Chapter 15 The Proposal #2
Together, they stepped out of the old shrine into the rain.
Celise looked around the tangled, forgotten flowerbed.
For a flash of a moment, she could imagine what this place must have looked like in its prime.
It must have been a beautiful little retreat from the world.
Someone had loved this shrine—loved it enough to plant a zodiac garden around it.
Perhaps this was the inspiration for the grand Zodiac Gardens above?
Her eyes found the Starlight Dahlia only a few feet away, planted in a stone circle next to the shrine’s wall. Weeds, long grass and creeping ivy smothered the plant, though its massive star-shaped flowers sparkled brightly, even in the rain.
She stared at the cluster of white blossoms, unable to look away.
“What is it?” Elias asked, following her gaze.
“It’s . . . it’s nothing, just . . . that’s my birthflower,” she mumbled. “I’ve never seen one before.” She sounded like an insane person, considering what had just transpired.
“Ah.” With a deft motion, he plucked one of the dahlias off of the dark bush.
“No, wait!” she gasped. “That belongs to Lord Blackwood—”
“It belongs to me,” Elias said abruptly. “And now it belongs to you.” He pressed the Starlight Dahlia into her free hand. She held the long blue stem reverently, almost afraid to touch it.
Arm in arm, Elias walked with her along the path around the pond.
As they passed by the location where the daemon’s body still smoldered, he stooped down and plucked something out of the grass.
The metal object glinted briefly in the moonlight before he tucked it into his pocket.
It looked like a large dog tag, perhaps the length and width of Celise’s palm, coated with dark green paint.
“What is that?” she asked.
“Something for me to inspect later,” he said. “No need to concern yourself.”
Then Elias took her arm again and led her up the staircase along the side of the hill.
The path continued through the cluster of abandoned buildings.
He helped her around fallen tree trunks and piles of rubble.
Unlike the brooding soldier she had met last night, he seemed endlessly patient as she struggled to find purchase in her useless slippers.
Celise was quietly furious at herself. She wished she were clothed in her usual garb from the Dhastel stables—her reliable boots and coveralls—so she didn’t seem so delicate.
She truly wasn’t a fragile flower—but these clothes made her so clumsy!
Elias guided her through the abandoned grounds with ease as though he had walked them a hundred times. She wasn’t surprised—this was his castle, so he must know every inch of it.
“What is this place?” she asked as they approached the gate to the Zodiac Gardens.
“Long ago, before Gravenmere became a territory of Forsynthia, this area housed the servants and shrine maidens that once served our family,” Elias explained. “But all that changed during the siege.”
“There was a siege?”
“Oh yes. The Blackwoods of old did not give up their royal status willingly. There was a siege on Gravenmere Castle before we joined with Forsynthia, and during that siege, this area of the grounds was destroyed. It’s been walled off and abandoned ever since, and the new castle was built beyond it.
These lands are off-limits to guests because they’re not maintained or patrolled. They house the Blackwood tomb as well.”
Celise glanced up at him, wondering at his tone. “Is that why you came here tonight? To visit the tomb?”
“Something like that,” Elias said. “Someone sent me a strange riddle. It seemed ominous, so I was investigating the grounds.”
“Do you think there are more daemons roaming about?”
“Possibly. I will have to alert the guard when we return to the castle, if my mana bolt didn’t do so already.”
Celise was appalled. He had mentioned his “enemies” before, but she hadn’t realized the gravity of the situation.
Who would send a daemon—or multiple daemons—after the Hero of the Realm?
How did one transport such monsters from the Abyss?
It couldn’t be a simple affair. The Abyss was hundreds of miles away.
Could this be the catastrophe warned about by Mordwen’s cards? She couldn’t be sure. The daemon was dead, so how could it change the fate of the kingdom?
“Someone must not like you very much,” she pointed out.
Elias smirked. “I am not liked by many—especially my new recruits at the fortress. Thankfully, as a commander, I’m used to it.”
Celise fell silent again, reminded that Elias Blackwood lived in a different world than her own—a world of status and authority.
She really had no business kissing him in the gardens.
Perhaps it would remain their little secret—a stolen moment under the cover of darkness.
They reached the Zodiac Gardens and paused before the fountain of Valestra. Celise saw the mangled trellis and toppled garden statues from the daemon’s earlier rampage. Her knees felt a bit weak.
