My hands are clenched so tightly into fists that my arms tingle. Renit stands at my back as Citlali knocks on the door hidden underneath the ground from anyone that might venture to this area. With the garden and the dirt path leading directly towards it, Luna isn't doing the best job at keeping herself hidden and inconspicuous to all of Lona.
If I have the chance, I'll tell her just how stupid she is.
It takes a moment, and all of my impatience, for Luna to open the door. I don't hear her feet on the other side, shuffling from one end of her home to the other, but the creaking of the hinges and a pale face appearing on the other side of the door, through the black, is our end result. I clench my hands tighter and that numbness travels all the way to my shoulders and aches my back, but I don't care.
"Citlali?" Luna questions. "What are you doing here?"
Citlali is all too kind with her words. "I've come to ask something of you, Luna. We need your help." We're gestured back to and Luna's eyes stick longer on me than they do Renit. That's saying something; there's no way Luna doesn't know who is standing in her presence—the former prince of Esaria. My glare must be an impenetrable as I'm trying to make it.
Through a single breath of silence, I wonder if she'll let us in. She'll realize very quickly how strong the power of ground is compared to that of the gardens. But for her sake and that of the entirety of Lona, she opens the door wide so we can step in. Like a shriveled, beat down woman, she hunches her shoulders behind the door and keeps her eyes low as the three of us enter into a room with no light and...no floors. The dirt from the outside carries on in here, as do the flowers.
The smell of them smothers me. Never once did Celestine's power have that effect until now. It's all at the hands of Luna, she's using too much in such a small space that the flowers can't breathe and grow against the presence of sunlight and bees.
"I see you've aged yourself backward since the last time I saw you," Citlali says.
I furrow my brows as I watch the young woman pass, completely forgetting the fact she had once given into the afterlife before receiving the power of gardens. Her hair is a dark blonde in such tight ringlets that no one, not even a child, could fit their fingers through them. Luna's face is young, not the face of an original witch or the descendant of one, either. That life is left behind, as is her desire to fade into the afterlife and protect the future of this kingdom from the strengths of the originals.
"I had to," Luna responds. She pushes back a stack of books off her sofa so she can sit. No one, not even me, pays any attention to the flowers blossoming on the ground. If we did, we couldn't walk and Luna couldn't frown at us with discontent as she watches her flowers wither underneath our boots. "I couldn't stand being withered with age. Besides, having such a delicate power and a sweet, young face attracts the most wonderful attention."
Her eyes flash with something of amusement. Celestine's power is being used as bait for drooling men. My entire body is tight with rage, my muscles close to spasms, and I can't contain the scream in my throat much longer. The only reassuring force is Renit's invisible tug on the Grounding bond to keep me from leaping off the opposite couch to strangle her.
"Well, the immortal, young witch looks good on you," Citlali compliments. Those grey eyes, similar to the shade of Silas's, hold more life than that of the crown prince's. She's a young, beautiful woman with an endless world in front of her. Luna can do as she wishes when she wishes.
At her fingertips, the power of gardens blossoms. She twists three vines together and starts braiding them into a crown, blossoming flowers to twist between the green stems. Celestine used to do that, she crafted an abundance of flower crowns and handed them out to everyone in the village. Over time, the more she crafted, the more skilled she became. As Luna is now, Celestine's fingers worked too quick for me to keep track of.
YOU ARE READING
Conquering The Unbroken
Fantasy[Book 4 of the Grounding the Storm series] Roux is back in the safe hands of those that care for her most. With a ticking clock over their heads, the rebellion forms into the operation Bren dreamed it would be since the day he joined. But the threat...
