Chapter 5
Open Sesame
Once the last member of our peculiar group joined us, we went back to walking in line. I had Karim in front of me and Deidre and Tisvali–now dressed, braided, and armed like the others–behind me.
The more we progressed toward our task, the more nervous I became about what was about to happen. The friendly banter between Tisvali and Deidre was, therefore, a welcome distraction.
“Hey, what was that for?” he exclaimed when she pushed in front of him with an elbow. She prevented him from taking the third position in the line, right behind me.
“You ain’t gonna spend our climb staring at Jasmine’s well-shaped butt.”
“I intended to walk behind Karim!”
“No can do. That would prevent Jasmine from spending our climb staring at Karim’s well-shaped legs.”
“What is wrong with my legs?”
“You have your human father’s legs, that’s what’s wrong.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I can throw a ball, and it will pass right between your legs. No need for you to spread them at all.”
I started coughing, hoping I could hide my bubbling laughter.
“You all right, Jasmine?” Deidre’s amused tone revealed I hadn’t fooled her.
“You’re accusing me of having my father’s legs?” Tisvali snorted. “That’s funny, coming from the Lake Lady who has legs as hairy as her mother’s.”
“At least I have the sticky means to fix my legs. There is no fixing yours.”
“Borella likes my legs just fine.”
“You ever wonder why?”
“Why?”
“Because they give her the perfect escape route from your dirty moss.”
“My moss is not dirty!”
“Totally is. I saw it up close when I shoved Borella’s face in it.”
“Maybe I should shove your face in it.”
“You could try,” she teased.
“I just might,” he teased right back. “And if the latest sparring session is any indication, I will succeed.”
“Dream on!”
The conversation continued in the same playful manner. Having a human parent must have brought Tisvali and Deidre closer, given how elves looked down on my kind.
Was Karim half-human, too? His muscular, broad frame and the company he kept, me included, said as much.
He kept quiet throughout our walk, which took us closer to the surface, if the incline of the streets was any indication.
Deidre and Tisvali fell silent, too, when we approached two guards standing in front of a stone wall. Attached to it was a ladder made out of vines that led to a vegetation-covered ceiling.
Karim exchanged a few words in Elvish with the black-clad guards, and they let us through.
“Follow me,” he instructed, and before I could react, he went up the ladder and disappeared through the ceiling.
It happened so fast it took me a moment to process what I’d seen. The ceiling had literally opened up for him, like a curtain of living plants parting to let him pass. Like magic.
They certainly hadn’t taught me about such plants in university. Hesitantly, I followed Karim. Once at the top of the ladder, I eyed the vines over my head suspiciously. They looked as solid as a wall to me, just like they had from the ground.
What now? How did one say Open Sesame in Elvish?
At that moment, the plants over my head parted to let a hand through. What awaited me if I put my hand in Karim’s? I didn’t have a choice but to find out.
I took a deep breath and accepted the offered help.
I squeaked ungracefully as Karim pulled me up and through the ceiling in one go.
A strong arm around my waist pulled me away from the opening and onto solid ground, and I gripped the fabric over his chest to ground myself.
He’d moved so fast that the sudden switch to semi-darkness had left me disoriented.
“You are safe in this cave,” Karim whispered, his voice somewhat shaky. I couldn’t see his face but I felt his warm breath on my cheek; we were standing that close.
My breath hitched. His solid chest beneath my palms, the cedarwood and clove of his scent flooding my lungs, his powerful presence wrapping around me–in the dark, Karim consumed each one of my senses.
“You can let go now.”
Oh! I was still fisting his clothing as if my life depended on it. “Sorry.” I stepped back, mortified. Here I was, getting lightheaded by our closeness, when my prolonged touch must have grossed him out.
“It is all right.” His tone was soothing, not angry.
Could it be that he didn’t find my closeness that unpleasant?
Then Deidre appeared right next to me, and the loaded moment was broken.
Tisvali joined us immediately after. Their speed and agility were frightening anytime but more so now, because they also moved soundlessly.
If there wasn’t some natural light seeping into the dark cave, I wouldn’t have known they were with me.
Despite their silvery skin–or perhaps because of its unique qualities–they blended in with their surroundings, light and dark alike. The perfect predators.
“The plan?” Deidre whispered, maybe to avoid an echo.
I tried to focus on Karim’s reply while my eyes were glued to the cave’s opening and the daylight shining through. The outside world–my world–was on the other side of a tangle of leafy branches keeping the cave hidden from passersby.
“Sector 7, the tree with the mushroom growing out of its trunk at head level,” Karim explained. “The flower is five steps to the left. Deidre, you provide cover from above. Tisvali, you take the left flank. I take the right and assist the human in her task, if necessary.”
“Our mission is a flower?” Tisvali sounded disappointed.
