Chapter Twenty-Six - Hesitation

  Letting out a groan, Jade flopped into the nook bonelessly, startling the two engrossed in their reading. Burying her face in her arms, she grumbled, “Doing magic is so much harder at night.”

  Despite her copious eating habits, she simply couldn’t keep up with the expenditure of growing whole gardens themed with some of her rarer concepts. Doing anything with spiritual, time, or creation magic was a pain. Spatial and gravity were almost as bad, and she hadn’t even touched summoning or animation. Those felt like they were something that shouldn’t be left alone, not that some of the others were that much better.

  Patting her gently on the back, Camille asked, “The food isn’t enough?” She’d seen how much Jade was eating, and it wasn’t a small amount.

  Sighing as she turned over to look at them, she shook her head, “Not for this kind of scale. It helps, but it’s like getting a stream of energy when I need the ocean.”

  “Does that mean you’re done for today?” Victor asked, closing his book.

  With a sigh, she nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got the gardens started, at least. Had to make a few more seeds from the originals, but everything is planted, and has a bit of growth in the direction I want.” She’d stopped trying to make anything grow more than a few inches when she realized how much energy it would take. Today was the day to set the roots. Harvest and experimentation would come later. For some reason, she had the gut feeling that she should give her spirit some rest from potions.

  Glancing at them, she asked, “Want me to take you home?”

  “That would be lovely. Would you like to stay over?” Camille asked gently. It was a probe, but Jade shook her head.

  “Nah, I’m good. The Green Dragon feels like home, and I need that right now.” She didn’t want to deal with the bowing and scraping. Jessica and Kaylee watching over her was sufficient, and as much as she enjoyed the pizza and meals the royals chefs made, it didn’t have the same homey feeling that the girls’ cooking did.

  The two put away their books, Victor lending a hand to help her up as Camille called Gaara and Rasu back from their perches in the trees. Looking at the massive amount of terraforming she’d done, isolating each garden around a tree, she looked impressed. “Wow. I didn’t realize how much you were going to change everything.”

  “Yeah, it feels more like my personal experimentation stage at this point.” She’d meant to make it a home for the fellacai, but instead turned them into guardians for her secret project.

  As her little ones flew over to join her, Ramoth replied to her thoughts, “It’s still their home. The variety is good for growth. They will protect with Oakley.” She sent love back to her queen. Sometimes she forgot that the fellacai, unlike most of the other animals, really covered the entire spectrum of abilities. It comforted her to know this was a place that helped them and they actually enjoyed.

  It made it just a little bit less about only her wants and needs. She originally diversified the trees for them, and this was more of the same. It just also happened to be really useful for her. She looked at the spaces between her gardens, reminding herself to come back and finish growing the grass and other bushes that weren’t her experimental projects…

  And then she realized they probably still would be. Because she still wanted to create more for all the different attributes to feel welcome. Although a few that were blank weren’t bad, she enjoyed creating different environments for them to play in. She promised Willow more roses. She’d start with that.

  “Well, it’s a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an area quite so diverse. Even if people only see the front, I don’t think the other enclosures will come close to comparing.” Victor said thoughtfully.

  That actually made her frown. She’d shaped the beann space, but it really wasn’t anything similar to this expansion of elements. And all the others…maybe she’d go in and put some flowers for them. It wasn’t quite the same and growing the riot that was her magical garden, but it was a personal touch she hoped they’d like. At least one thing she went in and did for all of them.

  There was still a lot to do before this place was really in working condition. Images of the slums drifted through her mind, and she had to forcefully shut down the thought that she was creating a nicer place for beasts than some humans had.

  She couldn’t save everyone, no matter how much she tried. Doing so would only spread herself thin. She was already implementing her best ideas. Sighing, she tugged at her hair absently, trying to think if there was something else she could do to help.

  “What’s wrong now?” Camille asked softly. She’d seen the look in her eyes that happened when she was overthinking.

  Scrunching her nose, Jade replied, “My brain is just going in circles again. How if I have time to work on these enclosures, shouldn’t I have time to help the people in the slums?”

  Victor cut in, “You’re not responsible for saving everyone.” When she looked at him curiously, he sighed and continued, “The existence of the slums…it’s not a new thing. Every year we do what we can to help them. And yes, some of them are there because of the bad decisions of nobles…but not all of them. You can’t help people who don’t want to help themselves. With your new initiatives, those who work hard will be rewarded. You’ve given them the opportunity to pull themselves out of poverty. Not everyone will take it.”

  Camille nodded in agreement. “Honestly, you’ve given them more opportunities than you think. With all of your ideas, we’ve been recruiting from two groups. The skilled already working in the sector, and those who are down and out but ready to learn. So it’s not just the people in Mianach. Even here, we’ve been trying to sort out the problem. It’s just…not something that’s going to go away in a day.”

  Jade nodded, looking back over the place. “And logically, I understand that. But sometimes I look at how much you spend on me and my ideas and wonder if it wouldn’t be better to use that for helping other people. If I shouldn’t be using my energy to help more people.”

