Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they belong to Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch.
Chapter three: Red
The sun was hiding behind the hills by the time Trent stormed into the gardener's vivarium. The last lights of the day tinged everything in a sort of warm orange: the long rows of all sort of flower species, the giant, hexagonal marble pond in the center of the vivarium, the trees, the bag with dirt, the sack full of manure, the scarecrow made out of old rags and straw on the other side of the garden, where vegetable and fruit plantations grew. The sky had acquired a pinkish tone around the sun, merging towards a lilac and then a light violet as the day was starting to fade away towards the night. He covered his eyes with his hand to try to find the old man around the vivarium, but Yevan, the gardener, wasn't there. He was usually found there, by this time of the afternoon, he would usually see him watering the plants, since the sunset and the sunrise were the ideal times for plants to be watered because if he did it while the sun was up, the water would evaporate.
"My prince", the gardener's helper said to Trent, approaching to him holding a shovel, covered in dirt "yeh're lookin' for Yevan, I take it. He's gone ter the market."
"Scott, my name is Trent" the boy answered in frustration to his old adventure mate, reminding him that he wasn't just the prince, like he did to all of his friends —who, being Trent we speak of, was pretty much all Derlaven. Why did everyone have to call him lord, or prince? Yes, Trent understood he was a prince and everyone was legally obliged to call him for his title rather than his name, in token of respect and admiration for the royalty. But he had told his friends several times that, as long as they were alone, no formalities were required.
Scott was a young man, about sixteen years old, who lived in the Castle's farm helping his uncle Yevan. When he was little and there were no kids around to play (except for the earl Jameson's son, Cody, but he wasn't always up for outdoor activities, which Trent enjoyed very much), he would look for Scott.
He was a crafty little kid, only three years or so older than Trent. Although he had been born in Derlaven City, his parents were from the north, so it was only natural than despite being a derlavenian he spoke with a singular northern accent. He had three siblings, one girl (the youngest of the family) and two brothers, he was the third children and they all looked the same: freckles, cunning blue eyes and bright ginger hair like a carrot. Being the third son he decided to help his uncle, since his father wouldn't teach him to be a smith like him because only the firstborn could continue his work, that one being his older brother Mark. Truth be told, Scott was pretty much a bad choice for a farmer: he could always hear Yevan complain about Scott's mistakes he had to solve.
They met when Trent was five and Scott was eight, when he started to work in Yevan's garden, and they had been friends ever since.
"I know, kiddo" the young man replied, tousling Trent's hair. "Yeh know I give two craps abou'yer crown. Can I help yeh?"
"I think you will do just as well. I was looking for some flowers, I wanted to ask Yevan if he plants Remsedels here."
"What'cha do yeh need remsedels fer? Yeh sick?"
"No, it's just, I need to do someone a present."
"Well yeh could give the girl a paintin' or jewels, yeh can afford that" the ginger man suggested "or I could give yeh a nice bouquet o'lilies, they're prettier. If I was a girl I'd wan' yeh ter give me some nice lilies, not just borin' little remsedels. They're more weed'n flowers" he said, leaving the shovel and taking a basket.
"How did you know I wanted to make a present to a girl?"
"Yeh came ter the vivarium ter get flowers fer a present. Yeh don' get a boy flowers" Scott simply explained to his younger friend, walking towards the vivarium's exit door "I know a bit abou'gettin' flowers fer girls."
"So that's why Yevan's always complaining about flowers going missing" Trent laughed, following Scott to the door.
"The ole man thinks's an ant pest. Don' yeh tell 'im's me, Trent."
"Not a word."
Both Trent and Scott walked out of the vivarium into the outer garden where they cultivated vegetables, fruits, legumes, all sort of food. There was more edible vegetation in the Castle's garden than in any other garden in Derlaven, especially during the summer: the King offered several feasts during the season, such as the Sun Banquet in Summer Solstice, open for everyone in the city of Derlaven, and the Brother Regale, only for the nobility of the two brother realms —Bestand and Glavan— including warlords, lords, earls, dukes, marquis, viscounts and barons, and of course the Royal Family —comprised of the King, the Queen and the princes and princesses. Besides, the Queen often gave birth to her offspring during the summer, so whenever a new child was born they hosted a feast for everyone in Derlaven too, called the Heir Welcoming; and when the children were of enough age, the Crowns Meeting would take place, involving Derlaven's Royal Family and the royalty of a brother realm, with the purpose of arranging a marriage for their sons and daughters. Only nobility was invited to this event.
The Summer Solstice was soon to come and the vegetables and fruits were growing bigger and juicier. Like every year, everyone in the city was looking forward to it, and Trent was no exception.
They walked through the entire garden —a whole hectare of nearly 10,000 square meters, quite long in other words— until they reached the farm gate that lead to a path to the hills. The sun was about to disappear entirely at any second.
