'Is that them?' Lily wondered. 'Why would she want me to meet a palace guard though?' She took a step forward. The guard was slumped on one of the benches, leaning heavily to one side. Lily assumed he was sleeping until she noticed the pool of blood beneath him. She thought about the injured guards she saw when she was sneaking out of the palace. 'Did he get left behind? Why didn't he go to the infirmary? Why would he go to the garden, of all places!?' She slowly drew closer, trying hard not to make a sound.
From somewhere in the palace a door slammed. Lily flinched. When the guard saw her, he jumped up and looked around as if trying to remember where he was. He moved smoothly, despite his bleeding leg. He relaxed a bit once he saw that it was just the princess, shifting his weight onto his good leg.
"U-um, I'm sorry if I startled you, I didn't expect anyone to be here." Lily apologized.
"It's fine. I was just getting some rest. I didn't think anybody actually visited this garden anymore to be honest. Clearly, I was wrong. I'll leave."
"No, no! It's ok. You can stay if you like." She didn't want him to leave. She knew that she shouldn't believe all that nonsense Tabitha had told her, but she just couldn't seem to be able to get her words out of her head, and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was supposed to meet this guard, and not just meet him, but talk to him. So he couldn't leave, not before she figured out why Tabitha wanted them to meet. 'This is ridiculous! Why am I even believing her? She's just some crazy girl I met on the street!' The guard's stuttering words distracted Lily from her thoughts.
"Um, n-no. Thank you, but I should get going. I gotta, um...a friend's expecting me."
"Shouldn't you be going to the infirmary? It looks like you're hurt pretty badly." He stared at her blankly for a moment.
"Huh? Infirma-oh! No, I'm fine, really. I just needed some rest. It's not as bad as it looks, I'll be fine. Plus, they have enough people to worry about down there." Lily noticed fresh blood trickling down his armor. His expression was hidden behind his helmet, but his breathing was slow and steady, showing no signs of pain.
She felt her panic start to rise as he began to walk towards the door, moving with such swiftness, you would never believe he was injured, if it weren't for the dark red that painted his armor.
She heard her voice before she even realized she was talking,
"Wait!" The guard turned to look at her. Now it was her turn to stutter.
"U-um...I, uh, really don't think you should be walking around like that...You could get an infection or something..." She knew it wasn't a very strong argument, but she needed him to stay, and it was all she could think of on the spot.
The guard stared at her in silence for what felt like too long, before he answered.
"Really, I'm fine princess. Don't worry about me." He turned to leave, but Lily grabbed his arm. She didn't know what she was doing, all she knew, was that she had to help him. 'But help him with what?' she wondered, 'Help him go to the infirmary? He seems well enough to make it there himself, so why didn't he go there in the first place?' The question still puzzled her. She wished now, more than ever, to have Liz's advice.
Suddenly, she got an idea.
"U-um...I could patch you up here if you'd like..." she mumbled. "I know every plant in this garden, and a lot of them are medicinal..." She expected him to decline, to tell her again that he was fine, or that he had to leave, but to her surprise, he turned around and started to walk back to the bench.
"Ok, as long as you don't poison me by accident.", he joked.
Relieved, Lily walked down the rows of plants and started picking the ones she knew she'd need.
As she passed by the flowers and herbs, she wondered if this was a good idea. Once she got to the window, she gripped one of the long cotton drapes, and with one swift movement, ripped it off the window seal. Once she tore the drape into smaller pieces, she laid the pile of cloth and herbs next to the guard on the bench, then went to get some water.
As the pot slowly filled, she thought about her mother. Lily had learned a lot about herbs from her in this very garden. Lily knew it was years ago, but it felt like yesterday. She could remember making salves as her mother checked on last season's tinctures. If she closed her eyes, she could still smell the pungent scent of Tea Tree and Eucalyptus. She remembered her mother's soft, slender hands, and the way her long hair fell into her face when she was writing her newest recipe down.
She snapped her thoughts back just in time before the pot overflowed. As Lily carried the water to the guard, she was certain she was doing what her mother would have wanted her to do.
"Please remove your armor.", she asked him as she kneeled on the floor and started to mash the herbs she had gathered into a pulp.
The guard seemed to be struggling with his armor, sometimes he would mutter something in a language Lily didn't recognize. She was just about to offer him help when he muttered again, and finally ripped the leg piece off, dropping it to the ground with a loud clonk.
Lily could tell the effort was painful, his hands were shaking, and the blood which was first just a trickle, turned into a steady stream, covering the bench he was on.
"Lie down.", she urged him. He did so willingly, sighing with relief.
"you're not from around here, are you?" She tried to distract him as she turned her attention to his leg. She had to stop the bleeding first. She took one of the long strips of cloth and tied it above the guard's knee as high as his remaining armor would allow her.
"Huh? Why would you think that?" He sounded as if her question offended him.
