My Empire

Chapter 6: Garden Talk 2, Evil Version

                                       ~~~Queen Eve of Nocturne~~~

Why was there a dead plant in my garden?

Correction: Why were there multiple dead plants in my garden?

I frowned at the wilted, blackened petals of the rose bush in front of me, the leaves drooping and brown. Around me, there was a trail of dying or dead plants scattered amongst the healthy ones. My garden was my pride and joy, my favorite place to go when I needed some peace and quiet and wanted to sit dramatically in my pretty dresses and drink tea surrounded by flowers.

Maybe a new gardener hire had done this by accident? Living in (and ruling) an empire of faeries and magical nature creatures would foster the thought that no one, no matter how new or young, could possibly mistreat a plant so badly as for it to die in a matter of hours. I had been here just a little bit ago, to watch the sunrise, and the damage hadn't been here. It was noon now.

How could a plant wilt and die so quickly?

I would go to the head gardener later and tell him of the damage so he could figure out who did it, I decided. For now, these plants needed my help.

Summoning a curl of sweet, strong magic up from the core of energy within my chest, the source of my life and energy as a faerie, I let it travel through my veins and out of my fingers into the poor roses, returning the life so cruelly taken to them. The tips of my fingers up to my knuckles darkened, starry spots of energy gleaming and shimmering in and out on the magically affected skin. Reinvigorated by my magic, the roses grew and bloomed, the sweet scent and bright petals filling my senses as it grew back to its former glory.

I sat back on my heels, my midnight purple skirts pooling around me, and smiled to myself at a job well done. The flowers looked to be in their prime of health now, as if no illness had ever struck them. Exactly as it was meant to be.

I wandered around the garden, healing the rest of the wilted plants as the starry skin grew up my arms to my elbows with my continued use of magic. I looked like I was wearing a pair of starry, dynamic gloves, which was why I loved this particular side effect of my magic so much. It looked amazing.

As I healed the plants, I wandered farther and farther into the garden, not noticing the trail of dead plants leading me deeper into the maze of plants. When I had finally healed the last plant and looked up, I was in a completely different part of my garden, one I wasn't even sure I had ever visited before. The sky was almost completely concealed by tree branches and giant flowering bushes, except for a sole patch of sunlight gleaming right where I was kneeling like a beam from the heavens.

Getting to my feet, I dusted off my skirt, the long dark fabric now streaked with grass stains and dirt from my little adventure. I really needed to stop wearing such fancy clothes for my regular day to day clothing, but I looked too good to wear drab, normal clothes like some sort of commoner.

With a quick spell and a magical rune etched in the air, the shimmering violet magic light of the rune dissolved and sank into my dress, erasing the dirt and stains and fluffing up the poofy skirts, returning it to its original glory easily. I grinned, pleased with myself.

It had been ages since I got so hyperfixated on a course of action that I had lost complete track of my location and sense of time. Spinning around in a slow circle (to look around, not just to make my skirt flare out) I scrutinized my surroundings.

I didn't see a path out from the area I was in. How had I gotten in here? I vaguely remembered wading through a clump of bushes to reach the wilted fern I had just healed. So I had just rushed through everything? Maybe that's why I hadn't been here before, if it was completely secluded away from the garden paths.