Forty Two: The Garden

Kalor took us from the room and we walked the short distance to his quarters.

"Wait here," he told me, and he disappeared from the front library room to his bedchambers. He emerged a moment later with a dark gray cloak.

"Here, you may have it. I have more cloaks than I need anyway, and we can give Teyber his scouting cloak back."

I ran my fingers over the thick fabric. It was worn with time but still very functional. "You don't have to give me this. If it's a matter of returning Teyber's cloak I do have one in my bags."

I went to hand it back to Kalor, but he gently pushed it back toward me. "This one has been treated to withstand our sudden and heavy rains. Please, it's a gift for my daughter."

I blushed, and held it close in my arms. "Thank you, Kal- um, father."

He gave me a merry smile, and started walking us out his door again. "Come, let me take your for a walk outside. Tomorrow, once we've cleared things up about Nassir and Schula we can take them as well. But today you are all mine, Wren."

It warmed my chest to have him dote on me. It was an unusual sensation, since I wasn't used to it. But it seemed to be as much for him as for me, so I would put up with it today and see how I felt afterward.

"So where is it you are taking me?" I asked.

Kalor smiled, showing a set of dimples I hadn't noticed yet. "Lark loved to grow things. She was constantly naming plants that we saw on our walks. She even wanted to build a sort of glass room to keep a garden in a more controlled environment. A greenhouse, she said it was."

"Are we going to Lark's garden?" I asked, my step bouncing a little as I clutched my hands to my chest. A big grin sat on my face.

"Not quite," Kalor said, a little more somber. "I began building it for her after she disappeared. I didn't know what else to do with myself."

We walked out of the keep and through the trees. Unlike the ground I was walking on to visit Puko, the ground here was worn into a trail that was walked often. With little grass to cover the ground, the path was a bit soft from last night's rain.

"What happened, Kalor?" I asked softly. "Everyone makes it sound like Lark left without you. And I saw... she left me a vision. You and her were in a tavern or eating house of some kind. You begged her to come back with you to Eidelhein. And the next thing I knew, she was with Teyber, struggling through her last day in the mountains where I grew up."

Kalor had a grim look on his face as he wound us through the path. I figured he wasn't ready to talk about it yet. I didn't press the issue again.

The trees began to open up, and sunlight fell down over a simple wooden fence. Wordlessly, Kalor unlatched the gate and swung the door open to a beautiful garden.

My lips parted in surprise as I looked over the neat garden beds, tended with love. I knew in that moment that Lark may never have set foot here, but this was indeed her garden. And the one who labored to keep it like this for her, was Kalor.

"It's beautiful," I whispered. I stepped inside, and let my fingertips brush across the soft tops of the roses near the gate. There were rows of herbs, pots of flowers, and beds of vines. I recognized many of them, and I was certain others would be described in my notes from Gilly and Purda.

"Tensions had been rising between us for weeks," Kalor said suddenly.

I turned back to listen to him, but he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at a flowering tree with a bench under it. The bench and the dirt in front of it were both very worn. He spent a lot of time here. I took a few steps closer to him, but left him with plenty of space.

"She was with child. Not too long, but long enough she was beginning to show it. But while her heart was here with me and her child, it was not whole." Kalor sighed, and looked up at me with tired eyes. "She wanted her triquetram. Not DuVarick, really, but at least Nassir. She would beg me to help her get him out. Ask for voulenteers among the scouts to help us. Teyber was all for it, but they were good friends, him and Lark. He would do a lot for her, and venturing into the Wyldes was one of them."

He sat down with a small grunt on to the bench, gesturing that I could join him. I walked over and sat down with him. Up close it was easier to see the pain he had talking about Lark.

Kalor cleared his throat and went on. "It's true that I had promised her we would get Nassir out. And I fully intended to keep my word. But... we elves tend to move slowly. Far slower than a young witch was willing to go. I begged her to stay in Eidelhein and safely deliver our child first. She argued, she wanted Nassir here with us for it. And when would my request to wait end? Wait until you were older? Wait until you could come with us? Years? Decades? And she was right. I think of time in far different terms than she did. So she left. She wrote me a letter, letting me know what she was doing. It was only supposed to take a few months, and she was to be back before the birth with time to spare."

"You didn't go after her?" I asked, my throat tightening.

"I tried. Stars, I tried. Lark was the most accomplished witch of her generation. She spelled me. She spelled the scouts that stayed behind. We couldn't follow her, and it was torture to wait. She had to know I would try to bring her back here."

I reached over and took his hand, squeezing it gently. "I'm sorry. That must have been awful."

Kalor looked at me, his gray eyes just like mine but reflecting years of regrets. I was pretty sure if he started crying, I would too.

"When Teyber returned alone, he couldn't talk about it. He was under some kind of charm as well. I could tell it ate him up, whatever happened out there. We fought. We fought terribly, both of us in grief and saying things we never really meant." Kalor sighed. "It wasn't until recent years that we made up. We agreed that when we had the right team of volunteers, we would go back together and get Nassir out. It's the least I could do for her. One last thing that she had wanted from me."

"She loved you, Kalor," I said. "She left me visions. I know she loved you, and she wanted me to know you."

Kalor swallowed and blinked rapidly. I wondered if he was trying not to tear up. "Thank you, Wren. I'm confident in the love we had, I just wish..."

I gave his hand another squeeze, and he smiled as he looked at me.

"You can't imagine my surprise when Teyber told me Nassir had walked into the forest on his own accord." Kalor breathed out a laugh. "I thought for a moment he had finally gone made with grief of what happened."

I couldn't stop the lopsided grin from creeping on my face. "Nassir is very much capable. In fact, I'm sure I wouldn't have made it all the way here without him and Schula."

