~*~

Wormwood


~*~

The petal rain had started falling. Their kingdom did not experience shards of thunder when it was supposed to rain. In its place, the ghost tenders of the Green kingdom, had chanted the clouds to rain petals. Each season a different flower petal type fell. It was raining rose petals.

Silver wondered out loud when a rose petal peppered Shinja's cheek.

"Wow!" He reached out to take it also using that opportunity to touch her skin. She colored some more and said more to herself than to him.

"Petal rain."

"What was that love?" Silver queried.

"Petal rain," she repeated as if that explained. She noticed he still wore a perplexed expression. "We receive petal rain in the Green kingdom. Today it's raining rose petals. How lovely! It's good luck I guess."

"Fascinating!" He exclaimed, then looked at her and added, "Your home is fascinating."

"You're too kind my lord." Shinja blushed. Her use of the word 'lord' won her a warning from Silver. "Sorry, love. I meant you're too kind my love. Call it a tongue slip."

He smiled at her.

Stepping outside the castle whose walls had started taking on the color of the rain, toning from emerald to rose red. Petal rain always brought unusual changes to even the merest of appearances. Silver was bewildered. Shinja watched for a while before voicing, "Come on, we have a date to get to."

From the stables they each grabbed their horses, and trod off the palace premises.

~*~


Sixty gatherings of minutes before

~*~

"I see. So, you are excited about that date, aren't you clueless fools? Wait till you see what I have planned for the lot of you." Looking through the scarlet cistern, Jen watched Silver and Shinja head out of her room.

The scarlet cistern was a deep curvaceous bowl, close to a basin—its size was wearing thin between a goblet and a basin—that gave her the ability to look into one's future and present. It had been chanted with the blood of immortals thus being able to track any immortal she put out to follow.

It was like her own version of a spy-glass. No one in the Green kingdom knew of it. She charmed it and watched the royal family at night, during the day and any other time that she pleased. They were her obsession.

She was at the back of the castle by the stables, talking to herself. Speaking gibberish into the scarlet cistern. Her eyes glowed with mischief as she stepped away from the cistern. And waited. Then something happened. The cistern disappeared immediately out of sight and left something behind.

She smiled. She picked it up and stared at it admiringly with a sort of glorification to it. That is when it moved.

"What is that in your hands?" A voice called out suddenly. Whatever it was, nearly fell out of her hands as she turned to look at who had called her out so uncouthly. She fidgeted for a while. It took her some time to regain her balance.

What the blazes? She turned abruptly, ready to fire venom at whoever had startled almost ruining her moment. No sooner had she turned than she let out a sigh of relief when she noticed who it was.

"You? I thought it was someone else! You scared me Bolton. I thought it was someone else. You know...someone of importance. I thought they had found me. And yet, it's just you. Thank hell's infernos!"

She touched her chest with one of her hands—balancing her odd specimen in the other—as if to hold back her heart from falling out. With that, her eyes turned back to the furry thing in her hands.

Sweat was dripping off her brow. That had been one good scare. You have to be more careful next time. It could have been anybody you know. Right, but it was not. She continued to wipe the sweat off her brow with one hand, balancing the furry thing with the other.

She was tactical in her movements, dancing on her toes with shaky fingers. There was dusty fur falling off from the odd thing in her hands. She kept jumping to the side as if to keep the dust from falling on anything else but her hands.

Odd, Bolton thought to himself. She had not answered his question yet. He had asked what it was she held. Now, she had spaced out again, totally lost in her obsession, taken by her latest discovery. What is that thing? Why does she seem so taken by it? What if—that thought was interrupted by Jen. She answered his thoughts directly. This would have surprised him but he was used to her odd mannerisms.

"This," she made a dramatic pause while manically looking at the thing in her hands. Eyes wide. Palms drawn close to her face as she deeply gazed into the soul of the creature. Its wings fluttered slowly. Up. Down. Up. Down. "This, my dear is a moth."

A moth? A moth that big? No way! He wanted to say. "What are you holding a moth for?" He asked instead, perplexed. There was no way that was a normal moth.

Jen was not one to be sweet with nature or even pet a cat. She hated horses or any animal in the castle for that matter. He always wondered how she managed to keep up with her palace duties, if she hated everything that creeped.

"This is not just any moth, Bolton." She sounded irritated by his stupid question. How couldn't he know what this is?

"Okay, then what is it?"

Argh...annoying dumb dimwit that almost scared me to death.

"My God, you are so clueless, aren't you? You don't recognize it?" She turned abruptly and pointed both of her hands that held the moth in his direction, right before his eyes. Closer to him now, Bolton took a step back swiftly. Recognition hitting him like a hurricane.

