Chapter 4
The world lit up just as she threw up.
The crowd let out a collective gasp.
“Clara, darling.” Eldrene’s drawl crawled up my spine and settled somewhere in my stomach, igniting a lovely curdling sensation. She sounded youthful and ancient at once. I slowly turned to face her—to do what, I didn’t know. Beg for mercy?
But seeing her up close stopped whatever groveling I’d half thought of.
Her mossy hair billowed out from behind her even though no wind blew in the Clearing.
She was a striking violet—hair, skin, and eyes all glowing a deep purple.
Every part of her pulsed with a power barely contained within its shell.
She’d donned a dress crafted of tiny, living roots, melded together over her plump figure. A dress to make a statement.
I’d just ruined the Goddess’s grand entrance, I thought.
By the looks of her disgruntled Forest Train, it certainly seemed so.
They were a menacing group of beings, their faces taut and haughty.
Some donned antlers, others long beaks for noses; a few had eyes fully black and unblinking.
There were only two humans in the Train, and they both were as stunning as if they were Goddesses themselves.
Her Train performed the duties outside of Moss Wood that Eldrene could not tend to.
And, apparently, they also served to terrify the living daylights out of me.
I audibly gulped. Eldrene raised an eyebrow.
Please don’t smite me, please don’t smite me.
“I’ll just…” I made to get out of her way, heading straight down the stairs toward the back wall of trees at the very fringes of the party, hoping that my green dress would camouflage me enough so that no one would look at me for the rest of the night—and for the rest of my life.
“No, please,” she said with a warm smile. Her violet eyes flashed with mischief. “This is the most fun I’ve had with an entrance in ages.”
Oh my Goddess, Eldrene said please to me. I started to hyperventilate just a little.
“Walk with us. And Clara, dear, breathe.”
Unfortunately, I forgot how to breathe, how to move, and how to exist all in one go.
“Um—what?” I fumbled for words. Eldrene wanted me to walk with her, and nothing had ever made less sense in my life. I should have left then, abandoned ship and jumped off the side of the staircase, never to be seen again.
The lute music flared up, accompanied by a chorus of horns.
Eldrene’s entrance song.
The part of the evening where she cascaded down the staircase and the crowd looked up at her in awe.
Whenever I witnessed this moment before, I always thought I’d trip right down those stairs, or How does she not look down without falling?
or Is she actually walking, or is she floating and has tricked us all into thinking she’s simply that coordinated?
“Um.” The only word I managed to utter.
“Hush, stand by Agnus.” I obeyed immediately, searching frantically around for Agnus.
She was Eldrene’s right-hand woman, so to speak: leader of the Forest Train, confidant, closest advisor, terrifyingly stoic presence.
She emerged from the fray, irritated and entirely put off.
I mouthed I’m sorry to her and she rolled her eyes.
I cast my gaze down to the stairs. Maybe if I avoided eye contact at all costs, no one would notice me.
“Chin up, Clara,” Eldrene chided.
Can I put my chin up if I’m throwing up?
Okay, look dignified. I can look dignified, and then I can vomit later.
“There now.” She gave me an approving nod, and bile rose into my throat. I swallowed it down so hard that I nearly choked. I shut my eyes, trying to focus on not puking on either the stairs or the Goddess.
“Eyes forward,” she tutted. The music swelled, vamping the prechorus movement until Eldrene entered into the party below.
Breathe, Clara. Breathe.
I opened my eyes, the threat of spewing still very close but stifled down. Perhaps the only good part of living with a nervous stomach was my seasoned ability to hold in the inevitable until a more appropriate time.
“And now—” Eldrene’s shoulders lifted ever so slightly, as if she were going to conduct a symphony, her voice tilting up at the end.
The air became kinetic, her entire Train leaning in, readying their bodies for her order.
My body fell in line right with them, as if I suddenly became tied to whatever power held their bond together.
“Descend.”
The music exploded, a grand flare for the Goddess, her Forest Train, and me, the garden wench hailing from nowhere.
But I kept my back straight, my eyes forward, and my chin high, just like she asked.
She helmed the front, taking each step as if it were a challenge, a calling, an otherworldly experience.
She didn’t just float down the stairs; she commanded each step.
The crowd dropped to their knees at her approach—our approach.