  Victor laughed. “If you weren’t taken care of, if you hadn’t received the training you did, you’d be dead. Multiple times over. You can’t help people when you’re dead.”

  She conceded that with a nod. If you weren’t around to help make changes, the only option was whatever legacy you left behind.

  Hopefully, hers was a good one. They called her the lightbringer. Compared to titles like the proud, kind, diligent, or wrathful…well. It felt more like a message of hope, and she was grateful for that. She was pretty sure if they hadn’t given her some other appellation, she’d have been stuck with envious, and that didn’t sound great. Not that proud or wrathful really did, either. But thinking that she had a net positive on the world, despite her faults, was comforting. Even if she disappeared tomorrow, she’d left behind something she could be proud of.

  She wasn’t going to tell them that, though. They’d think she was being fatalistic or something. Victor had been not so subtly reminding her to live.

  “All right, enough of the heavy talk. Let’s drop you off at home. I need some sleep.” Her queens scattered briefly, turning off the lights as they waited by the door for them to return, letting the place fall into mostly darkness. A few of the plants still let off a soft glow, but it could just be a trick of the moonlight. She wasn’t going to worry about it right now.

  Finally leaving, Jade lightened their gravity and shot them into the sky after determining there weren’t any visible guards she needed to drag along. The spies could follow at their own pace, just as long as they didn’t attempt to disturb her fellacai. That would be unfortunate if they tried. Hopefully the sign would stop them from doing something stupid, because Oakley sure would.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “So, are you coming back here tomorrow or are you actually going to go to the library?” Camille asked as they flew closer to the sky, enjoying the stars that shone brightly above them.

  Thinking, Jade shrugged. “I hadn’t actually thought about it. Obviously, I still have more to do here and would like to visit, but maybe a break would be good. So yeah. Let’s plan on the library. It’s probably better to get my estate stuff plotted out so we can work on that whenever the manpower is ready, too.” She paused, then shrugged as she said, “I’ll probably swing by Damian’s first. I haven’t checked on him in a while and it’s close.”

  She didn’t necessarily have to let them know about her alternative plans, because that also meant there would probably be more watchers there. But they were supposed to be keeping her safe, so making a schedule where they could sort of keep up was probably in her best interests.

  As they approached the castle, she aimed for Cami’s balcony. Even without the light, she knew where it was now, so as they landed she turned to Victor and asked, “You’re good to go in from here too, right?”

  Laughing, he asked, “What, you don’t want to stay here for any longer than you have to?”

  Shaking her head, she grinned as she pointed to Gaara and Rasu. “Uh, no. If you didn’t remember, I haven’t talked to your parents about bonding your siblings. I think I’ll let you guys deal with them first. By the time they get to me, maybe they’ll have forgotten they were mad.”

  Camille blanched slightly, then sighed, reaching up to pet her pretties. “Worth it.” Since she’d been the one who started the whole thing, she’d take the consequences.

  Victor looked only mildly envious. She hadn’t been there for the conversation where he was introduced to his siblings’ bonded, but he also hadn’t asked for his own, and she doubted it was because of how she’d reacted to Tisha. No, as the crown prince, Victor simply was far more restrained than she’d previously noticed. She actually wanted to find him a good bond, though. She thought it would be good for him to have a companion that knew his heart intimately. All the other visiting crown royals had one.

  That thought brought her up short. Jamil and Lochlann absolutely had bonds she’d met, but why did she think Aylin did too? They hadn’t brought any animals that she could see. She’d have to ask the next time they talked, because she was ninety percent sure the woman had one, but no idea why she was so confident in the matter. Was her insight acting up again?

  With a grin, she patted Victor’s shoulder and told him, “You should help her take some of the heat. And maybe tell your parents that it’s actually pretty common. I just realized this isn’t something I started. The other delegations have multiple people bonded without contractual magic, so the theory is far more tested than I realized.”

  “Really?” Camille asked curiously.

  Nodding, she said, “We met the bonds of Lars and Ryan today. Ryan has no affinity for it. I didn’t even think about it until just now. It’s harder to tell with the Resaigh, because they were so muddled up in compulsion and contracts, but they were all bonded to their beasts too. I think it’s a common practice for the upper echelon, which makes sense, because it gives you a lot of strength and options.”

  They looked thoughtful, and Camille seemed grateful. “Well, that should at least help smooth things over. Thanks for letting us know.”

  Jade nodded, trying to figure out how they’d missed this before. Quietly she asked, “The question is how we didn’t already know this.”

  With a sigh, Victor replied, “Because we’re behind. A lot of our livestock is provided by Resaigh. We have fewer contractual mages than most of our neighbors, and the ones we do have are overworked, because there are less of them.” He paused, then added, “And you know how things are. They wouldn’t tell us unless they had a reason to.”

  She nodded. “Sounds about right. Okay. Well, you talk to your parents about it when you’ve got a chance. I have a feeling they’re not far.” Honestly, her intuition was telling her to get out of dodge. “In the meantime, I’m out. I’ll see you guys tomorrow?”

