The Heirs

Chapter 21- Up In Flames

she dwells with Beauty-
beauty that must die;
and Joy, whose hand is ever
at his lips bidding adieu;
and aching Pleasure nigh,
turning to poison
while the bee-mouth sips:
-

"What do you want?" Lys asked, crossing her arms as the High King closed the door to the council room. The question was not, however, aimed at the King- but at the youngest Princess, who was standing by the table, wearing a sleeveless kurta and an expression of extreme anxiety.
Why did she look so beautiful? Why? This wasn't fair. She'd not seen her for two months, and she had hoped that the distance and the lack of gazing into her dark eyes would lessen her feelings, if not make them vanish entirely.
But no. They were still there, as intense and genuine as ever, and the pain was there, making her heart shrink every time she looked at Seraphina.

Jem took charge- he hadn't the slightest idea what had happened between his sister and the dryad, but he could cut the tension between them with Selene's sword.
"We had some questions to ask you, Lysunna-"

"Lys."

"Lys." He amended quickly. She'd used to be so sweet when she was a child, giggling and flighty. Age and loss really did harden people. "Pardon me. We wanted to ask you about your parents-"

The dryad blinked- she'd been woken up by a pesky raven, and come over to the castle at dawn for this? Questions about her fathers?
"You should probably have asked Dad over, then-"

"Not them." Seraphina spoke for the first time, her voice tremulous. She truly did not want to accost Lys- this was not an easy topic to speak of, and she didn't want anything to hurt her. But she knew her duty. "Y-your birth parents."

"What?" Her expression contorted in deep confusion. "My- why?"

"You've heard about what's going on in the woods, haven't you?"

"Of course I have. I am part of the woods, remember?"
It had terrified her, when she had looked outside the window and seen the plants in the garden behind their cottage wilted. She had hurriedly yelled to her father to come out of the kitchen- and they had run out to the garden together. It had looked even worse seeing it up close- the flowers had dried and fallen off the branches, the vegetable plants had shrivelled, and the creepers and vines which covered the walls and roof of the cottage had greyed and fallen to the ground.

A petrifying thought occurred to Seraphina.
"And it hasn't affected you yet, has it?" If all the greenery wilted- if nature died- Lys would- she would- she didn't want to speak it into existence. "Are- are you alright, Lys?"

"I'm fine." She was a bit tired, but that was because of the commute to the castle just after waking up. "I'm a child of tree spirits, not a spirit of any plant myself- so it's different for me. Anyway-" the siblings looked blank, and it was too early to explain dryad genetics, which she herself didn't understand, "I barely remember my birth parents. I was just a toddler when they died in a forest-fire."

Jem leaned against a chair, his brows furrowed, "Do you remember anything about the fire itself?"

She'd never had to recall the memories of that time, that bleak period in her life where everything seemed as ashen as the remnants of her parents' home.
She shook her head, "No. I wasn't even with my parents that day- the other children and I had gone to a waterfall. And when we returned, hours later, everything was literally up in smoke."

"Are-" Seraphina glanced at Jem, unsure if he was about to speak- but she decided to speak on nevertheless, "are forest-fires common in that part of the Dancing Lawn?"

She gave another shake of her head, "Not unless there's been a major lightning storm- but even then, rain extinguishes any fire quickly. That's basic knowledge, though, for any forest, it's not limited only to the Lawn."