The Cursed Kingdom

THIRTY-SEVEN

~ SHATTERED PIECES ~

"We have to plant sunblooms in their own section along the back or else they'll kill the other plants."

Destry pointed towards the tall yellow flowers ahead of us that, towering over five feet tall with stems as thick as my wrists, acted as a natural fence along the garden's boundaries in place of the hedges that had taken up the space previously.

Gardeners rested on their knees in front of them, patting the fresh, moist soil they'd hauled to the palace early that morning while others scattered the mulch that I could smell from my spot a couple feet away. It was fascinating to watch them work, every single one of them full of passion for everything they were doing and always finding time to laugh in between the work, despite their clothes being covered with soil and sweat drenching their skin.

There were at least a hundred gardeners in total, all having much to accomplish within just a few days with the large variety of plants Henrik had ordered, ranging from the brightest flowers, pungent herbs and spices, and even a couple tall fruit trees that I looked forward to picking and possibly making macarons with.

One gardener excused herself as she walked by me with a pair of pruning shears, heading towards a light green bush with leaves as big as platters that another person was spraying water on, no doubt trying to keep them from drying out in the heat.

"Are their very roots long?" I asked with a frown, adjusting my wide, straw hat to keep the blazing sun out of my eyes after rolling up the short sleeves of my thin, yellow summer dress up to my shoulders.

The weather was almost unbearable that day, so hot and humid that a layer of sweat covered every inch of my body, and the bugs were even more ridiculous. I lost count of how many mosquitos I'd killed in the middle of trying to get a feast out of my blood.

"No, not at all!" Destry said, patting his forehead with an off-white handkerchief he'd pulled out from the front pockets of his trousers. "Although they represent friendship in a lot of cultures, sunblooms have small pores all over their bodies that release a toxin that dissolves organisms in surrounding soil, such as worms and other plants' roots, to absorb their nutrients," Destry replied, making my eyes widen. "Long ago, when Trellomar was one kingdom, people would use sunbloom oil for torture strategies."

I blinked.

"Oh," was the most intellectual response my mind could conjure, disheartened to know something so bright and exquisite as a flower could be used as a weapon.

I'd always assumed flowers to be one of the few things left on the planet that were free from the clutches of tainted hands, too innocent to ever be used for anything other than visual enjoyment and gifts of adoration.

To be aware that the truth was the exact opposite of what I originally thought was equivalent to realizing anything in the entire world—flowers, kindness, and perhaps even children—could be used as a method of bringing others pain. It was a disgusting idea that left a bitter taste on my tongue and I suddenly understood why my mother had urged me to never wish to grow up as I'd mistakenly done too many times in my youth.

"You will have to be an adult many times in your life," she had told me while tucking into bed one night, handing me my stuffed doll that she's made me for my birthday so I could hold it close to my heart. "But you can only be a child once."

Her words hadn't made sense at the time but now they resonated with me so much that I hoped she could feel my gratitude for her wisdom wherever she resided in the afterlife.

Growing up doesn't just include losing your innocence. It means losing trust in the innocence of everything. Even flowers.

Destry began leading me around the corner and back towards the front, having shown me everything on the other side of the garden already, and to an area with clusters of blue and pink flowers. I gasped in delight when I saw an orange butterfly with black stripes and blue dots land gracefully on one, opening and closing its wings slowly. Destry's dimples revealed themselves once more as he grinned from ear-to-ear, clearly very pleased by the vegetation in front of us and the reaction it elicited out of me.