I tightened my boots so the snow couldn't creep in. My fingers slipped into my gloves and I threw my thick shawl around my shoulders, readying myself for work. Dodger sulked in the bedroom corner with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and his stuffed chimera snuggled in his arms. He didn't bother looking for Robber anymore. His clouded eyes glistened with tears. I couldn't bear to leave him like this.
I hadn't taken Dodger to work with me since Robber's death, I managed to take a few days off to comfort Dodger. Our bank account couldn't manage another.
The weather outside was a combination of melting snow and ice. Overnight, the flowers would freeze in a wonderland of glass roses. As a result, Lady Deinan's garden would be stunning. It would surely help liven him up.
"Would you like to go to work with me?" I asked him. He peeked through the fold of the blanket and nodded. I helped Dodger get dressed in his warmest clothes.
Dodger rode piggyback until he was bored and restless. He jumped down and ran until he either tripped on the ice or exhausted himself. From there, he rode piggyback, again. His energy levels were showing signs of improvement.
We reached the gates and met with the grounds keeper. Dodger waved to him and he returned the gesture with a friendly smile. Dodger ran into the garden recklessly, regardless of my warnings about ice.
I took a spell book from the shed written specifically for rare roses. The tome contained spells allowing me to revive and nourish plants during the changing of seasons as well as during the transportation into greenhouses in preparation of summer solstice.
There was a large bag, twenty pounds or so in weight, that I dragged outside the shed. I struggled to get a good grip on the bag and feared it would snag on something and rip. I needed both hands to heave it over my shoulders, but with the spell book in my hand I don't have the ability to do so. I had a profound respect for Lady Deinan's property. Placing the book on the floor would have dirtied it.
"Dodger, sweetheart, can you carry this book for me?" I reached the book out towards Dodger. After holding my hand out for some time, with no action from him, I wondered what Dodger was doing.
I turned my attention from the bag to Dodger, whose head was cocked backward. With his eyes to the sky, he appeared to be focusing on the sounds of the wyrms' wings as they flew overhead. His head moved slightly with their movements, following them. The reflection of light off his cheek instantly informed me of his thoughts. He had to be remembering the last time we had brought Robber here.
I left the bag of fertilizer to go to him. The snow crunched against my knee as I knelt in front of him and took his hand.
"It's okay to cry for her," I told him. He hadn't move. "I want to tell you a story. One of an old legend about a poor commoner and her husband. They loved each other so fiercely that when she passed, her memory was saved in a beautiful spot in his heart. Though it was saddening, he still loved the memories of her. He remained loyal even when their souls were separated. His love was lonely and sad, but honorable. The Goddessa saw how beautiful it was. As a gift for his passion and sorrow, the Goddessa reincarnated his love into the Ice Dyriad far in the mountains to the north. Though her skin and complexion has become cold and blue, she is loved by all the sprites and she shows her love for them by turning their spirits into the beautiful ice flowers when they pass on." I picked one of the ice flowers and handed it to Dodger. "That is how these flowers came to exist. Robber may be gone, but our love for her, her memory in our hearts, will reincarnate her into something beautiful."
Dodger released his tears in a bawling fit. I wrapped my arms around him and he nestled into my neck. He didn't let go of me until his tears turned into dry heaving.
"Everything is going to be okay. I miss Robber, too. But her memory is sweet and we love her." Dodger loosened his hold on my neck and placed his fingers over my eyes. He traced his fingers along my eyelids, over the hair of my brow, and along the almond shape of my eyelids. His face drooped when he touched the tear in the duct of my eye. His hands traveled down the bridge of my nose and caressed the curves of my smile. Through his tears, he smiled back knowing I was doing the same.
"I love you, Dodger." I kissed his forehead on my way up to stand. He ran ahead of me and grabbed the spell book and waited for me to lead him to our section of the garden. His smile had faded, but his spirits weren't as glum. I took it as a good sign. Together, we took care for Lady Deinan's garden.
Dodger helped me shovel a layer of rocks into the bottom of a clay pot. We mixed dirt and fertilizer in a separate bowl before tossing it on top. We dug a flower bush from the ground and placed it in the giant pot. When the flower had settled, we filled in the empty spaces with more of the dirt and fertilizer mixture. It wasn't until I was about to set it aside that I noticed the decay on the edges of the rose. I swear that hadn't been there before I transplanted it.
"This poor flower is dying." I touched the brown edges of the rose. Dodger was listening with his ears perked.
"It must be old," I told him. "I'll log it into the journal as old. It's hard to keep track of the eldest flowers when I'm replanting everything."
As I journeyed back to the shed I kept my eyes peeled.
