The forgotten Garden
1006 Words
Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, bathing Selene's room in a warm golden glow.
Ariana slowly opened her eyes. For one moment ,she forgot everything — forgot the wedding, the poison, Everything, For once she was simply a girl waking up on an ordinary morning.
Then the unfamiliar emerald eyes staring back at her from the mirror across the room reminded her all at once.
She wasn't Ariana Elara Vale anymore. At least, not to the world.
"Good morning," Selene said, her voice gentle, already awake, she always seemed to be before Ariana was.
Ariana smiled and said. "Good morning."
It was strange how quickly another voice had become a source of comfort rather than an intrusion.
After breakfast, Martha suggested a walk through the estate. "The gardens are at their loveliest this time of year, my Lady."
Ariana accepted gladly. She needed the air. She needed room to think without four walls pressing the thinking into smaller and smaller shapes.
As they wandered the winding paths, she admired the countless flowers blooming beneath the morning sun — beds of lavender, climbing jasmine, roses in every shade the color existed in.
"It's beautiful."
"Mother loved flowers," Selene said quietly. "She used to say every flower blooms differently, in its own season, in its own way. Just like people."
Ariana smiled, something warm settling into her heart. "I think I would have liked her."
For a moment, neither of them spoke, and the silence between them felt like comfort.
Near the far end of the gardens stood an old greenhouse, its glass roof catching the sunlight in scattered, shifting pieces. Martha slowed, then stopped altogether.
"You haven't been inside since your mother's passing, my Lady."
Ariana gently pushed open the weathered wooden door. The scent of damp earth and blooming camellias welcomed her instantly — thick, sweet, alive, that felt odd, this is a room no one was supposed to visit anymore. But she saw Everything inside had been preserved with care. Tools hung in their proper places. Not a single dead leaf littered the stone floor. Almost as if someone still came here, quietly, when no one was watching.
In the center stood a magnificent white camellia tree, its blossoms untouched by time.
Ariana stepped closer without quite meaning to. "I've always loved white camellias."
"So do I and my mother did too" Selene answered, and something in her voice caught, as if the coincidence surprised even her.
"Why are you here suddenly?"
The sudden voice startled them both. Duke Rowan Ashcroft stood near the entrance, and for the first time, Ariana saw him without the cold mask he wore at dinner. He looked tired. Older. Human, that made him briefly unrecognizable as the man from the head of the table.
His eyes lingered on the camellia tree. "You know, She planted this herself. Insisted on doing it without help, though she was already unwell by then." A faint, pained smile. "She believed beautiful things deserved protecting, even when — especially when — protecting them cost her something."
Silence settled between them.
Finally, Rowan spoke again, his voice returning to its familiar formality, as if he'd only allowed himself that one unguarded moment. "Tomorrow evening, the Ashcroft Estate will host nobles from all four kingdoms — a gathering called in mourning for the Crown Princess, and in reaffirmation of the peace her marriage was meant to secure. Given everything that's happened, the kingdoms felt it wiser to stand together than to let uncertainty take root while they waited." His expression turned unreadable. "You will attend."
Before Ariana could respond, he turned and walked away, leaving her with more questions than she'd had before he'd spoken.
The afternoon passed quietly. Martha helped Ariana choose a gown suitable for the gathering, while Selene walked Ariana through the names of every noble family they were likely to encounter in her mind, half instruction and half nervous habit.
"Lady Beatrice will be there. Unfortunately."
Ariana laughed. "And?"
"Don't accept wine from Lord Cedric."
"Why not?"
"Because he'll spend the next hour talking about himself, and you'll never get the taste of boredom out of your mouth again."
Ariana couldn't help smiling. For the first time since waking in this body, the two of them laughed together without fear tangled somewhere underneath it.
That night, unable to sleep, Ariana wandered onto the balcony. The estate lay quiet beneath a silver moon, the gardens washed pale and still. Everything seemed peaceful.
Too peaceful.
A faint movement caught her eye — someone walking through the gardens below. Not a servant, Not a guard on patrol. The figure wore a dark cloak and carried a lantern carefully shielded from the wind, its light cupped low and close, the way one carries a flame that isn't meant to be noticed.
Ariana went still, some instinct keeping her rooted. The balcony was too far to make out a face, and something about the deliberate care in the figure's movements made her hesitate to break the silence — as if a single sound might turn whatever was happening below into something far more dangerous.
The stranger stopped before the old greenhouse, glanced around to be certain no one watched, and unlocked the door with a key.
Ariana frowned and asked.
"Selene... who is that?"
A long silence followed. When Selene finally answered, her voice trembled which Ariana hadn't heard from her before.
"I... don't know."
The hooded figure disappeared inside.
A moment later, a faint blue light began glowing through the dusty glass, pulsing faintly, like something is breathing.
Ariana took an involuntary step forward, gripping the balcony rail. "What are they doing in there? At this hour?"
The light vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
Then the greenhouse door creaked open.
The hooded figure stepped out, paused — and turned, slowly, directly toward Ariana's balcony as if sensing that she is there,
Ariana's eyes widened and Selene nervously and hurriedly said
"Hide ariana" But it was too late the figure already noticed ariana by then
- Writer
