“They . . .” The king swayed on his seat, his slack face turning green. “They . . .”
“Your elderly are eating each other to stay alive,” I said again. Now that I knew Zakai wasn’t the monster I’d thought, a part of me sympathized with his shock, but I hardened myself, thinking of the way his people were living outside this kingdom.
For a moment, it seemed he would lose the contents of his stomach, though I wasn’t sure if there was anything significant in there.
“I had no idea,” he said, brushing a hand across his eyes.
I reached across and took his hand; his thin skin was dry and pale. “I’m glad you had no idea,” I said. “Or I would’ve killed you for letting your people live that way.”
He looked up, and his torn soul was evident in his lapis lazuli eyes. “Perhaps I still deserve to die. Ignorance is no excuse. My people do not do such things . . . What kind of sickness or desperation drove them to do such a thing to each other?”
The king bowed his head as he muttered under his breath about his failure.
I closed my eyes, unable to resist a quick search of his body with my powers. Not that you could put on ‘emaciated,’ but I was interested to know how much he’d suffered on behalf of his people. I nearly gasped aloud as the tally of the damage to his body hit me. Several of his organs were failing, some just barely getting by, and there was permanent damage to all of them, including his heart. I sent through a subtle stream of my healing power, hoping it wasn’t too late.
When I let go of his hand, he stared at it with a furrowed brow rubbing his fingertips together.
I grabbed his plate and loaded meat and vegetables onto it, and then I shoved it back at him. “Eat.”
“No, I—”
I snarled at him, some of my Drae entering my words. “You’ll be dead in a week if you do not. Who will lead your people then?”
He blinked. “Y-you just told me my people are eating each other. I don’t have any appetite.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, well, you can suffer as you eat if you want, but that won’t make anything better.”
“Ryn!” Dyter gasped.
Scales erupted up my arms, and I snapped my growing fangs at the old man who didn’t look scared in the slightest at my display.
The king had more sense, slamming back into his chair. He swallowed hard, but when he noticed Dyter wasn’t fazed, Zakai relaxed enough to take a good look at my scales. He looked at the plate of food, and then the case, and eventually back at my vibrant blue scales.
“I knew you were our salvation as soon as I saw you,” he said with a curious smile. His gaze slid to Dyter. “Gemond is with Verald and the Phaetyn. We will fight Emperor Draedyn alongside you.”
The King of Gemond picked up his knife and fork and began to eat.
“You handled that quite well, my girl,” Dyter said as we walked back through the sapphire-encrusted halls to our rooms. “The king’s eyes brightened when you touched him. Did you heal him?”
“I tried,” I said, my eyes drifting to the gems glinting behind Dyter. “I'm not sure how well my Phaetyn juice works on humans; it seems to work better on Tyrrik.”
I had a difficult time keeping my attention fixed on the old man. The sconces’ light made the valuable stones twinkle, teasing me with their preciousness. I really needed a few minutes alone with one of these walls.
My hand went to the billowy folds of the dress I wore and the knife concealed therein. I’d managed to borrow one of the golden utensils from supper and was counting down the minutes until I could pry one of the cut stones out. The sapphires were especially nice, and I liked their deep-blue coloration. Too bad there was no such thing as a black diamond; it might be nice to have a stone that looked like Tyrrik's scales.
As my thoughts went to the Drae, I quickened my pace. I told myself I was just excited to share with him the information I’d learned. That, and I held a small basket with the meager leftovers for him from our meal. Guilt prodded me as I reflected on how much food I’d consumed compared to how much Tyrrik would get. He needed a few . . .
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I said, shoving the basket toward Dyter. “Tell Tyrrik this is a snack and I’ll bring him more in a little bit.”
Dyter furrowed his brow, and then a slow smile spread across his face. “Of course. And, while you’re in their gardens, if they have strawberries, will you help them along, too?”
I waved my hand at him as I scurried down the hall, and then I came across a guard on the level below.
“Excuse me,” I asked the guard. “Could you direct me to the nearest garden?”
The gold-plated Gemondian bowed. “Certainly, Mistress. I will take you to them. Please, follow me.”
I trailed after the guard up level after level, increasingly grateful for his guidance as I became lost in the mountain labyrinth.
He stopped at the top of a set of stairs several minutes later and gestured down the hall. “You will find the royal gardens down the end of this passage, Mistress.”
I bent over, panting hard, not failing to notice the guard hadn’t even broken a sweat. “Thank you,” I gasped. “For your help.”
“It is my pleasure, Mistress. Do you require anything else?”
A new set of lungs? “No, that will be all.”
The guard bowed and then disappeared down the stairs as, clutching my side, I walked down the passage.
The royal gardens were like a sad memory. I could see once the stone columns and ancient trees had been grand. Now, the light pouring through large circular holes in the mountainside only illuminated the gnarled trunks, yellowed leaves, and crumbling rocky ground.
King Zakai crouched next to an empty garden bed, explaining to the gardener how to diffuse the blood in the water.
“You won’t need that here,” I said, cracking my knuckles. I let a sheepish smile escape. I thought for a moment about asking for something in return, but my mum’s words echoed in my mind, “A good deed isn’t a good deed if they pay you for it.” I wanted this to be a good deed.
I knelt on the ground beside the king and rested my hands on the rocky soil of the dark garden. I could feel the struggle of the vegetation through the barren dirt. I took a deep breath and thought of the vibrancy of Zivost. My awareness spread throughout the entire royal garden, and I greeted the various plants with a mental caress, recognizing them without effort. I wanted this garden to be as luscious and full of life as the Zivost. Pushing my Phaetyn mojo into the ground, I told the pumpkins, potatoes, carrots, beans, berries, parsnips, and fruit trees to grow. Like a ripple in the water, a wave of power swelled beneath my hands for a while before it undulated outward. I sent another surge directed at the potatoes.