CHAPTER TWO
The whispers among the others were that a human man turned up in the Great Forest.
Anneyce heard glimpses of it through the day. The quiet tones between each of the nymphs as they discussed it, like walking daintily barefoot over glass, so soft its almost overpowered by the electric buzz of excitement. Bouncing tongues exclaimed hopes, threaded stories, tripped over self-placed details.
"Can you believe it? A human man!"
"He was dragged into the Colony before anyone could see, and has been here for days now, without anyone even knowing it!"
"How could he have possibly gotten past the Guards of the Great Forest?"
"I heard from Flauva that he was so badly injured and practically unconscious, that the Guards figured he was dead anyway."
"The poor thing!"
"Bless the Queen for thinking on her feet and bringing him in!"
As she unintentionally eavesdropped, thoughts spun through her mind; trying to thread together her own story based off the gossip. If there were indeed a human man in the Colony, where was he? Why were they hiding him from us? Why bother to bring him if he were as near dead as the Guards believed him to be? The Guards of the Great Forest would never be as careless as to let him slip by if there were even an inkling he would live to see another day. He must certainly be snagged in the claws of death.
A great blow this will be on the Colony if he really was here, but were to die before the ritual could even take place.
"Why do you look so serious, Anneyce?" Johanna teases, poking her arm as she hooks them together.
"It just doesn't add up to me, Johanna." She murmurs, "In the hundreds of years, a human has never been able to cross over to the Great Forest, so why now? Why do the Guards let him through now?"
Around the town square, a flurry of activity from the Colony is under way. The Queen has not even confirmed the rumor of the human man's appearance, but yet everyone is already preparing their homes for his arrival between moments of chatter. Lights are strung, flowers are preened and planted, walkways are swept. Nymphs wrap vines woven with sweet scented flowers around their shoulders, and hang garlands from their doors and windows. Music fills the street in different tunes as the nymphs sing joyful, hopeful songs.
Anneyce's heart twinges at the thought of none of this being true, of the devastation that would no doubt take place.
The two make their way through the square to the rim of where the Great Gardens reach the homes of the Colony. As they step through the brush, charts of many different species of flora and plants in their hands, they embark into the Great Gardens to begin the day's work of horticulture. Today, they will be studying and marking down the growth and stability of the plants in the Great Gardens, calculating how well they are doing. In particular, they are looking for signs of death that comes in the variety of brown, shriveling, and falling off.
If and when the Great Gardens inevitably die out, the Colony will not survive, so it's important to find out how much time is left.
Anneyce is busy studying a patch of wild lady slippers, when Johanna's crunching feet approach behind her. She looks up to find a very distraught expression on her friend's face.
"Today's charts are grimmer then the last time."
Anneyce nods, frowning at the thought, "A lot more dead life this time. The Queen will not be pleased to hear it." Her heart hangs heavy at the thought.
"This is why we need to hope, Anneyce," is all her friend says in response.
The thoughts of the dying Great Gardens swims through Anneyce's mind as the two make their way back to the square. It's a grim thing, the irony of her sad thoughts mingling with the cheerful buzz around the town square. The numbers on the charts in their hands do not look promising at all, even after she made sure to check every leaf, count every delicate petal. She doesn't understand the necessity of going out to see the damage done to the Great Gardens; they aren't helping anything. They're just making the finality of the situation more concrete.
A loud, uniform cheer pulls Anneyce from her mind and into the present. She barely registers what's happening before she looks to her left and finds Johanna has taken off in a dead sprint towards the center of the town.
This can only mean that the Queen is here to speak to the Colony.
Anneyce takes her time, afraid to hear what the Queen has to say. It's possible she's here to dispel the rumors of the supposed dying human man, and she can't bear the thought of seeing the crushing expressions of despair around her. The chart in her hands burns under her fingertips.
She finds a spot beside Johanna, standing on the tips of her toes as she tries to see over the crowd. Despite being one of the last people to arrive to the square, a few nymphs fall behind her, forming another layer of the ring that circle the center where the Queen must be standing. It's packed and Anneyce finds herself reaching to hold Johanna's hand. Johanna's fingers entwine with hers and give her a reassuring squeeze, her expression solemn.
A hush falls among the crowd and Anneyce catches her breath. She can barely hear the Queen's stern voice among the heads. Everyone is dead silent, showing their respect for their great mother Queen as she speaks, but even so Anneyce can barely make out her words.
"Thank you all for taking time out of your busy day to hear me today," the Queen begins, her soothing voice smooth, "now before I begin, I would like the two individuals responsible for today's horticulture reports to step forward?"
