Queen of Rosewood Forest (On Hold)

Chapter 53

"First, I think we all need to discuss what happened with Evette's powers. Any detail that could lead to what's setting them off would be helpful," Alun says as he sits down at the table. I just sit there quietly unsure what to do or say. The walk back to the house was filled with silence as neither one spoke to me.

Aaden clears his throat before casting me a glance then turning back to the group, "Eve pointed something out that we didn't notice. The flowers haven't been growing out of control anywhere. The last time she used her powers the flowers were everywhere. They aren't now."

"Good," Alun nodded, "means you are getting more control of your powers."

"I guess," I shrug. "Or it could mean I'm not doing anything at all."

Eben shakes his head. "I had burns all over my arms and a deep cut that needed stitches. I even had a broken rib but I'm perfectly healed now.. That shouldn't be possible."

I turn to look at him angrily, "Why didn't you say anything when I was treating you?" A tear slips down my face.

"The patients at the hospital seemed to be slightly affected as well. It wasn't enough for anyone to notice, but the patients who were receiving herbal remedies had shorter hospital stays over the past week." Alun says.

"It's probably because you haven't cared for any of them directly," Neven says to me in an attempt to calm my nerves. "You helped them without even knowing you were doing it."

"It's probably safe to assume your getting better at controlling the output of your healing abilities even if its not intentional." Alun's body seems calm as he speaks but when I look at his eyes, it's as if I can see clouds forming in his irises as he becomes lost in his own thoughts.

"I think we need to understand more about how my powers work," I say to the group. "No one around here has powers like mine, so maybe it would help to know what the extent of my powers can be and how they were used in the past."

"That's probably true, but how would we find information like that?" Aaden asks.

"My family has some books from the time before the royal family was killed. Maybe the other elders' families have some too," Neven points out with a hopeful tone in his voice.

"I know my father has some, but I've never been allowed to see them." Alun still seems lost in thought as he speaks.

"I think I know where we can find some books about the royal family. It's not gonna be easy though." Eben seems nervous as he speaks. "I don't know if it's a good idea."

"Whatever it takes to figure out my powers. I need to know, Eben." My voice is almost pleading with him.

"My grandmother is the head administrator of job distribution. She knows a lot about magical abilities and how they work. If anyone has a book about the royal family's healing capabilities it's her. It's just a matter of whether she will let me look at it."

"That's great. You could ask her for help with research or something. Right?" Eben still seems apprehensive and when I look at the other's faces they all have seemed to adopt his facial expression. "What's wrong?"

"Eben's grandmother is one of the elders," Neven says.

"She's probably the most terrifying woman in this whole village," Aaden quips. "She won't just give you the information you want. She'll ask too many questions."

"We can't just ask her for it right now," Alun warns. "She'll be too curious and she might piece together that one of us was responsible for the letters that got plastered to city hall."

"I heard some of the people in the barracks talking about that," Aaden says. "There's theories that they were faked, but a few of them don't think they could have been faked because the wax seals are official."

"That's good," I say. "That means it planted the seeds of doubt we needed."

"We need to keep up appearances though. Until the talk from this dies down a bit we can't have anyone thinking any of us could have been involved," Aaden says.

"We need to seem like the perfect successors to our grandparents to avoid suspicion," Alun says.

"If we all seem to be enthusiastic about our place in the line of succession then we might be able to get some more information from our families," Neven says.

"I need to keep working too," I add. "I don't know many people in the village outside of this room. people need to be able to vouch for me if anyone starts to find me suspicious."

"Just promise you'll stop overworking yourself," Aaden says. "It's possible your powers get out of control when you start to exhaust yourself."

"Ok," I nod. "I promise I will try not to."