Then a horrible thought crossed her mind.
“Wait,” she gasped. “What about Katrina?”
“Who is Katrina?”
“My sister. She was with me in the garden maze when the daemon found us. She fled back to the castle. Do you think she’s safe? What if another daemon catches her?”
Elias looked grim. “First, let’s return you to the ballroom. Then I will send more of my men to look for her.”
Celise was not excited to return to the ballroom. She tried to think of an excuse to go to the Moongazer Tower instead, or anywhere she wouldn’t create a spectacle. She couldn’t imagine the look on Marcella’s face when she appeared with her skirts soaked with rain and daemon blood.
“I don’t know if I can return to the ballroom like this,” Celise began. “I don’t want to see my family.”
“If you wish to avoid a scandal, I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”
“No, it’s not that, I . . . .”
Elias raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps you are not the real Celise Dhastel, and you’re a spy after all?”
“Of course not! Don’t be daft!” Celise blustered. “I’m not a spy! Besides, weren’t you dancing with Lady Ambrosia Varabon earlier?”
“I was not.” Elias sounded amused.
Celise felt vindicated. So her hunch was correct—the duke at the ball had been a fake. A convincing stand-in, but not the true Elias.
“Maybe you should avoid the ball, too, if your double is still there?”
“If a daemon wasn’t found on my estate, I would agree with you,” Elias admitted. “But these are extenuating circumstances.”
Then, without asking permission, the Mad Dog reached around her crooked skirts and scooped her up into his arms. “Don’t even think about running off, my little moonflower,” he said, and started through the garden maze with a sure step. “You’ve told me your name—now let’s see if your story holds.”
Hardly able to protest, Celise allowed him to carry her back to the ballroom.
The storm increased its ferocity—cold rain poured down on them, falling in torrents from the sky.
She was soaked through, her hair plastered to her forehead, her silk dress ruined.
She held the dahlia clutched to her bodice and shivered in his arms.
Elias knew his way through the garden maze quite well, even in the dark. As he walked, Celise watched the tall, shadowy hedges with wide eyes. She jumped at every suggestion of movement, but no other monsters appeared along their path.
It felt like an eternity passed, though it was probably more like fifteen minutes, before Celise saw the lights of the ballroom shining against the stormy night sky.
As they exited the hedgerows, the glowing windows came into full view.
A few strains of violin music teased Celise’s ears.
As they reached the veranda behind the dance hall, she saw a swarm of people crowding close to the stone balustrade.
Celise overheard some of the hubbub. The same questions were repeated by a hundred different voices.
“A monster in the gardens? But how can that be?”
“Dust and daggers! A monster? Where?”
“It’s a prank, is all!”
“Why is it raining? The sky was clear a moment ago. Is it an omen?”
“Was that lightning? I saw a flash.”
“Should we call the guard?”
“We should go back inside; my dress will be ruined. . . .”
Celise clung to Elias, wondering when he would set her down on her feet. He didn’t intend to carry her around for the rest of the night, did he?
Then her eyes found Katrina.
Her sister stood at the top of the wide, sweeping staircase that led up to the veranda.
Katrina’s unmistakable red skirts were outlined by the light of the ballroom.
Her sister looked perfectly healthy and not at all bothered by Celise’s absence.
She stood with her back to the gardens, speaking animatedly to a circle of young men who were leaning in close, hanging on her every word.
One young man offered Katrina a glass of water, while another held out a handkerchief.
By the frowns on their faces, they were all deeply concerned about the pretty young lady.
With a sudden surge of disgust and rage, Celise recalled how Katrina had shoved her in front of the daemon to save herself.
For years, Celise had kept her feelings about her family’s abuse bottled up inside.
She had silenced her pain so completely that she had lost her other feelings as well.
Even her joys were subdued. She had survived on the Dhastel ranch only by turning herself invisible, becoming a mere ghost of herself.
But now . . . now she really couldn’t tolerate this.
Katrina had tried to kill her. How could she forgive that?
She struggled in Elias’s arms, overtaken by the urge to march up those steps and slap Katrina silly, but the Mad Dog didn’t release her. He was much stronger. She realized she could not overpower him.
“Calm down,” he murmured. “You’re not leaving my side just yet.”