Chapter 58
Chapter Fifty-Eight
On the morning of the spring equinox, the students of Evergreen Academy gathered for a few hours of planting at the new botanical garden. I caught sight of Oren working with some of the tree affinity students and waved.
The forester who had helped me save Frank and unblock the quill returned the wave and walked my way. The botanical garden project had pulled him into our community, and he seemed happy to be spending time with other botanists while focusing on their shared passion—trees.
“Hey, Oren. How are the trees doing?”
“Coming along nicely. They’ll be providing good shade soon.”
“Have you had any luck with the riddle?” I asked quietly.
“Not yet. The directions from yours gave me some ideas, but I’m sure each Renaissance botanist crafted theirs a little differently.
It’s only a matter of time before I figure it out.
I’ve also been trying to determine what our family plant could be, like your Rosie.
I’m sure it’s a tree, possibly even the one my tree house is built in.
The family lore always said it grew from a cutting. ”
“Sounds promising,” I replied.
Meeting other Renaissance-descended botanists like Petra and Oren made me feel less like an enigma. Even though they didn’t have all the affinity powers, they shared the connection to the book and the Floracantus-making recipes inside.
I said goodbye to Oren and tried to lose myself in transplanting some mild but still magnificent defensive plants from the academy into a portion of the garden, but my mind was racing.
Tonight was the night. For better or worse, we would make our attempt at resetting the verdant shield. Mentally, I went through my checklist to ensure things were in place.
Meadow had the petal portal pendants for sneaking people onto campus. Callan and Hollis had plans for distraction and offense while I was at the charging circle. I hated to admit it, but Alex’s intel about the jewelweed patch was likely going to be useful.
When our work at the botanical garden wrapped up, we headed back to the academy.
I went to my room to change and donned a knee-length lavender dress with a tulle skirt and cap sleeves.
I used my floral affinity to weave tiny purple pansy petals around the waist and along the neckline then added a few to my hair.
The dainty dress was comfortable and airy, elegant enough for the spring festivities and easy to move around in for the mission I would be conducting later in the evening.
I slipped the seeds I would need into the dress’s pocket, swiped some gold sparkles across my eyelids, and squared my shoulders.
My mind was so focused on the upcoming mission as I descended the stairs and left the school building that I almost missed the archways of wisteria leading all the way from the flower gardens to the meadow by the pond.
Not until one of the flowers stretched close to my face and tickled my cheek did I focus on the landscape around me.
Butterflies flitted from bloom to bloom as if racing to crisscross the expanse of the path.
Coral whistled. “The florals must have been working nonstop since this morning.”
“They must have,” I agreed, breathing in the calming scent of the wisteria and focusing on the world around me. The academy had been transformed into a spring floral fever dream, even more so than at the Floral Fete or any event I had attended in the past.
The trees and florals were obviously working together, because flowers literally floated in the air. A few of the flowers landed in each of the guests’ hair, marking us all as members of the party.
When Heath greeted us with martini glasses with edible flowers floating on the surface of the drink, I raised my glass in appreciation. “Incredible work.”
“The vernal equinox committee has been planning this for weeks. They wanted to do something extra special this year,” he replied.
“I’d say they were successful. I think this may be the most beautiful spring equinox the academy has ever seen,” Yasmin said.
“How can the school look this beautiful when things are going so wrong?” Aurielle asked.
“I think that’s the point the students were trying to make,” Heath answered. “Not everyone fights in the same way. Some of us continue to create the beautiful things in the midst of all the chaos so that once the struggle is over, there is something worth coming back to.”
I inhaled sharply, knowing deep in my gut that, even though the Root and Vine Society was doing the heavy lifting in the plan, the work of keeping the academy a place we all wanted to be and showing that it was worth fighting for was just as important.
At the end of the night, if everything went well, the environment that the floral students had created was the type of school I wanted to come back to. And I was willing to fight for it.