Page 63 of Down from the Tower

“The Flowerborne,” he begins, taking a hefty sip of the ale as he looks around. “They come from Wonderland.”

Instantly, I sit straighter. Fun accounts of travelers of Mystica are nice, but I want the real stories from Zarev. He seems to know a lot and has shared so little with me. “Where the Mad Queen is?”

He nods, his brow pinching. “Yes. The Flowerborne are from the Butterfly Garden. That’s what it used to be, just inside the Red Woods.”

“Why do they have different names?” I ask, refusing to hold back. I need these details, I need to understand Mystica.

“Because the Butterfly Garden is just a local in the woods,” he explains. His fingers reach out, tugging at the corner of the map, and I let him shift it between us. “See how Sherwood stops here, at the barrens? Nothing grows there. When the Mad Queen started using blood to make her soil more potent, nature revolted. The Red Woods are named for the blood that used to paint the trees when she would go on a murder spree, but that was a long time ago. I was very young when she still walked around slaughtering people in the woods.”

I hesitate, because it hasn’t exactly come up until now. “And… how old are you exactly?”

He leans closer. “How old are you, Princess?”

Frowning, I look away. We both know I’m not sure.

“Let me see if I can help,” he grumbles, taking the book that Dahlia handed me. He grabs another map that Thomas dropped off an hour before, using it to keep my place before he thumbs through the book.

He stops thumbing through at an entry that has no date. But I spot the name up top, and it makes me hesitate.

Omari Wolfe.

“Read the entry,” he grumbles, glancing away.

Omari Wolfe

Red Era

There is unrest in Mystica. From the snow capped mountains of the Frostlands down to Tressa, the ripple effect of the Red Queen is felt throughout the land.

Queen of Hearts she once was. Married to the King of Diamonds, for his riches were known all around the globe. His wealth only partnered with his kindness, and everyone loved the Court of Cards.

But that was before the King of Diamonds died last year. His wife, the Queen of Hearts, became the sole ruler of the Court of Cards, the northwestern division of Wonderland. Strange things have happened since the Queen took over.

The Red Queen believes a shadow man killed her husband. She thinks it wasn’t his time, but a man of Death took him from this world. With teeth so sharp and a blade of unbreakable power, he stole the King and departed these lands forever.

I glance at Zarev, who is watching the tavern instead of me. The words vaguely remind me of him.

With the Court of Cards in unrest, the Queen is out hunting around Wonderland. I’ve heard of her traveling all the way to the divide between the Red Woods and Sherwood. She’s staying on her side of the lands, for crossing over into the rest of Mystica with her tyranny is an act of war.

But within her court, madness blooms. Another hunter stopped me just yesterday, claiming that she’s collecting wanderers who cross the border on the hunt and takes them to her court. She’s murdered some of her husband’s most loyal followers, and now she’s collecting people to play in her wild hunt.

It’s too much, too fast. She’s changing the fate of Mystica with madness built from pain. The King never sired a child with her, leaving the Queen lonesome in his absence.

I heard, and it is only a thing of rumors, but I heard there’s a girl who she keeps tied up in the towers of her castle. Some poor thing that brought joy to her life when the King was alive, and fuels her madness in his death.

It’s only a rumor though. The royals of the Court of Cards never had children, unless the King had a mistress. And he’s gone from this world now, so there’s no one who will willingly tell the tale.

Tomorrow, I go to see my sweet Elaine. My son is due soon, and we must ensure that the Court of Cards doesn’t go mad with the Queen’s bloodlust.

I blink, flipping to the next page. That’s all there is, and it builds more questions than answers. Tugging on Zarev’s sleeve, I glare at him. “That didn’t make sense.”

He holds up a finger, flipping further back in the book. More tales, more travelers. I would love to sit and read the whole book one day, and hear of journeys from afar.

But he was to be showing me these entries for a reason, so I stay quiet.

“Here,” he says, pointing to a page.

It’s a catalog of time, and I stare down at it in confusion.

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