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The final morning of the festival dawned a beautiful, crisp fall day. Elliot wanted nothing to do with it. He had drunk the night away, in an attempt to drown the horrors that today would bring. All he succeeded in doing was add a hangover to the list of horrors he had to face. He tried to hide in his bunk, but the sunshine wouldn’t let him sleep, the sounds of talking and scent of food from the main room finally roused him from his bunk. He got dressed enough to be considered presentable and walked out into the main room.
Meredith and Adina were finishing their breakfast of bacon and sausage with pancakes. As soon as Elliot opened the door, Samuel threw together another plate and set it on the table for him.
Meredith looked at him with her head cocked to the side. “Good morning, sunshine.”
Samuel grunted. “Eat this. You look like shit.”
Elliot shoveled a mouthful of greasy meat into his mouth. “Thanks. I love you, too.”
Everyone else continued where their conversation had left off when he entered. Plans for the day, mostly. There was a mass funeral to be held in the main stadium before the ribbon ceremony. Since Meredith was the only member of the group not getting a ribbon, she was planning on spending it in Alexander’s quarters, watching from his box with Ivy and Willow. Elliot was half way through his meal when he bothered to talk again.
“So, are we all going to act like we didn’t hear what Willow said last night?”
Everyone else at the table shared quick glances. Meredith looked Elliot in the eyes. “Yes, pretty much.”
He shrugged. “Ok, just wanted to make sure.”
She let the concern she held enter her voice. “Are you going to be ok?”
He chewed for a moment, and then washed it down with fruit juice. “Nope. Don’t think so.”
“I can’t Look for you, it involves Ivy.”
He nodded. “I know. Didn’t ask you to.” He took another drink. “I am asking you to stop talking about it, though.”
She nodded in understanding. “Fair enough. Samuel, do you want me to braid your hair for the ribbon ceremony?”
He spared a concerned look for his friend a few moments longer, and then nodded to Meredith. “yes, that would be lovely. Nothing complicated like you both wear, just something simple, to keep this fluff out of my face.”
They each bathed and dressed in nice, clean clothes, so they would be presentable at the ceremony. Elliot and Samuel both dressed in browns and reds, a nod toward their home kingdom, while Adina dressed in her competition attire, though only sporting a single braid down her back, and Meredith dressed in a beautiful forest green and silver gown. As they were leaving the cabin, a man approached with a child on his shoulders. The lighting was such that he was hard to make out at first, but once they were closer, the voice of the child betrayed them.
Adina broke the group’s silence. “Hello, Trouble! What are you and your father doing out here?”
“Hello! Father was showing me the midway! And now he said I get to see your cabin!”
Alexander gave Meredith a quick sideways hug, as the child transferred herself from her father’s shoulders to Adina’s arms. “Ivy sent me here to collect a few things she said she needed. Could you help me? I have a list, but I have no idea what any of these things are.
Meredith laughed. “As the father of three girls, you should know this stuff.”
He shrugged. “I prefer to remain ignorant, for my own safety.”
She nodded. “Ok, but only if you help me.”
They disappeared into the building, leaving everyone else outside. Willow was fascinated by the trees butting against the back of the cabin, and the ivy covering it. Then she squirmed in Adina’s arms. “Hold still, you little wild thing”
Samuel asked, “Why not just put her down?”
“Cause she’s a powerful plant talker. There is no way she can hide that out here.”
Willow could wine with the best of them. “Put me dooooowwwn. There’s no one around here to see. Please? Samuel, I could show you a neat trick, wanna see my trick? Put me doooown!”
Finally Adina gave up. “Oh, you little brat. Fine. But if your father gets mad at you I’m not to blame.”
She let go, and Willow plopped onto the grass. The child giggled maniacally as the grass near her exposed skin began to grow. She jumped up and began running around and around in the grass with her bare feet. Every place she touched, the grass instantly grew thicker, brighter, and noticeably taller. Flowers sprouted and bloomed in her wake, each inside a foot shaped oasis of bright, healthy grass. Samuel and Elliot watched in amazement as the girl circled them repeatedly, and eventually ran to the nearest tree, which she flew up and around, like a squirrel. As soon as she disappeared from view within the canopy, the tree began to move. It’s leaves grew vibrant, twitching in the sunlight. They could even hear the wood groan as it visibly grew.
Adina cocked her hip, frustrated. “Don’t hurt it, Willow! Crazy wild thing!” The only reply she received was joyful laughter.
Samuel focused on the footprints of tiny flowers in the grass. “That, that is one impressive trick.”
Adina huffed. “She’s been in training enough now, she should be able to control it. She should be able to keep that” she gestured at the footprints “from happening. But she refuses to. It’s going to be hard for her to blend into society if she can’t walk around without sprouting flowers.”
Elliot asked, “She wasn’t sprouting flowers in the infirmary.”
“Stone floor.” Alexander answered, as he and Meredith exited the cabin, a bag in Meredith’s hand. “The plants, or the potential of plants, need to already be there.
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