"Remsedels are complicated ter grow, buddy", Scott explained to his friend, closing the gate behind him, "they can' grow in a pot y'know? Ole Yevan tried ter grow 'em in the vivarium many timesm but he failed every time. They jus' die, they shrivel up."
They kept walking uphill, following the dirt path.
"So whenever we need remsedels fer ointmen's, Yevan gotta walk up the hill ter ge'em. 's like they can' grow up bounded. They need the open ground I suppose."
Trent thought of Gwen, who was claustrophobic. She needed freedom in order to grow up, to feel free to unveil her true personality, and Trent thought he was one of the lucky ones to have met Gwen as she really was, to have seen her core, her true spirit beneath those dark grey eyes of her.
"Well, here we are buddy. How many o'these yeh need?" Scott asked, kneeling on the ground abounded with red remsedels, picking some off and keeping them in the basket.
"I need to fill the basket" Trent replied naturally, kneeling and picking remsedels too, as his friend watched him shocked by his request.
"Yeh mean...full? Full basket?", Scott asked in surprise.
"That's why I'm helping you" Trent replied making it sound so simple and natural. "Now let's get to it, I've got to be home before the sun comes down."
Scott sighed and helped the prince.
"Remember you have riding practices tomorrow at sunrise. Don't oversleep."
"I won't Father. Good night" Trent replied to his father from his bed.
"Good night son, I'll see you tomorrow" the King replied before closing Trent's bedroom door.
Trent stood quiet and tried to heighten his hearing: he counted his father's steps downstairs. Three, four, five...they were fading away, until he couldn't hear them anymore. He waited a few more seconds, just in case he was still around. The castle was dead silent. He needed to hurry if he wanted to surprise Gwen: he had planned it carefully. He had heard some mages talking about the time the Initiation began, and he was already running out of time.
His plan was simple: since his bedroom was located in one of the towers, he couldn't climb down out of it, it'd be suicidal considering the 45 feet between his window and the ground. So he would have to go downstairs to the hall between the two towers, which was about seven meters from the ground. Then he would climb down the wall using a rope to the garden, and walk towards the service door which would be open if he hurried.
So he got to it: he got out of his bed and put on an overgown and a pair of turnshoes, he needed to be quick. "Hopefully Gwen won't notice" Trent thought, looking at himself in the mirror, trying to tidy up his hair a bit with his hands. He kneeled beside the big double bed and lifted the heavy blanket so as to get the rope and the basket out of under the bed. Then, he walked slowly towards the door and opened it trying not to make it creak, carefully.
Trent walked down the tower stairs silently, holding a candlestick, looking at the moon outside through the windows. He was finally seeing Gwen doing magic tonight.
He remembered that day when he was with her in the same hills where he had picked up remsedels earlier that day. They were about nine or ten, and he had asked Gwen to perform a magic trick, to which Gwen replied she couldn't do it, and explained to him she wasn't allowed to use her abilities until she was taught how to control and to funnel it, which she was going to be taught at the Sorcerer's Sect once she was thirteen, age considered optimal for the young magicians to learn about what they could do and the possibilities and boundaries of that.
Now the time had come: she was thirteen, and that night was the night of her Initiation.
The castle was dead silent: everyone had gone to their beds after dinner. He supposed his father would be at his desk, talking to officers and sharing a pint like he always did. He walked with caution, down the stairs, until he reached the hall which's windows faced the garden.
He tied the rope to the window frame, making a double knot just in case, and took a deep breath. Deciding not to look down, he took hold of the rope and started to climb down, swinging a bit because of his weight. Slowly, he climbed down; the rope seemed to bear his weight so he took that off of his concerns. Few minutes later he reached the end of the rope, and there were still four feet between him and the ground. He decided to get loose of the rope and try to land on his feet, but he fell on his back.
"Ow!" he couldn't help yelling in pain. He felt something had broken, but when he stood up, the pain began to ease and he forgot about it. He was more concerned about the basket, but it was sealed, so the contents inside were safe. He took some steps to see if he was able to walk, and he was, so he began to walk towards the service door.
Now that was the complicated part. The prince reached the door only to find out it was guarded by two men: this spoiled his whole plan. How was he going to get out now? He looked at the wall and thought about climbing, but it was too high. "Think, Trent, think…"
"Bates and Myers should already be here, man" one of the guards complained. "They're not going to fuck with me. Our shift has ended fifteen minutes ago."
"You're right. This isn't the first time it happens."
"Assholes. Sir Teagan will hear about this, oh he will! I don't know about you, but I'm leaving."
"Yeah, me too. Let's go for drinks?"
"And then we go hunt down the two pieces of shits. Fucking rookies."