“You look… nicer than usual,” Agnus whispered beside me, giving my dress an appraising look.
She looked as old as the earth itself, possibly older.
Deep wrinkles ran like roots across her onyx skin, her shock of white hair twisted so adeptly that it looked like a crown.
She was a human, though blessed with an unnaturally long life because of her proximity to Eldrene.
She’d fought in the Elden Wars eons ago, and now she was complimenting my dress—well, sort of.
I tried to whisper a thank-you, but the words caught in my throat as the music raced toward its climax, the crowd abuzz with anticipation, Eldrene herself seeming to swell at the dedication of the mortals around her.
Only, unless my eyes were deceiving me, she truly was growing larger.
The violet aura around her began to encompass the entire Train.
Do not let your mouth hang open, Clara. Don’t do it. Keep it shut.
I gritted my teeth, trying to steady my breathing. But the music seeped into my bones, the power of Eldrene crept into my soul. My body loosened and my mind reeled at once, Eldrene’s presence sweeping over all those bowed before us.
Finally, we ended our descent. Eldrene stepped forward, allowing room for her Forest Train to create a tight V formation around her. I hovered awkwardly between Eldrene and Agnus, like a strange, right-and-a-half-hand woman.
The music met its triumphant finish, the chords resolving into such a powerful crescendo that the entire Clearing shook with its force.
Birds flew out of their nests singing along with the final note, crickets chirped in harmony, and even the foxes cried out in the distance. The whole earth sang for Eldrene.
Silence fell, and all eyes were glued on us.
Don’t swallow. Don’t move. Don’t hyperventilate.
This is when I should leave. I made a small move to sidestep out of the formation, but Eldrene grabbed my arm.
Lightning jolted through me at her touch. To be Goddess-touched is unheard of. A few people in the crowd covered their mouths, trying to suppress their shock.
For a second, I thought I saw a flicker of light in Eldrene’s eyes, a burst of bright amethyst flames, but then she blinked, and the flare disappeared.
“My Crown Jewel?” She motioned to the gold locket around my neck.
“Of course,” I said hastily. Haven curse me, I almost ran off with the entire reason we were gathered here today.
Eldrene had bestowed the locket on me when she ordained me as the Celebration Gardener. It was strictly for carrying the Crown Jewel from my home to the Celebration and protected both the wearer and the tulip inside. It could only be worn on the night of the Celebration.
Normally, I kept it hidden in my hollowed-out bedpost, obsessively checking it every night and every morning. The thought of losing it had caused many sleepless nights. But I’d always delivered it safely to the Celebration. And usually, a member of her Train retrieved it—not Eldrene herself.
I slipped the locket off, holding the gold chain in my hand.
The locket began swaying back and forth, caught in whatever unfelt wind blew through Eldrene’s mossy hair.
It suddenly became weighty in my hands, as if the tulip sensed the power it would soon hold.
My breath hitched as the heavy feeling trickled up my arm, my body shivering despite the balmy evening.
She eyed the locket, noting how it moved.
“Interesting,” she said, barely above a whisper.
I worried that perhaps, after all this time and hard work, I really had ruined the tulip.
Or worse, she would ask me to open the locket while everyone watched me.
But she eventually took the locket gingerly in one hand, pulling it free of mine.
The heady magic coursing through me vanished, and I staggered without its presence.
She gave me one last sidelong look before gesturing me away from her side. I gratefully melded into the crowd, squeezing myself in between two orcs I had never seen before and sinking to my knees. Maybe their giant bodies would shield me from any onlookers. They both looked down at me in surprise.
“Shh, don’t say anything,” I pleaded.
They shrugged and refocused on Eldrene.
The Forest Train now in its proper formation, Eldrene made her way from the steps to her Oaken Throne, ornately carved and decorated in tulips I’d also grown. The crowd parted for her every step of the way as if she sliced through ocean water.
Once she and her Train were seated, Eldrene held up a hand and commanded, “Let the festivities commence.” She settled back into her throne and, with glee and sadness in those ancient eyes of hers, watched as the party awoke once more.
Lute music filled the air, ending the crowd’s collective reverence.
My shoulders relaxed. The hardest part of my work had ended, the most intensive part of the evening finished, at least for me. Whoever she chose for the quest would have a whole surprise coming their way. But for Clara Thorne, there were no more surprises in store.