The Crimson King

Chapter 5 | The Garden

There was, however, a linen bag, hanging on a hook on the back of her door, and Iris snagged it, stuffing the book on botany she had found, inside.

She stepped through into the living room, cautiously surveying the space, but it seemed that she really had been left to her own devices, and there was no sign that anyone else had been there.

Confident, she hurried through to the dining area, seeming to remember seeing a bowl of fruit on the table when she had passed through yesterday.

Her memory served correct and she scooped three apples from the generous bowl, sliding two into her bag and biting into the third with a crunch. They were no where near as good as the one's she had been growing at home, she noticed with a sort of smug satisfaction, as she slipped out the door and into the hallway beyond, but she supposed that could be forgiven.

She paused in the hallway for a moment, considering the exit at the end of the passage, while also looking at the door she knew concealed a stairway that led downwards. Would it perhaps be faster to explore that on the off chance it provided a shortcut to her destination?

She decided yes.

Yanking the door open, she hurried down the steps, two at a time. They twisted down, down, down, into the bowels of the palace, the air becoming warmer the deeper she went. When she was eventually spat out into a thin hallway at the other end, it became apparent she had ended up in the servant's quarters and she sniffed the air, scenting the good smells that seemed to hang in the air like a fine mist. The kitchens must be located down here as well.

Turning her nose towards the direction that suggested fresh air, Iris hurried onwards through the halls. The lack of people above, was compensated below it seemed, as workers bustled past her, intent on their morning duties and seeming to pay her no mind. She did feel a few curious glances land on her, as she rushed swiftly past, but by the time they had turned around to question her she had already disappeared.

Sneaking past an especially busy room, Iris finally found an exit that seemed to lead to outside. She opened the door and stepped swiftly out into the cool morning air with a sigh of relief.

Out here too, the fine mist lingered, and it stuck to Iris's face, dampening the exposed skin lightly. She made her way down a cobblestoned path that twisted around the side of the palace and disappeared into the greenery on either side.

Iris was initially worried that she would have no chance of locating the glasshouse, having lost all sense of direction during her journey down from her room, but she did not have to worry too long as, at the next turn, she spied the glass rooftop she had looked down on from her room, the tall glass spier hovering above the maze of hedging.

Keeping it in her sights, she continued down the pathway. After another five minutes of walking and losing sight of the glasshouse at yet another bend, she ducked through a rose covered trellis impatiently and came face to face with a glass door that could only belong to the evasive building she had been in pursuit of.

The glass of the door was murky, its edges crowded with moss, and she reached out for the ornate silver handle a little hesitantly, unsure of what she would find with the outside door in this condition.

Would it live up to her imagination? Or was this merely another forgotten corner of the unkempt, and slightly wild tangle of a garden she had seen so far.

She pressed down on the handle and the door opened smoothly inward, much to her surprise. A rush of air escaped, warmer than the outside, and bringing with it the scent of earth.

With tentative footsteps, Iris left the still morning in her wake and stepped through the door, shutting it quietly behind her.

She was immediately enveloped in the abundant, lush greenery that filled every portion of the glass house and prevented her from seeing how large the structure actually was. The broad-leafed plants towered above her, even obstructing her vision of the glass roof.