Kethril (18 page)

“I promise we’ll leave first thing in the
morning, Liselle,” Emmaoen assured her. I really think you need the
rest. I know I do.”

Liselle looked at Vevin, who nodded. With a
sigh, she agreed. “Alright, but we leave first thing in the
morning.” Emmaoen didn’t wait for her to change her mind. Taking
the lead, she turned down the new road. Sir Danth motioned for
Liselle and Vevin to follow. She noticed that the knight always
seemed to take the lead or the rear.

If she was being honest with herself, the
events of the day had drained her. Liselle was both hungry and
tired. Resting for the night might help with the raging emotions
still boiling underneath the surface. It felt as though the
slightest thing might cause her to explode into flames again. She
did manage to take back the reins from Vevin.

Low walls lined the wide cobbled lane they
traveled. Well-maintained yards had manicured bushes, cut lawns and
flowers that waved their leaves at Liselle. She waved back, smiling
for the first time that day. Emmaoen glanced at the flowers, then
back at Liselle again as though contemplating what the relationship
with flowers meant.

The houses gave way to large manors with
personal guards at the gates. Liselle noticed there were no
peasants walking along the lane, though a few servants were
bustling about on various errands. A small squad of soldiers passed
by, saluting the duchess who nodded her head at them. They sized up
Sir Danth while passing by. A few even looked back as the
companions rode on.

It took another twenty minutes to reach
Emmaoen’s property. The wall around it was eight feet high with
iron spikes on top to discourage trespassers. Two guards came out
of a small shack built against the wall. Before Emmaoen even turned
up the path, they had the large wrought iron gates open. The
duchess smiled to them when they saluted her. Beyond the gates was
a long, tree-lined pathway leading up to a large manor. Liselle
couldn’t see the entire building, but it looked large.

The evening sun was lowering below fluffy
clouds to the west, creating a golden glow over everything. Birds
chirped in the foliage and a squirrel scurried across the path to
get to a tree on the other side that obviously had better offerings
than the one it had come from. The grounds were tranquil and
pleasant compared to the bustle of city streets they had come from.
It helped Liselle to relax a little more.

Her jaw dropped when they came to the
cobbled courtyard with a grand fountain in the middle. More
impressive was the three-floor stone manor that curved seven
hundred feet in either direction. Windows lined the building and
numerous chimneys rose from the roof. It wasn’t as big as the
castle they had just come from, but easily outsized any other
building she had seen, including all the inns they had stayed at,
even the Lost Road Inn. On the right was a smaller building with
large wooden doors that opened outward. A man polished an elegant
white carriage with gold filigree just outside. Another carriage
appeared to be inside of the building.

“Your horse, Milady?” A groom held out a
hand for the reins. While Liselle was busy gawking, they had ridden
up to the short steps leading to the door. The others had already
dismounted and Vevin was there to help her off. Liselle blushed,
turned over the reins and accepted Vevin’s hand. They followed
Emmaoen up the steps and inside the main doors that two doormen
held open.

The interior of the manor was even more
extravagant, with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling high above
and marble columns lining a carpeted walkway. Detailed tapestries
drew eyes to the scenes woven into them. The carpet was blue with
gold patterns woven in. It led to a grand staircase with alabaster
railings that curved upward in both directions to the second and
then third floors.

“Welcome home, Duchess.” A tall, thin man in
immaculate leggings and tunic greeted them. The bald spot on the
top of his head was visible as he bowed with one leg back for
balance. The rest of his hair was white with age. Every movement he
made was precise and graceful.

“Thank you, Navesh,” Emmaoen said. “My
friends will take the rooms near mine. There will be four of us for
dinner although the knight will not eat. Inform the cook that it is
because of a curse and no disrespect is intended.” Navesh gave a
nod to each point as he followed Emmaoen to the grand staircase and
up the steps. “The horses my friends ride belong to the regiment of
General Bormann and are to be returned along with the tack and
saddles. Have new horses drawn from my stables in the morning.
We’ll be leaving by sunrise. Have two packhorses included with a
week’s worth of supplies. I’ll need my advisor to bring me any
papers to sign and finances for a journey. There will be more, but
that’s a good start.”

