to Lotti and Dendy, “You’ll need to corral the others on your own. I’ll be helping Terlu with the spells.”
Intending to tell him that wasn’t necessary (and could be risky), she turned to face him. Yarrow was carrying two baskets, both overflowing with branches, leaves, berries, and fruit, each so overladen that she could see the curve of his arm muscles through the sleeves of his shirt. Eyes widening, she gawked at both his arms and the baskets. “Oh my, that’s a lot. I didn’t think the list was that long.”
Shifting one basket on his forearm, he looked a bit embarrassed. “Some species have multiple varieties. I brought them all to be on the safe side.”
He’s amazing.She’d known scholars, supposedly detail-oriented people, who weren’t as thorough or as dedicated. “You don’t need to come with me,” Terlu said, belatedly—she wondered if he’d noticed she’d been gawking at him. “I can’t guarantee the results. It would be better if I’m the only one at risk. You could be hurt.”
He shrugged. “Or you could be hurt. If I’m there, I can pull you out.”
“And if we’re both hurt?”
Another shrug. “Then we save each other.”
She smiled. “Well, that’s okay then.”
Lotti curled her purple petals. “Ugh, I feel like I have sugar on my leaves. Quit it with the oversweetness, you two.”
“It is a biiiit much,” Dendy agreed.
Feeling herself blush, Terlu looked everywhere but at Yarrow. “You two will keep the others at a safe distance?” she asked Lotti and Dendy.
“Yes, yes,” Lotti said. “Shoo. Go drool over each other somewhere else.”
Still blushing, Terlu followed Yarrow through greenhouses overflowing with flowers, bushes, vines, trees, and vegetables—as well as one with hundreds of tomato plants, each row guarded by marigolds with lionlike faces in the center of their blossoms. She remembered Yarrow telling her about the tomato greenhouse, but he hadn’t mentioned it also had leonine marigolds who growled as they walked by. She wanted to ask about them, but he was walking with purpose.There will be time later,she thought,for questions and exploring and all of it, after I perfect the spells.
Afterweperfect the spells?Could she say “we”?
After the tomatoes, they crossed into dead room after dead room, until at last he stopped. He didn’t say anything at first. He just turned in a slow circle. She looked too: at the cracks in the glass, the brittle dead plants, the cobwebs in the cupola, and the heavy layer of dust that lay over it all like a gauzy shroud.
“This was the first room we lost,” Yarrow said as he set down thetwo baskets of ingredients. “My father and I. We only found it after it was too late. We thought if we’d been faster…” He trailed off. “There was never enough time.”
Standing beside him, Terlu took his hand. She felt the calluses on his palm from years of gardening, but his hand was still warm and soft.
He didn’t pull away.
