Page 88 of Down from the Tower

“You knew him well enough to know he was lonely?” I ask. He mentioned four friends, so surely he had company even if he didn’t have blood relatives to rely on after the wolf bit him?

She nods, her brow pinching. “Has Zarev told you about his past?”

“About the change? He mentioned getting caught in the woods, and the soldiers grabbing the four of them-”

“No,” Legs interrupts, her mouth turning down to a frown. “His past taught him how to track, how to sense danger and bloodshed, and taught him to be creative yet restrained in judgment. Each of the four Reapers had a personality that shaped how they handle the passing of life. You should ask him who he used to be.”

“He’s told me about the wolf bite, and the loss of his family when he was young.”

“But not of Little Red?”

Slowly I shake my head. “I’m sure he’ll tell me in time.”

Legs purses her lips, and for a moment I think she’s going to do the job for him. “Be patient with him, Princess. The first death is the hardest.”

What is that supposed to mean?

I open my mouth to ask more about that, sucking in all the information that she’s willing to drop like a sponge. Unlike so many, Legs is pretty much straight to the point. “I’m not going to betray an old friend. Ask him. Give him time if he isn’t ready to answer. But ask all the same.”

Pressing my lips together, I slowly nod. “Okay.”

“Now, these letters,” she continues, picking one up. “Not all of the names are familiar to me. I don’t recognize Priscilla or Anastasia.”

“Oh. They’re two maids who work in the castle.”

She nods thoughtfully. “Yes, I noticed that she made note of it in the letters. I’m sure when Lady Tremaine wrote these, she had no idea that someday the little princess she helped save would be sitting here in the Butterfly Garden, reading these letters with the woman she stole from.”

I bite my lip, holding Legs gaze. “Do you know what I’m doing here? What any of this means?”

“I do,” she replies, and my eyebrows lift. Leaning back on her chair, she taps her lips before grabbing her teacup and taking a long sip. “Do try it. I promise, it’s one of my best blends.”

I force a smile, humoring her as I pick up the cup. I just want answers, but tea isn’t the worst thing someone’s tried to give me. Swallowing the warm liquid, I stare down at the cup. This tastes… familiar.

A knowing look shines in her eyes as Legs sets down her cup. “Delicious, isn’t it? My Phoenix Roses are crusted in gold and are reborn from the ashes with each new moon. They resemble rebirth and the return of youth here in my gardens. But if you mess with the thorns too much, they can burst into flames.”

I stare at her, playing those sentences over and over in my head. Return of youth, flames…

Swallowing the tea, I shove the teacup away. Something stolen from a garden, and the weird power my hair grants me flashes through my mind. “My hair… my power… comes from a plant?”

“All magic is born of nature, Rapunzel,” she explains. “Even supernatural things, like controlling Death, have bits of life and earth morphed into them. I recognized your hair, and I’m sure Dahlia did too, from the unhinged lady who traveled through about thirty years ago. She stayed at the tavern, and I remember Dahlia reaching out to me, warning that some lunatic might be coming this way to steal from me.”

“You know Dahlia?”

“Quite well. Do you think the creatures of Wonderland only speak to their own kind?” She gives me a sly smirk, taking another sip. “I remember the woman who wrote these. Lady Gothel Tremaine raged up and down all the paths in Sherwood, claiming she was wrongly kicked from the throne of Tressa. Now I know that’s a lie, since there were never any rumors of a new Queen at that point. She was simply a malicious woman who wanted better for her two daughters and slept her way up to the King to get there. But Midas is as cruel as he is handsome, and he used Tremaine for his own purposes and discarded her after.”

“But…” I shuffle the letters until I find what I’m searching for. “When she first came here, did you even know about her connection to Midas? She stole and then took the flowers back to Tressa, and was kicked out after.”

Legs shrugs. “I knew there was something shady when a woman stumbled into my garden of all places.” Her fingers reach back, brushing against the damaged wings. “She came in here sobbing, claiming to cross from Camelot and around to the edges of the Frostlands to find me, begging me to give her something to heal. I didn't trust her, and my friends around the garden all warned me away from her. But those tears she shed were real, even if they were for something else. She felt no real guilt during her time here, and only wanted to achieve her goal. So when I went to gather something to help to fix up a wound on her arm, she rushed off to find the golden roses. I doubt she had any idea they are Phoenix roses, a special blend I made from gold chipped from a plant Midas once touched, and embers that I fused with the rosebush.”

I blink, trying to picture this in my head. “And that created the hybrid plant?”

“Oh, yes. I don’t know how she knew it was here, but I imagine Midas has his spies just like the Mad Queen, Arthur, and all the rest. He wanted the plant for his own goals, and sent someone in his place in case things went south.”

She clears her throat before continuing. “I didn't really trust her. She was only here a few hours before she pestered me for a salve, and I was tempted to toss her into The Barrens with all the whining she did. Now I know Zarev, and Dahlia is a friend, so speaking candidly with you doesn’t bother me. But she was a stranger with her own agenda. When I decided to check what she was doing she'd already snipped a few roses and dug one up from the roots. I screamed at her, calling the Flowerborne to help me, and she panicked. I rushed at her, and she tried to burn poor Philippe when I went to stop her.”

“Philippe?”

“The horse, dear.” She gestures vaguely around us, and I suppose that means he’s still scattered around in the wind. “I tried to stop her, using the vines to try and grab her. So she grabbed one of my wings, already broken by the Queen, and tore it.”

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