Disclaimer: I do not own Tortall, or any of the Tamora Pierce characters- obviously. Only characters a hard core fan doesn't recognize are mine- IE Aaurie, Branic and Illean.

AN: Hahaha! Another chapter- and miraculously it hasn't been a whole month in between! Thank you guys for the reviews and for sticking with me here, it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside!

Recap: Lord Denroe makes a further fool out of himself by going on a drunken tirade that makes the Tortallans wonder if he isn't as much an arrogant noble as a hurt young man. Aaurie makes it clear that certain Scanran superstitions about the Gift have stuck with her, causing Aiden to worry that there is a side of him she won't like.


Nothing was quite as eventful as that second night, not even the following morning when Denny had tripped around the palace complaining about the sudden lack of wine in the castle pantry. Aiden, it seemed, had personally overseen the removal of all spirits from the capital (more specifically- as he'd revealed to Raoul- he'd had the court mage reduce it all back to simple juice). Aiden had further had enough foresight to invite the Tortallan delegation and most of his own nobles out for a long morning ride through the kingdom, ensuring that Denny's morning tirade was witnessed only by the prepared servants.

Denny had sulked in his chambers for several days, leaving the palace in a relative peace spent in Gala's famous gardens and stables. Aaurie had to admit she felt badly for the Duke, no matter how arrogant he was, he seemed to have been legitimately hurt that night. But her sympathies for the man were quickly forgotten when she saw the pride of Gala- the public gardens.

All the streets of the lower city seemed to steam out from a central garden, back alleys leading into smaller patches of greenery. The markets seemed to thrive off of exotic fruits and dyes made from tropical plants, though Aiden explained that this market was very much internalized- Gala's nearest neighbors, Tortall and Scanran, seemed to have very little interest in their strangely colored fabrics and odd tasting fruits. But the delegation was more than impressed by the small market stands they passed, happy to taste the strange and wonderful treats and admire the beautiful garments that had been dyed brilliant colors they'd never seen before. Alanna even surprised the group by stopping to purchase a teal dress that had caught her eye.

When they'd finished the winding path through the city, Aiden showed them the main highlight of the day- the central garden. Aaurie had never seen anything like it- the palace gardens had been beautiful, and the public gardens were charming but this central plot was breathtaking. Aiden had explained that his father claimed to be allergic to 'anything with leaves' so the royal gardens had been rather neglected until recently in order to accommodate the old man's strange eccentricities; and the smaller public gardens were only informally cared for but the central garden had flourished. Although he hated them, the king had made quite a show of importing every exotic plant, flower and shrub- replanting them at the very heart of the lower city, where visiting dignitaries couldn't help but notice the grandeur of Galan horticulture.

Alanna had raised an eyebrow at this, while Raoul had to cough into his sleeve to bite back a rude comment about 'flowery old noblemen.' Aiden chuckled, catching the tail end of Raoul's quip.

"My father was an odd man in his later years, the healer's later explained his mind had been slipping for quite some time…he nearly bankrupted the kingdom trying to build some sort of extravagant legacy. I promised to maintain what he built, but I won't be adding to it- at least not at the kingdom's expense."

"It's beautiful…if insanity always did such magnificent things…" Aaurie whispered to herself, starring at a beautiful tree that had unbelievably bright purple leaves.

"I don't know that I would have called him insane…but I agree with the sentiment I suppose," Aiden chuckled, his laughter doubling at the look of embarrassment crossing Aaurie's face.

"I didn't mean to insult your father! I'm so sorry- I didn't think before I said it…" Aaurie rambled, mortified.

"You meant it in good humor- really, I'm not insulted at all," Aiden assured her, noticing that the rest of the party appeared to have drifted away giving them a relative sense of privacy.

"Where are they from?" Aaurie asked finally, her fingers trailing the waxy purple leaves. The gardens were filled with vibrant colors- hues that just seemed completely unnatural and yet wholly appealing.

"They're from the Copper Isles, nearly died on the trip over," Aiden mused.

"I didn't know that plants like this existed," Aaurie sighed as they continued their walk through the gardens.

"It's amazing what you can find when you travel outside your own little world. I think that is what my father was trying to do- he was so stuck in is own mind that he wanted to create a new world right at home. I always wished he'd had a chance to go back, visit the real places instead of just his recreations."

"I suppose a recreation is better than nothing, us common folk might never have the chance to go there- these gardens are as close as we'll get. It may have been extravagant, but your father gave a pretty substantial gift to folk like me," Aaurie mused.

Aiden stared around him silently, a small frown on his face. Aaurie bit her lip, thinking she'd yet again insulted him. Aaurie's eyes widened when she realized that the subtle glistening on Aiden's cheeks were tears.

"I'm so sorry!" Aaurie breathed, berating herself for opening her mouth.

