CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
We walked around a building and I saw a fenced-off area, the stone wall coming up as high as my head. Io pushed at an iron gate that opened easily and waved me inside. Here we are. The flower garden.
I took a step in and then came to a complete halt. Stretched out in front of me was the most unbelievable sight. As if a master artist had painted it. Like a giant hand had pulled a rainbow from the sky and shattered it into a thousand pieces.
The garden was a cascade of flowers in every size and color. I had seen illustrations of flowers before. Life mages made a single flower bloom in front of us every year. My brother had brought me back a pressed flower from one of his trips, and for a long time it had been my most prized possession.
That faded, flat, dried-up flower was nothing compared to this. I d had no idea that this kind of vibrant beauty existed in the world.
And the fragrance? It was otherworldly and it was everywhere, surrounding me. I d never smelled anything so good.
I reached out to touch the petals of the nearest flower and the texture was unbelievable. Soft as silk.
My heart lodged itself in my throat. More than anything I wished that Quynh were here to see this. She would have loved it.
Io stood nearby, watching me. I ve heard that you don t have flowers in Locris.
I nodded.
That s called a rose.
Something gently flew up into the air, surprising me. What is that?
A butterfly. They like to land on flowers. Daphne says they help things to grow. There are a lot of birds and insects that do so.
Butterfly. That wasn t something I d ever heard of before. It was blue and delicate looking, flitting around in the air near my head. Like it was dancing.
The color of the butterfly made me think of Jason and his blue tunic.
Before I had a chance to ponder where that thought had come from and why, Io was talking. Let me introduce you to everyone.
She told me the names as we walked-anemone, carnation, pansy, hyacinth, peony, daffodil, violet, delphinium, crocus, lily, larkspur. The names were magical and beautiful and Io spoke about them almost like they were people, as if she knew and cared about each one. She watched indulgently as I stopped to smell and touch everything. I couldn t get over the variety and brilliance of it all. Purples and pinks and blues and yellows and whites and reds and oranges in so many different shades.
This is a sunflower, she said. The blossoms actually turn and follow the sun.
There was a feeling of familiarity because it was just like the one I d seen in my dream on the ship. My heart pounded in my chest as I reached out to touch this flower as well.
Was this some kind of sign?
You have to come over here and see this one. It s called an iris and it s special. This is the goddess s favorite flower.
It was a bluish purple and shaped differently than the other flowers I d already seen. Why is this her favorite?
I m not actually sure, she said. There are so many medicinal usages for it. It s always the incense they use in the temple.
They do? I sniffed but there didn t seem to be much of a scent. The blossom had three opened petals with a yellow heart in the center and I had expected it to smell more strongly, like the violets had.
The fragrance comes from the roots instead of the petals. It s one of the only flowers we do that with. There was a clay pot on a bench and she ran over to retrieve it, bringing it back to me. Here, smell.
The recognition was instant and immediate. The back of my neck prickled. It was exactly the same scent I d smelled in the dream with the sunflowers. The one coming from the goddess s robes.
I detected a mixture of notes-floral, sweet, a bit like fennel, but also earthy, woody, with a slight hint of mineral.
As if it featured everything that encapsulated the goddess.
What do you think? Io asked.
It felt like everything was whirling around me, and there were answers to my questions but when I stuck my hand out, trying to catch even one in an attempt to make sense of my situation, they stayed frustratingly beyond my grasp.
When I didn t answer, she filled in the silence. We dry the roots and then we grind them up. Daphne says that the longer you let the roots dry, the better. She has some that have been drying for the last five years. We add them to resin or oil, depending on whether we re going to use them for the scent or for medicine.
She finally took a breath, glancing up at the sky. This is one of my favorite gardens to work in.
Gardens ? As in plural? It was hard to imagine that there could be more beyond what I was seeing.
Yes, we have orchards and vegetable gardens and herb gardens. We tend to all the plants here. It s our responsibility to care for them, nurture them. Daphne is the best at it. I ve even traveled with her to work on burned olive trees.
So many questions, such as who had burned the trees, but I settled on, Why would you waste time trying to save something that is destined to die?
Again, she gave me that smile, as if she were indulging me. Olive trees are nearly impossible to kill. If they are burned, they will still bear fruit the next year. You can freeze them and they persevere. Even if you cut them down, a new tree will grow from the roots. It s why it s the symbol of Ilion-even when we are burned, frozen, cut down, we grow back.
I clamped my teeth together so that I wouldn t respond. Because Locris was imprisoned thanks to Ilion s ability to quickly return to full power.
It was becoming clear that Io didn t like silence as she added, We still have a bit of time and I thought you might like to help me.
Do what? I asked.
There are some bulbs I need to plant. They come from a kingdom far north of Thrace and supposedly they won t bloom until spring next year.
I don t know how.
It s easy. I ll show you, she said. There s a reason that gardening is my favorite thing. Putting your hands in newly dug earth? Coaxing life to grow from nothing but soil, water, and sun? There s something so healing about that. It can mend hearts and souls. It helps you to realize that even a desolate land can be healed and made green again.
The restoration of a desolate land was the deepest desire of my heart, but I tried not to react to her statement as she handed me a small spade and a pot full of water. She did as she promised and showed me exactly how to make a hole and where to put the bulbs, how to cover them up with dirt and water them.