Anneyce's heart skips a beat, and she only moves her feet because Johanna is pulling her forward. Everyone steps back to let them through.
"That would be us, Queen!" Johanna announces, waving her charts in the air. Anneyce feels a great sadness. If the Queen wants to know the reports, then the news she has in store can't be good…
"Hello, Anneyce. Johanna." The Queen greets and the two bow respectively before her.
They hand a member of her royal guard the charts, who in turn give them to the Queen. She takes a moment to look them over, her brow smooth and her expression giving nothing away to what she's seeing. A confused air fills the square as the onlookers grow uneasy from the exchange. What is happening? Why would the Queen call us all together just to read the horticulture reports for the day?
The Queen hands the charts to a member of the royal guard beside her and smiles gently at the two of them, before raising her eyes and her hands before the crowd.
"My dear, sweet children!" She calls, "For years, the affects of the dying Great Gardens has weakened our Colony and destroyed our moral! The charts that were in my hands are only bleak proof of the devastation our beautiful Colony is dealing with. Under normal circumstances, reading the horticulture reports would sadden my heart greatly." Anneyce frowns at the thought, "But today, you must know, that there is hope!"
Anneyce holds her breath as the crowd buzzes to life, twitching and murmuring in excitement as they hop from foot to foot and wait for her to say it.
To finally say it.
"I'm sure you've all heard the rumors by now," the Queen dispels, and everyone is too excited to even try to look bashful at being caught spreading rumors through the town by the Queen herself, "and I am here to reveal to you the truth." A collective breath… "There is, in fact, a human man among us today."
Someone cries out, topples over in the crowd as they faint. The sounds of cheers and blissful sobs fill the air as relief crashes like a tide. Anneyce's heart contracts like a curling leaf, and she stumbles back, Johanna catching her before she can crash to the floor.
"I told you to keep hope!" Johanna murmurs in bewilderment, her eyes alight. "I told you, Anneyce!" Johanna's hands squeeze on her shoulders and Anneyce's knees wobble.
The Queen holds out her hands to still the crowd, but the joy of this situation is too great.
There's hope for the Great Gardens.
There's hope for us all.
"Behind me, is a tent," The Queen calls, gesturing behind her, "and within the tent, is the human."
Anneyce peers behind the Queen's shoulder, to see the tent, a flicker of light that sends sparks down her spine.
He's in there. Right now.
The crowd quiets again at her words, as they crane to see over one another at the tent, as if they will catch a glimpse of him.
"He is weak, but very much alive and healthy. The royal guard found him on the outskirts of the Great Gardens, badly wounded and unconscious, but alive!"
So the rumors were true, the Guards of the Great Forest left him for dead.
"His resilience to survive is not only a blessing, but a wondrous trait he will no doubt pass on for generations to come!"
A cheer rings the air at this. Survival is in the air, a relieving taste on Anneyce's tongue. Finally receiving a human man in this time of great peril is a blessing in itself, but it's like they were blessed by the Great Gardens themselves to have a human with such strength and will to survive. After years of fear of extinction, the chance to pass this trait on to the colony is amazing in itself.
Anneyce wishes her mother were here to see this. Her heart tightens at the thought.
"The ritual will begin at once," the Queen announces, and her eyes fall upon Anneyce, "And, Anneyce, it will be you who will sing the first song."
A collective gasp among the others, mixed with a cheerful giggle at the prospect of finally getting the ball rolling, fills the area. All eyes turn to Anneyce, and she tugs at the spiraling ends of her deep coal hair. Johanna bumps her shoulder with her elbow, casting her attention to her as Johanna's eyes grow to the size of the boulders Anneyce used to climb on as a child.
"But, Queen, why me?" Anneyce murmurs shyly, her hands crossing over her breasts as she rubs her arms.
The Queen snaps her delicate fingers, and an assembly of the royal guard bring her flowers weaved into delicate jewelry, baby's breath, purple anemone, peony, and ranunculus, to name a few. The Queen reaches over, placing the flower jewelry into Anneyce's hair and around her neck. It hangs low, brushing down her collarbones in a cornucopia of colors and perfumes. Flowers are abundant in the Colony – every species of plant grows here. They are a commodity; their various species represent honor and bliss among the nymph folk, but to receive flowers from the Queen herself is an honor Anneyce will forever hold to her heart.
"I want you to sing because you are of the last descendants of nymph children born of human. And, like your mother's before you, your song voice is one of the most beautiful of the Colony." The Queen states simply, placing another wreath of flowers in her to Anneyce's hands, most likely for the human man in the tent behind her. "That is why it should be you to begin this sacred and very much needed ritual."