"Oh no…" I groaned as I came upon another failing flower. "This one is dying, too. Let's pray that the fertilizer will revive these flowers."
I continued my work over a few hours. I watered and weeded plants, placed down wood chips, and tended to the path that led to my zone.
"Miss Ember?" I heard someone calling my name. I turned.
"Can you help us bring some of these plants inside?" Amelia Shay, the head gardener to the gray-scale garden asked of me, she had helper standing behind her. She was a stout lady with broad shoulders and a big gut. I've never seen her hair out of a bun. Her helper was an able-bodied man with long hair tied in a ponytail.
I agreed to help and walked with her into the gray-scale garden that was temporarily transported to the greenhouse for the winter. The grey scale garden survives off lots of water, thrives during spring.
Dodger held onto my dress for guidance and trotted behind me, I slowed my pace. They had repotted three different flowers into tall porcelain vases. One was small enough for Dodger to pick up while the other was a massive tree sized flower, the second was small enough for a grown adult to carry.
"This tall vase is a two person job. We've got this one. We were hoping you could carry these two into the house with your son helping us out," she said. "We'd rather not make the double trip if we don't have to."
"We'll help. I'm done with my section today," I told them. They smiled in appreciation.
"Great! Thank you."
I picked the bigger vase of the two and Dodger lifted the cute little one. He cradled it in his arms. The black and white carnations tickled the bottom of his chin in an adorable manner. The vase I carried was bottom heavy and, with the extra dirt weighing it down, it was heavier than it looked.
We carried all the plants into the big mansion. I allowed the others to take the lead since I didn't know which rooms we were going to. We walked up the balcony's steps and into the main hallway of Lady Deinan's mansion.
"I've never been inside before," I said aloud.
"Really? You've never relocated her flowers indoors yet?" the other gardener asked.
"No. I doubt the Ice Queens can survive inside." I said.
The hallway was three grown men high and narrow enough for two people to pass each other without bumping shoulders. The carpet was black and the flooring was white marble. Marble pillars support the upper level with blank forest creatures crawling up each pillar. We walked halfway down the hallway when a gold frame came into view. Inside was a life-size painting. The image was of a red headed young man in a formal suit standing behind a chair where Lady Deinan sits. He was handsome with a strong jaw and a brooding expression that suited him. The other gardeners placed the potted flower down to the left of the painting, matching the one already present on the opposite side.
"Those go somewhere else." The eldest gardener pointed to my plant.
"Who is he?" I asked. Without the hands to point, I indicated my interest by flicking my eyes to the painting.
"His name is Rivernera Deinan. He is heir to Lady Deinan's mansion. Well, he is if he decides to come back home." She answered me.
"Where is he?" I asked, recalling all the times Lady Deinan had visited the garden. However, I had never seen him.
"He went missing almost two solstices already. The thought is he ran away."
"Why do you think that?"
"Well, nobody kidnaps a wealthy son to a renowned mistress without leaving a ransom note." She informed me. Her assistant remained silent. "Lady Deinan hasn't been the same since. She used to be so happy."
She gazed upward at the painting, transfixed on Rivernera's face. I knew she had been working for Lady Deinan for years. Perhaps she had known him personally. My job required me to keep my distance from Lady Deinan, I knew nothing about her.
"Did he at least leave a note as to why he left?" I pressed.
"No. He left during a family gathering—right in the middle of the night. He slipped past the guards and was never heard from again. Lady Deinan had people looking for him, but they couldn't find a trace of his whereabouts. She still hasn't given up," she said. "Let's finish this so you can go home."
I followed her to another room, and we placed the flowers where they needed to be. It signaled the near end of our day. Dodger and I went home after we logged in the deaths of the two rose plants.
"You wouldn't ever leave me like that, would you, Dodger?" I looked down at him. He stared blankly at the direction of my voice. "No, I sure hope you won't."
~~
In Lady Deinan's garden the following day, I sidestepped my way out of Dodger's strong grasp. Dodger retaliated and grabbed onto my hand. The second I settled, he shoved his face back into my dress. I gave up trying to escape him. His clinginess was a development in the wake of Robber's death.
With a stick, I carved a spell in the potted flowers dirt. One big circle around the outside of the pot then a smaller inner circle around the stem, inside I carved runic markings. The spell glowed green from the small crevices in the dirt when I placed my bare hand on the pages of the spell book. The light died out but the plant hadn't livened. My stomach became ill with worry.
I checked every brown stained inch of my flowers, but the signs of pests and fungus were missing. They weren't dying from excessive fertilizer. The other gardeners used the same product and their zones were fresh and green. Did I just happen to have a bad batch?
The only thing I knew was that if I couldn't find a solution to the awful decay Lady Deinan would kill me.