Thank the Almighty, Trent thought as the guardsmen left the door. His luck was unbelievable! He hurried to escape the castle: now he needed to get out of the King's Village, go across the Main Square, then enter the Mages Precinct and wait outside the gate of the Sorcerer's Sect's Main Palace, where the young mages stood before the Initiation every year.
Easy peasy.
He watched dozens of kids of his age approach to the gate in groups from the top of a tree, sitting on a thick branch. Girls and boys talked to each other, nervous about the event they have been waiting for their whole life. Some were excited, as Trent could hear them talking about using their powers to open doors and to lit a fire, while others were very nervous about the whole thing and were calmed down by others. Most of these kids knew each other, they lived in the Mages Precinct. There were rare exceptions of mage kids who were the children of important merchants who lived in the Hightown, and even rarer, two or three kids from the Skid Row, judging by their clothes.
He looked down at the group with jealousy. God he wished he had been born a mage. He could do all of the wicked stuff these kids could do. "Can you imagine? Me, lighting a candle by just whispering something, or snapping my fingers?"...Gwen and him could have some kind of magic battle, and learn new skills together…maybe even fly! Or float in the air…
He found himself thinking bitterly about all of the things he could do if he was a mage —which he sadly wasn't— when he spotted Gwen walking towards the group. But instead of being welcomed, everyone seemed to ignore her, and she just stood there, under that blue gown, waiting until she was told to stand in the line.
She seemed so lonely it made Trent feel sorry for her. He slowly climbed down the tree, landing on his knees this time, and kept himself from complaining about his backache which still remained. He hid behind the trunk, picked up a stone, and threw it to her, hoping it didn't actually hit her. That would be the straw that broke the camel's back after what he had accidentally said to her earlier.
The stone landed close to her, but not close enough, since it didn't catch her attention. He tried throwing another one, but she still didn't notice it. The third attempt fell just between her feet. He saw her looking at it and then trying to find out where it came from, looking at his direction, but didn't seem to see him there.
"Come!" he shouted in low voice, hoping she would hear. Then, Gwen slowly moved towards him.
"What are you doing there? How did you get out of the castle?"
"It doesn't matter...hello" he said to his friend, looking at her. It was hard to see her face under those thick strands of black hair falling over her eyes, and the hood.
"Hello" she replied "Have you come to see the ceremony? Because you know no one can witness it…"
"No, no, that I know" Trent assured Gwen. "I...felt bad for what happened. And I am so sorry. I sincerely didn't think it would…"
He saw the glow in her eyes vanish as her eyelids fell down, looking at him with a sad expression, so he tried to change the subject quickly.
"Anyways...I brought you this. It's a very important night in your life, and I wanted to be part of it...somehow" the prince explained to the mage under the shadow of the tree, holding the basket to her "I can't do magic with you, but at least I can...I don't know, give you a gift or something."
Gwen looked at him, smiling. She seemed truly touched by his words, which made Trent feel a warm sensation in his chest, something he couldn't put in words.
"I've always thought red was your colour", he said as Gwen dropped her jaw to the ground when she opened the basket and found a red gown made of velvet, buried into a ton of remsedels.
She took it out of the basket, holding it in her hands. It felt nice to the touch, she couldn't believe her eyes. It wasn't like her cotton gown was of poor quality, but velvet...that was another thing…
"It was Dinehqa's, but she hasn't used it in a long time, since she grew up and became a woman. She was keeping it in a drawer, I discovered it one day while I was rummaging through her things-eh...whatever, I don't think she'll mind. Do you like it?"
"I love it" Gwen said, unbuttoning her old gown and putting her new one on, without covering her head with the hood. "I love it, so much, thank you" she said happily, hugging Trent all of the sudden. "And you came all the way down here to give it to me...and you filled it with remsedels, there must be a hundred in there…"
He reacted in surprise, they had never hugged before. And it felt nice, just nice. He put his arms around her too, feeling a bit weird about it, but still pleased. She was smaller than him, and so fragile, it felt like he was holding a little kid in his arms.
"Thank you" she whispered in his ear, without letting go of him, "it's beautiful."
Trent just smiled and hugged her tighter, enjoying every bit of it.
I just love comparing Gwen to all sort of things, haha. She's just such a great character to work with.
Hmmm well! Here I am again! I wanted to thank you all for your amazing reviews. 13 reviews for two chapters, now that's something great! Seriously, thank you for your support. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
I made a scheme of Derlaven's City, just so you get an idea of the place: sta. sh/ 07ynli5akm4 I'm thinking about making a detailed profile of the Kingdom, so as to give you a better look into its history and…stuff. I don't know. I have many ideas!
And I have also drawn a picture! gwennieblack. deviantart (dot com) (slash) art/Remsedels-470183250 It pictures a scene from the first chapter, "The Summer and the Winter". Check it out and leave a comment if you're interested and you liked it!
Thank you all, see you next time (: