What had seemed like a nice little nest egg among the other treasures, suddenly looked like nothing, and he sank to his knees in the street. He crawled through the alley and sat leaning up against the building, not noticing the mucky sludge that soaked into his pants like the despair that washed over him.
The few coins would never be enough to pay for a stay at the hotel, and the one thing that would have proven his identity was gone. He dug in his pocket and took out the little pouch, dumped it into this hand, and looked at the coins, a spark of hope coming to life when he realized that there was more there than he’d remembered.
Quickly shoving the coins back into the pouch, he stuffed them deep in his pocket and shoved himself to his feet. His arm was still oozing blood from the knife wound, but it would heal on its own in a few hours, so he tore a strip off the bottom of his shirt and clumsily wrapped it around the wound. There was nothing he could do about his torn, bloody clothes, and he was sure that there was a bit of a stench coming from around him, but both problems could be handled with the coins rattling around in his pocket.
***Darby***
After seeing to the horse, and putting the wagon away, Darby headed for the farmhouse and dinner. She could hear the party at the castle faintly in the distance and felt a pang of curiosity but pushed it away as unwise. Inside, she found a pot of stew bubbling softly on the stove and a fresh loaf of bread on the table and wished again that she could feel something for Eli.
It wasn’t the first time one of them had left the other dinner, but on this night, the gesture seemed especially poignant, and a stab of loneliness took her breath away. Even after all these years, the loss of her parents still hurt, and the pain of losing her grandmother was still fresh as it had been last winter when she’d gone to sleep and never woken again. Pushing away the grief and longing for what she could never have again, she put together her dinner and took it out onto the porch.
Determined to enjoy the warm early summer evening, she let the sounds of the party at the castle fade to the background and instead listened to the noise of the farm around her. The animals in the barn were quiet that night, but she could hear them moving around in their pens, the chickens murmuring in the coop, and the wind that blew through the plants around her filling the air with a delightful fragrance.
The stew in front of her forgotten, she leaned her head back and took deep gulps of the air, wishing she could capture that smell in one of her soaps or lotions. But no matter how hard she tried, it couldn’t be captured, couldn’t be bottled or packaged, only experienced on a rare night like this one. Her appetite gone, she took the food back in the house and left it in the kitchen, thinking she might eat it later.
Grabbing her jacket and a blanket, she headed out the front door and into the darkness. She didn’t need a light to find her way to her favorite spot on the farm; the stars provided all the light she needed, the scent of each plant as she passed guiding her down the right paths. When she came to the little circle of grass in the center of her fields, she spread out the blanket and laid down.
The grass was chilly, and she was glad for the blanket and her jacket, but as she lay there, she began to feel the warmth of the earth begin to seep into her. It filled her slowly as the fragrance of the flowers and herbs around her wafted to her on the breeze, reminding her of a night not so long ago when she’d laid in the same spot.
That night, she’d lain in the middle of the ruined fields filled with despair, sure that she and her grandmother were not only going to starve over the winter, but that come spring, they’d be looking for a new place to live. The wildflowers that had slowly taken over her crops were glowing in the darkness around her, a silent reminder of her failure to hold onto the farm.
She’d sobbed as their powerful aroma surrounded her, and soon the despair began to fade, replaced by a sense of calm. Surprised, she’d looked up to discover a ring of flowers around her, their white blossoms shimmering in the darkness, and the figure of her father standing over her.
Jumping to her feet, she’d stared at him, slightly frightened at first. But the fright disappeared when he smiled at her, the same smile she remembered so clearly, and she wanted to rush over to him and throw herself into his arms.
“I couldn’t do it, Papa,” she whispered, afraid the sound of her voice would make him disappear.
“I know how hard you tried, my little pumpkin,” he said.
Her heart nearly burst when she heard her pet name. “Oh, Daddy, what am I going to do? I don’t want to go work at the castle.”
“I wish I could help you, but there are rules,” her father said. “But I can tell you this: the answer is around you. I couldn’t see it before, but now I can. Don’t be like me; open your eyes and look around you. The solution is right here.”
When his figure began to disappear, she cried out to him, but he mouthed, “I love you,” then disappeared. She’d fallen to the ground, even more disillusioned than before, but then the scent of the flowers began to reach her again and calm descended over her, a balm to her wounded soul. Then all at once, she understood what her father was trying to tell her.
She’d gathered up a big bunch of the flowers, letting their scent fill her, then headed back to the cabin and woke her grandmother. “Where did you get those?” her grandmother demanded when she’d seen what Darby was carrying.
“They’re all over the fields,” she’d said. “What are they?”
“Moon Flowers,” her grandmother had said, getting out of bed and taking the bundle from her hands. “These are the rarest flowers in Ballentine; they contain chemicals that calm and soothe.”
Even at thirteen, she’d understood that the flowers that her grandmother held were the key to her future. It hadn’t all come together at once, but that first bunch of flowers had been enough to keep them fed over the winter. Today, they were the keystone of all her products, and she’d never forget the night that her father showed her the power inside the delicate white blossom.
Chapter Five
***Colin***
Darkness had begun to fall, and Colin was still trudging down the sidewalk, although what he was walking on didn’t look much like the well-maintained paths he was used to. For hours, he’d been searching for someplace to stay for the night, and all he’d gotten were grim looks and threats to call the guards. His arm throbbed, he was dirtier than he’d ever been in his life, and he was beginning to feel desperate, terrified of the possibility he might have to spend the night outside.
His wandering had taken him to the worst part of town, a part he’d never known existed, and for the first time, he was glad that no one knew who he was. Part of him was horrified at what he saw as he walked, but the royal inside him cringed when anyone got close to him, and he wondered what had driven these people to choose a life like this.
When he finally came to a hotel with no doorman standing guard in front, a burst of hope sprang to life inside him, and he headed straight for the doors. Pushing his way through, he hesitated just inside the building, waiting for someone to turn him away, but was met with only silence. Spotting a man sitting behind a small reception desk, he walked over, demands already spinning through his mind, but then he looked at the man’s face and saw his disdain and decided on a different tactic.