Chapter 447

Elain did not know what she had been expecting, or who she had been expecting. When Helion walked into the garden, large urns in his hands, she blinked in surprise. It made sense to her, when she thought about it, that he would want to be the one bringing the ashes of his Court to this garden. She moved to meet him, taking in the solemn expression on his perfect face.

"Where would you like these?" The High Lord asked, coming to a stop just by the closest trees. Elain glanced around, looking for somewhere that would be out of the way, and where the urns were the least likely to be disturbed until they were needed.

"I… am planning to keep this tree…" she said, indicating a large birch nearby. "If you would set them beneath it, they will be safe until we need them." Helion nodded, and moved for the base of the tree. Elain watched him set the urns by the base of the trunk.

"There are several more…" he told her, straightening again. "I will collect them."

"Thank you." Elain did not know what else to say to him, and she just watched as he went for the exit again. Half turning, Elain pretended she wasn't watching as Lucien met his father there and they spoke together in low tones for a few moments. She picked up a shovel then, eyeing the two males as they left the garden together. She'd had a feeling that Lucien would ask to help the High Lord bring the ashes to the garden, and she was thankful that his assistance had been accepted. No doubt the task itself would be heavy on the High Lord's heart, and she knew that Lucien would have been hurt to have been shut out of such a task.

Moving to set the shovel with a pile of others, Elain surveyed the tools before her. She knew that clearing the garden beds would have to come first. Before they would even be able to construct anything new or redesign the area, it needed to be cleared. She would have to wait and see how many showed up this morning before she could decide just how long that mammoth task would take. A few days, she suspected. Once that was out of the way, she could begin to worry about where the new stone path would go. She wanted there to be access to all of the trees, and she wanted each tree to have somewhere for the name of the faerie it was for. She had thought perhaps little name stakes… but she wasn't completely settled on that idea. She would ask the others for their ideas when the time grew closer and that was of more importance. For now, she wondered how the first step would go. Where were they going to put the trees they removed? She hadn't asked Helion that detail. Was there somewhere the wood could be cut down and used for something else? Could the smaller trees be replanted in other gardens in the Palace or down in the city? Elain closed her eyes, unable to believe that she had overlooked something so crucial. How had she thought she could be in charge of something this big? She had only ever designed gardens which were far smaller, and she had never done anything even remotely like this.

"What's wrong?"

Elain resisted a startled gasp and turned. Kera was standing, looking at her, with an odd expression on her pretty face. "Oh…"

"You look like there's something wrong…"

"I…" Elain sighed, shrugging hopelessly, "I just realised that I don't know what we will do with these trees when removed…"

Kera's eyes swept the garden. "Can they be taken somewhere else?"

"I don't know…" Elain tried to run her hand through her hair, but her fingers got caught in her braid and she grimaced. "I didn't think…"

"Don't worry about it." Kera replied, "I came to say that I was going to go back to Sheera's shop this morning. I can ask if she could use them. She looks after some of the City's gardens, doesn't she? Perhaps she knows where some can go."

"Yes…" Latching on that that idea, Elain relaxed a little. "That would be perfect." Before she could say any more, however, Kera took a step back.

"I'll be back by breakfast. I'll let you know then." With that, the blonde left the garden and disappeared from sight. Elain was smiling when Helion and Lucien returned a few moments later, more urns in their hands.