Chapter Seventeen

"When I get eaten by this flower, you get to be the one to explain how you sat idly by and watched it happen."

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James kept his eyes peeled as Day carried him perched on the palm of her hand. It was nice not to have to walk, he had to admit. Unlike James’ painful, snail-like pace, Day stalked through the garden like a wolf, passing through the menagerie of flora and fauna with ease. Even though he was now diminutive in the extreme, his brain seemed far sharper than it had ever been before. Even with Day’s quick pace, James had no trouble keeping up.

He seemed to instinctively know about each flower and tree in the Queen’s garden and whether or not they belonged or were out of place for their environment. Very few of the beautiful plants featured in the garden actually belonged in this exact location and had instead been lovingly relocated and cultivated here.

It reminded him of Bel and the large potted plants she carted home, intent on making the concrete jungle they lived in a little more green, even if she was the only one trying to make a difference. And she had, all on her own.

He spared a glance toward Night and Gabriel. It looked like they had just about finished talking with the various green-skinned women who worked the garden. He doubted they’d learned anything. In fact, if he were being honest, his plan had been to find the answer on his own and dazzle everyone with his magical gifts.

If only the Queen had left a breadcrumb trail, or a large neon sign, or…

James’ tiny eyes widened as he had a thought.

“Day, could you take us to the eastern edge of the garden?”

She simply nodded and adjusted her course, her dark hair swishing around her pale, thin face.

He was acting on a hunch, but if the Queen was anything like Bel, she might have actually left an unintentional trail when she was taken.

With Day’s long strides, they reached the eastern rim of the garden quickly. The sun was slightly higher in the sky now, making the Queen’s palace shimmer with the gossamer wings of passing butterflies and the many colors of the blazing flowers peeking out from all around them like a hungry crowd eagerly studying the clouds high above them. The perfume from the flowers was intoxicating, overwhelming James’ tiny, sharpened senses, but his spell had apparently been good for something, because his eyes had never been sharper or more clear.

He'd be thinking long and hard about getting back to his normal size without losing his new eyesight. It was far too nice to just throw away.

“We’re here,” Day said succinctly.

James looked around and noticed a convenient tree nearby.

“Could you set me down in that flower bed?” he squeaked before coughing to try and hide his mousy voice.

Stupid spell.

“Yup.” She deposited him in the dirt next to flowers that towered over him and then stood to the side, studying the area around them with interest.

“What are you looking for?” she asked.

“A trail,” he murmured under his breath.

From his perch in the flower bed he could look down at the grassy floor with ease.

But if he was hoping for a dirt trail or something equally obvious, he was mistaken. The Green Queen was neat and tidy to the extreme—odd for someone perpetually surrounded by so much dirt. Even Bel occasionally left small dirt trails when she brought in a new plant—he knew because he’d seen her sweeping them up when he glanced out his window and saw her working in her rooftop garden.

He'd hoped she would have maybe brought her favorite plant with her and left a handy trail of dirt behind that James could track with his fresh eyes.

But all he saw were plants, all around him like colorful trees. Delicate purple flowers with yellow tongues. Bright pink roses with thick petals lazily open. Striking shots of red, blurs of orange, small stars of white. Even a small patch of flowers that seemed completely sapped of color and were a midnight black. Yellows, wide swaths of green, small snapping teeth…

James frowned, looked again.

“Is that what I think…?”

He shuffled over to the plant in question, eyeing the small white stubs that honestly did look like tiny fangs.

He was almost there when the plant in question made a strange noise and lunged forward, its tiny white teeth snapping hungrily.

James squeaked in terror and stumbled backward, tripping over his robe in the process and rolling in the dirt as the toothy plant continued bending down, getting closer and closer. James peeked out from his satiny cocoon to see the plant nibbling on his pointed hat.

“That’s my hat,” he grumbled, struggling to free one of his hands to snatch the hat away before the wicked plant devoured it.

Day, who had heard a scuffle, glanced into the flower bed to see James completely tied up in his robes, squeaking and shouting as a small flower leaned toward him.

“Trouble in paradise?” she asked with a grin.

“Laugh all you want,” he squeaked. “But when I get eaten by this flower, you get to be the one to explain how you sat idly by and watched it happen.”

“Lucky me,” she smirked. But she wasted no time in picking up James and depositing him on her palm, where his blue eyes peeped out at her from within the folds of his tangled robe and his long white beard which was also in disarray.

