Chapter 5 The Zodiac Gardens
Exactly one hour later, a manservant dressed in dark green livery arrived at the Moongazer Tower to escort the ladies to tea.
Katrina and Heather dashed excitedly down the spiral staircase to the ground floor, their faces washed, their hair brushed out and rebraided, and their dresses refreshed.
By the front door, Marcella waited in a white lace dress, her skirts boosted up with a stiff bustle, her parasol in hand, and a familiar scowl on her face.
She glanced over Katrina and Heather, then gave them both a nod of approval.
She barely looked at Celise, who still wore her calico dress from the train ride.
Celise hadn’t found the time to change; she was too busy helping Heather and Katrina with their stays.
But she wetted her hair to tame the frizzy bits, and she managed a spritz of perfume from Heather’s gift basket when her half-sister wasn’t looking.
Lord Dhastel was just arriving with Dasha in tow.
The maid looked tired from a long day of traveling as she carried Lord Dhastel’s trunks into the cozy tower.
Celise felt more at ease seeing her friend arrive, but she barely had time to smile at Dasha before she was rushed out the door by her stepmother.
“Don’t forget to call for Old Blackwood’s steward!” Marcella said to her husband as she headed out. “He wishes to discuss an important matter with you. It’s about your horses.”
Lord Dhastel nodded and waved them off.
Like a group of sparkling peacocks, the four ladies walked across the castle grounds led by a footman in green livery.
The midafternoon sun filtered through a thin layer of wispy clouds overhead.
Duskwane was the first month of Hallowsin, when harvest began.
The days were cool and breezy before the leaves changed color and the storms swept in from the Grapevine Mountains. Still, Celise was clammy in her dress.
She tugged at her uncomfortable collar as the servant led them across the Gravenmere grounds.
They crossed the central courtyard, following a large sign that read, “To the Zodiac Gardens.” She had to admit she was a bit curious.
The Forsynthian zodiac was well studied, especially among new brides and expectant mothers.
Shrine maidens, who lived as paupers and dedicated their lives to the Celestial Goddess Valestra, the Mother of Dust and Moon, created special charts for each newborn that went on for pages and pages.
They believed a person’s character and destiny correlated to the season and month of their birth.
Their largest temple stood in the royal city of Astravelle, where the queen consulted the high priestess each New Year about the kingdom’s fortune.
Celise didn’t know if she truly believed in birthflowers, zodiac signs or fortune telling.
She thought of Mordwen’s prophecy from the day of her dress fitting.
Although Mordwen’s cards weren’t always accurate, they appeared to predict some sort of catastrophe at the gala.
Of course, she hadn’t seen any evidence of an impending disaster, but the weekend wasn’t over yet.
Celise nibbled on her bottom lip.
Could the ball truly be a clandestine event?
Would it shape the future of the kingdom?
It’s useless to think about these things. She supposed it didn’t matter one way or another. According to Mordwen’s cards, whoever was fated to become the Duchess of Gravenmere wasn’t her. It was someone with the birthflower of the Abyssal Rose.
Celise’s eyes were drawn to the path ahead. The castle grounds were full of brightly dressed ladies. Who could it be? Surely, more than one woman at the gala had the birthflower of the Abyssal Rose?
After passing through a corridor of flowering hedges, the Dhastel ladies reached the gated entrance to the famed Zodiac Gardens. Standing next to the gate, an elderly man in green livery with a top hat was handing out little pieces of paper.
“Name, my lady?” he asked Marcella, who stood at the front of their group.
“Dhastel,” she said.
The servant referenced his ledger, which rested on the wooden podium beside him. He flipped through the names with a white-gloved hand. Then he murmured in satisfaction.
“Ah, yes, we have you at the Blue Rose table with Lady Estoria Blackwood, and your daughters will be seated at the Silver Thistle. Please take these vouchers in case you get lost; our staff can direct you.”
“Thank you,” Marcella said, and took the small squares of paper. She handed one out to Katrina, Heather and Celise. Each ticket was stamped with gold foil, with their names and table and seat numbers written in elegant black calligraphy.
“Lady Estoria hasn’t overlooked a single detail organizing this event,” Marcella said with a sigh of satisfaction. “Even the seating arrangements have been planned down to the letter. How lovely to have all the work done for us! Come along, girls.”
