Roots and Oxygen

Chapter 48 - Vigilant Kindred

In the Palace Garden, the wind whipped at Sage's skin and numbed his face. The cold seeped around his fingers as he helped add extra soil to the base of the rose bushes.

"They're not lasting that long this year. We've had a few extra bugs in the soil," Mrs Beecham said with a worried frown.

Sage looked around. Taro stood in the distance, watching them. No doubt he was wishing he could be closer, but not wanting to cause too much suspicion. "Are these . . . plant people?" he whispered, feeling a cold shiver down his spine. The cold wasn't making him feel any better, though the fresh earthy air was clearing his head a little.

Mrs Beecham nodded, also scanning the area. Other gardeners shaped bushes into round blobs and the trees into triangles. Soon, they'd have lights dotted around them as the months rolled closer to Christmas.

"Keeping all the outdoor plants healthy has been hard this year, really hard, harder than usual." She dug her spade into the mud and left it protruding upwards. "Luckily for those like Taro, gardeners of the Palace are very dedicated to keeping a very healthy garden."

"Are you ordered to do that? Or is it just because you know they're part human . . . like Taro?"

"Once, long ago, those in charge of the Palace grounds ordered us to do it, but now it's a secret among only a few. Not all gardeners are from a line of family members who have worked here. We have new ones, people doing apprenticeships, people coming to help who want to learn from no previous experience. How can you tell someone with no gardening experience that most of these plants can turn into humans and if they don't do their job properly, the Palace will lose most of its guards?"

"That's a pretty heavy subject. Nobody would believe it." The sun cracked the clouds, burning a fierce pain behind his eyes.

"But you did, and I can feel a shift in the air because a royal knows and accepts them for who they truly are."

Sage patted the soil flat, smiling through his sickness. As a future ruler, he didn't want to create fear. He touched some of the drooping orange roses, hoping that they lasted a little longer in the cold weather.

"So, how have you been?" Mrs Beecham asked, sitting back on her knees, pulling off her muddy gardening gloves and sweeping ginger curls from her eyes.

"Okay," Sage said. Okay was an understatement. He was falling for his Valet, he was sneaking around and kissing another man in the rain, he was sleeping with his head on Taro's shoulder, he was slowly coming out of the closet, he was losing friends, hiding from the paparazzi, figuring out secrets, stressing about people breaking in and people hurting Taro. His life was a whirlwind of problems and chances. Sage could barely keep up.

But being out in the garden rooted him. Sage felt like his feet were always on the ground with wind in his hair and the earth under his fingernails. "Actually, I'm better than okay, but I've just got a lot on right now," he admitted, glancing at Taro who was flicking a beetle off his shoulder. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good," Mrs Beecham said, looking back and forth between Sage and Taro. "Are you two getting on well? I know Taro can be quite a rule breaker and you are quite the opposite. He's not driving you mad, is he?"

"Only every other day." They shared amused glances. "He's doing great, and it's doing me some good by being around a real person. Well, you know what I mean. Someone who tells me exactly what he thinks and doesn't treat me any differently because of my title. It's refreshing and I'm building strength from it."

"I'm glad. I was worried that I suggested someone who you'd end up firing in a month. Taro has surprised me, but I always knew he was a hard worker."