  Camille nodded, and Victor shrugged, unsure if he’d be sent elsewhere. She gave them a little wave, made sure the princess had the keys and could get into her room from outside, then took off into the night.

  The darkness lit by starlight was peaceful, even if she preferred the day. In the sky, she felt safe. Well. Except for that one gross encounter. She hovered above the city, watching the lights flicker on and off. The night was peaceful, but something thrummed in her chest, warning her and stopping her from descending into the city. So she waited.

  Danger was approaching. Except it wasn’t? Something that was dangerous, but not to her. That’s what her senses were telling her. Whatever was coming didn’t mean harm. There was a slightly sinking feeling in her stomach, as she had a guess who her visitor was. There were only so many beings who made her feel wary and could reach her way up here.

  Minutes passed uneventfully, and she wondered if her imagination was just being way too active. Why would she think they were coming, and if so, why did meeting them in the air seem like the better idea?

  Irritated, she sat down in her wind bubble and pulled out a few cherries, nibbling on them to pass the time. She stared at the pits she collected, wavering before finally giving in. Making four small pots, she grew tiny saplings of her best wind, fire, water, and after another bit of hesitation, a creation cherry tree. Then came a bit of metal as she made a bracelet sized ring of holding that was a two foot cube. That was enough room to put the four mini trees in, and finally, she added some of the cherries for those types in too.

  She didn’t know why she felt the need to do this. It was totally unnecessary, but the images of tiny dragons cuddling with her wouldn’t get out of her brain. So she worked and waited. Eventually, she started reading her new books as she sat in the sky and the city grew ever darker.

  It was nearly an hour and a half later when her ring buzzed, and she answered the call, seeing Camille’s worried face. She could see her taking in the background of stars as she asked, “Are you still flying around?” Oh. She supposed people might get worried when she didn’t show up at the Green Dragon. She should have thought of that, but she’d halted there with the feeling that she shouldn’t go down.

  Jade nodded slowly, because the open sky was clearly behind her. “Yeah… I’m just… hanging out up here.”

  There was a pause, and then she asked, “Is there a reason why you haven’t gone back?”

  Weighing her options, Jade opted for truth. “Gut instinct. I think one of the dragons is about to pay a visit.”

  Unfortunately, that made the princess pale. “One of? You don’t know which one?”

  Shaking her head, she replied, “Nope. Probably an adult. But I can’t shake the feeling I should meet them up here. So I’ve just kinda been…waiting.”

  “You mean you’ve just been sitting in the sky this whole time? Isn’t that a drain on your magic?” Victor asked, and she realized he was still with his sister, even though he was out of the frame, although he was crowding in now.

  She shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah? It’s not that bad when it’s just me. And I’ve got food, so I’m not in any danger of falling because I ran out of mana anytime soon.” Sure, she didn’t love being up here without being able to suck light in, but that was offset by the feeling that she shouldn’t descend.

  “Do you think maybe you should have told us this? You know, in case they tried to kidnap you again?” His voice was stern as he stared her down.

  Sighing, she said softly, “I don’t get the feeling I’m in danger, just that something dangerous is coming, but means me no harm. I don’t know how else to explain it. The only thing that makes sense with that feeling and the inclination to stay skyborn is that it’s one of the dragons. The little ones don’t give me the same level of alertness the adults do, and I doubt they’d be able to make the trip. If Xuxianara was coming, I think I would be in full-on panic mode instead of just chilling here. So that leaves Tadashi, Briar, or a third party I haven’t met yet. I’m actually inclined towards the last one.”

  “And why is that?” Camille asked curiously.

  “Well, because Briar knows I don’t want to see him, and I already siphoned Tadashi. From a completely practical perspective, I think they would send a messenger I might be interested in siphoning, and my reluctance to go down probably means they don’t have the lock on my magic signature that I’m sure Tadashi and Briar do. Ergo, I think it’s a dragon I haven’t met yet.”

  After a moment, Victor admitted, “That…makes a surprising amount of sense.”

  Rolling her eyes, she informed him primly, “I do try to be logical about things. I’m not just up here waiting for my eventual demise.”

  He sighed, then asked, “You’ll keep us informed?”

  She nodded. “The feeling is getting closer, so I don’t think it’ll be long now. I’ll let you know how it all went down when I’m safely ensconced back in my room.”

  “And you’ll be careful?” Camille interjected.

  “I always do my best.” Jade said in return. And that was true. The world just didn’t always follow her plans.

  “One hour. We’ll call you back if you haven’t checked in by then.” Victor softly demanded.

  “Okay, okay. An hour. I promise.” She gave them a smile and said, “Now go do…whatever you were supposed to be doing right now instead of worrying about me. I’m fine. I will be fine. Trust me, and I’ll talk to you later.” Victor huffed, but nodded, and Camille reluctantly gave her a smile before cutting the call.

  Now she just had to wait for her visitor to arrive.