"Then I am grateful you have them." He stood, looking up into the tree. "Well, while we're here we should explore the garden. It will be nice to have someone else to see it with."

That sent a pang through my heart. "You always come here alone? What about Teyber?"

Kalor shook his head. "I've come here with Teyber and Fandor on occasion. Neither very often, and Teyber seems worse off after visiting so I've stopped asking him."

"Then please show me," I said. "I wish I had brought my book. I could be studying right now."

Kalor let out a soft laugh and stood from the bench, offering me a hand up. "You have one of those books as well? Lark's is still with me. Would you like to see it?"

My eyes widened. "Could I?"

Kalor pulled me up off the bench and we began walking. "Of course. I've read through it and it's all gibberish to me. You've trained as a witch some, maybe you can use it."

"I would love that," I said. "Thank you."

"Right, I'll get it tonight before we retire. Bur come, let me show you these things Lark always liked that she found in the forest. I dug some up to plant but they've spread like wildfire in their bed."

Kalor walked us to a garden bed of fuzzy yellow leaves. I had no idea what they were, but my father showed me how to place my finger on the underside of the leaves and let the vines slowly wind themselves around my hand. It tickled, and I could see Lark being charmed by them.

Then he showed me the rest of the garden. It wasn't terribly large, but it was all crafted with love. He would tell me things about my mother. Nothing big, but the little things that piled up that crafted the love between them. The way she piled her hair on top of her head when she was frustrated with a spell. The walks she enjoyed taking. The love she would show perfect strangers. How she could seem to read a person, just by talking with them a few moments. How she had no patience for small talk. The way she wouldn't let the different foods on her plate touch each other.

The way he viewed her was so... real. I had seen glimpses of her as a witch. She was admired in the valley, and in my visions she was strong and decided on everything. But Kalor opened me to a side of her that was flawed, and down to earth, and alive. She had likes, dislikes, things she was bad at, despite what the witches would have told me.

"And the tree was one of her favorites," Kalor went on as we rounded back to the bench we had been sitting on earlier. "She had always wanted a chestnut tree for... what is that?"

A rustling overhead in the thick branches drew the eye. Glimpses of shiny black feathers gave me a good guess as to what was up there.

"Puko!" I laughed. "Come down and say hello."

Out of the branches popped the head of a half-blind raven.

"Caw!"

"Stars," Kalor laughed. "I never thought I'd miss this scoundrel, but I did."

Kalor held out an arm and Puko was happy to flap down and land on it. He began to preen Kalor's long hair like he would his own feathers.

"It's good to see you well, old friend," Kalor said, gently taking the lock of hair back from Puko's grasp. "I was hoping to see you today, I came prepared."

Kalor pulled a strip of the flat bread we had eaten last night from his pocket and offered it to the bird. Puko happily gobbled it up.

Kalor smiled as he watched the raven gorge himself, and then he glanced skyward. "I had hoped to spend more time here, but I'm afraid it will rain soon. Let's head back, shall we?"

"Alright," I agreed.

He offered me his arm again, and I took his elbow. Kalor set an easy pace to the gate of the garden, and we were content in our silence as we walked. Puko seemed happy to be here, which I was glad for. Since he couldn't have a window to my room, it was nice that he had Lark's garden to settle into, and the big tree would be a perfect shelter from the rains.

We walked a distance outside the garden on our way back, when one of the scouts in the green cloaks stepped out from behind a tree. He pulled his hood back, and I recognized Teyber straight away.

"Kalor, Halduin is looking for you. I fear trouble," Teyber said.

Kalor sighed. "When isn't Halduin trouble? Where is he?"

"Tobias's office, last I saw. I'm worried he's pieced together..." Teyber and Kalor both looked at me, causing me to take a step back.

"What is it?" I asked.

Kalor made a grim face and patted my hand on is arm. "Wren, I wanted to talk to you about it this morning. Not everyone was a fan of Lark. Some of the stigma between the witches and the Wyldes came back here with the elves. When Teyber had you cloak yourself, it was so we could address what to do with your identity before we revealed it to the others."

"And this Halduin is one that disliked her," I answered. It wasn't a question, I could see it on their faces plain as day.

Teyber nodded sharply. "I bought you the time I could, Kalor. You've got to go break the news to them one way or another."

Kalor have my hand a squeeze and he shot me a tired smile. "I've got to go, Wren. I'll be back as soon as I can. Go with Teyber to my halls and I'll send some kind of lunch your way."

"I will." I nodded.

"Thank you, Wren." Kalor leaned in and hugged me tight, before taking a step back. Puko flew from Kalor's shoulders to a nearby branch overhead.

"Lark would have fought you on that," Teyber chuckled.

"Well, I'm not Lark," I said. "I try to think first. Usually. And Kalor has good reasons to go alone."

Kalor gave me a crooked smile and looked over to Teyber. "She's part elf, for sure."

Teyber laughed. "I thought you already had first hand knowledge that she was part elf."

Kalor blushed, clearing his throat. "Anyway, I'll be going now. Teyber, walk her back safely."

"Of course." Teyber nodded and Kalor left.

Teyber looked at me with a tired sigh. "Let's get you safely back inside, Wren."

His last words were nearly cut off by a roll of thunder. We both looked up as the first fat drops of warm rain fell.

"Just in time, too. This one might actually last a couple hours," Teyber said, sticking his hand out of his cloak to feel the falling rain.

I nodded. "Lead the way then, let's get inside. Puko, will you be alright to find a safe place?"

"Caw!" Puko took off, back toward the garden. I smiled, sensing that he had found a suitable place to stay while the storm rolled through.

"This way," Teyber said. "Let's get inside before it really picks up."

And with my cloak pulled low over my face, I followed Teyber through the trees and to the keep.