Page 19 of The Botanist and the Beast

"Got it." He accepted Sebastian's hand as he was guided down onto his own feet. The prince's palms were warm and soft to the touch. The moment he pulled away, Theo swore his own hand felt even colder than before.

Snowflakes fell, dusting them both in white as they walked deeper into the city in silence.

Then Theo heard it: a low, steady creaking floated on the winds. With every step, it grew louder.

When the source finally came into view, it made bile rise in his throat.

There was a crowd of statues, but the people weren't frozen in pleasant midday activities. These statues had faces contorted in fear and they were all twisting to run in different directions.

Behind them were gallows. Hanging from a long rope that glowed a bright magenta was a stone woman. Hair in her face and arms lifelessly at her side, she swayed back and forth like a sick metronome keeping rhythm.

Sebastian folded his hands behind his back and carefully led Theo through the crowd. "Before the cruse, the kingdom of Amaryllis wasn't perfect, but it wasn't this. It was lush and plentiful. The wilds outside our gate only produce poisonous fruits and flowers for miles, but within our borders, we had an abundance of edible crops. Then one fateful day ten years ago, everything changed."

Theo silently followed up the steps of the snow-covered gallows. It felt wrong for him to speak here so he did his best to listen. They stood side by side on the platform, the hanged woman below their boots as the prince went on.

"As I said, every nymph has a connection with a particular element of the veil, but some connections are rarer than others. Floral and fire nymphs are the most common. Water nymphs and celestial nymphs are quite rare. That's all people thought there was. Then Wynter was born. She was a nymph of death and decay. She was the first ever recorded and there hasn’t been one since.

"She could freeze over lands, make fruits rot as people brought them to their lips. She was deeply feared by most, but my father moved her into the castle and employed her. It's easyto dominate other kingdoms when you can kill all their crops on a whim.

"If you go behind the castle and through the mountains, there are caves. In one of them is the heart of the land. Many believe it was a gift to one of my distant grandmothers who prayed for years before any of the living could remember. It stopped our lands from ever leaving the growing season. While the seasons came and went outside our gate, we were stable and wanted for nothing. Then one day, the flowers wilted, trees lost their leaves, and it was clear we were shifting seasons.

"My father discovered Wynter had used her powers to drain a majority of the heart's life as an attempt to weaken the kingdom and seize power. The punishment for her crime was execution.

"Once dragged up on the gallows, Wynter claimed she didn't do it. But the burns on her hands were a well-known consequence of touching the heart. Perhaps she was angered she was caught, or at the jeering crowd for not listening to her pleas. Most people think she viewed her reign as ordained by the veil and was angry my father thwarted her. Whatever the reason, she spat a curse at my father as the noose was slipped over her neck."

He recited it automatically as if he had said it over a thousand times. "'You defied the veil and for that, I curse you to turn to a wild beast in body and mind as you watch your kingdom and your people turn as cold as your heart. You will watch as every last nymph suffers with their connection to the veil severed. Only when all you've coveted waste away, will you meet your end." He looked down at Wynter swaying beneath them. "My father didn't believe it. He ordered her execution. The floor gave way, her neck snapped, and the curse rang out in a shock wave of blinding magenta light.

"Running was useless. Everyone in the immediate vicinity was instantly turned to stone. Those who were a mile away were mostly stone but still alive. They died about a month later. Thenext wave of people died at the year mark. It continues like that. Every so often, another ripple of death hits swallowing another group. Quite a few passed on just a few days before you arrived."

"Have you all left the kingdom to seek help?" Theo asked, trying to comprehend the mass graveyard he was standing in the middle of.

"We can't. We are cursed to watch our kingdom turn as cold as my father’s heart," Sebastian said as he lifted his gaze to the fleeing crowd. "Those that dare to step out the bounds of the city are turned to stone after a few strides. I assume you saw them on the way in. Cursed locations are doomed to be forgotten and undetectable by other children of the veil. It's as if we don't exist anymore. With our connection severed to the veil, we can't even ask it for help. I assume you only were able to see us and pass through our gates because you're human. We're trapped in a cage with the door open."

"If your father was cursed to be a wild beast," Theo said slowly trying to not offend, "I guess what I'm asking is—"

"Why am I a shifter?" The prince sighed and his shoulders slumped. "My father died instantly because he was so close to Wynter, but the curse was destined to claim a victim. I am of his blood, so I took on his punishment. When the curse hit the castle, I got a small patch of stone on my cheek and grew my leopard ears and first tail. After a massive headache, I felt the prick of antlers. The traits that came first are the ones that stay longer after I shift because they are the closest to becoming permanent."

Theo's head spun as he thought back to the woman Adora knocked over. "Lyle was right to want me dead. We desecrated the grave of someone who already suffered so much in life under the curse." Disgust and guilt consumed him.

"I didn't tell you this to make you feel guilty. I just want you to understand the intense emotions Lyle and many othershave towards you. Justice is sparse here so when a chance to see it arises, it means a lot to them. when I took the throne after my father's abrupt death, I made sure to prioritize respecting the dead and dying because everyone will eventually experience this cruel end. They need to know they will be remembered and cherished by our people. Your friend Adora disrupted that. People are already afraid of turning to stone. Now they fear turning and getting shattered."

Sebastian turned his attention to Theo. "If you try to run again, my guards will capture you and they will kill you. If it's not them, then it'll be one of the disgruntled citizens or another creature of the veil like the bear. The curse dictates that I will be the last survivor. When there are less people alive who will find your freedom offensive, I'll walk you out the gates myself."

"I see," Theo said, trying to decide how he felt about the conditions. "Sorry if this is offensive, but how much time is left for you and your people?"

"To be honest, I don't know." He took his arm out of his cloak and poked at the dead twigs that stuck out between his skin and stone. "It's already been ten years. The curse surges sometimes in unpredictable intervals. My best guess is five to seven years. But whenever it nears its end, you have my word, I will let you go."

Walking out in daylight would be easier than dealing with a bear, but an indefinite timeline is daunting.A question needled at him, so he decided to ask after another stretch of silence. "What will you do when you're the last one left?"

"Die alone," he said with a dry laugh. "I don't know how soon I'll go after the people right before me. I hope I die quick like it is for others. If I'm stuck alone and I have my wits, I will walk out the gates so I turn to stone instantly."

"If you have your wits?"

"A beast in body and mind." A tired smile crossed his lips. "My knowledge on natural shifters is limited but it seems they're more controlled than me. The more time passes, the more I lose myself to my leopard side. Even now when I shift, it's getting harder for me to think outside of animalistic instincts. I still have many years to go, so I don't know how lost I'll become in a year, let alone five. But I don't dwell. My people need me, so I focus on them."

Theo heard the thin layer of fear in Sebastian's voice and his heart broke for him. Without thinking, he took Sebastian's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"That's all for today," the prince said, pulling his hand away and turning on his heels. "Let's head back. The clouds look particularly angry. We don't want to get stuck in heavy snow."

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