The Deadly Curse

2.1 | The Great Bloom Festival

          "That's not your fault," I said softly. "It's not your responsibility. I know the power of dance and how much it can move you. But not even ballet can topple an immovable force."

          "It iz," she barked. "It is responsibility. I provide for za royal family. I dance."

          "Not anymore." My harsh words caused her to stare at me with watery eyes. I smiled gently and lightened my tone. "Your job now is to make me a dress that will dazzle. It's my job to make sure my dance will astound them. I won't let them down. I won't let you down."

          For a moment, we regarded each other. She recognized her stubbornness in me and forfeited with a nod. She thrust a boney finger in my face and said, "It also my job to ensure no mistakes. Zo dance again."

          We smiled at one another before she stepped back and I entered first position.

          The day before the festival, the sky seemed ready to explode with rain. The air was heavy, almost suffocating. It smelled strongly of sugar, thyme, and cucumber. Iridescent clouds had rolled in, causing the sun- and moonglow to streak. I found myself gaping at the windows, amazed at the vistas before me.

          I didn't know Eternity could get even more beautiful.

          Because Selra was busy with the final touches of my dress, I was granted some free time. Only one day under her tutelage, and already I longed for the lazy days of gardening and eavesdropping.

          The grand balcony at the back of the castle had transformed. Yllumin, a flower that could grow anywhere and glowed white in bloom, waited on banisters. The seeds were kept in velvet bags that hung from tree branches and flower stems. Lengths of ivy serpentined along the wall of the castle, both highlighting and obscuring the design-work of the masonry. Streamers and banners twisted over railings and threaded through the gardens.

          Kit, the royal gardener and one of my dearest friends, had worked tirelessly on the plants. I joined him often, uprooting dead and diseased flowers. We removed thorns and caught pests. The long hours had paid off though: I had never seen the gardens so alive and radiant.

          Normally, after peering between trunks and stems, I could find Kit kneeling in the dirt. But today, Kit was nowhere to be found.

          I gave up the search but stood at the edge of the gardens. Before me in the distance stood gargantuan trees: thick trunks topped with mushroom caps. Snakelike vines lengthened, shortened, slithered, and quaked. In the underbelly ribbing of the mushroom caps floated orbs of light. They emitted gentle whirs, glowing in hues of blue, pink, white, and yellow.

          Walls of vegetation darkened the distance. Shadows twitched, disappearing from one place and appearing elsewhere. The shadows moved and the plants breathed. Every inch of Eternity was alive.