Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Aramis approaches the wall on our left. I was about to ask if he can walk through wood, when he pushes down a handle, revealing a hidden door that blends perfectly with the walls. He throws a cheeky grin over his shoulder and beckons me. “Come on, milady, follow me!”
I walk to him, my steps a bit hesitant as I peek into the darkness of the tunnel beyond. “You are not going to kidnap me, are you?”
He too, looks in the door opening and looks back at me, bursting out in spontaneous laughter.
“Oh, my apologies, I see how this might come off. But no, you don’t need to fear me.
” Tension leaves my body once more and I can breathe again, not even sure when I stopped.
“This is a secret passageway to go outside. I promise the lights will turn on once the door closes again.”
I arch a brow at him. “So, do you sneak away often?”
“Only when needed,” he answers, giving me a wink.
I stare at him for a moment, he stares right back and a warm, fuzzy feeling spreads inside of me. Before I let the temperature rise to my head, I walk past him into the darkness. Aramis follows me and closes the door behind him. “Just a second,” he whispers.
And indeed, after a few seconds tiny spots of warm golden light slowly come to life above our heads, I look around in wonder. “What is this?”
Aramis starts walking and I send the impulse to my legs to do the same. I let my fingers roam the wall beside me, wondering if the light might spread to them as well.
“This hallway is one of the few things that remain of the original building. Decades ago, the Academy was made of stone instead of wood. A sturdy material, you would think, yet it got destroyed. I’m not sure what the cause was, but from what I’ve heard, there was a hurricane with a force they had never seen before.
The whole building was in ruins.” The warm light flickers, as if the stone remembers what Aramis talks about.
“They rebuilt it, but instead of stone, they used wood, keeping the connection to nature strong in the hopes not to anger Mother Nature again.”
“And what is up with the glowy things?”
Aramis looks up, a gentle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Ah, these little creatures are called starflies, because every now and then,” he points to a spot at the ceiling, making me look up as well.
“They flicker like the stars in the sky do. This cave was their home, and although there are several other caves on the domain, they always come back here.”
I reach out to the little faux stars, but I’m nowhere close to reaching them. Yet something falls from the ceiling and lands on my finger. I move my hand carefully towards my face, taking in the little creature.
It resembles a butterfly. The shape of the wings is the same, but they are iridescent and the edges are feathered instead of membrane. It slowly lifts its wings up and down, not in a rush to fly away any time soon. “Wow.”
“You are lucky. They normally don’t show themselves, especially not to strangers.”
“It looks so different.”
“She looks beautiful.”
I look above the starfly, meeting Aramis glowing eyes in the dimly lit cave. His pupils are dilated, but not fixated on the small creature on my finger. No, his eyes are on me.
Oh.
I subtly move my hand up, hiding my heated cheeks behind the little friend I just made, but that is exactly the time it decides to fly away. Aramis averts his gaze, staring at his feet instead. “Shall we continue?”
I clear my throat. “Yes, of course.”
Aramis explains that it’s easy to get lost in the maze of tunnels. Some go deeper below ground, others end somewhere on the domain of the Academy.
Every now and then, a starfly falls down from the ceiling and swirls around my head. One even lands on my nose, making me laugh, its wings tickling my cheeks.
Sooner than I anticipated, I see light at the end of the cave, announcing our time with the little creatures is coming to an end. A strong breeze blows through the cave, a small preview of what weather we might expect once we leave the safety of the stone walls.
We walk into an open space where the ceiling is even higher. A built in, stone closet stands to our right and Aramis opens it without hesitation. “Although you don’t mind a storm or the cold, I think it’s a smart idea to put on a coat, just in case.”
From what I can see, the sky looks pitch black. So when Aramis holds out a coat for me to wear, I put it on without hesitation. I’m not that insane.
We walk over to where the cave ends, a strong gust of wind comes up to meet us, snow blowing into our faces.
I take a few steps forward, taking in the surroundings.
A forest lies in front of us. Some trees I recognise are the same as the ones on the domain of Anima.
Others are new, but beautiful either way.
Various paths meander through the forest, and a longing grows within me, to wander those paths and find out where they might lead me. Since they mostly have been cleared of snow, I assume a lot of students go out for a walk. I can’t blame them.
“Is there a system for who shovels the snow around here?”
He scratches the back of his head. “Uh, sort of. There are a lot of us who enjoy being outside, meaning there are many volunteers. It’s a good exercise as well, great for building muscle.”
He flexes his arms, which earns him a spontaneous laugh from me. Even with the coat on, I see the outline of his biceps. “So you do that a lot, huh?”
He smirks. “I guess you could say that, glad you noticed, though.”
My cheeks burn. Again. Someone save me, the first man to give me some attention, turns me into a shy tomato. All. The. Time. What is wrong with me? I crawl deeper into the coat. But of course I noticed, has he seen himself?
“Being outside gives me a feeling I could never find inside. And since I also help in the healing quadrant, this is my sweet escape,” he admits as we follow the centre path.
I can’t help but notice how he seems to relax even more now that we are outside. “Where are we going?”
“To the greenhouse. You seem like the kind of person who is an expert in tending the garden.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I admit silently. “I haven’t had the opportunity to do so.”