"Not a lot of locals know different languages...Do you have a knife?" Lily could feel his surprised expression behind his mask, and she knew why. Princesses were never supposed to handle a knife, unless they were at a dinner table.
He hesitated for a moment, then produced a sleek blade from his waistband and handed it to her. As she held it in front of her, she was certain that she had never seen something so beautiful before.
The blade appeared to be made of obsidian, with gold writing that ran from the tip to the base. The handle was silver with Blue Apatite fused into it. A cherry-sized sapphire rested in the base of the handle. It was simply the prettiest knife she had ever seen. When she was done admiring its beauty, she used it to slice the bottom of the guard's pant leg off, exposing the deep gash below his knee. Lily gulped to suppress a gag, then, she picked up the wet cloth and started to clean off the blood.
"So, where are you from?"
"Here. I'm from here. My parents taught me their language when I was a kid."
"I'm guessing you're pretty close to your parents then?" Silence followed the question. She was about to look up when he broke it.
"They both died when I was young."
"I'm very sorry. I know what it's like to lose a parent...though I can't imagine losing both.", she said empathetically.
"I am sorry as well, for your mother. She was a compassionate person, the best leader Sinya ever had, if you ask me. Most of the guards would say differently."
"What do you mean? The palace guards loved her." She dipped her makeshift rag into the pot of water and looked up at him, her emerald eyes piercing his.
"Sure, they all loved the Queen, but they served the King. He's their only leader and they'll do whatever he tells them to do. Even if they know the Queen would have never allowed it." Lily didn't respond. Instead, she wiped away the remaining blood on his leg and picked up the paste she had made earlier. It smelled bitter, and she knew it would burn like hell when she put it on.
"How do you know what herbs to use?", he asked, taking the subject off the Queen. Lily was grateful.
"It's- kinda a hobby of mine. I usually use essential oils, but fresh herbs are always nice too." The guard winced as she spread the paste onto his open wound.
"I planted all of the plants in here, and almost all of them are medicinal."
"You planted all of this?", he asked, surprised.
"Well, a few of them were planted by my mom before she died, and Liz and Natalie helped me a lot, but I did most of it by myself."
"That's actually kinda cool...It's not exactly the kind of thing a princess is usually into. It's unique." Lily blushed a little.
"I guess..."
"Who taught you?"
"My mother. She used to take me into this garden every morning and tell me about the herbs. As I watered them, she would tell me what every herb was good for, when to pick it, and how to use it. After she passed, Bella taught me more. Once I was ten, my father would hire specialists to teach me what Bella couldn't."
"How old were you...when she died?"
"Five. She died of an illness-but you probably know that." Carefully, she wrapped his wound with the remaining strips of cloth and secured it with one of her hairpins.
"All done! How does it feel?" When she looked up, she saw that he had taken off his helmet. Long black hair fell past his shoulders to his waist. His husky blue eyes stood out in his thin, pale face. Beneath the dark circles under his eyes, his charm was alluring. He reminded Lily of a dark elf, or fairy from a fantasy book. 'He's actually kinda good looking, for a guy at least...' she thought.
"It feels fine. Thanks." Lily blushed and looked to the side.
"You're welcome, I'm glad you let me help you." When she looked back, he seemed distracted.
"What's wrong?"
"Do you hear that?", he asked.
"Hear what?"
"Shh!! Listen!" The guard quickly sat up and clicked his armor back into place.
Faintly, Lily could hear a familiar voice in the distance.
"Oh- crap! Thats Liz! I gotta go, will you be ok?"
"Don't worry about me. I should get going anyway."
Lily ran up to the door, then stopped.
"Bye. Maybe I'll see you around sometime?"
"Probably not. I don't usually ---work IN the palace...", he told her.
"Oh, well, then could you at least tell me your name?"
"Koa. My name's Koa." His husky eyes connected with her own once more before he slipped his helmet back on.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Koa." She smiled at him. It was the first genuine smile she gave a guard since she had entered the dungeon years ago. She simply couldn't look at them the same way since.
This one was different though. He didn't seem to agree with what her father was doing.
Another shout from Liz stole her attention, making her run out of the garden before Koa could return her farewell.
She ran out of the protection of the trees, back into the palace, and towards the voice calling out to her.
"Lily!...Lily! Where are you, Lily?!" She ran past the pot of flowers, past her father's study, until she finally got to the stairs where she almost collided with her handmaiden.
"Oh! There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere! I told you to go straight to your room!" Liz took Lily into her arms and started to brush the dust off of her dress.
"Look at you! You're a mess!", she said as she looked at Lily's messy bun, which was now completely falling apart.
"I'm sorry, I go distracted."
"You have to get ready for tonight! I'll prepare you a bath." Lily sighed and followed Liz up the stairs and down the hall. She had completely forgotten about the dinner tonight. Part of her wished she was back in the peaceful garden, where she could forget about her worries.
She followed Liz as she led her by her hand, listening to everything she had to say, but in her head, she was still thinking about Koa's husky blue eyes.