6. Adrian
Adrian
Iwatched her ginormous dress sway behind her as she stormed off. She was exactly what I expected. Beautiful and focused on herself. That would probably make this task much easier.
There was a bit about her that was… unexpected. She had a lot of bite to her. Everyone I’d met had the fakest, kind smiles and nice words. But somehow, this princess I was sure received countless hours of instruction was the most impolite I’d met. It wasn’t the worst thing that could be happening.
She could’ve been a total bore instead.
No matter. My eye was drawn to the sparkly necklace dangling around her neck.
It was quite pretty. Diamond cut with a blue gem in the middle, aquamarine if I had to take a guess, and gems running around the edges of it, all held by a chain.
She played with it a bunch while we talked, and I wasn’t even sure she knew she was doing it.
But if I’d been wearing a necklace for almost my entire life, I’d probably be used to its existence too.
After she ran off I turned back to my drink. Though after this one I’d be back to water. I needed to blend in but stay sharp.
The entire evening was uneventful, but that was how I wanted it to be. A few dragonfolk brushed past me earlier, drawing my eye. While most people here were human, a few nonhumans floated around as well, making my ability to blend in more seamless.
“She’s attractive, huh?” a man asked me unprompted.
“Mhm,” I hummed, hoping he would get the idea I had no interest in conversing.
“And with her reputation, I’d say your chances are pretty good.”
I turned to look at him now. He was quite unattractive, his nose too wide and off center and his blonde hair thinning, despite us probably being a similar age. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t know?” he asked, surprised.
“Clearly.”
“Sage Yulean is known to get around, if you get what I mean.”
“I don’t,” I said, irritation starting to crawl up my neck.
“You dense or something?” he asked, before leaning in conspiratorially. “She’s a bit of a harlot, and I heard a great lay too.”
Was a grown man trying to gossip with me about someone else’s sex life? “Seems like some nasty rumors.”
He picked up on my distasteful tone at least, realizing I wasn’t the ally he thought I was. “It’s all in good jest,” he tried to defend.
“Jest?” I said with a smirk. “So if women were going around talk about how quickly you blow your load, you would consider that to be just in ‘jest?’”
His pale face turned a bright, tomato red. “I-I-” he stammered for far too long before excusing himself, probably finding someone more willing to take part in his slander.
I slammed my drink and left the bar, just about done for the night.
When I turned, planning on taking my leave, I spotted the princess out on the patio with the party host, Octavio Kalfin.
I knew next to nothing about him. To me, he was just another rich, spoiled royal, probably knowing this reputation she seemed to have and taking some advantage of it.
Which made him a fucking prick, but if she was consenting, there wasn’t much I could do.
What caused me to actually pause, was the laugh she let out at something he said. Her entire face lit up when she did. It seemed genuine, even from over here. Something about it instantly put me on edge. She hadn’t even cracked a smile when we spoke.
But why did that matter to me? It shouldn’t have.
I was up before the sun broke. The best time to scope the place out would be before everyone was around. Though the mission should be a simple in and out, we had to be prepared for anything that could happen, and that meant having extra escape routes especially.
I put on my full getup, wearing a black waistcoat with silver accents and a coat on top of it.
If I flexed hard enough I was sure I could break out of this tight thing.
Bramwell was still asleep. He’d stayed up during the night going over a set of floor plans we’d brought along and ensuring no one was catching onto us.
Someone had to be awake at all times, so while he was getting some rest before the important night began, I planned to do some scouting.
After brushing my hair back I tied it in a low bun. Normally I would throw my hat on over it, but right now I couldn’t have that weighted comfort I’d become used to over the past years, so I had to make do without.
After a roll of my neck I headed to the hall.
The manor was just like any other I’d seen, though I hadn’t been in many.
Most of the time, it was visiting ones with Tungesten, who used to be much more trusting in clientele.
I wasn’t so keen on that. All the halls were larger than they needed to be, dark woods and that same deep green everywhere.
It must have had some meaning to the family, but I had no clue what.
The sun had just started to rise as I passed by the hall to the gardens. As I moved, something golden caught my eye. I paused, taking a few steps back before I realized what I was looking at.