“Learn anything?” she said.

“Yes,” James huffed. “I think I know where the Green Queen went.”

***

“Thank you for offering to accompany us,” Day said in a much more gracious tone than James had expected, given that she was talking to none other than Lissandre.

Maybe it was due to the fact that the green-skinned woman was no longer on Gabriel’s arm. Or maybe it was because Day was too focused on hiding James from everyone else.

Or maybe it was because James had come across carnivorous plants in the pristine oasis that was the Queen’s garden, plants that didn’t seem to belong there.

Sure, the offenders he’d discovered had teeth the size of dew drops, but it a clue James was eager to capitalize on. Especially since it looked like the forest surrounding the garden looked more wild to the northeast, where James assumed the Green Queen had gone.

It was into this forest the group had traveled, with Gabriel at the head. He’d been quick to ask Day where James had gone, and her vague response that he was doing wizardly things ahead of them and that they would catch up to the wizard seemed to have inspired him with extra urgency. Greenie was plodding behind them, snorting distrustfully at anything that smelled or looked strange.

In fact, the deeper they went into the forest, the more teeth James saw from the hole inside Day’s hood. He was perched in the fabric, peeking out at the world behind them as Day walked with the group. The plants in the forest were looking less and less like flowers and trees and more and more like little green creatures.

Day had instructed the group to follow the plants with teeth, and Gabriel with his sharp eyes had no trouble doing just that. The mutated greenery was leading them out of the Green Queen’s domain and, as James had suspected, in the direction of the king’s castle.

Now he just needed to grow up.

The height I used to be, would be nice for me. No, maybe something like I would like to be taller than I am now, about as tall as that cow. Ugh, who knows what could happen if I did that…

“I don’t like the look of the forest ahead of us,” Night commented. He was shouldering his massive pack once more and glaring into the gloom in front of the group. James couldn’t see what the young man saw, but he trusted the rogue’s instincts.

“It does look more… hungry,” Gabriel agreed.

James’ friends needed him, and here he was catching a ride in an angry girl’s hood, coming up with terrible rhymes to try and right his embarrassing mishap. And if he did succeed? He needed to get out of Day’s hood and somewhere safe where he could change back if his spell worked.

James pulled at a piece of Day’s hair to get her attention, and she said a moment later, “Let’s take a five-minute break before we keep going.”

The men agreed and started discussing methods for making their way through the corrupted section of forest while Day stepped away and removed her cloak, retrieving James from the hood and settling him on her palm once more.

“What’s up, Mr. Just?”

“Can you just leave me somewhere so I can cast my spell to return to full size?” he asked.

“Sure. Where do you want me to leave you so you don’t get stepped on accidentally?” she said dryly, but there was a slight gleam in her eyes that made James suspicious that she was joking.

“How about that stump over there?” James pointed with a tiny finger at a stump to their left.

“And you’re sure you know what you’re doing?” she asked. “Because I won’t be able to keep in touch with you if you’re sitting on this stump.”

“I’ve got it covered,” he said, puffing out his tiny chest.

“Well, try to do your spell in the next five minutes. We’ll be heading out after that.”

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James nodded and Day strode away to rejoin the group, leaving James in the strange silence of the forest. The usual chatter of critters and birds was absent, yet another clue that something about this section of the forest seemed disturbed.

He’d been thinking about the spell to restore him back to normal ever since he’d accidentally shrunk himself. And he hadn’t been happy with anything he’d come up with. It turned out that making up spells was an unprecise art. After all, what did not being as slow as a snail have to do with sharp, crystal-clear eyesight? Nothing, as far as James knew. Yet here he was, in the middle of a forest where even a squirrel could eat him with ease. Or baby bunny.

He sighed. Even if he waited a few more days before attempting to fix his size, his abysmal poetry skills would remain the same.

“Let’s get started then,” he squeaked.

Rubbing his two tiny hands together and rolling up his sleeves, he started the spell.

“As tall as I used to be, that’s how I want to be.

I don’t want to complain, but being this small is… not nice.

And I sound like a mouse.”

He closed his tiny eyes, crossing his fingers that the spell would have his intended effect and not lead to another catastrophe. He still hadn’t forgotten about the poor witch he’d sent shooting up dozens of feet in height.

