Advice from a Kid

Hyacinth spent the next few hours dumping information on Flora. Most of that time, Flora spent nodding her head, while asking the occasional question. Hyacinth didn't seem like she had many visitors to her greenhouse or like she conversed with people often. Flora was more than alright with that though, seeing as how she also didn't talk with people often if she could. Plus, Flora liked learning about the plants in the garden. Even at a young age, Hyacinth had a lot of botanical knowledge packed into the back of her brain. She was even able to suggest a few books for Flora to read, writing them down on a slip of paper for Flora to remember.

Over the course of the next few days, Flora visited Hyacinth's garden. Most of the time, the girl was running about working, but occasionally Flora slipped in with her missing. Although Flora like to hear Hyacinth gush about her flowers, it was nice to get a break from her rambling for a while. The times that the girl was gone, Flora practiced her meditation. It was strange though, whenever Flora would shift into her deep focus, there seemed to be a presence hovering around her. The few times she had the chance to train herself, she could hardly get past whatever was looming above. The presence wasn't harmful; it was just there.

Flora was deep in concentration when she heard the greenhouse door swing open. Struggling to maintain her focus, Flora ignored Hyacinth's presence. She was about to slip back into her training when Hyacinth plopped down a large basket creating a loud thud. "What are you doing Flora?"

Peeling one eye open, Flora responded, "I'm meditating."

"Why?"

"I'm trying to train myself." Flora answered, her eyes closing again.

"What are you training for?" Hyacinth had moved herself right into Flora's face.

With a deep sigh, Flora gave up on her practice for the moment. There was no way Hyacinth would let her rest without questioning. "I'm trying to train my magical abilities."

"You have magic?" Hyacinth asked, eyes wide with curiosity. "What kind of ability do you have? Can you show me?" The girl pulled up a stool next to the chair Flora was sitting in, expectantly waiting.

Flora had to think for a moment about how to answer Hyacinth's question. It wouldn't be wise to tell anyone, especially this blabber-mouthed girl, about her true magical abilities. "I can't necessarily show you, because my abilities are spiritual in nature."

"So you can see ghosts?"

Flora chuckled at the innocence of the question. "Not quite, but maybe. That's why I'm training so I can actually use my gift."

Hyacinth cocked her head to the side confused. "You mean they didn't teach you how to use your magic when you were little? How have you gotten this far without knowing how to use your magic? I thought everyone learned when they were little."

"Well, no one knew how my magic worked when I was little." Flora tried to hide the discomfort she felt by being asked such an obvious question by a child. Flora didn't want to admit to Hyacinth that she was so far behind in her studies, and she didn't really want to trudge up any memories of how people treated her magic when she was younger. "I couldn't find anyone to teach me." There was no way she was going to tell the girl that she had only recently realized she had any magical abilities at all.

"That's weird," Hyacinth started, squinting her eyes at Flora, "I don't get why you didn't train when you were little. Everyone here starts as soon as they can talk."

Trying to get the attention off of her magic, Flora asked, "are there a lot of magic users here?"

"Of course," Hyacinth asserted, "this is Leosta after all. We have the best magic users anywhere in the whole world." She seemed offended that Flora had even questioned the amount of users at all. "We have the academy and the best teachers in the world too."

"Ah, so were you taught magic when you were younger then?"

Hyacinth stilled, the pride she was giving off dimming. "Yes, but I don't like my ability too much. It's quite useless to me, and I don't really use it." The girl bit her lip as she looked down at one of her flower beds.

"Well what power do you have that could be so useless?" If Hyacinth was so confused as to why Flora wasn't taught magic younger, then she must have had a decent amount of skill to be taught so young.

"Flame."

Confused, Flora looked for clarification. "That doesn't sound so useless. That's actually really cool!" She was trying to be encouraging to Hyacinth who hadn't moved her eyes from the flower bed. "That's even the same ability as the crown prince." Hyacinth froze as Flora had said this. Shit, maybe she didn't want to be compared to someone so important or be reminded of how normal her power might in Leosta. "Well, anyway..." Flora was looking for anything else to talk about. "It's easier for me to practice here, since things seem much more clear." It was true, when she meditated in the greenhouse, compared to her bedroom that presence was not so overwhelming. Flora felt like she made far more progress outside than inside the palace.

