It’s #BookQW and Fern might help Cor make his ‘dream’ of seeing ancient trees come true.
More of the scene in my WIP, A Promise of Pines:
“Where have you been?” the tour leader exclaimed. “Lady Pina is upstairs making calls.”
“Ohmygod, not my mother,” Fern muttered. “I need to stop her.”
“Just lost her way,” Cor said, “She’s fine…” He stepped toward the people trying to get through the narrow doorway, then pivoted back the direction they’d just come and grasped her elbow. “You stay with the tour. I’ll go stop her.” He dashed back down the dark hallway, his glow bobbing.
“Come along,” the leader said. “You’re staying with me this time.”
And that dropped her age to feeling like five.
The group gathered in an upper corridor, facing another green-clad estate docent, a heavy metal door behind her.
“The armory holds the collection of Clarence family weapons: swords, daggers, dueling pistols, rapiers. The room is secured, to protect one of a family’s most valuable assets. Only three people may enter at a time. Please circle from the right wall to the left so one my may enter as another leaves.” She pushed open the lit room and gestured to those close enough to begin.
Fern waited at the back with her self-appointed guardian and looked around for Cor. He had to have found Lady Pina by now.
“Labels will indicate the type of weapon,” the guide continued, “the owner and the name they gave the weapon, if any. Of special note is the collection centered on the back wall, placed by Clarence himself so no others would grab them by mistake during a siege. This section includes his favorite weapons collected during his travels with his sons, and of course his famous broadsword, Leafbringer. Forged with joint spelling by Clarence himself, the dwarf Windborne foresters of The Black Forest, and the Wizard Zora of Sherwood Forest, Leafbringer is said to work for the forester’s blood descendants alone.”
She nodded before continuing, “The blade will slice oak as if passing through butter. A touch of the blade will seal living wood cells against disease, insect and fungal infection. It is the blade Clarence used to take his cuttings and grafts, and the tool he used to wedge open the soil to plant them. Every tree on the estate is said to have been planted as a four to six inch centimeter cutting, which as you can see, worked like magic.”
A rumble of laughter rose from the crowd, nearly masking the approaching footsteps. Down the corridor, Cor accompanied Lady Pina—who of course didn’t look happy.
Fern stepped away from the group. “Thanks, Cor. I’m sorry I missed the bus, ma’am. Did you call my mom?”
Lady Pina lifted her hands. “What could Heather have done about it from Colorado? No, I had Bonterra’s wizard police on the line as they searched the vicinity of where I last saw you.”
“Sorry,” Fern said again. “I went to look at an academy project garden that Duffy planted and lost track of time going by.”
“Or the bus?” Lady Pina hugged Fern with one arm, her frown dissolving. “I understand about your keen interesting plants, dear, but do try to be more careful. You don’t”—her gaze cut to Cor—“know your way around.”
No point in keeping it quiet. “Ma’am, he knows how pitiful my ability to find my way is. I owe Cor a huge favor for getting me back. If you could help out with that, he’d like to study our Scots pine…”
Lady Pina had already begun shaking her head as she stepped toward the end of the line to see the armory.
Fern grasped her arm. “But he really rescued me,” she whispered. “A couple of wizard guys had be me cornered.”
Lady Pina stared past Fern toward Cor, still managing to look down her nose. “This is the truth? You didn’t orchestrate some—”
“How would I have done that?” Cor spat, and immediately a look of horror flooded his face.
Fern cringed. That wasn’t the way to talk to an elder, and he knew it.
“I-I was working,” he said, trying to recover. “For the conference.”
“And he had no way of knowing when I would wander off. Give him a break.” Fern crossed her arms. She shouldn’t say it, but…“You’re being unreasonably stubborn about blocking outsiders from a resource everyone admires.”
“The very reason it’s still a resource,” Lady Pina huffed and bestowed another frown on them. “I suppose we can make an exception for a visit. This young man’s project did outline a deep interest in trees.”
“Very deep.” Cor nodded. “Like, my life.”
Lady Pina smiled a rather patronizing smile, her gaze pausing on his shiny boots, the sparkling earring and on the phone stuffed into his breast pocket. “Considering you live in the largest wizard city in the United Kingdom, I doubt it. Leave instructions with Fern on how to contact you, and I will make the arrangements for a visit.” She gave a final nod and entered the armory.
Fern tilted her head that they should follow, and he fell into step with her. “You nearly blew that one,” she muttered under breath.
“Thanks for the save.”
“The elders running Giuthas are strict, but it’s worth your time navigating their rules to see the isle.”
“I’ll be careful. Appreciate you holding up your end of the promise to get me this first step.”
She side-eyed him. Heck, he was dreaming if he still thought he could pull off getting an apprenticeship. But that wasn’t up to her. She pulled out her phone. “Give me your email.”
He glanced at Lady Pina’s back and shook his head. “Tomorrow, when she isn’t around. I’ll find you in the afternoon.” He gestured her ahead of him into the armory. “As a fellow plant enthusiast, you need to admire Leafbringer, Clarence’s pride and joy.” He pointed to the back wall.
Amid other shiny swords, the lit one in the center had a short blade made of brown steel engraved with a bough of leaves, each one a different species. The darker hilt was set with square cut emeralds winking from between golden crossed feathers and twigs of the bail.
It was a beautiful thing, certainly created by a plant lover.
“Did he really heal trees with it?”
Cor grinned, the first sincere happiness she’d seen in him. “So they say.”
~~~
If you enjoyed this excerpt of Book 2, meet Fern in Book 1, The Witch of the Meadows.
And I’d love it if you leave me a review on Amazon or other retailers–they are so important to Indie authors!
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