When he opened his eyes again, he was toppling off the stump onto the dark mossy ground at his feet. And he was definitely bigger than a mouse. Looking at his hands and slippered feet, he was happy to report that he seemed to be a normal height once more. Now all he had to do was get off the ground without breaking anything.

Three or four minutes later, he was huffing and grumbling but on his feet once more.

“I should just cast a spell to make myself young again,” he said under his breath.

But given his luck, he’d end up accidentally turning himself into a child or an infant and be forced to grow up again… dealing with the aches and pains suddenly didn’t seem too bad.

Checking to make sure he still had his pointed hat and staff, James straightened his blue robes and shuffled off in the direction Day had gone.

“… will have an answer? When will he be returning?” Gabriel was asking someone.

“Hopefully any minute,” Day responded tersely.

“It seems like I was missed,” James said as he shuffled into the clearing where Gabriel, Lissandre, Night, and Day were all preparing to move out. Greenie was still eyeing the foliage suspiciously.

“Just James!” Gabriel said with excitement, his eyes widening as he studied the old man. “Did you… get taller?”

James frowned and look down at himself. Now that Gabriel mentioned it, he did feel taller than before. But he didn’t plan on admitting as much to the young man.

“I’m just standing up straighter,” he blustered as he inwardly realized his mistake. He was a as tall as he’d been before… when he was at his prime and stood over six feet tall. Old age had done its best to shrink him, but with a few simple words the weight of decades had simply disappeared. James eyed his robe. Where before it had gone down to rest just above his slippered feet, he could now see his ankles.

Hopefully no one else noticed.

“Oh, of course,” the young man nodded, but he didn’t look convinced. “Have you discovered where the Green Queen was taken? Day told us to follow the plants with teeth, but she didn’t tell us why.”

“The corrupted plants are the key,” James said with confidence.

“How?” Night asked from right beside James, startling the old man with his perfectly silent arrival.

“The Queen didn’t just leave.” James paused for dramatic effect. “She was taken. And if this is her garden and these plants are her ‘subjects,’ it would make sense that the plants that saw the Queen stolen away would respond with anger.”

“But they’re just plants,” Day pointed out. “Plants don’t get angry.”

“And mountains don’t just crumble to dust. I think magic is involved, maybe even the Queen’s magic.”

“How do you know of the Queen’s magic?” Lissandre asked, wrinkling her nose as her large eyes turned to face James. “We have told no one of this.”

“I’m rather familiar with magic,” James bluffed. “And it looks like your lady left a trail after all.”

“I did not see it in the actual garden,” Lissandre admitted, brushing aside her hair absentmindedly, “but I can clearly see the Queen’s handiwork now. She has created sentinels which will slowly spread until the entire forest around my lady’s palace is impenetrable. She would only do such a thing under duress.”

“And these strange plants all lead in the direction of the king’s castle. It’s not guaranteed she will be there, but it is likely,” Day murmured to herself.

“Precisely,” James said with a proud grin.

“But that doesn’t solve the issue of getting through the sentinels,” Day was quick to point out.

“I don’t think a couple flowers with teeth are going to be an issue,” James said.

“Look again,” she said.

James sighed inwardly but did as she said, examining the forest ahead of them with his newly sharpened vision.

And groaned out loud.

Day was right. The plants in front of them looked more like vine-like snakes, coiled and ready to strike. And they stood easily six feet tall and were so crowded together James couldn’t see further than a few feet.

They had to go through that?

“Anyone have any ideas?” Day said, glancing around at the group.

“I do not know any easy way to pass by the Queen’s sentinels,” Lissandre said with her hands outstretched. “They were designed to protect the Queen’s garden if she was unable to do so herself.”

Everyone turned to look at James.

“Don’t look at me,” he said hastily, thinking back to his last mishap. He couldn’t afford to make up another spell until he mentally recovered from the last incident. Maybe Greenie could burn a path through the evil shrubs?

“Greenie! Blow fire over there,” James said, pointing in the direction of the viperous plants.

The cow responded by bowing her head and vigorously munching on the grass at her feet.

“Inspirational,” James said with a sigh. He was wracking his brain for another solution when Gabriel cleared his throat.

“If I could add a thought, Just James?”

“Please do!” James said with a nod that was much calmer than his turbulent emotions.

“Well, I… I might have a way to get through the forest.”

“How?”