“Sector 7,” Deidre muttered. “Is that the flower you found during last week’s guard duty? The white-petaled thingie that had you drooling for five minutes?”
“The thingie is an edelweiss,” Karim underscored. “You should know how rare and precious this flower is.”
An edelweiss? It was not an endangered plant in this country, but it grew only at high altitude and on very specific soil.
And though I wasn’t sure where we were exactly, since I’d been brought here at night and barely conscious, there weren’t mountainous areas anywhere near enough to the University Botanic Garden for the flower to grow here. A precious find, indeed.
“Nah.” Deidre waved her hand dismissively in the semi-darkness. “Sorry, but I ain’t one of the pompous asses who spend their free time memorizing the names of every single plant. I prefer to train how to defend my home with all life in it, regardless of its name.”
Tisvali snickered. “Did you just call our Prince a pompous ass? Jesus, you are begging for a haircut.”
I tore my gaze away from the daylight and possible freedom. Was Tisvali referring to Karim? Was he the Prince of Elves?
“It is all right, Tisvali.” Karim must have caught me staring, because he asked, “You know of edelweisses, human?”
“Umm…” He was the Prince! Not that said fact changed anything in my situation. Head in the game, girl. “I’m well familiar with the species. I’m just surprised it grows here. We are not high in the mountains, are we?”
He shook his head but didn’t say where we actually were.
If I managed to escape, I would have a rough time finding my way around.
“The aliens’ bombs have caused climate changes that could explain such strange plant occurrences,” Karim added.
I gasped. “The aliens are bombing Earth?”
“Only big human settlements,” Deidre answered. “The bombs clear the blood-cursed and flesh eaters, or what remains of the latter anyway. The aliens can’t have anyone eating the future bearers of their spawn, now can they?”
It took me some time to process that: elves used the terms blood-cursed for vampires and flesh eaters, for zombies. Crucial changes had occurred in the world since my capture. Changes that I needed to be aware of to survive on my own. “Why did you say what remains of flesh eaters?”
Deidre shrugged. “Their king is dead, that’s why. The local Gargoyle King took his head recently, so there’s no one to create new flesh eaters and keep the old ones from decomposing. Their days are numbered. Cool, right?”
A zombie king? A gargoyle king? Beheadings? Zombies dying out? What?!
A long silvery finger pushed my hanging jaw closed and turned my head from Deidre toward Karim. “You are safe in our kingdom from the enemies we speak of. Focus, please. Do you know how to handle an edelweiss?”
It took me a moment to find my words not only because of the strange news about the apocalyptic monsters but also because of Karim’s gentle touch.
“I know what to do, but–the chances of the flower surviving a replanting in the summer, and underground with no sunlight–Honestly, I don’t think this will work. ”
“We must try,” Karim said firmly. “With the state of things on the surface, the flower will perish. It is our duty to preserve it.”
“But…” I forced myself to stop there. Arguing with an elf–let alone a prince–wasn’t a good idea.
“Speak, please. I value an honest opinion.”
Okay then. “The flower garden is full. And fitting an edelweiss among plants of another species… I’d say that’s a no-no.”
“You will plant it in my home garden.”
Tisvali gaped, as if Karim’s idea were scandalous.
“That was your plan all along, wasn’t it?” Deidre tuned in. “You are obsessed with this flower.”
“Yes, it is precious to me.” Karim’s tone hardened.
“With the Queen so focused on controlling more surface territories, she has no time for our Nature-given task. I’m not going to abandon the plants in need of our protection, now more than ever.
This edelweiss is a miracle, maybe even a sign from Nature that our world is changing completely. I will not let it perish in the war!”
His words might sound delusional to other people, but not to me. Not when he spoke with such conviction and ardor. And his feelings were contagious.
“I will do my best to save the flower,” I spoke up. “Just take me there, and I will replant it to the best of my knowledge.”
He nodded, visibly pleased.
I hoped that meant that should the flower die under my care, I wouldn’t share its fate.
“If this flower is so precious to you, Karim,” Tisvali insisted, “why don’t we have one of our top gardeners with us?”
It was Deidre who replied. “Ha. Do you think any of them would brave the surface during the day, unless ordered by the Queen herself? And how do you imagine them transplanting a flower when they can barely see in the cursed daylight?”
“Then why do this in broad daylight?” Tisvali sounded confused.
“Plants are best transplanted in the early morning or late afternoon, not the night,” I spoke up.
“See, Tisvali?” Deidre exclaimed with a grin. “Jasmine is perfect for the job! Come on, let’s get this done before Karim loses his patience and I get jealous of this flower.”
“Finally.” Karim couldn’t hide the excitement in his tone.
As we formed a circle with me at the center and headed for the cave’s exit, I realized I was excited myself. Whatever awaited me after this transplantation madness, at least I would have seen the sun and sky one last time.