iii.

Jayen

"I'm tired!" I said, tears welling up in my eyes. "I can't do it, I need to take a break, please!"

"The plants wouldn't give a damn if you're tired! So shut up and move that plant!" He yelled back at me.

I couldn't. I'd been trying for months but I couldn't do it. I couldn't bend the plants to my will. I tried and I tried but I couldn't. Every time I'd fail I'd get yelled at by Mr. Widmen. We didn't even know if I was Herbalist yet.

"I'm tired, my head hurts. My hand's bleeding!" I cut my hand on a thorn earlier and it was still bleeding. It was a dull throbbing pain.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. He was holding my arm so tightly I thought it would break. "You're useless!"

"Good morning Jayen!" Aoife was knocking on my door. "Kuna made us some fruit to take outside."

I blinked several times to get used to the light pouring in through my window. My room was a dark green color and was fairly blank. I haven't unpacked my bags yet. My bags were lying next to my wardrobe that already had two uniforms hang up.

I stretched and sat up in bed. I felt heavy with sleep still and wanted nothing more than to sink farther in my bed fall asleep again. I closed my eyes again.

"Jayen!"

"Yeah, yeah." I sit up. My shirt is completely wrinkled and stretched a bit in the left sleeve. "Damn it."

I spend a few minutes getting ready. Putting on a new shirt and a new pair of pants. The fabric feels cool on my skin. I opened up my window a bit more to get a breeze and a little more sunlight inside. I grab a piece of ribbon and tie it into my hair, I really didn't feel like brushing my hair.

"Jayen! It's been ten minutes." Aoife knocks again.

I have never been a morning person. Not once.

"I'm coming."

"You better be!"

I opened my door to see Aoife holding two cups of diced apples, orange slices, and pomegranate seeds. Her hair was tied in a low ponytail and her eyes shone in the morning light.

"I brought you your fruit so we can take it outside. It's really nice out today." She handed it to me and I gladly took it. The cup was cold and the fruit smelled sweet.

"What time did you wake up?" I asked her before putting an orange slice in my mouth. I missed oranges.

"An hour ago. I wanted to wake you up but Kuna said that wouldn't end well for me."

We started walking down the hallway.

"Yeah, I'm not really into waking up."

"Waking up early?"

"Waking up, period."

Aoife laughed. I like her laugh.

"Yeah, I get it. I really like waking up early though. I love the way the birds sing and the light hits the trees outside. I did some stretching already but if you want to join me later that would be fun." Aoife looked at me.

I looked straight ahead. "That does sound fun. Maybe I will join you. Just not that early."

We left from the back door, I already finished my fruit cup but she was still working on hers. The second we walked outside the Forget-Me-Not started yelling at me.

"It's been so long! Have you. . . Forgotten us? That's so rude! You're so mean! That's despicable!" They swayed angrily.

I sighed and bent down next to them. "You are my absolute favorite plant. I'm going to water you first."

Aoife looked at me strangely. "They're angry at me, it's the only way to get them to be quiet," I explained.

Aoife laughed. "I think that's amazing."

"What's amazing?" I looked up at her.

Her face had a tint of red to it now. "I think you're amazing."

I smiled back. "Do you want to see something I've been working on since I was a kid?"

Aoife nodded and sat down on a stone garden bench. I've never been able to do this fully but that won't stop me from trying. Maybe if I had someone to watch it would work a lot better.

I took a deep breath and focused on the ivy crawling its way up the house. The leaves were a dark green streaked with white. I raised my Marked arm and focused. I cleared my mind of everything. I didn't think about how stupid I must look, I didn't think about the Forget-Me-Nots, I didn't think of Aoife. I was nothing and I was everything. I closed my eyes and pictured the ivy untangling.

Slowly, I felt something growing and shifting inside my hand. It felt like the ivy was wrapping itself up my arm and engulfing me in a dark green cocoon. I felt warm and I felt strong. I opened my eyes and watched as the ivy uncurled from around windowsills and fall away from the bricks. It hit the ground with a satisfying plop.

Aoife's mouth was wide open.

"Well, what do you think?" I asked awkwardly.