Hundreds of years ago, a human set foot into the Colony for what was only the 6th time since the beginning of everything. The nymph Colony of then were overjoyed and blessed – it having been almost a full three hundred years since the last human arrived in the colony before them. The nymph children were practically starved out. And a ritual - much like the one that was about to occur tonight - happened. Anneyce's mother was among the hundreds of nymph children in attendance during the festivities. She still remembers her mother's description of the human fondly.
"Handsome, Anneyce." She would tell her, her fingers weaving into her hair the flowers that grew everywhere, geraniums and orchids and bleeding hearts. "It was as if he were grown and harvested from the very soil of the Great Gardens. Broad shoulders, big, gentle hands, and a rich face with dark glassy eyes. Such a sweet human, he was; such a wondrous gift to the kingdom."
This gift brought upon pregnancies within the colony, until exhaustion stole his breath and he returned to the Earth as soil, to mineralize the Great Gardens of the colony that keeps us alive. The mothers glowed – the colony finally flourishing after years of dry spell. Babies were born on the day where the sun hung in the sky the longest – Anneyce being among them.
At last, the colony was growing again.
They were all baby girls, however, a curse among the Colony. Because of this, nymph children are unable to repopulate until the next human man arrives again.
"Not a curse, Anneyce," her mother would scold, "but a blessing. Without all girls, we would never be able to experience the pure bliss of having a human man arrive at the Colony."
This bliss was infinite until the Guards of the Great Forest inexplicably forbade any entrance or exit to the Great Forest, providing a devastating day among the nymph colony. If no one was allowed to enter the Great Forest, humans would never return to the Great Gardens to continue the tradition of reproduction. Without humans, the Colony not only loose out on a chance to produce more offspring, but the Great Gardens begin to die when there's no body to mineralize the soil. Linked forever, the Great Gardens provide the life source that keeps the nymphs healthy and alive for thousands of years and generations. The Colony would eventually die out when the Great Gardens did.
A few of the nymphs who lived for eons have already begun to perish in order to help cultivate the waning life source in the Great Gardens; among them, Anneyce's own mother. The day Anneyce lost her beloved mother was a dark, dark day she never thought she'd have to witness.
This death of a species has hung in the air for years now, and every day the colony faces the peril of knowing it is a distinct possibility that they will be the next to die. Exhaustion is now common among the Colony – as if the air itself was beginning to be sucked away. Anneyce feels it with every breath she takes, an ache in her chest as if her lungs can never get enough air. She tires easier then before, too. Most of the older nymphs in the colony are bedridden and constantly in pain.
The Colony needs this new human man to survive.
Anneyce touches the flowers that hang around her neck closest to her own heart, her poor mother's face in her mind and her heart. Even the beautiful dark human whom she's never seen, who is flesh and blood her father, flickers to mind as she nods her head solemnly at the queen.
"I accept this responsibility with deep honor, my Queen."
The Queen smiles gently as the cheers from the rest of the Colony fill the air like one of the precious songs passed down from generations.
The first song is the most important part of any ritual; and it must be done with such secluded privacy that not even the Queen may witness it. Despite the members of the royal court who dragged the human into the colony in the dead of night, Anneyce will be the first one in the entire Colony to see him. Her hands quiver as she approaches the tent and gently pushes the flap aside, the flutter of activity like a drone of honey bees behind her, as the rest of the Colony hurries to their own homes to continue their preparation for the ceremony. She pushes through with one last look behind her, the Queen standing solemnly and waiting for her to begin.
The tent is warm and smells of sweet, rich soil and iris as she enters. A deep beam of torchlight sparks a honey glow on the walls, flickering shadows in her least perspective areas of her vision. The smell, a result of the purple flowers tucked in every nook and cranny, hanging like thick fingers reaching towards the center of the room.
He sits in a chair on the far end of the tent, a wall of Queen Ann's lace draped behind him, and Anneyce takes a moment to catch her breath. At his feet, are the some of the finest and most cherished flora among the Colony, particularly because they are the Queen's own personal favorites.
She's lived most of her life listening in reverie to her mother telling stories of the human man of her time. Her ceaseless telling of his marvelous beauty left her in awe and giggling.
"There is no flower that grows in the entire Colony that compares to him, my dear Anneyce." She would say.
"Not even the roses you love so much, mother?"
"Not even close, my sweet."
Anneyce could never believe that. Even now, in their dying life as the soil turns over to try and conserve what life source is left within it, the flowers are still so beautiful. Their colors and aromas never quell the love she feels for them, with so many names and meanings for each and every kind that grows in the Colony. She remembers as a child, when they were healthier, their colors brighter and perfumes stronger, how it was hard to even come to a state of mind to pluck them from the ground, knowing they would sooner die if she did. How could a single human man bare in comparison?
