Page 8 of The Botanist and the Beast

"We've seen enough. I think we should go." His voice trembled from the cold. He was dressed for spring, not a quiet winter's night, and his thin shirt was definitely not enough. "Obviously something strange happened here."

"We'll go in a moment. Let's grab some of the jewels." Adora pulled away from his grip and leaned into the face of another statue. "This one has emeralds. Give me your knife so I can pry them out."

"I don't want anything from here. We shouldn't have come here. Besides, these belong to someone."

"Who? The stone shop owners? This place is clearly abandoned." With a grunt, she shoved one over. A crash rang out into the silent night as the statue burst into thousands of little pieces.

"Why would you do that?" The grey stone stood out on the white and Theo felt sick. "How could you destroy something so beautiful?"

"You're too sentimental." She scowled, crouching down and moving rocks around to find the jewels. "You wouldn't give me your knife, so you didn't leave me much choice. Here, I only did it so I could give one for my fiancé and one to you."

"For me?"

"Yes, as an apology."

"I don't want that. I don't want anything from..." The low crunch of snow under boots made him go quiet. All the oil lampposts around the city ignited, one by one, in bright orange flames.

"Intruders!" a deep voice called in the distance.

"Run!" He snatched Adora's hand and dragged her back toward the gate as fast as he could. They slipped on ice under the packed snow as they rushed up the hill back toward the warm floral part of the veil. Just as the gate came back into view, Adora was ripped away from him. A second later, someone yanked him back, roughly sending him crashing into the deep snow.

Guards, whose faces were hidden in cloaks made of thick dark furs, descended. They stole his bow and arrow and roughly escorted the two of them all the way back to the city where theywere dropped at the feet of a man whose face was also obscured. While everyone else wore dark furs, the man looking down on them was dressed in luxurious white and grey.

"Did you take all their weaponry?" he asked coldly. Once they assured him they had, he stepped forward. "You are trespassing in my lands."

"We didn't mean to," Adora stammered quickly, "We just—"

"Which one of you destroyed her?" he asked coldly.

Theo's eyes drifted to the rubble on the ground. A group of hooded figures were kneeling next to the rubble and collecting the pieces with careful hands. He said her, not it. Maybe they're sacred?"We're sorry. We shouldn't have come here, and we shouldn't have touched anything. We knocked the woman over by mistake. Right, Adora?" She nodded quickly. "See? So please just give back my bow and let us go."

The man scowled and snapped his fingers. The guards came over and dug in Theo and Adora's pockets. They quickly found the jewels tucked in her dress.

"You have committed a great crime," the man in white said sneering. "As punishment, you will stay here as my ward."

"What?" she shrieked as the mysterious leader gripped her arm. Blood trickled from her hand as he tugged her to her feet. "Let me go! I thought it was abandoned."

"I don't care what you thought." He waved at Theo dismissively. "Toss him back. No reason to keep two humans around."

Two guards approached him, and Theo panicked."Wait!" He tore away and stopped in front of the leader. "Take me in her place!"

"Why would I do that?" he asked, still holding Adora firmly.

"She is her family's only daughter. I'm one of three," Theo said, gesturing to Adora who was sobbing at this point. "Take me in her place."

"How sweet," the leader said in a bored tone. He shoved Adora away from him and motioned for Theo to come. "Fine. Toss her back and get me chains for our new ward."

Relieved, Theo let out a shaky breath. He didn't want to be a prisoner, but he couldn't say he simply lost Adora. Her family would take the money back. Even if they wouldn't, he couldn't in good conscious leave this terrified young girl near the same age as his own sisters. "Can I hug her goodbye?"

"Be quick." He waved a leather hand as he waited for his orders to be met.

"Theo, I don't want you to do this. You should go and get help," Adora said, shaking as he held her.

"No more tears. You have to be brave right now," he said, softly holding her. Her trembling reminded him of Coralie having a panic attack, and he did his best to be encouraging. "You're going to go back, burn a circle using my cattails, and stay there till sunrise. That's all you have to do. Then you're going to Beaumont on your own. Make sure your mother keeps her word and gives the gold to my sisters and tell my sisters I'll keep my promise. They'll know what it means. You can do this. You're hardheaded but you are a clever girl."

"Enough. Time to go," the leader said, ripping Theo away. He snapped shackles on his wrists. "The rest of you, toss the girl back, collect the damage, and then you're dismissed. I can handle the new ward alone."

Chapter Seven

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