19. Chapter Nineteen
I start to look forward to breakfasts with Zyon, and our conversations flow more naturally.
He watches me with a slight smile as though the way I eat amuses him. “You and strawberries.”
“They’re delicious. You have such luxuries here.”
“Don’t you have them at your market?”
“No, I’ve heard about them in my travels but never tasted them. They are wonderful.” I pop another into my mouth and close my eyes to savor it.
“When the quest is over, we will build an entire garden for your village. I’ll let you pick whichever plants you want, and we will plant some strawberry bushes by your house, so you only have to reach out a window and have them for breakfast.”
I finish my bite of toast and wipe my mouth with my napkin. “What about the other villages? Could I make gardens for all of them? There has to be a better way to get everyone food. If you have stores of seeds, you shouldn’t hoard them while the people starve.”
“You may have access to any you wish.”
I grin and bite my lip to keep myself from going overboard with my expressions. “It’s a pleasant surprise that you can be kind.” My smile drops as I think it over. “Are you only saying this to get me into bed with you?”
“No, the surprise in your room is for that.” He winks.
“The surprise in my room? When would you have done this surprise?”
“It’s being set up about now, I suppose, but let’s finish breakfast first.”
I can barely eat anything with the surprise on my mind.
His admission of its purpose should put me off to it entirely, but more and more he is not without temptation.
He has the expected perfection of a king.
The agreement to create community gardens increases his attractiveness.
When we finish our meal, I bolt for my room.
Flowers of many colors and types consume the room. Most sit as beautifully designed bouquets in fancy vases that change color in different lights. Other blooms dangle from wooden ceiling beams. Gulzar toddles out of my bag that I set on the floor and jumps inside a pot of pink daisies.
I step into the middle of the room and glance at Zyon, who leans against the doorframe. “When I said you could get me flowers, I didn’t mean to empty your garden.”
“My garden is far from empty from this gesture.”
I pick up a yellow rose from a green vase and take in the floral scent. “These are all beautiful. Many of these help with several potions, but that will come later. For now, I will enjoy looking at them.”
“Good. That’s their purpose. What are you doing today?”
“I thought I’d ride my horse around the castle grounds.” I turn my back on him, so he doesn’t see that’s a half truth.
“We could have dinner again if you’re up to it?”
“That’s fine. Sunset?”
“Yes.”
He leaves me to get ready for my day outside, and I weave around all the flowers to get to my clothes.
It seems like a waste to have so many flowers just for me to look at, but they make me happy.
I’ll make myself feel better before they wilt and save the seeds and anything else useful for remedies.
I pick up a pansy and take a deep breath.
Pansies are one of my favorite flowers. It fits nicely into a book I got from the library.
It’ll be the one I keep for myself. After bundling up, I head to the stables, and Fredrickson prepares Elton for me.
The skeletal bear helps me onto my horse and hands me a bundle of something wrapped in a white cloth. “Lunch for you, my lady. The king wants to make sure you aren’t without food for your ride.”
“Thank you.” I place it in the bag at my side and ride out of the stable.
It’s time for me to look for weaknesses in the wall, so I can speak with Lazzus.
No matter how many times I shout for him, he never appears.
It’s possible he will simply leave when I reach him, but it’s a risk I have to take.
It’s my fault we haven’t spoken in weeks, and time is running out to find the cloak and figure out how to get the key without burning myself.
I’ve tried a few tricks using components from the apothecary, but nothing has worked to lessen the key’s nip.
I start at the closest portion of the wall to the stable and watch for gaps in the guards. There are a few places they don’t frequent, but there seem no weak spots. The wall seems too sturdy, and I don’t find any way through other than the heavily guarded gates.
The only real option seems to be to go over it, and I check out several sheds until I find a large extendable ladder.
I memorize its location and go back to watch the guards on the walls some more.
There is an isolated portion of the wall that backs up to a forest, and it seems the best option because the tree branches are close enough that I might be able to leap for one.
Most of my day has passed, so I leave the task for another day, not wanting to be late to meet Zyon for dinner. I chide myself not to lose focus on the quest as my stomach bubbles in anticipation of seeing the king. More and more his company is enjoyable.