“Yes, Duchess. Everything will be taken care
of.” Navesh stepped to the side and bowed again as they continued
up the stairs to the third floor.

Liselle looked back to see Navesh snapping
his fingers and servants come running from every direction. At the
top of the stairs, two well-dressed ladies-in-waiting curtseyed as
Emmaoen walked past. She nodded at them and they followed, lifting
their skirts in order to keep up. Tapestries, carpeting and small
statues decorated the hall. Unlike Rojuun houses, it was
tasteful.

Then Liselle saw the vases with cut flowers
arranged in bouquets. They sat on waist high pedestals to either
side of the hallway. She couldn’t stop the scream of terror that
ripped from her throat. She dashed to the ones on the right,
helplessly touching the pretty, but lifeless petals. There was a
variety of flowers in different colors. Small white baby’s breath
was mixed in, also murdered with a knife. She wept in despair.

Liselle hadn’t noticed everyone else jump in
shock at her scream. Sir Danth’s sword was in his hands as he
looked for the danger. The two ladies-in-waiting ducked with arms
over their heads and Emmaoen looked around. In an instant, guards
came running from both directions with weapons drawn. Vevin
realized what Liselle was upset about and held her. She buried her
face into his shoulder and broke down in grief.

The guards looked at Sir Danth first and
aimed their weapons at him. “Put your weapon away!” the senior of
the guards yelled. Sir Danth could have killed them, but they were
not the enemy.

“What’s wrong?” Emmaoen asked. “I see no
danger.”

Liselle lifted her head from Vevin’s chest.
“You murdered them!” she accused in a ragged voice while pointing
at the slain blossoms. “You call me friend, but you butcher flowers
and present them as prizes to be shown in a tasteless display of
contempt.”

The duchess stared at Liselle in complete
shock. She looked at the flowers, back at Liselle, back at the
flowers, back at Liselle and then she grabbed the vase. Taking it
to the nearest guard, she thrust it at him. “Take this to . . .”
she stopped, not knowing what to do with it. The guard sheathed his
sword and took the vase. Turning back to Liselle, Emmaoen asked,
“What is the proper way to . . . hold a funeral?” Snapping her
fingers at the ladies-in-waiting, she pointed at the other vase.
One of them grabbed it and stared, wondering what to do.

“Take them to a clear spot outside that
won’t get trampled. I’ll care for them there,” Liselle answered
coldly.

Emmaoen jerked back as though slapped in the
face. She turned to the soldier who held the vase. “Captain, Take
these flowers to the northwestern corner of the wall. There’s a
barren spot there. Gather up your men and have them get any other
flowers. Bring those there as well.” She turned the way they had
come and saw Navesh rushing up. “Navesh! Let it be known that it is
forbidden to cut or murder flowers in any way from this point on.
Anyone found doing so will be removed from service. Is that
clear?”

“I . . . yes, Duchess.” He bowed.

Everyone stood there, staring at the duchess
and Liselle in astonishment. “What are you waiting for?!” Emmaoen
yelled. “Move!” The guards and servants scurried. Then she turned
to Liselle once more. “I am so sorry, Liselle. I was ignorant in
the ways of flowers. Please forgive me.”

Liselle thought about it for a moment. She
nodded before resting her head against Vevin’s shoulder again.

“Shall we take care of the flowers now, or
do you want to wait?” the duchess asked.

“I want to take care of them now,” Liselle
said. Emmaoen nodded and led them back the way they came. Servants
and guards were dashing about to collect all the flowers as the
party walked down the stairs.

They turned right at the bottom of the
stairs and went down the main hallway of the west wing. More
servants rushed by. The sheer number of people in the house
surprised Liselle and she wondered who lived there besides
Emmaoen.

A guard who had been escorting them held
open a door. Outside was a large patio with a number of tables and
seats scattered around. Small statuettes on pedestals, a couple of
birdbaths and a smaller version of the fountain in front decorated
the area. Flowers were around it, but they hadn’t been murdered
like the others.

