Hyacinth (Tamlin's Healing Arc)

Chapter Two

As Cin stepped into the side street outside her house, a heavy scent of dry grass and manure wafted through the air, a result of the cultivation of gardens in front of the neighboring homes.

The street itself pulsed with life, for in Clematis, Cin's village, the fae were still engaged in the arduous task of reconstructing their hastily patched-up homes, which had been ravaged by Hybern. Amidst this rebuilding effort, they struggled to regain a sense of normalcy, juggling their farming and trading responsibilities. Trade was limited to the villages of Spring, of course. No other court would trade with them.

Cin observed the men diligently dismantling thatched ceilings, replacing them with terracotta tiles, painstakingly installing one tile at a time. The knowledge that even after all this time, there was still an overwhelming amount of rebuilding to be done weighed on her. It was a challenge to rebuild what they'd lost when they lacked the financial means to procure the necessary materials.

The Clematis Fae had endured immense hardships, and Cin firmly believed that they did not deserve any of it. For the most part, all they had done was place their faith in their High Lord and endeavor to safeguard their homes. Yet, each time Spring managed to recover from an attack, a new threat emerged in its wake.

Cin noted the subtle changes in the fae homes, which spoke volumes about their sense of vulnerability. Neighbors had raised their walls slightly higher, securing their gates with proper locks, and enchanted vines now sealed garden entrances with a mere utterance. She herself had covered her garden gates with vines, ready to conjure an impenetrable barrier if the need arose.

A sense of despondency washed over her as she took in the additional security measures they were forced to take. The Spring Fae were as shattered as their High Lord.

Determined to lift herself from the spiral of despair, Cin waved at the children playing in the street. There were only a few remaining in Clematis. Yet, despite the adversities that surrounded them, they played defiantly in the streets, grappling to hold onto whatever remained of their youth. Cin knew that the fae would fight to their death to protect these children. Especially when these children represented the last remnants of what could have been.

As Cin strolled by, her lilac dress swishing in the breeze, two of the children noticed her wave and rushed over, their smiles stretching across their entire faces.

"Ci-in," they sang, elongating her name into two syllables. "Neda won't let us have any oranges again. Can you talk to her, please?"

Cin chuckled. "Why do you want to eat Neda's oranges? Eat your own food."

"Neda's oranges are so sweet," they moaned. "And she won't share."

"Well, have you asked her?" Cin stopped, placing her hands on her hips, and faced the two rosy-cheeked fae children. They exchanged uneasy glances before the wide-eyed one shook her head. "Neda yells at us, Cin. She's mean."

"She probably yells because you lot try to take her oranges without asking," Cin raised an eyebrow, wiggling it playfully. When they didn't respond, Cin turned away, suppressing her laughter, and called over her shoulder, "Come on."

Ignoring the squeals of delight from the two children and the three little boys who had joined in, Cin bent down, waving her hand over one of the grass patches lining the gravel street. As her hand glided over the blades, plant tendrils snaked out, blossoming into ripe fruits of various kinds—oranges, apples, bananas—all her favorite fruits.

"Don't eat everything at once," she advised, standing up and patting one of the pink-cheeked girls on the head.

A chorus of Thank You's trailed behind Cin as she walked away from the children and passed by Neda's gate. Surprisingly, Neda herself was peering over the gate.

"You do realize they're lying to you, right? My oranges haven't ripened yet," Neda's strong and peculiar accent always puzzled Cin, but she refrained from prying into Neda's origins—it simply wasn't her place.

"I know, Neda. Good morning to you, too," Cin offered a small wave to the stout elderly fae. Neda's pale green eyes always reminded Cin of venom or the corrosive bite of acid.

"You shouldn't reward them for their deceit, Hyacinth," Neda tutted, shaking her head.

"It's fine, they're not harming anyone. They're just children," Cin replied, giving Neda an incredulous smile. She quickened her pace, not for any reason other than to escape Neda's echoing admonishments.

Neda was among the few elderly fae who perched by their gates along the street, their sole purpose being to watch over the children. It wasn't seen as an overprotective measure, considering that Clematis had witnessed Hybern soldiers rounding up and mercilessly slaughtering two dozen fae children in an attempt to break the will of the village. Cin made a point to wave and greet every elderly fae she encountered on her way to the main avenue that cut through the center of Clematis.

This avenue, which originated at the feet of the High Lord's Estate, served as the lifeline of Clematis. Despite the village being at least ten times larger than the massive Estate, the latter managed to loom over the entire village.

Cin skillfully maneuvered around trotting horses and bumping carriages along the gravel avenue, heading toward the canopy of trees that separated the Estate from Clematis. She hadn't realized the advantage of living so close to the village's edge and the High Lord's Estate until now.

She knew he wasn't in the Rose Manor. That's all anyone would say about him—how he had forsaken his opulent home the moment he abandoned Spring. It troubled Cin how no one seemed to find fault with a man who had forsaken the sanctity and security of his own home.

"Where are you headed, Cin?" Mendes intercepted her path, preventing her from closing the last few feet towards the boundary gate. "Bron should still be passed out. Shouldn't you be at home?"

Mendes belonged to Bron's inner circle of friends, Bron's Merry Men as she called them, another former sentry who had abandoned his post under the High Lord's employ. Bron and his merry band of eight disgraced sentries not only frequented the small taverns in Clematis but also took pleasure in tormenting Cin whenever they got the chance.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Bron is taking care of Papa today. The day is mine, Mendes," Cin retorted, attempting to push past him. Yet, Mendes remained immovable. Cin narrowed her eyes at him. "Move, or I will move you."

Mendes let out a hearty guffaw. He was larger and much taller than her. Cin flinched at the sound of his laughter, which echoed eerily like the male laughter she had heard while her body was violated. Taking a step back, Cin shuddered and lifted her chin, defiantly holding Mendes's gaze amidst his laughter.

She needed to remind herself that it was Mendes, one of her brother's closest friends, who was laughing, not a Hybern soldier clad in cold, steel armor.

"Let her go, you ass," Hart descended from the nearby tree he had been climbing, marched over, and smacked Mendes on the back of his head. "She's a big girl. If she needed your help, she would ask for it, right, Cin?"

Hart appeared even worse off than Bron. His eyes were half-closed and bloodshot. Cin convinced herself that he had been sleeping in the tree until Mendes's laughter stirred him. Through gritted teeth, she forced out a response, more to clear her own path than to genuinely agree with Hart. "Right."

Hart grabbed Mendes by the neck, and the two of them wrestled their way back to the tree Hart had jumped from, while Cin hurried towards the shelter of the tree canopy. She didn't want to give them a chance to realize that Bron might not want his sister wandering alone outside the village gates.

She didn't want to give them a chance to follow her.