[COMPLETED] Poppies and Roses: A Flower Husbands Fanfiction

Chapter 5 - Invitation

Scott and I stand quietly in the throne room of the castle. After a few moments, a man with, sunglasses, dog ears, and a tail comes into the room. "Presenting Her Royal Highness, the Shadow Queen," he says in a loud voice, gesturing to the door behind him.

I honestly don't know what I expected the Shadow Queen to look like, but it wasn't anything close to the woman I see in front of me. She has long, wavy pink hair down to her waist with space buns and a flower crown made of yellow roses. Her eyes are piercingly blue and she's wearing a simple dress that's the exact same shade of blue. Behind her, a pair of yellow fairy wings are softly fluttering.

I'm not sure what to do. Should I bow? Introduce myself? I don't know anything about etiquette in court. But then the Shadow Queen puts a hand on her hip, casting the dog hybrid an exasperated glance. "You know you don't have to go through that whole spiel," she says.

"But my queen, it is customary to-" She cuts him off with a laugh. "Ren, I've been queen for less than five years. There hasn't been enough time for anything to become customary." The Shadow Queen then turns to me and Scott. "I may not be able to get Ren to call me by my real name, but you two can call me Lizzie."

Her friendly demeanor immediately puts me at ease. "I'm Jimmy," I say, shaking her hand. "The healer, correct?" I pause. How could she have known?

"And you must be Scott, the plant manipulator," Lizzie says, smiling at Scott. I turn to Scott, but he looks just as confused as I am. "How do you know who we are?" Scott asks.

Lizzie smiles. "I have my ways," she says, gesturing behind her. A man suddenly appears where she's indicating, making both me and Scott jump. Ren and the new man laugh.

"This is BigB," Lizzie says. "He can turn invisible in shadows, which is how I got the nickname Shadow Queen. We've been working together for years."

"Wait, so you were spying on us?" I ask. BigB shrugs. "Sort of, yeah. Actually, I was watching you with Grian. I just stayed in the forest so I could stay invisible."

"Did you really think we'd send Grian alone?" Lizzie asks. Now that she's said it out loud, it sounds ridiculous. Of course they wouldn't send a teenager by himself.

"Come with me," Lizzie says, walking out of the castle. She leads us over to Joel who's currently playing catch with Grian and Scar. Every time either of them passes to Grian, they throw the ball into the air so he can fly up and catch it.

"Joel!" Lizzie calls. He immediately turns to face her and consequently gets hit in the arm by the ball. Lizzie quickly rushes over, grabbing his arm to look at it. Scott and I hurry behind her. "I'm alright," Joel says reassuring her. His cheeks are pink as Lizzie continues to fret over him.

After a few more times of Joel insisting he's fine, Lizzie steps back. "How's Geraldine?" she asks. "Great, actually," he says with a smile. "Jimmy just healed her."

Lizzie turns to me surprised. "And you're not tired at all?" she asks me. "Well, I almost passed out when I healed her," I mutter. "But Joel gave me a strength potion. "That's still really impressive," Lizzie says. "Especially for a healer your age."

Before I can respond, the ball flies past us. Grian's right behind it, grabbing it seconds before it hits the ground. Scar cheers, and Joel gives Grian a high five. "I should get back to playing with them," Joel says apologetically. "That's fine," Lizzie replies. "See you later babe." She stands on her tiptoes to give Joel a kiss on the cheek before walking away.

"Are you two dating then?" Scott asks. "For almost a year, yeah," Lizzie says. "Although, with the way Joel still gets flustered you'd think it's only been a week."

After a moment of silence, I say, "Grian seemed really interested in Scott's power."

Lizzie nods. "We're all very interested in Scott's power," she responds. "Fairies and nature tend to go hand in hand, so it's possible mine and Scott's powers could combine into a stronger power."

"You have powers?" Scott asks, brow furrowed. "I've never heard of a hybrid that also has powers."

"That's because you've never met a fairy hybrid," Lizzie smiles. "I can use some simple fairy magic. Not as strongly as a true fairy could, but it's still useful. That's how the Fairy Fort is so big." "I was wondering about that," I say.

"How would we combine our powers?" Scott asks. Lizzie hesitates. "I'm still figuring that part out," she answers. "I'm not even sure if it would actually work. If it does work, it could be incredibly helpful."

The three of us watch Joel, Scar and Grian play catch for a few minutes before Lizzie speaks again. "BigB mentioned you already have a camp set up," she says. "But if you want to stay with us in the Fairy Fort, you're more than welcome."

I glance to Scott. As nice as the Fairy Fort is, I like our little river canyon. Luckily, Scott seems to feel the same way. "Thanks for the offer," he says, "but I would prefer to stay at our camp. Unless Jimmy wants to stay here?" I shake my head. "I agree with Scott," I say. Lizzie smiles. "Well, if you ever need another place to stay, just let me know."

"Speaking of our camp, we should probably get back," Scott says. I look up and realize he's right. The sun is directly overhead. In the excitement of meeting everyone, I had lost track of time. I also notice that the strength potion has worn off. I feel much better, but I could still use a moment to rest.

Scott and I say a quick goodbye to everyone before heading back. The walk seems ten times longer now that I'm already tired.

After a quick lunch, I go to my hobbit hole to take a nap. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.