Well, Anneyce understands now.
The human man before her bares no resemblance to the irises that fill the room, or the plant life that hangs from her own neck and spills over in her hands; he is something more, an even sweeter treat for the eyes.
His hair resembles strung gold, as if it were plucked straight from the sun and placed on his very head. His skin, rich in deep tones and taught over sinewy muscle, stretches over his angular body like a kiss from the sky. His hands, resting on the arms of the chair he sits in are large and powerful. Draped over his shoulders and spilling into his lap, is a shawl weaved from vines plucked from the trees, with orchids and daffodils folded in.
He watches her with eyes that ignite a fire in her belly.
She pictured the human man from mother's stories in many different forms – dark, deep, rich as soil but gentle as a flower's petals - but nothing could have prepared her for this human.
She approaches him carefully, holding the necklace of flowers for him in front of her like an offering. His expression is hazy – the work of the elixir given to him probably hours ago. The elixir is a drink birthed from generations of rituals, its purpose to ignite libido into him and prepare him for the colony's use. The first song she's expected to perform for him doesn't really do anything – it's more of a tradition then anything – it's actually the elixir that does the real work.
Tentatively, she places the necklace around his neck. When she pulls back, she notices a wry smile on his face. Up close, the bridge of his nose - slightly crooked with a small bump in the center - is blanketed with an array of freckles, distinctive like the stars that come out when the sun and the moon decide to both lay together on the same night. His eyes are a stirring color of green that barely competes with her own. While the green of her eyes is something her mother would compare to the leaves on the trees, or the vines that hang from the sky, the human's eyes are a shade she's never seen in the Colony before. No flower, no blade of grass, no branch has ever been this kind of green.
The babies he brings forth will have beautiful, beautiful eyes.
Maybe yours will be that color, too.
A flutter hits her belly at the thought, and it fills her with nerves.
His hand reaches up to cup her cheek and she starts. He tugs her forward a little, and she lets out a little gasp, but doesn't pull away. His hand is warm and calloused on her face, like the sunshine that tickles her face on a summer afternoon, but without the annoying prickle of growing sunburn. His breath wafts over her nose, sweet smelling from the aftertaste of the elixir he drank, his eyes cloudy.
"Am I dreaming?" He breathes slowly, his eyes fawning over her body, until meeting back up to her own. The haze in his eyes melts away as his expression looks searching, confused even.
"Of course not," she murmurs, her face flushed, and confused by the silly question, "you are clearly not asleep right now."
He blinks, and then chuckles nervously, dropping his hand from her face. He pulls a hand back to rub his neck and falls forward, his elbows gingerly placed on his knees with his eyes trained on her. He does that action of fanning his eyes up and down her bodice again and she's not sure why, but she feels both bashful and inflamed at the sight.
"Naked women everywhere," he breathes, almost seemingly to himself, "and you're telling me that I'm not dreaming?"
She wrings her hands out in front of her. She should really begin the song now, but she can't bring herself to start the ritual just yet. If she does, he'll be whisked away as soon as the song ends, and she will not see him again until he arrives at her home tonight.
But the Queen and her royal court outside are waiting for her to begin. If she fails to do this task, they'll surely pick someone else to do it, which will be shameful.
She just wants more time with this beautiful creature is all. But that is a selfish thought, when the entire Colony is waiting on her.
"Human," she begins, "your presence here today is a magnificent gift to the Colony. We have waited a long, long time for you to arrive." She steps forward, her hands cupping either side of his face. She crouches to the floor to be below his eye level, and he watches her with confusion on his face. "On behalf of the Queen herself, as well as the Great Gardens, I wish to thank you for your sacrifice to come here and provide yourself for the glorious wonder of rebirth to the Colony."
He studies her expression and she smiles at him wonderment. She already feels the love and gratitude swelling in her chest; something her mother would always tell her about, but nothing she'd ever hope to experience first hand.
"Just one look into his eyes, Anneyce, and you will feel it," she would whisper with her hand on her heart, her expression far away to another place and time, "He stirs in you something dormant and waiting. Something not even the flowers can give to you."
"On behalf of my mother," she whispers to him, "I thank you."
His eyes are hooded as he watches her. His hands reach to land on her shoulders; warm like the water in the springs of the Great Gardens. "What did I do?" He asks, his voice lost.
"It's not what you did but what you will do." She beams at him, willing him to look as excited and full of love as she feels. Her heartbeat accelerates at the prospect of being able to share her bed with him. "What you will provide."
"And what is that?"
"Yourself."