Was Sage Yulean down there… Pruning? At dawn?
I blinked again, confirming it wasn’t some mirage from lack of sleep. But no, below, with a slightly less large dress on, was Sage, on her hands and knees in front of a bush.
Suddenly enraptured, I turned to go down the stairs towards the garden.
I slithered quickly, my tail jerking hard as I sped towards her.
I opened the stained glass doors to the garden and was somehow shocked she was still there.
She hadn’t heard me enter, and I decided not to move.
Just let myself observe her for a moment.
Her back was mostly to me, though I could catch a bit of her profile from here.
Her cheeks were slightly pink from the exertion of what she was doing.
It didn’t take long to realize she wasn’t just pruning.
She was completely uprooting something. I watched fascinated, almost unable to tear my gaze away.
The sun glinted towards me as it moved across the sky, the rays warming my body. And subsequently, it seemed, caused my scales to shine, drawing her attention. Sage jumped, her eyes going wide and a loud gasp coming from her lips.
“How long have you been standing there?” she asked. “Are you stalking me or something?”
I had to bite my tongue to hold my laugh, knowing it would be inappropriate.
“What are you doing?” I asked instead, dodging her question.
Because the answer might have been… kinda.
“That’s really none of your business,” she said. When she stood, the front of her light blue dress revealed dirt stains. Uncaring, she wiped her hands there too.
The difference between her last night and right now was so jarring, part of me felt like I made this image up.
Her hair was no longer complicatedly pinned, now just up with a simple barrette, some of the curled pieces falling in her face.
And though the dress she had on had a smaller skirt, it still clung to her everywhere and showed her off in a way that was even more attractive.
“It’s not,” I agreed. “But you could tell me anyway.”
She crossed her arms, looking me up and down, as if assessing me for something.
Whatever it was, I seemed to pass the test. “I’m moving this flutora.”
I assumed she referred to the plant that was now laying in front of us with all its roots out. “Why?”
Her eyes somehow narrowed even more. “Do you even care? Go back to… doing whatever you were doing at this time of morning. Probably the walk of shame.”
I wasn’t really familiar with ‘a walk of shame.’ “I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
“Seriously?” she asked. She squatted down to begin covering the hole she’d created. “It’s like… when you leave someone’s room after a dalliance in the morning. Usually looking worse for wear if you did it right.”
I smirked. “Ah. None of that I’m afraid, just an early riser.” I had to be as a captain.
“I haven’t been to bed yet,” she said casually.
“What do you mean, it’s sunrise.” She’d yet to sleep?
She paused for a moment, as if she’d said something she didn’t mean to. “I don’t sleep well,” is all she said.
I didn’t follow up. It wasn’t my business, something I shouldn’t be curious about, even if I was.
“And that forced you to pull weeds?”
“It’s not a weed,” she snapped. “They’re really pretty and bloom in the late summer, but when added to beds with lots of other plants, they can be destructive to their root systems, so it’s important to have them on their own.
And I know if someone doesn’t move them, they’ll just be cut out and discarded, even though they’re perfectly good. ”
That was the most words I’d ever heard her speak. “You know a lot about plants.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Are you always this combative?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get these replanted.”
“Let me help,” I said, beginning to roll my sleeves.
“No thanks,” she insisted. “I’m fine.”
“I’m not questioning your competence, but aren’t four hands better than two?”
She glanced back at me. There was a long moment she was left thinking. At that point I assumed I would just catch fire on the spot, or at the very least she would tell me to fuck off.
Instead, “Grab me that trowel.” I was quick, finding the small metallic tool and handing it her way.
She shoved the tip into the dirt as if she was slicing a cake, moving it carefully around the base of the wild vines of the plant.
She then started digging out the concave she had created, revealing more of the complex, dainty looking roots.
“When you’re doing this, you don’t need to be as careful as you think,” she explained.
“You can tear some of the roots, especially towards the end where they’re branching to look for water, but this,” she pointed the trowel end to what almost looked like a bulb at the bottom.
“This is what keeps the plant alive, this has to stay intact, or else you’ve killed it. ”
“Got it.” And I had. Before I was a good captain, I had to be a good learner. No one just… knew how to lead, some people had a better personality for it, but it was still a learned skill like anything else.