Still gloomy, Hyacinth mumbled, "I'm not afraid of him or nothing." She was no longer looking at the bed and was now staring towards Flora.

It took a moment for Flora to trace back who she was talking about. "You mean the crown prince?" Hyacinth only grunted in response, bothered by the mere thought of him. "Do you know his highness Hyacinth?"

She folded her arms and pouted, "unfortunately. He's a big jerk."

Even though Hyacinth was still a child, Flora was stunned that she would openly insult the crown prince, who in a few years would be the next emperor. Flora decided that she wouldn't say anything, because it was just a small off-handed comment that didn't need to be blown out of proportion. Plus, Flora still didn't know what the situation was with Hyacinth. But, if Hyacinth knew Prince Alexei, then she might be able to help Flora out with Prince Andrei. "Do you know Prince Andrei then?"

Hyacinth's composure visually shifted from upset to calm. "You mean your fiancé?"

"What? How did you know I was engaged to Prince Andrei?" Flora stammered, caught off guard. It wasn't too much of a surprise that people would know about the engagement around the palace, but Hyacinth was just a kid. Plus, how would she have been able put that all together from just knowing her name?"

Giving her a saucy side eye, Hyacinth said bluntly, "Well your name is Flora, you're obviously a foreigner, and you're wearing a Leostan engagement ring." She flicked her ebony hair back with a load of sass only possible from a prepubescent girl. "I may be ten, but I wasn't born yesterday."

Flora just sat there stunned. She hadn't wanted to stick out too much or have a target on her back, but if a ten-year-old could recognize her, anyone could. Still, the attitude radiating off of Hyacinth was so on point to the girl she had known for only a few days. "Was it that obvious?" Hyacinth just shot her a sarcastic look. "Well then, yes, my fiancé." Flora fiddled with a ribbon from her dress. How ridiculous was it to be asking a child for advice on her future husband? "So, do you know much about him?"

Hyacinth narrowed her eyes as she mulled over the question, formulating what she wanted to divulge to Flora. "I do know him, but why do want to know about him?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Flora replied. "I'm supposed to marry him in less than a year, and I know next to nothing about him. I don't even know how I can talk to him let alone get to know him."

"Hmmm," Hyacinth was enjoying having this information over Flora. "He doesn't get close to that many people. If you try to hard to get close to him, he won't like you, but if you don't try at all, neither will he." She said this like she was a wise old sage mentoring a pupil.

"So what kind of traits do you think Prince Andrei looks for then?"

Hyacinth again nodded, ready to impart more knowledge on her student. "I would say that he doesn't like dishonest people. You know, the kind that are always scheming." Well, Flora wasn't that, but how could she prove that to the prince? He already didn't trust her. "It might be hard for him to trust you since you are a Pranian princess marrying him for politics."

"But I can't change anything about that."

"Yes, but you should know he hates people like that. He also doesn't like weak people." Hyacinth starting to braid her hair as she explained more to Flora. "You know, the kind that don't try to help themselves."

Flora grimaced, remembering how she literally fainted into Prince Andrei's arms. Shit, she was already behind in both of the categories Hyacinth described. She was marrying him for political advantages, and a pathetic girl that passes out after using her abilities once. Great, this was going to be harder than convincing Rose that she should have sweets for every meal. "So how do you think I can get Prince Andrei to even tolerate me?"

"I think you should just try to talk to him. He's not a bad person." Hyacinth stood up from her stool and pushed it off to the side.

Did Hyacinth actually know Prince Andrei? Just talk to him? That was like telling a cook to just think about the food. How could Flora possibly get that prince to talk to her? The times he had, he had just toyed with her. Could he ever have an interest in Flora? At least Hyacinth was able to give her some information on her fiancé, however little it was. Flora had no choice but to try talking to him.

Tossing her braid off of her shoulder, Hyacinth declared, "Well, I'm getting back to work, so you can keep... sitting there." Flora thought she might have forgotten the word 'meditate' already. Yep, no matter how mature and clever the girl was, she was still a kid after all. She looked back over at Flora and added, "oh, and if you want to find Prince Andrei, he usually trains with his men in the north field in the mornings after breakfast."