Aiden just chuckled, shaking his head.

"I just never thought of it that way. My father was so set on importing things from the kingdoms and exotic places he'd visited. I always assumed it was his own vanity- I never questioned his motivations for putting them in public places. He really may have just been trying to share with the people…and I just assumed he was an arrogant old man."

"I…- nevermind," Aaurie stopped herself.

"No, go ahead…" Aiden insisted. Aaurie frowned, turning the thought over in her mind.

"It's just that…I mean, you seem to spend a lot of time fixing your brother's mistakes, but have you ever stopped to consider why he acts the way he does? Maybe…I don't know, maybe you assume too much?"

Aiden just gaped at her, unmistakable annoyance flashing in his eyes.

"I know why my brother acts the way he does- he's angry that our father picked me, that the woman he loved picked me- he does everything he can to humiliate me and make my life difficult to spite me," Aiden insisted, the frustration in his voice indicating that he'd had similar conversations before.

"I don't know him as well as you do, but it seems like he hurts himself much more than he does you," Aaurie shrugged.

"I really don't think you know what you're talking about," Aiden snapped, making Aaurie flinch.

"I apologize…" Aaurie whispered, feeling out of place. "Excuse me your majesty." Before Aiden could respond, Aaurie turned and made her way back towards the others as quickly as she could manage without running.


"Are you enjoying your private tour then Aaurie?" Kel asked with a grin when the younger woman rejoined them.

"I just want to go home," Aaurie said quietly. Kel frowned, opening her mouth to ask what had upset the redhead.

"Flower milady?" Aaurie and Kel both jumped at the sound of the child's voice behind them. Turning they were greeted by a little girl, likely no older than seven, holding out a beautiful pale pink flower.

"That's lovely, thank you," Kel beamed, taking the flower that was offered to her. Aaurie grinned, crouching down to sit at eye level with the girl.

"Hi there, I'm Aaurie- what's your name?" The little girl grinned, her face flushing slightly.

"I'm Jory milady. My pa's the head garden mage you know, he lets me come with him," the little girl beamed with pride.

"That's very lucky! My father used to bring me to work with him too, but he was a blacksmith...no where near as fun," Aaurie chuckled. The little girl smiled and made a face.

"I've been to the forge once- it smells like burning, I don't like it."

"Neither did I- but I got used to it I suppose," Aaurie grinned. It had been a long time since she'd been around children- not since she'd been separated from her own siblings when she'd left with Wyldon and her elder brothers.

"Do you know magic?" The little girl asked, reaching out to play with Aaurie's long curls. Aaurie looked down at her, taken aback by the question.

"I don't…" Aaurie stammered.

"Oh…I'm sorry. Me neither. My pa says it's strange since he and my mum have the Gift and I don't," Jory shrugged.

"I suppose sometimes the Gods have other things in mind- they'll give you a different kind of gift," Aaurie reasoned. The little girl beamed.

"Like you, you mean?" Aaurie raised an eyebrow.

"How do you mean Jory?"

"Well, I mean- you don't have the Gift, but you're pretty like a princess! You'll probably marry a prince huh? Much better than having the Gift!" Jory grinned happily. Kel smiled behind her, enjoying the conversation and curious as to how Aaurie would answer once she stopped blushing. "Oh! Are you going to marry our prince? I'd like that!"

Aaurie choked on her response at the little girl's final comment.

"Hello Jory, I see you've met my friends."

"Hello your majesty!" Jory beamed, letting go of Aaurie's hair to hold up the ends of her skirt and curtsey dramatically to Aiden.

"You wander away from your pa again then Jory? You know he worries," Aiden said kindly.

"Oh…I know…I should go back before he gets worried," Jory sighed. She smiled, hugging Aaurie around the shoulder abruptly before turning and hurrying back along the path.

"Her father is the best plant-mage in the kingdom, half the exotics here would never have survived the first winter on Galan soil without him," Aiden explained, frowning as Aaurie avoided his gaze, instead turning his gaze to Kel as he spoke.

"I should have known there'd be a mage responsible for all this," Neal whistled loudly, leading the rest of the group as they rejoined Kel, Aiden and Aaurie.

"It is quite spectacular," Dom admitted.

Aiden nodded, allowing the group's conversation to distract him from the awkwardness he seemed to have created between Aaurie and himself.


AN: I didn't want to end off here per say, but I'm sleepy and figured I owed you guys the quick update! The follow-up chapter will hopefully be up tomorrow, and will tie in some of the new characters a little more and of course have some Denny! :p Sorry that there was nothing spectacularly awesome to read today! Better than nothing right? Love ya guys! Oooh…and any glaring typos or errors- it's 1am and well, it was either proofread and upload tomorrow, or just upload quickly and get some sleep. Don't hate me.