"Oh my God! No way! Where did you get that? Is that what I think it is?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes, my love. This right here is a wormwood moth. The moth of immortality. One sniff of powder from its wings is enough to slowly take your life, immortal or not. It does not take effect immediately. Call it a killing-me-softly if you will. You do not realize it until it's too late."

"I see. But, why do you have it now? When are you planning to put it to play? Where?" He could not control his elation. Jen fought the urge to roll her eyes at his dorky smile. Ridiculous.

"This little glory is going on a date." Her eyes lit up with evil intent as she muttered quite matter-of-factly expecting Bolton to pick on fast. He did not. This served to anger her, his thickness grating on her good mood like a cat's nails on a glass window.

"A date? I don't seem to follow."

Jen rolled her eyes skyward in irritation this time at the baby in a grownup's body. Hold my juices, how did we get here?

"Well fool, we are sending her after Silver and that good for nothing Shinja on their date. Stay with me, will you? Goodness!" She looked back at the wormwood moth. Her eyes darted up and down the furry thing.

Bolton clapped his hands enthusiastically. "Oh wow, that is so brilliant!"

"I am the brilliant one here Bolton, not the idea. Fool!" She shrugged her shoulders and ignored the dimwit at her side for a nanosecond. She brought the moth close to her mouth as she had done earlier and as though the creature could hear her, she whispered a few gibberish words to it. Then she passed it on to Bolton. "Do you mind doing the honors?" She offered it to him.

Thereafter, she picked up a stick that seemed intentionally woven into a crooked shape. She pointed it into the sky. Dark lines with white sprinkles shot out of it. They drew a zigzag line in the invisible clouds whose cushions had been replaced with scarlet petals.

Bolton held out the moth, his hands stretched forth upward as he let out the creature into the sky. The creature too big for its kind did not meander but took specific directions drawn out by Jen's stick.

She watched it fly away with satisfaction on her face. Once inhaled, the powder would eat away at the victim's lungs till they are dead and gone. Its effect only showed when it was too late. She had them exactly where she wanted them. Available. Vulnerable. Then. BAM! She smiled sinisterly. I guess it all works out in the end. That will do.

~*~

The Secret Garden

~*~

Silver rode ahead of Shinja but later they caught up with each other. Silver halted their horses and he pretended to pick out another petal—call it effects of the petal rain—from her hair only to give her a light peck on her right cheek.

How had he done that? He did not seem uncomfortable with how he twisted on his horse to reach for her. I guess love has a way of making you do even the impossible. They continued riding side by side till they came across two paths; one led to the Green Lake forest and the other to the Secret Garden. The question lingered between them on where they should go first. Silver was first to speak.

"Since our date is going to be for two days, let's spend our first day in the Green Lake forest. Then we can spend our last pleasant day in the Secret Garden. What do you think about it?" he asked with a smile.

She nodded her ascent.

You are not mute, you know. Her inner voice began. Yes, but if I say anything, I might say everything. Get it? My bad. How did I forget about that! Silly me, yes smile and wave. You know what? Actually, don't do anything. I don't want you becoming a blubbering mess.

~*~

During the time they spent at the Green Lake Forest, both of them shared their concerns, likes and fears. Caught in the euphoric ambience of the petal rain that was particularly rosy that day, Silver enjoyed listening to Shinja as she spoke.

He loved how her eyes crinkled at the corners every time she mentioned something that caused her to smile. She told him about her family, childhood and her sisters too. The memories with her sisters gave her the most joy, he had noticed.

Time was soon dawning; they needed a place to rest and Silver knew next to nothing about where that could be.

"Shinja, can you please choose the place where we are going to rest for the afternoon and maybe later when we decide to have a siesta?"

"Oh yeah, let us go under that tree over there," she pointed further. "The shade there is glamorous. We can rest there. I am sure you will like it. It will do for the afternoon."

"Then that is where we shall go." He offered her a hand and she held it as she got off the gravel. They headed to the tree shade she had mentioned and began to set up for the cozy afternoon picnic.

"As I lay down the mat for us, please make do the fruit basket." She offered making Silver smile.

"The right thing to do is share the work." He added as an affirmation.

"Exactly. That's what I mean." She said watching him closely.

"By the way," Shinja started a few moments later as they lay down entwined together, "I have a question or maybe questions for you."

"Questions, go ahead and ask away. I have no problem in answering any question you may have at this point." He actually thought that the questions would be fewer now or next to none considering that earlier on they had shared most of what he felt were the most urgent issues to discuss. Notwithstanding, who was he to deny the woman he loved anything?

He was a man in love and a few questions did not mean anything.

"Is your love for me pure?" she said this as she left his embrace.

No. 

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