I walk along the wall back toward the main entrance of the castle to allow myself extra time to study the guards. An abundance of snow topples on top of me, and I’m knocked forward. Zyon grabs my waist and maneuvers us so he takes the brunt of the ground. He tickles me, and I squirm against him.
“Mercy, my king!” I wiggle free and smear snow all over his chest.
We roll around, battling with rushed snowballs as we wheeze from laughing so hard.
He pins me to the ground and keeps his weight comfortably on me.
He kisses me, and I welcome him by opening my mouth and playing with his tongue.
As he’s distracted, I splatter snow on his neck and smear it under his shirt. He shrieks and rolls off me.
We fling piles of icy fluff at each other until we fall back and laugh, staring at each other until our smiles drop. I flap my arms up and down while my legs move side to side.
He sits up to get a better look at me. “What are you doing?”
“Making a snow angel. Haven’t you done that before?”
“No.”
“Not even as a kid?”
He looks away as all amusement dies on his face. “I’m not sure.” His brow furrows, and he rubs his forehead. “I can’t remember my childhood.”
“None of it?”
“No, I’m told that’s normal for my family with the curse. All we know is the details of the curse and a few other things, like the cave and going there to escape royal life is all I’m allowed to remember. Other things become fuzzy after the curse starts.”
“Why can I remember everything about my life?”
“I’m not sure. You kept saying I'm a terrible king, and it angered me, but I guess it shouldn’t have.
You could be right, and I wouldn’t know it.
” He looks toward the castle. “It’s getting late, and you’re shivering.
Tomorrow, we should prepare you for the mountain.
” He removes his cloak and puts it around me.
Only a week earlier, I would have tossed the garment back at him, but I pull it around myself and turn away to smile. “You’re going to help me prepare for the mountain?”
He extends his hand and helps me up. “We need you to survive. The villages need gardens and better medicine.”
“What have you done with the king?”
“Our weeks of conversations over breakfast at first made me angry, but they’re making more sense.”
“Your words aren’t to get me to bed? I’ll be the fool to fall for it.”
He pulls me by the waist until I’m pressed tightly against him. “I told you. That was the point of the flowers.” He kisses me until I’m no longer cold. “Let’s go eat dinner.”
When we make it back to the castle, he leaves me to change out of my frigid clothes, and I meet him in his room for dinner.
The doors to his room are now blue. Since he can’t remember his childhood, I tell him all about mine at his request. He claims it’s to see if it will help him remember, but I doubt his royal upbringing resembled my lower class one in the slightest.
We climb onto his bed and stare at the stars that peek out from grey clouds. They sparkle in many colors, and several fall. He pulls a blanket over us, and I lean my head on his shoulder. We talk long into the night about the meaning of life and other opinions.
His beliefs align a lot more with mine than I ever expected them to, and maybe I’ve judged him entirely wrong.
In the back of my mind, a nagging feeling tells me he could be telling me what I want to hear, but most of me doesn’t believe it because he gives his thoughts first most of the time.
As I drift to sleep, he kisses me on the head.
There’s a lot more to him than I first believed, and I want to know more.
We’re back in the imagination cavern, staring up at a replica of the mountain I have to travel up. Zyon straps knives all over my body, and his fingers linger in places. I lean into his touch, and it’s starting to feel natural, like something I’ve needed for much too long.
Zyon opens the book he brought and looks at a chart with lots of colorful pictures.
“There are many things that could attack you on the way up. I’ve studied the creatures in the library and memorized defenses to combat them.
I will cause them to appear randomly, and we’ll discuss how to defeat each one. ”
“Shouldn’t the mountain be covered in snow? It won’t melt that fast, will it?” The mountain turns a frosty white when I ask the question.
It returns to green grass, bare rocks, and full trees. “You won’t be going until it melts, and I don’t think it will take very long once winter stops.”
“What color do your eyes become in spring?”
“Whatever color I wish them to be.”
“What do you usually make them for spring? Or is that something you don’t remember?”