"What do I think?" Aoife clapped her hands together. "I think that was incredible! I didn't know anyone could do that! I thought Herbalists could only talk to plants!"

"Most Herbalists can only talk to plants. My Coven leader was determined to teach us to control them as well." I sat down on the bench next to her. I was tired now, things like that really took it out of me.

"Us?"

"The other kids and I. He was obsessed with power."

"What Coven were you in?" Aoife put her fruit cup down.

"Coven 200. What about you?"

"I was in 184. 200, wow, no wonder he wanted you to be impressive. Wait, this wasn't Mr. Widmen. . . Was it?" Aoife looked at me, her eyes full of sadness.

How did she know about him? Oh no, does she know what he did? I can't let her look at me like they do. "No, I don't think I know who that is."

"Good. He's a bad person-- and I don't say that often. I don't remember what Coven he was in though."

Oh boy, I know that. "What was your Coven like?"

"Oh, it was wonderful! Do you know that old saying that it takes a village to raise a child? That's how we lived. The adults raised all of use but we lived with our own families. My grandpa was the Coven leader before he retired. He used to teach me about the animals that became poisonous or venomous to protect themselves."

"He sounds like a good man," I said, eager to move on from me. I didn't want to talk about my Coven or my family.

"He was. He passed away a few months before I moved here. That's actually why I wanted to move. He didn't like the way that the Coven was run anymore. People no longer ran barefoot through the hills, they sit in their houses alone."

I nodded along with her story. "I'm sorry but we really should get to watering."

"Oh shoot yeah. Let me do it." Aoife stood up before I could.

"I mean. . . If you really want to that's fine. I'll let you know if a plant is yelling at you."

Aoife laughed loudly and got the hose. I watched her as she walked up to the False Boxwood tree and sprayed it with the hose. I've only known Aoife for a day and I've already shared with her what it took Maj a year to know. Aoife was easy to talk to and was a great listener.

"Hey! Aoife!" I yelled from across the yard. "What's Lady Dupon really like? I know you're probably just being polite about your employer, but I really want to know."

Aoife turned off the hose and walked over to me on the bench. "Why do you all think I'm lying about her?"

I shrugged. "I haven't had anyone to really talk to in a few months and I just really need to know what she's really like."

"She's scary."

I looked at her, obviously confused.

"Of course everything I already said but she's really scary. Her voice-- chilling. It was like walking in a graveyard." Aoife put her hand on her hip. "She did seem genuinely concerned with the estate though."

I eyed her. What if Aoife was just telling Lady Dupon what I was telling her? No, Aoife is so nice. She couldn't be a spy.

"I'm not her spy."

"Then how did you just read my mind?" I joked.

We both laughed and she went back to watering.

"Hey, we got a letter! Get in here and read it with us!" Maj was yelling out the top floor window at us.

We had just finished watering the last flower pack. The sun was slowly starting to set. We hadn't talked much aside from repeating what the plants were chiming in. My head was slowly starting to hurt more after I did my little trick.

"We all have to read her letter?" Aoife was hanging the hose back up.

"Uh, now it means we have a letter addressed to the estate or to the entire staff." I rubbed my forehead. "It's usually just a letter that got the address wrong."

"Oh, well, that could be fun."

I laughed and we headed inside. Through the winding corridors and into the main entrance room. Our shoes clicked rhythmically through the halls.

When we got there, Maj was standing at the small table in the middle of the room. Fanning herself with the letter.

"I am so ready for summer to be over. I was outside for a second and I still haven't cooled down yet." Maj said.

"You have to been out there so a while to get used to the heat," Aoife said, "Ireane wasn't this hot. It was actually pretty nice."

"Oh really? I would think it would be pretty hot over there too." I said.

"It was wonderful. Nothing like the weather here. Winter is even pretty mild." Aoife said.

"I'm here! I'm here!"

I turned my head to see Devi running up to us with Kuna behind her. Devi's long, blonde braid was swinging with each step she took. She was wearing a long black cardigan that was flowing behind her like a cape. Ferni was following even farther behind, he was still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Devi and Ferni only had their looks in common. Devi was an outspoken and bright person while Ferni was introverted and didn't like to make eye contact. They were both fairly quiet though.