Aramis gently bumps his shoulder into mine. “Ah, then you’ve come to the right place! Professor Bloomhart is exceptional, she knows every plant, what to use them for, which ones are poisonous or have the ability to heal.”
“Are you good with plants?”
“I have a broad knowledge, due to an unfortunate event in my childhood. My twin sister ate a poisonous plant believing it was a delicious snack.”
My eyes widen, my lips slightly apart. “I’m so sorry for your —”
“Oh, no, she didn’t die,” he quickly intercepts.
“Although it came close to it and she scared the shit out of me, but we got to the healers in time and they thankfully knew what to do.” I breathe a little easier, relieved to hear she made it.
“But watching the healers treat her, it made me want to do the same, you know? And to prevent other disasters from happening, I dove into the books and made sure I recognised every plant on sight alone.”
As we walk out of the line of trees, a ginormous greenhouse rises in the distance, still a few miles in front of us. “You don’t have doctors here?”
“Huh?”
“You talk about healers. In Anima, we had a nurse and a…a doctor too.” I mean, there’s nothing wrong with alternative treatments, I’m just not familiar with it.
His expression quickly shifts from something that looks like panic, to a relaxed smile. “Ah yes, Althea is our doctor, but she specialises in treating a patient without any fancy equipment. That's why we prefer to call her a healer.”
We reach the greenhouse and I can’t help but be amazed by the construction. The walls consist of tall windows outlined in gold metal and at the top of those windows, the moon cycle is etched in tinted glass, from new moon to a waning crescent.
“Wow,” I gasp, my mouth falling open slightly as I take it all in. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Which isn’t saying much, I know.
“We are very lucky with our greenhouse. It makes it possible to grow unique blossoms and medicinal herbs. We rarely run out of stock.”
Aramis leaps on the little porch and can barely contain his excitement. A giggle escapes me. “Well, don’t you look happy?”
“I just know you’ll love what’s behind these doors.”
Aramis opens them for me. I walk up the stairs, my body only inches away from his as I pass him. A pleasant, little shiver runs down my spine. “And how can you be so —” My smile falters as I take in what is in front of me “…sure.”
It feels like we’ve entered a whole new world.
We stand in the entrance to the greenhouse, which is already a spacious room.
I pinch myself just to make sure this isn’t a dream.
Everywhere I look is…life; green plants stand tall, vibrant coloured flowers woven between them, their scents create a beautiful perfume and I see bees and butterflies fly around.
The contrast couldn’t be any bigger to the cold outside.
I look over my shoulder at Aramis, who takes me in with a shy smile. “Would you believe me if I said this is only the tip of the iceberg?”
“There is more?”
He nods, and waves forward, allowing me to descend the spiraling staircase. From up here, all I can see is a densely grown canopy and stairs that disappear into it.
I slowly take the stairs down, breaking through the leaves and watch as a hidden piece of paradise unfolds. To my surprise, it isn’t dark underneath the canopy. The tall windows filter light through, and it almost looks like the sun shines down here, even though I know it is cloudy outside.
A long wooden table stands in the middle of the greenhouse, students linger around, occupied with tending to their flowers and plants. When I take the final step, I notice various paths leading away from the center of the greenhouse.
“It’s more plants and flowers, I know there is some kind of system behind it, but don’t ask me how it works,” Aramis whispers.
I look up, he is still on the stairs. “This is wild, Aramis. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
He winks and I quickly turn around, hoping he didn’t catch the blush on my cheeks.
I take a few steps forward, noticing a fair-haired girl taking care of a purple blossom.
Just as I’m about to pass her, she looks up from what she is currently doing and offers me a gentle smile.
Her eyes seem to have the same purple colour as the flower she tends to, but then I blink and her eyes are a deep blue, like what I presume the depths of the ocean might look like.
I am for once the one who is staring and quickly smile back. Aramis ushers me forward and the girl resumes her task.
Many students repot flowers and plants, cutting pieces from leaves, watering them and doing all sorts of other things I don’t recognise. It makes me yet again realise how ignorant I am, my mind a mess full of gaps and holes. Like cheese, those too have holes sometimes.
I give myself an internal shake, this is not the time to bathe in self-loathing. I’ve survived five years with this fact, I can manage a little longer.
We near the end of the table where an enormous tree takes up the entire back wall of the greenhouse. The branches are long and hang low, the leaves shaped like tears. It is magnificent.
Seemingly out of nowhere, an ethereal looking woman appears.
Her midnight blue hair and equally extraordinary eyes stand out amongst the greenery.
A small headpiece of entwined twigs rests upon her forehead and she is dressed in an elegant green robe, leaving her shoulders bare.
Her gaze is entirely focused on me, eyes unblinking, but not in the judgmental way. More in surprise, shock even.
“Professor Bloomhart, this is Maily, our new student.” Aramis makes way so I can move closer. “Maily, meet our professor with the greenest thumb you’ll ever see.”
I gently nod in way of greeting, starting to feel a little uneasy under her unblinking stare. She takes a few hesitant steps forward, as if she is the one who is nervous. She halts about three feet away from me and lifts a hand, reaching out to me.
“Here you are at last.”