When they reached the wall, Liselle saw that
a good-sized section of the grounds was unplanted. The earth was
moist from recent rains, but nothing grew. In that area, guards and
servants had been placing vases of flowers. Liselle counted
thirty-three vases and tears flowed down her cheeks again. Emmaoen
stopped and hung her head. “I’m so sorry, Liselle.”

Liselle nodded and removed Vevin’s arm from
her waist. Gesturing for them to wait, she walked forward to the
barren patch. She began taking flowers out of the vases and
spreading them around the patch. She didn’t go too close to the
western wall so as not to cut them off from evening light. Six more
bouquets were brought during the time and she added those flowers
to the ground as well. Servants took away the vases as she emptied
them.

She liked the addition of baby’s breath.
They would complement the other flowers nicely. Liselle felt eyes
on her and realized an audience of over a hundred people had
gathered. “Please move back. I need room,” she told them, holding
her hands up. Everyone did except for Vevin. He appeared worried
and was about to say something. Liselle interrupted before he
could. “I’m fine, dear. Step back with the rest.” She had to stare
him down, but he relented.

When they were all back far enough, Liselle
concentrated on the flower-strewn patch and began gathering energy.
It came easily. She transformed it into magic, sending it toward
the patch. The first thing Liselle did was to dig into the ground.
The magic split into thousands of small blue strands that began
turning the dirt. In the process, it dragged down the flowers and
cut them up. She would use those as the beginning of new life. The
crowd looked on in astonishment.

Liselle enjoyed the feel of the magical wind
swirling. Turning her gaze up to the sky, she gathered energy from
the sunset colors. They were bright orange in the west, gradually
darkening to purple in the eastern sky. Fluffy clouds were pink
from the rays of the sun. The colors would help with what she was
about to do and the fact that the sun and sky were making those
colors would help.

Power whipped her hair against her face.
Liselle guided that energy into the ground and began mixing it with
power from deep below. Ryallon had shown her how to access that
power and it was perfect for what she was doing. She took all the
elements and infused the dead flowers with magic.

A memory flitted across her mind of standing
in a clearing with Tathan what seemed an eternity ago. She had
created a blue flower made of flames and grass then, so she added
her personal energy in the form of blue fire to this mix.

Life was a miracle to most. To Liselle, life
was a natural thing to cherish and hold. The thing
she
considered a miracle was the beauty of flowers. The way they
blossomed was wonderful. The fact that they provided sustenance to
butterflies, bees and hummingbirds was miraculous. Flowers were the
best thing the world had to offer.

All of those things were in Liselle’s mind
as she created life within the barren patch. Roots grew to provide
nourishment from the earth that turned underneath. The first shoots
came out of the ground a moment later. It didn’t take long for a
multitude of flowers to begin blooming. In addition to the assorted
plants that had been murdered and placed in vases, blue flowers
with petals similar to flames opened to the twilight sky. Mixed in
with all of it, was white baby’s breath.

Liselle slowed down for a moment to look at
her work. It was almost finished, but there was something missing.
She had left space for a path, but it needed more of the pavers
like the other paths had. She looked back at the path they had come
from, giving the audience a good look at her eyes of fire. The
pavers weren’t from the ground underneath, so she wouldn’t be able
to match it exactly. Instead, she called to rocks underground and
brought them to the surface. In a few minutes, there was a new
path. Then she called to more stones and brought them up from the
ground to form a border around the new garden.

The remaining energy dissipated around her,
though she used some for her own benefit, another thing Ryallon had
taught her. After finishing, she strolled along the new path to see
her work. The beautiful, multicolored flowers leaned toward her as
she walked between them. Liselle was tired and needed food, but it
hadn’t exhausted her to create the flowers. As a bonus, the rage
she had felt earlier was gone, replaced by serenity.

Vevin was the only one brave enough to
follow her along the path. Everyone else stood in stunned silence.
“They’re beautiful, my darling. Creating life is . . . rare.” He
was doing a graceful shuffle. It was nice and Liselle wrapped her
arms around him to sway in time.