"Aoife, this is Ferni and Devi." Kuna pointed at both of them respectively. Devi waved and Ferni bowed his head.

"Okay, we're all here," Maj said. "We got a letter from Lady Dupon today. The postman just dropped it off."

Kuna's eyes widened. "A letter? From her? Is it going to be actually written by her or just written in her name?"

"Or she's going to fire you," Maj said.

"Not funny."

Devi pinched her fingers together. "A little funny."

"Alright, alright. Who wants to do the honors?" Maj held out the envelope.

"Just read it already," Kuna said, "I'm on the edge of my seat. This is so exciting."

"Do you want to read it?"

"Not funny, again."

Aoife looked at Kuna, "I don't get it."

Kuna scrunched up her nose, "I'm illiterate."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't--"

"Please just read the letter!" Devi said.

Maj laughed and opened up the envelope. The seal was a dark green color that shimmered in the sunlight. She handed me the envelope and held onto the letter.

"Where's the seal from?" Aoife leaned over my shoulder to look at it.

The seal had an X on it with lavender growing on either side of it, framing it. The letter was cursive and had swooping curves.

"Hey, I know that seal color."

"What?" Maj looked at Devi.

She shrugged. "Each country uses a certain seal color. You'd have to be pretty high up to get the wax because of how expensive it is to make. It's from Freandon."

"That's very specific and oddly helpful information," Kuna said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, alright, be quiet I'm going to read it now," Maj said.

"Out loud?" I asked.

"No," Maj laughed, "This is long, I'm not reading this entire thing out loud."

We waited for her to finish. My heart was racing. Was she going to fire one of them-- one of us? Was Aoife truly my replacement? Is this how she fired them before I came here?

Maj's facial expressions changed from unimpressed, worried, to shocked in a few seconds. I looked around to everyone. Aoife seemed relaxed but her eyes were fixated on Maj. Kuna was looking down, worry displayed on their face. Devi was leaning on the table trying to read the letter and Ferni was wringing out his hands.

"She's moving here." Maj said.

"When?" Kuna asked. They looked up and relaxed. I stared at Kuna. They had short black hair that was cut in a pixie cut. I remember when I saw seventeen and they asked Maj to cut it. She cut it way too short and Kuna wore a hat for three months. They had slender hooded eyes and thick eyebrows.

"It says later this week." Maj put the letter down and rubbed her temples, "We have so much work to do. We didn't think she'd move in for a few months."

"I can help today," Devi said.

Maj handed me the letter and I looked over it. The letters were swooping and small. I hate to even think this but her handwriting was beautiful. The letter was articulate, each word was well placed and beautiful.

Oh no.

Oh no.

I felt my heart drop into my stomach and I felt sick.

"Jayen, dear, what's wrong?" Maj put her hand on my shoulder.

"Jinan's working for her."

"What?" Maj drew her hand back, shocked.

I placed my hand over my heart, willing it to slow down and let me catch my breath. Why was it so bright? I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Who's Jinan?" Aoife asked.

"Scum of the Areth," Kuna spat.

"Her ex-boyfriend," Devi whispered.

Maj rubbed my shoulders. "It's okay, he's gone. He's not coming here, baby. You're okay."

"He is," I choked out, "Lady. . . Lady Dupon is bringing him. He's been, um, he's been working for her. He's her right-hand man--"

"We won't let him get close to you, ok?" Aoife put her hand on mine.

Maj pulled me into a hug. She smelled like cedar and burnt lavender. I relaxed against her. I wasn't going to cry. I ran out tears to cry years ago. I wasn't going to let them see me cry over Jinan again. Maj smoothed down my hair. I missed her so much. She was more of a mother to me then my biological mother had ever been.

"Alright you two can go to bed, Aoife I need you to help out and dust the house. Get everywhere you can and sweep if there's time. Kuna, clean up the kitchen and make a list of everything we need to get for food. Jayen and I will pick it up. Okay?"

I couldn't see what was happening but I heard everyone shuffling off.

"Are you feeling better?" Maj asked me.

I nodded against her and she opened her arms. I took a step away from her and handed her the letter again. I tucked the envelope into my pocket. The message inside was ugly but the seal was beautiful.