“Well, I have this sword.” Gabriel gestured to the blade sheathed at his side.

“And I have my knives,” Night added eagerly.

“We should be able to cut a way through to the Complex, the city that sits below the king’s castle.”

“Makes sense. I like it,” James said. “Lead the way, young hero and rogue.”

Gabriel’s eyes grew wide and he slowly unsheathed the sword as though seeing it for the first time.

“You mean I can use it?” he asked in disbelief.

“A sword is just a tool, and tools are meant to be used. It’s about time our resident hero did something heroic,” James said with a smile.

Gabriel didn’t whoop with eager anticipation before he started hacking his way through the snapping plants, but it was close thing. Night was right behind him, his knives a blur as he attacked the sentinels with gusto.

Lissandre looked a little nauseous as the two young men got to work and turned to James.

“I think I will depart. I should look after my lady’s palace in her absence. Please return her to us, Just James.”

“We’ll bring her back,” he promised. The green-skinned woman nodded and then seemed to melt into the surroundings. When James blinked, she was gone.

“Hey, sis! Come join us! It’s pretty fun, as long as you don’t let the things bite you!”

“It isn’t too bad… youch! Take that, you vile weed!”

Day looked over at James with a smirk. “Think I should help them?”

“Someone should probably make sure they don’t get eaten.”

“And what will you be doing?”

“Me? I’ll be taking a nap.”

***

“How’s it going?” Night asked. He moved quickly and silently, slicing through the plants with precision.

Gabriel looked at the sword in his hands with frustration. “It could be better,” he allowed. If only he knew how to hold the thing properly. He felt like he was back on his sorry plot of ground back in the Village, desperately trying to grow anything but rocks and weeds.

Daisy—Day, she wouldn’t want to be called Daisy, but as soon as he’d learned her real name he couldn’t think of her as anything other than Daisy—looked over at him.

“You do seem to be holding it a little funny,” she allowed. “It’s not a rake or a shovel.”

“Could you help me?” Gabriel asked hopefully.

“I… well—”

“Day doesn’t know anything about using a sword,” Night said with a laugh.

“Who didn’t know anything about knives until I taught him, Nigel?”

“Fair enough,” the rogue huffed. “Teach away, dearest sis. I’ll be hacking my way back to civilization if you need me.” With that he disappeared into the plants, which seemed to hiss as he started chopping through them once more.

“He’s not wrong,” Daisy said loudly, looking in the direction her brother had gone. After several moments had passed, Daisy glanced back at Just James, who was meditating by Greenie with his eyes closed, and then back at Gabriel.

She had very pretty eyes. Dark purple like the lake by the Village at dusk.

“Ready to learn, blondie?”

“I’ll do my best,” Gabriel said with a nod and a smile.

“I’m sure you will.” Daisy put her hands on her hips. “And with my luck, you’ll pick it up instantaneously.”

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

“Yes, yes,” she said absentmindedly.

“Okay, first off, hold the sword with both hands like this.” She shifted his hands slightly on the pommel. “Better. Now, tilt the blade up so it’s facing the plants.”

“Like this?”

“Good.”

“Now try whacking at one of the sentinels.”

Gabriel faced the hissing plants with uncertainty.

“Go ahead!”

At Daisy’s urging, he swung the sword at the plants. And missed.

“You have to swing with the intent of going past them, not just getting to them,” she instructed. “And bend your knees slightly and put one foot in front of the other, or you’ll fall over.”

Daisy mimicked the stance he should take with one of her knives and Gabriel examined her form. When she struck out with the blade, she struck true, cutting into the hissing plant with ease.

Adjusting his own form, Gabriel took a deep breath and swung the sword once more. It sliced through the sentinels with ease, and with a grin Gabriel took another swing, then another.

“I think I’ve figured it out,” he announced happily. “Thank you, Daisy!”

Her eyes widened.

“I mean Day? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“I’ll allow it, blondie,” she said finally. “But only because it’s you.”

“Thanks, Daisy. It’s a pretty name, you know.”

She looked down at the ground, her expression hidden by her long dark hair that fell into her face. When she looked up once more, her gaze was determined.

“Let’s go save a queen,” she said, removing another dagger from her cloak and facing the corrupted forest.

As one, the pair each took their places on either side of the path Night had already blazed through the snapping plants and started slashing their way to the Complex.

To the king’s castle.

To the Queen of Life.