Page 48 of The Healing Dragon
Brandon finally steps behind Bianca and settles a hand on her shoulder. The silent show of support is loud. However, Matias doesn’t look phased by the King of Puerto Quinn.
“I’m going to meet Santiago at the library.” Matias gives her hand a squeeze before getting up and leaving his untouched breakfast behind.
Brandon takes the open seat. His hand rubs soothing circles on Bianca’s back.
“Why does he come to you?” Bianca asks me while watching Matias retreat. Her tone carries a note of resentment.
“My soothing and ever-loving personality?” I guess.
“Trauma bonding?” Brandon suggests.
“Perhaps it’s because you saved him from that cell,” Bianca says.
“We both saved him from the cell, but he doesn’t seem inclined to entertain conversation with me,” Jesse says from behind me.
I can’t see him, but I can feel the heat of his body so close to mine. He must have been listening to everything that was exchanged in the past couple of minutes. Not missing a detail has always been his thing. I feel stuck between a family feud.From the concerned faces on the Oscuro brothers, they consider Matias their problem too.
Bianca is staring out into space with a heartbroken expression. I’ve never had a true brother sister relationship with any of my siblings, so I have no clue how she feels, but from the looks of it, the guilt of his torture is something she is taking on.
I eat my food as the rest continue to rationalize why Matias seems to want to speak to me more than any of them. I wouldn’t have given the issue a second thought, but now that speculation is being thrown all around me, my guess would be that it has something to do with what he endured during his time with my father.
My father being the key word.
“Janelle,” Brandon calls for me. I look up at him and realize this is not the first time he called my name. “I said Isabel is waiting for you at the nursery.”
I put my fork down on my now empty plate. Without another word, I walk my plate to the trash and head to my new day job.
The halls are busy with people coming in and out. I have to wait and slowly make my way out of the dining hall with a cluster of people. Once in the open hall I make my way to the nursery. I find Isabel already inside, standing in front of a set of pods. There are bags of dirt on the floor. Despite the smell of fertilizer and dirt, the plants and flowers perfume this space. It reminds me of peace. I have no clue what I’m associating it with, but it’s relaxing.
“We are repotting these plants that are growing too big for their current home.” She gestures for me to step beside her. “I’ve never taught before, so tell me if I need to explain something more. This is how I do it.”
I watch her do it once, then follow along with my own. I am careful to follow her steps and I fall intoa flow of sorts. There is a long row of plants waiting for us and I’m looking forward to getting through it all instead of dreading the work.
“Magic can’t aid this process?” I ask, wondering if she is doing it all manually for my sake.
“Magic can’t be as careful and gentle with the roots as we can.” She pulls a plant by the stem, roots up and over her head. The strands hanging off the base proving her statement.
“Alright,” I say with a smile.
I’m ready to get my hands dirty.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
JANELLE
The front door of the nursery makes a loud creaking noise as the wooden door swings open. Isabel and I stop our process of repotting plants and look behind us. The visitors are easy to spot as they tower over the majority of the greenery around us. Roman’s steps echo as he crosses the room. The loud sound makes me wince. I cannot believe the old man that ran the nursery never thought of doing something about that. The slightest noise echoes in the space. It has been driving me crazy.
Roman and a soldier approach us with easy smiles. As always, the Royal Force general only has eyes for the woman standing beside me. His companion just gives us polite nods. His face looks familiar, but I can’t quite recall from where until he crosses his arms. I remember him from my last day in this castle after the attack. He is the one who walked me out and into the forest.
“Hey there, gorgeous,” Roman says to Isabel, pulling her into a hug.
The two talk to each other in hush tones. I resume my taskof repotting the plants, trying to ignore the company in the room.
“I will be right back,” Isabel tells me, then moves to the small office at the back of the nursery.
Roman looks around, but not even a minute later, he clears his throat. “You weren’t at lunch today,” he says.
I don’t stop what I’m doing. “I wasn’t hungry,” I lie.
