Pray I'm not Being Watched

Geoff led Julian down the hill towards the flower field where people were kneeling, standing, sitting on benches. Their only commonality was that they all pressed their hands together and lowered their hands, whispering, "My Good King…" Geoff explained that this was a common practice everyone was required to do each morning.

Julian was confused, "Why? Why do we have to?"

Geoff was taken aback by this question, and almost looked offended before laughing, "Ah, you remind me of myself a few years ago. I too questioned my faith in my Good King. Why do we have to attend this church? What's so great about this king that he needs a church? Well, I found my answer one hot summer day.

"It was one of the hottest days in this decade, when I found myself kneeling in this same church. All I wanted to do was pray for a cool drink, and later that day, I visited one of my favorite restaurants and what do you know?! I got a free beverage! Bwa- HA- HA! He's obviously listening to our good prayers."

Julian stared at him confused, but didn't say anything.

"So to pray we kneel beside the face of our king… Well typically the best spot would be by one of his ears, but we're here a bit late so those sports are taken up. Here will do…"

Geoff knelt beside what looked to be the right side of the king's chin and gestured for Julian to do the same. Looking closely at the pink flowers in front of him, Julian had to do a double take. Each and every petal had a glossy texture and reflected the sky almost perfectly, "Hey Geoff, what type of flowers are these?"

"I'm no botanist, but I believe they're pink lilies," Geoff responded before returning to give instructions on how to pray to the Good King.

"Are they plastic?" Julian interrupted again.

Geoff looked confused, "Plastic? What's that?"

Julian didn't answer, and Geoff didn't press, quickly going back to giving instructions.

Julian wasn't too sure though, the 'pink lilies' looked very similar to fake flowers, and not even one of those brands with the fabric-made flowers! Reaching out he felt the petals between his fingers to confirm his suspicions, they were plastic.

"Don't touch them!" Geoff swatted Julian's hand, "That's one of the main rules of… what I didn't tell you yet… Touching them makes these flowers lose their magic."

"Magic?" Julian's thoughts raced, maybe they weren't plastic and this was a side-effect of this type of magic.

"They're enchanted so the flowers never age or die, and they never need to be watered," Geoff answered with a proud grin.

Julian frowned. That didn't rule out that the flowers were plastic.

"Now get to praying before we're late for the bequeathment," Geoff folded his hands, closed his eyes, and tilted his head forward, praying loudly, "Oh my Good King, please grant the family bequeathment…"

Julian followed suit and copied Geoff's praying position, even closing his eyes as he lowered his head, "Oh - Good… King…" It was hard for him to pray. He was never the religious type and had never gone to church.

After a long pause waiting for a thought to come to him, Julian opened his eyes only to find a microphone pointing right between his eyes. Julian held in a gasp. Slowly the microphone shifted back into the center of a pink lily. The change gave Julian a headache which caused him to close his eyes again.

[+1 Experience point. First-time magic user.]

"There, the praying is done. Ready, Julian?"

"Yes, one second," Julian peeled his eyes back open, but the microphone wasn't there anymore. It was only a singular pink lily. He then waited for his headache to settle before standing up next to Geoff shakily.

"Are you ok? You look pale."

"I-I think I'm fine. I just have a few questions."

"About what?"

"Magic."