I spent hours pouring over information on how to handle dead plants. So much so that my head hurt. I measured my findings through twelve different test pots, tracking different amounts of fertilizer and their effects. Still, I got nowhere.
I retired for the day, my head cracking down the middle from the stress.
~~
"I'm leaving for work." I called to mother. Dodger came running from the bedroom, his boots in his hands. "Dodger, I'm already late, I can't take you with."
His face dropped, but his cheeks puffed out and his eyes closed.
"What are you doing?" It wasn't until his face turned purple that I realized he was holding his breath.
"Dodger, stop it. You're going to pass out!" I said with alarm. He didn't cease his tantrum. I couldn't leave Dodger like this.
"Fine!" I buckled and grabbed his shoes then quickly got him dressed. Dodger bounced in my arms as I ran to work.
I scrambled around work like a chicken with it's head cut off. None of my experiments from yesterday survived. The rot seemed to spread to the big bushes without any indication to a disease or bug. The spread grew like wild fire before my eyes. The nearest plant quickly shriveled and bent until it snapped in half and fell to the ground. It spread again and again. Quickly, I grabbed shears and tried to cut it off before it touched another plant. But I was too late. As another bush of Ice queens died rapidly, I clipped it off at the base before the whole thing died. I rapidly shoveled the remains into a rough sack. The thorns drew blood from my hands as I struggled to shove the last stem inside. My gloves were thick but the thorns were long and sharp.
I believed the rot to be stopped as nothing else had turned. But my hope shattered when a bush nearest Dodger had wilted.
"Mae." Von had called from behind me. My skeleton jumped out of my skin at the sound of his voice. My book shook violently, my hands barely able to hold onto it. The only thing that kept me from falling over was the fact that I didn't want to land on Dodger.
"What is happening here?" He asked of me with agitation in his voice. His hands gestured to the death and decay around us.
"I don't know! I..." I pointed at the flowers behind me. "I tried everything, I searched for pests and rot and I couldn't find anything!"
I was stuttering, faltering in my frustration. "I tried..." was all I could muster. I didn't want to cry, but I was so confused and upset.
"I need you to come with me." He lifted a finger and waved for me to follow. I let out a devastated breath of air to release the sinking feeling in my gut, but it quickly returned as I took my first steps toward an inconceivable debt. My heart inflated with panic. Dodger released my dress, asking to be picked up and nuzzling to my chest when I did.
I shook fiercely as I got closer to the mansion. What was he going to do to me? Was his position true to the title of garden master? Or was he Lady Deinan's henchman meant to beat me with blunt objects? Would he lock me up in a dark damp cell where the light didn't shine and my eyes would grow twice their size to adjust to the darkness? My mind quickly went to unreasonable situations, but I couldn't stop my minds imagination and the fear that fed it. I knew Lady Deinan cherished her garden above all else and I had killed a prized zone of the most difficult roses to preserve.
We came upon the back door of her mansion from the garden when I happened to glance over my shoulder. I froze for a moment, shocked. Slowly, the grass was turning a deathly color. The decay was within a three-foot radius of my walking route.
It was following me.
Would telling the grounds keeper about it prove that it wasn't me killing the garden?
I kept it to myself and hoped he wouldn't notice until it's too late. He'd accuse me of witchcraft and summon the demon slayer, ShiFira, to off me. Her punishment and judgement was far worse than anything I could imagine.
Inside the mansion, the grounds keeper opened a large oak door and beckoned me inside. I placed Dodger on a chair by the door and told him to wait.
I walked into a room filled with porcelain flower pots, one stood as a center piece on a rectangular table that stretched from one side of the room to the other. On the other end sat Lady Deinan.
She had a cup of tea painted with dainty pink flowers on white porcelain. She wore white lace gloves; large rings on each hand with giant pink stones destroyed the purpose and distract from the beautiful lace on the glove. She wore a fancy jacket in contrast with my own, what I had wasn't even a jacket but an old shawl my mother made. In front of her, a little to the left was a tea set with a pot, a creamer, and a sugar pitcher. They sat in a little arrangement away from a stack of papers that occupy the space directly in front of her.
"Sit." She commanded. With trepidation, I sat. I prayed she'd pity me, that she'd remember the kindness that Dodger showed her when she was sad.
"Do you have any idea how much that zone costs, Mae Ember?" She asked. Her crow's feet creased deeper as she glared at me. I opened my mouth to talk but my brain interfered in time to stop me. I think this was a rhetorical question. How was I supposed to know how expensive it was?
I shivered in my seat; I'm not cold, but a chill won't leave my body.
