Roots and Oxygen

Chapter 34 - Worth the Risk

For the rest of the day, Sage got on with his Princely tasks, such as entertaining more guests who visited the queen. He felt Taro's presence wherever he went. Every time he looked up, Taro was watching him, and Sage's heart fluttered.

He likes me. He actually likes me. He pinched his palm to stop himself from thinking about their simple head kiss. By evening, they had to return to the bedroom because Taro needed to change forms. Sage had forgotten, and Taro had been patient, but he struggled to get up the stairs and almost collapsed onto the floor mid transformation.

Sage got him water and gently put the Devil's Ivy on his bedside table. "I'm so sorry. I should set an alarm. I won't forget again," he vowed.

He then got himself ready for bed and laid on top of the covers as the fire crackled away, warming the room. Shadows distorted on the ceiling as he thought about Taro Vinea, his valet and his personal guard, sleeping on the table next to him in plant form.

Sage had been so quick to distort the truth. He convinced himself that Taro was just entertaining himself by casually flirting, and a kiss on the head meant nothing to him. Taro admitting his feelings had changed everything. Each glance, each gentle touch, each smile was laced with a secret.

I don't know what to do. Sage curled up. I like him too, but this can't be good for us. Can it? He fell asleep with a restless head and had restless dreams. When the fire was dull simmering ashes, he woke to a loud thump in his room. He had dreamt of being buried into the ground, but instead of soil covering him, he was consumed by cameras that yelled horrible things.

Sage wrapped arms around himself and buried his head into his pillow, trying to forget the dream.

He woke again when the sun shone into his eyes through a gap in the curtains. Taro wasn't leaning over him with a smirk. He wasn't on the bedside table either. He must be ironing my clothes. Sage checked his watch, assuming dawn had only just broken the star-filled sky.

He leapt out of bed when the clock said 9:30am. Sage had missed breakfast. He dashed around his room, grabbing the clothes that were leaning over his desk chair from the night before. On his mad rush into the bathroom, Sage skidded to a halt.

Taro was lying on the floor, in his plant form. His pot had smashed, and his roots were out in the open. "No!" Sage gasped, flinging his clothes across the room. he scooped him up. Taro's leaves were curled and didn't move against his touch.

Sage didn't care that he touched his roots. He coiled the vines around his wrist and bolted from his bedroom, still wearing his pyjamas.

The guards he ran past leapt off the wall, staring wide-eyed at the plant in his hands as he hurried by. Mrs Beecham was humming to herself in the shed when Sage burst through the door, gasping for breath.

"Help!" was all Sage could yell, holding out his hands for her to see.

Mrs Beecham dropped the packet of tomato seeds. "Taro?"

"He was on the floor when I woke up! His pot was smashed, he must have fallen off the bedside table. I don't know how long he's been like this!" Panic rose in his voice. Sage automatically thought of the worst, but Mrs Beecham remained as calm as she could.

She grabbed a pot from underneath the desk. It was turquoise and had a chip at the top, but she paid no attention to detail and stuffed it with the soil Taro had chosen the other day. Sage stuffed the plant in the pot, watered it with mixed in plant food, and waited.

Taro's vines hung down, still and motionless like he was just any old plant.

"He'll be okay, right?" Sage asked, pacing from one foot to the other.