Chapter 33 #2
This was the first time she’d spoken of anyone from her mother’s side of the family.
I supposed there hadn’t been much reason to bring them up before, but it made me curious.
My lack of spies in Alavaar meant I hadn’t been able to research that end beyond the basics of her family line, though it hardly mattered since no one there posed a threat.
“Do you think she would let me use it?” I asked.
She shuddered. “My grandmother is a difficult woman, so I try to avoid her, but this is too important. If they’ve set up any traps, having that stone will ensure you avoid them. I’m sure we can make some kind of arrangement with her as long as we don’t mind putting up with her rude behavior.”
The way Aella talked about the woman made it sound like she’d had some bad experiences with her. That troubled me, considering my wife had dealt with enough from her father’s side of the family.
“She lives near your sister, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, though on the northwest end of the village by the sea, so they’re not too close to each other.” Aella sighed, clenching her hands in her lap. “My grandmother thinks the world of Priyya, so they get along wonderfully.”
I was at a loss and couldn’t understand why the druid woman wouldn’t like my wife. “What does she have against you?”
Aella couldn’t meet my gaze. “It’s something that happened a long time ago, and she’s never forgiven me.”
Now, I was intrigued, and everyone else in the room leaned forward in their seats, eyes on her. “If it’s that bad, we’re going to find out when we visit your grandmother, so why not give us your side of the story?”
“It was a gardening incident,” she said, shuddering.
Jax snickered. “Now, I really want to know what you did if it involves a garden.”
Aella shot him a scathing look. “I was young—only ten years old—and I was curious.”
Princess Lillian’s eyes widened. “Wait, if that was over twenty years ago, I think I remember your mother telling me about it. Did it involve the juzber beetles?”
“Yes,” Aella admitted, ducking her head. “I thought they were cute, so I gathered ten of them to take to my grandmother’s garden to play.”
Loden gasped. “Oh, no. I’m surprised they didn’t bite you.”
“I learned later that the cream my mother put on me repelled most bugs because I had very sensitive skin back then, so they didn’t try.
Anyway, I was playing with them when my grandmother called me inside for dinner.
I put them in a bucket, but while I was gone, the wind knocked it over, and they escaped,” she said, covering her face with her hands.
Other than Loden and Lillian, the rest of us had no idea about the significance of these life-altering beetles. They must have been native to Alavaar, or even just to that part of the continent. I’d never heard of them.
“So you lost them in the garden,” Loden surmised, giving her a sympathetic look.
“Yes. I searched for them, but it was getting dark, so I decided I would try again in the morning. Little did I know that when Juzber beetles eat well, they produce many eggs, and those hatch within eight hours. Grandmother took my sister and me to visit the dragons the next morning, and we brought lunch with us, so we were gone until evening.” Aella looked close to tears, and despair nearly overwhelmed our bond.
She’d never forgiven herself for whatever occurred next. Taking her hand, I squeezed it gently. She gave me a grateful look. It said something about her state of mind that she allowed me to comfort her.
“What did the beetles do while you were gone?” I asked in a gentle tone. It wasn’t like me to speak softly with anyone, but with her, I hated to see her suffering. I wished I could remove every trace of it.
“The original ones, plus at least a hundred of their babies, ate a quarter of the garden. It was fall, and grandmother relied upon the fruits and vegetables she harvested before the cold arrived to help supplement her winter stores.” Aella shook her head.
“The worst part was no matter how many of them we killed, there were always some we missed.”
Lillian came over and set a hand on Aella’s shoulder. “She lost all her plants by the time you were able to kill the last of the beetles, as I recall.”
“Yes.”
I squeezed my wife’s hand again. “While I can understand your grandmother being upset, I can’t imagine how she’d hold that against you for so many years.”
“Ask anyone who has crossed her, she holds a grudge forever,” Aella said, letting out a shuddering breath.
I mulled over the situation. “Perhaps you could make it up to her by relocating the local portal ring to a safer place. The land was dying there the last time we visited, so it must be worse after nearly a month with all that has happened.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea.” She brightened, and I could practically see her mind racing.
“It will require extra holmium powder, and I’ll have to use a lot of magic to re-establish the connection once we move it, but she would consider that worthwhile since the village would have to pay thousands of gold coins for anyone else to do it. I’d handle it for free.”
The prince smiled. “Then it’s settled. You can go tomorrow, help the village, and get the gem for Darrow.”