"That zone that you sabotaged costs over five hundred gold pieces!" She screamed at me. "You not only destroyed the Ice Queens but the rot has traveled to my gray roses when you carried the disease on your person."
Two days ago the only affected plants were two ice queens, I surveyed the surrounding areas, they were healthy. Today, it spread farther than I thought. What kind of disease spread that quickly?
"We dug out the rot before it spread further," she said with a calmer demeanor but her voice shook with anger. "That's an extra one-thousand gold coins."
Her face darkened into a shade of red while my heart turned blue. It skipped a couple beats and I could feel my stomach getting upset, sending bile into my throat. All kinds of burns and pains stabbed at my chest and got caught in my throat making it difficult to swallow my own spit.
"How you managed to be bestowed with a last name is beyond me, you're nothing but a poor little commoner. Figure out how you're going to pay for my garden, the one-thousand five-hundred gold pieces or I'll have your name stripped from you, you'll be arrested, and your new title will be Mae the Screw Up. You're fired! Get out!" She whipped her hand out to her right towards the grounds keeper with paperwork in her hand. Von took them from her then set them down in front of me. His stare avoiding mine as I gazed at him looking for help.
For reasons I'll never understand, the bile in my throat affected the prevention of weeping and created a pain that swelled so much more. Attempting to hold back tears, not only burned my eyes, but it felt like I was ripping my own throat out.
I wobbled home, walking is what people with backbones do. I should have said something in my defense, anything! Letting Lady Deinan know that I cared enough about my job to fight back was better than cowering in my chair. Saying nothing and letting her scream at me made it seem that I was guilty.
I made it home and managed to explain the situation to Daniel and mother through my heaving and throbbing sobs. This time I wasn't trying to hold anything back; I vented and released all my tension. After relating the infamous story of Mae the Screw Up I buried my head into my hands. The same throat ripping feeling was now irritating my entire chest.
"What am I supposed to do?" I sobbed as Daniel rubbed his hands over my back.
"We. We're a team, Mae. We'll all figure this out together." Daniel comforted me. Mother sat on the other side of me and I could tell she nodded in agreement. The pile of paper resting on my lap was going to plague me for the rest of my life. The debt I owed Lady Deinan was all written out in black ink, signed by a judge. She knew about the decay and prepared the papers in advance and now they sat in front of me.
"I don't understand. She has no proof you destroyed her garden! It isn't fair," Daniel retorts.
"Daniel, It's not about what's fair. It's about how much money she can suck out of us before sending us to prison. She's upset that her life's work is destroyed. She's a prissy little rich girl who is reacting as if she was told no for the first time. Let's just be thankful they didn't charge Mae with witchcraft," Mother explained to Daniel.
Mother was right. The odd decay pointed to witchcraft; there was no other explanation for the quickly rotting grass that followed me and the lack of pests and other visible illnesses. All of which I explained to Daniel and mother.
"What if someone framed me?" I asked them both. I sat up to straighten out my aching back. Daniel looked at mother with the "could be so" look. Mother frowned.
"Who would have a grudge against you?" Mother asked, according to her I'm the sweetest-for lack of a better word-damn thing known to live. She's told me several times.
"What if it's not just me they're framing, but our family? This isn't just affecting me." I answered my mother. We don't familiarize ourselves with strangers in the slums, they wanted nothing but money; I was never close to anyone because I was accused of being an odd-ball; Daniel was busy enough as it was, he didn't have time for people other than his family; and Mother was the only social butterfly in the family, saying that was like putting wings on a spider.
I rested my head in my hands again. Thinking about this unforgiving debt was giving me a headache.
"What can we do until we prove our innocence?" I asked. We couldn't do anything about it now. We weren't officials, we couldn't just barge into her garden and demand to look around for clues. We aren't skilled mages that could detect spells. We must wait if we were targeted again, if we aren't then we aren't the problem. Maybe Lady Deinan has enemies? Still doesn't solve our debt, she'd never let it go even if it wasn't my fault.
"We do what we've been doing. Work. We work until the debt is paid off." Daniel said solemnly with determination sprinkled on top. Working hard doesn't bother me. I don't mind earning my keep, but spending all my hard-earned money on my debt was like feeding the parasites that gluttonize themselves on the fish leaving nothing for my starving family. Any hope for a better future was lost. My dream of a cute home with a garden of my own rotted away with the blue petals in that garden. We will live off the dirt and sleep on the stone courtyard like everyone else in this neglected city.
"We're doomed," I said quietly. A shower of comforting words was sealed behind trembling lips. They know we're slaves until old age claims our lives. Hair faded white at a young age, forever tied to money and hard work until we break is our fate. Neither mother nor Daniel tried to deny it.
I needed to find another job.