She was right. Very simple. I felt a bit foolish. Io moved a few feet away and began digging.
I started my own hole and something strange was happening. There was a humming in the ground, a vibration I could feel. Was this the healing she had spoken of? This sensation that seemed to travel up through my fingers and spread throughout all my limbs? Or was it something else?
It was as if there were a pool just beyond my fingertips. A reservoir of power. Or magic. I didn t know how else to describe it, but it waited for me. Although no matter how deep I dug, it continued to stay frustratingly out of reach.
I placed both of my palms against the black soil and the feeling intensified. Like if I could only figure out how to harness it, direct it, I would be able to do magic myself.
While I was doing this, Io had kept up a monologue, talking about the kind of work she did with plants, that I only half listened to. Something about weeding and fertilizing and making sure that there wasn t any blight or rot or too many predatory bugs.
Given how caught up I was in trying to figure out what was happening with the dirt, it took me a moment to register that Io had fallen suspiciously quiet. I pulled up my hands and lifted my head and saw that three women had entered the gardens.
Every instinct inside me screamed that they were enemies.
They wore green tunics that were a slightly darker shade than Io s. I d figured out the oldest priestesses wore the darkest green and the acolytes the lightest. These three women were a bit older than us and looked like most of the people I d come across since leaving Locris. Light brown skin, dark brown hair.
I reminded myself that I was new here and didn t know everything. They might be friends with Io.
The woman in the center bent slightly at the waist and said to Io, Are you enjoying digging your dung? The other two girls laughed cruelly.
Not friends.
Io was on her hands and knees and ignored the trio.
I m speaking to you, the leader sneered and kicked at Io, knocking her down.
Stop! I said, getting up, my head spinning. I didn t know what kind of medicines they d administered to me in the infirmary, but it felt as if they hadn t cleared my system yet. I was a bit woozy and weak and in no state to fight.
The woman whirled on me. And who s going to stop me? You?
I balled my hands into fists. I hated people who preyed on those weaker than them. Hitting someone might help with this overwhelming rage and sadness I was feeling. Even if I wasn t at full strength yet, I at least had the benefit of training to assist me.
Yes, me.
She smiled with amusement. You must be the Locrian. Nice haircut.
Her cohorts laughed again and I tightened my fists.
The woman came over and walked in a wide circle around me. You re the first Locrian I ve ever seen. When she finished she stopped directly in front of me and said conspiratorially, It s amazing you survived. I ve heard that the captured maidens are cut up into pieces and sold off, to be used in potions.
A weight settled hard against my chest. That couldn t be true. I wouldn t allow it to be. You re lying.
Am I? she mocked.
Artemisia, Io said to the woman tormenting me in an attempt to come to my aid, but the other girls grabbed her, pulling her up and holding her arms behind her back so that she couldn t move.
Io did not deserve to be treated this way. Tell them to stop.
This Artemisia glanced over her shoulder. No, I don t think I will.
I will make them, I said, threatening all three. They were nearly as tall as me, but I had fought much taller and stronger people. I wasn t worried about taking on some flower-loving acolytes.
Artemisia grinned and drew a sword from its sheath. How had I missed that she was carrying a weapon? Come and stop us, then, she challenged.
I swore under my breath, furious that I d left my xiphos back in my room. I m unarmed.
She threw her sword to the ground. I don t need a weapon to beat you. She raised both of her fists in front of her face.
I tried not to smile. Artemisia had no idea what she was going up against. Boxing had been a regular part of my regimen, in large part to help build up my muscles and reflexes. This almost seemed unfair.
And I believed in my own superiority clear up until the moment when her fist connected to my face, sending me whirling back. She went to hit me with her other fist and I was able to throw up my arm, blocking the shot.
But she was relentless. She drove into me and I wasn t able to defend against every blow, my body not responding the way I needed it to. She got in far too many hits and my head was throbbing as I tried to hold her off.
Who taught you to fight? she asked incredulously.
I realized that I hadn t been taught to fight. I d been taught to avoid the fight. To escape situations like this. Artemisia had clearly been trained differently than I had-she went on the offensive and never let up.
Who had trained her ?
And her hits were powerful. How was she so strong? I attributed it to me only recently being healed and lying in bed for five days. There was no other way to explain why she hit harder than any of the men from my regiment.
Io made a sound and it distracted me, which Artemisia took advantage of. She walloped me, knocking me to the ground.
A voice called out. Enough! My vision was unclear for a moment, my head ringing and dizzy, but then I saw the older woman from the first night. Daphne. Stop, Artemisia. I just fixed her up-I don t need you to break her apart again. That is not how you treat a sister. You took an oath.
Artemisia stared down at me for a few beats and I could see in her eyes that she wanted to finish the job. To beat me into oblivion, or worse.
I was going to have to watch my back.
She called to her companions, who released Io. Io rushed over to me. Are you all right?
My cheek felt bruised and I reached up to my lip, realizing that it had been split open and was bleeding.
I had honestly believed that once I reached the temple of the goddess, I would be safe.
That it would be a sanctuary.
I had never once considered the danger that waited here for me.