She handed me the trowel and stood, letting me settle where she just was to finish digging that one up.
My upper body sunk down on my tail. I had to let it uncoil a bit to get low enough.
I was careful around the bulb, but as she’d cleared it mostly out already I tried to salvage as many roots as I could before pulling it out.
I heard a couple of snaps from the smaller ones, but most came out unscathed.
“Good,” she said, the praise almost sounding foreign on her tongue. “There’s only a few more. I think I want to move them down to the end where those flowers died for the year.”
I looked to the bed down there. “Sounds good.”
“I’ll dig the new plots if you can get the rest of these out.”
“Can do.”
She looked me over one more time, as if she couldn’t believe she was going to leave this idiot to do this delicate work, but she did.
I continued working. There were quite a few.
Flutora did grow like weeds, their long, almost spindly vines weaving around the other plants nearby, to the point that I had to untangle some of them before I pulled them from the ground, but it wasn’t horrible work.
Night shifts on dish duty after a feast were much, much worse.
By the time I was done the sun was a bit higher in the sky, enough to make the air warm. Sweat formed on my brow and I quickly wiped it away. I longed to take this constricting top off, but that wouldn’t be very noble of me. Was rolling around in the dirt considered noble either?
People at this point had to be moving around, getting ready for the morning, but she seemed to pay no mind to anyone who might see her working in the dirt.
Sage had come by a few times, grabbing some of the plants and bringing them to her space. Each time she looked them over, as if expecting something to be wrong, but she never had anything to say. Just looked them over before carrying them away wordlessly.
I stretched, letting my hands reach above my head and leaned back to lengthen my spine. My hands were dry from the dirt, feeling strange as they cracked above me. I was used to them being wet as opposed to dry. The problem with land; the sea was much more my preference.
As I did, I caught a set of pretty blue eyes locked on me. Did I flex my arms just the tiniest bit more than I had to? Maybe, but I’d never be honest about it. Not even to myself.
I grabbed a few of the plants carefully and carried them to the bed she was working in.
I was surprised when I reached the bed she was working on.
It was only partially done, but Sage had managed to trim back the longer viny parts as she planted them, leaving them look fuller and less like an invasive weed.
“Those can go in those holes,” she said, pointing to two vacant spots. Her glance caught on me for a few moments before looking away. Mine held a bit longer than necessary too, but I just did as she asked.
Wisps of her hair flew away from her face as she did. The rows she completed neat and lined up, the plants covering a good amount of the bed.
“You are quite knowledgeable about plants,” I said.
She shrugged. “As much as anyone else.”
“I don’t think so.” I sank down. “Anyone else would have pulled these as weeds, as you said.”
Sage kept quiet. I didn’t know why I was hanging around. Hell, now would be a good time to do basically anything else, but here I was, creating shade so the sun wouldn’t beam against her.
“There you are,” a shrill voice said, approaching behind us.
It was another woman with darker brown hair. I’d seen her the night before briefly… I think. She had sharp features and round eyes that were memorable.
“I’ve been looking for you all morning,” she continued. “We have afternoon plans. And you now need to bathe.”
She reached for Sage, pulling her up. “Excuse us,” she said, barely looking at me. It was obvious whatever she wanted to do was important.
“I’m almost done,” Sage said, trying to pull away from her.
“I can finish up,” I said. “You seem… busy.”
The irritation at my offer was clear, but it seemed she wasn’t going to get a choice in the matter. “Perfect, let’s go then.”
Paige all but dragged her off, pulling her close to scold her further. Sage turned back for only a moment, our eyes meeting, her glare at being forced away heavy, but she quickly whipped back around. I watched until they disappeared into the manor.
I stared down at the few plants left to go in the dirt, and then looked behind me again. There was really no need for me to plant these, it’s not like she would be out here to check. And the almost summer day was inching on scalding.
Going inside would make the most sense. And most of them were planted, so there was really no need. I started slithering towards the door, ready to get inside.
Moons.
I turned back around, grabbed the trowel, and finished planting the remaining bulbs.