The Heirs

Chapter 7- The Moon's Arbour

away, away, from her favourite bower,
where ye loved to come in the evening hour,
to silver the leaf, to smile on the flower,
and checker the scene so playfully!
away, away! for the maid ye seek
hath a darkened eye, and a pale, pale cheek!
as the lonely walk and the flowers all speak,
while they hang their heads so mournfully!
-

“Lady Vanai- I am sorry to call you at this hour-”

“It’s almost eight in the morning.” The Lady told him, frowning at his apology- it wasn’t as if he’d called her at dawn, or anything. “Is this not a reasonable hour for the High King?”

Jem blinked- was that a reasonable hour for anyone?
Had he been raised wrong, or was everyone else just inhumanly fond of waking up early?
He laughed, rather nervously, to hide his apparent misstep, “Ah, I just thought you might have enjoyed a lie-in, since it’s Sunday. My mistake. Anyway-”

“Is this regarding the use of forbidden elemental magic?”
It had been over a year since the wildfire, and a few months since any other similar ‘incidents', but Vanai quite refused to let things go. That village had been rebuilt, and King James had informed her that he’d personally gone to see whether there was any indicator of magic and that there was none. She’d been convinced then- but part of her told her there was something deeper going on. She couldn’t investigate it, considering there was nothing to go on, but she felt in her gut there was something.

Jem shook his head, “No, it’s not- it’s about-”
He looked behind him, though there was no one around in this part of the Gardens. It was the Moon’s Arbour, and it was rare that anyone but the royals visited it. It had only been named so after his coronation. It had originally been where his Uncle Peter had planted about a thousand tulip flowers for his mother- a small, intimate space at that time, but as the years had passed, trees had shot up, climbers hanging like emerald necklaces off them, and the tulips had spread on their own, exceeding the limits they had been confined to, expanding the space to something much bigger. Now, it was its own section of the gardens, and- though it had distressed him- he’d had some of the flower beds mowed down and paved to make pathways, so that people could walk and admire the tulips at the same time. It was most beautiful at night-time, with the Moon’s light illuminating the flowers to make it seem like they were glowing like stars, bright among the darkness- which was half the reason behind its name- but even during mornings, with the rays of the winter sun falling on everything, drenching the multi-hued flowers with light, it was quite pretty.
The Lady had been surprised when he’d brought her here, but he didn’t want suspicion or rumours to spread, especially now that Sera had dropped in so suddenly, so he figured it was best that this appear to be a social call.
After making sure there was no one, he continued, “I believe my sister spoke to you about the assassination attempts on our lives?”

Vanai's brows shot up, but she nodded.
“Yes. Yes, she did.”
There had been four so far- five, if one counted Seraphina’s ordeal last night. It was a wonder that the King and the Princess had survived them all, mostly unscathed.
“Why do you mention it?”

He swallowed, licking his lips. He didn’t particularly want to trust her, but the Lady had informers and- he didn’t want to say spies, but for lack of a better word- spies all over the land, and she and Selene had a strange fellowship going on, being rather similar in temperament.
“There was another, last night. On Seraphina's life. The battalion travelling with her were all killed, she was the only survivor.”

Lady Vanai's face, as usual, remained impassive. No one would think she shouted the most at council meetings.
“Seraphina? Your other sister?”

“My youngest one, yes. She was travelling from Azraq to here, and was attacked after nightfall.”