With a rustle of skirts, they passed under the iron archway into the Zodiac Gardens.
Immediately Celise’s eyes were met by a wall of bristling white roses, bobbing globe thistle, curling moonflowers, and dancing yellow daffodils. Each flower was immaculately shaped: no moldy stems, brown petals or nibbled leaves. The blooms sparkled with health and vitality.
Katrina and Heather gaped openly at the vibrant garden.
Beyond the wide bed of globe thistle and vining moonflowers, the path widened into a circular courtyard.
Butterflies and hummingbirds darted between the shrubs.
The garden beds were arranged in a circular formation like the spokes of a great wheel, with flagstone paths weaving throughout.
Each bed was planted in celestial order according to the Forsynthian zodiac.
A marble fountain stood at the center of the wheel, creating an axis point around which the whole garden turned.
A statue of Valestra, the Mother of Dust and Moon, towered above the fountain.
In one hand, she held the Wand of Power, while the other hand clutched her book of knowledge.
Her divine wand was said to conduct the movement of the stars, and her book of knowledge held the fate of every last man, woman or child born upon the planet Nilos.
At the foot of the Mother was an astrolith, an ancient stone dial covered in planetary runes that aligned with the heavens during solstice. It was a whimsical addition to the garden, though Celise had no idea how to read it.
As she turned in a slow circle, surveying the mounds of dense flowers, she saw zodiac-themed statues hidden among the beds.
There were twelve zodiac constellations in all: The Fawn, The River, The Eagle, The Wolf, The Hourglass, The Twin Otters, The Raven, The Lantern, The Veil, The Phoenix, The Guardian, and The Star.
The statues were elegantly carved from limestone with a master’s touch.
The Eagle sat proudly upon a weathered tree stump, its noble head raised high.
The Twin Otters lounged on their backs, their paws intertwined in friendship.
The Lantern hung from the hand of a mysterious cloaked figure, guiding the hunched wise man forward.
The Star was designed like a swirling flame with a torch at its center.
It burned an ethereal blue color, and beneath it hung a scroll of prophecy.
Celise hardly knew what all the zodiac signs all meant. She was mostly familiar with her own zodiac, the Star, and she knew a bit about the Hourglass, which belonged to Mordwen. She thought Dasha might be an Otter, but she wasn’t sure.
Lady Marcella floated past her daughters, motioning to them with a flourish of her hand. “Come along, ladies. Let’s not block the entrance. More guests are arriving behind us.”
Celise trailed along after Katrina and Heather like a horse on a lead.
Ahead of them, a female attendant in green livery was giving a tour of the garden.
A group of ladies gathered before the guide.
Celise found herself joining the group like a piece of driftwood getting caught up on a sandbank.
She craned her neck to see around a forest of ribboned hats, while Katrina grabbed Heather’s hand and elbowed her way to the front.
The attendant held a little pamphlet in hand as she enthusiastically described the flowers at her feet: “This flower is named ‘Glowbell.’ It aligns with the season of Vimspring. It’s the birthflower for all children born in the month of Brightspell under the constellation of The Fawn."
The gathered ladies bent forward to inspect the little clusters of blue flowers on the ground.
Celise heard Heather gasp with joy from the front of the group.
“Oh! That’s my birthflower. I was born in Brightspell, and I know all about glowbells!
You can dry them and grind them into tea. It helps balance your mana channels.”
The ladies all murmured in appreciation.
Celise wondered if she would be able to find her birthflower in the overcrowded gardens: the Starlight Dahlia.
The guide seemed eager to continue the tour. “Now, if you’ll follow me, we’ll head to the next area of the garden, which includes three constellations for the season of Hallowsin: The Lantern, The Veil and The Guardian.”
“Are those for the months of Duskwane, Fallowmere and Hearthbrim?” one of the ladies in the front asked. Her voice carried a husky, rich accent, totally new to Celise’s ears.
“Yes,” the guide said without hesitation. “Those would be the correct months.”
A few of the women in the back tittered behind gloved hands. “Does she not know the months of the season?”
“I think she is from Bratzia,” another girl whispered.
“What is a Bratzian doing here, of all places, on all days?”
“Did the duke send invitations to other kingdoms?”