A Disguised Singularity

Chapter 10 - Zuri

After spending a day unpacking and relaxing after the trip, Zuri's life quickly fell back into its normal rhythm. Her never-ending quest for test subjects continued as before, but suitable candidates were few and far between. Since both wounds and broken bones were scarce, Zuri's healer training shifted to less pressing injuries. Between Seber's years of backbreaking service in the guard and Renata's advanced age, there was rarely a day when one or both weren't in some kind of discomfort. Therefore, the two of them quickly became Zuri's primary test subjects as she tried to learn how to use pain-relieving magic. Thanks to her efforts, in a little over two weeks, Seber's gait, although still imperfect, was vastly improved over the limp he'd been walking with for decades. Once Zuri was fairly comfortable relieving muscle and joint pain, Renata decided to redirect their attention again, but this time onto something very different. Instead of magic books, the old empress started scouring the bookshelves in search of her mother's old, yet profoundly educational apothecary tomes.

As the two of them delved into the old Elurian texts, Zuri found herself quietly wondering why a healer like Nekane would have apothecary books in the first place. They appeared more suited to be sitting on her late grandfather's shelves than nestled amongst Nekane's books on healing magic. Though both Nekane and her late grandfather aimed to help others, how they went about it seemed vastly different. The thought nagged at Zuri until she finally expressed her concerns to Renata. After chuckling for a moment, Renata quickly clarifying that her mother had practiced both throughout her career. She would use her magic to heal those who came to her, but also made poultices, tonics and elixirs with the plants from her garden to help those who couldn't make the journey to see her. With Zuri's curiosity satisfied, Renata's idea for a summer project began to crystallize.

As she remembered her mother's lush garden of medicinal plants, Renata decided that the two of them would try their hand at cultivating medical plants of their own. The goal was to harvest their own ingredients and then craft a simple poultice or tonic by mid-summer. What started as a seemingly simple project soon evolved into a challenging endeavor that lasted almost the entire summer. After Tadeo returned from the market with medicinal plant seeds he bought from a traveling merchant, the two women spent almost every day in a secluded spot in the palace garden, nurturing their seedlings. The seeds from each of the half dozen pouches Tadeo had purchased, were all strikingly similar even though he claimed to have asked for several different kinds. Nevertheless, Renata and Zuri planted them all and hoped for the best.

As it turned out, neither Zuri nor her ambitious mentor had a green thumb. They devoted countless hours to their secret garden, babying their flora and analyzing their development and appearance. Each time they noticed an anomaly, the two of them would retreat into the large, vastly underused palace library to find a book that would hopefully expound on what was going wrong. Despite months of persistent efforts to keep their little tender shoots alive, they eventually conceded defeat. The few plants that managed to survive more than a month ended up being nothing more than a common herb used for cooking based on it's appearance and smell. Although their gardening endeavors were largely unsuccessful, Zuri's time spent in the garden didn't end up being a complete waste. 

Several times a week, when Zuri grew bored of reading horticulture books and listening to Seber and Renata discuss Rurdinian politics, she would quietly saunter away, and Renata's handsome young guard would always follow. Mostly, they spent their time strolling through the gardens while Tadeo regaled her with palace drama or his latest romantic pursuits. At other times, they would settle on the grass beside one of the numerous small ponds, thoughtfully arranged throughout the garden and have deep discussions about their lives. As she listened, Zuri would often experiment with her magic on the plants around her as a way of keeping her hands busy. One day, while lying on the grass beside their few remaining "medical plants", she discovered that her magic could accelerate the plants' growth. In the span of a few minutes, the sad looking sprout went from having only three leaves to seven! Of course, Tadeo was so engrossed in his story that he didn't notice. Not soon after, her attention was pulled away from the plant, and she never got a chance to tell him what she'd done. As fate would have it, the next day when the four of them went to checking on their plants, Zuri was shocked and a little frightened to find the only plant she'd used her magic on, was dead. It appeared that the same magic which could mend bones could kill a plant more swiftly than her and Renata's lack of experience! Feeling a bit ashamed, Zuri decided to keep her odd plant killing ability to herself.