Page 76 of A Monarch's Fall

“Rylan?” I called.

He appeared almost instantly, like he had been waiting outside the door.

“Yes?” he asked as he entered.

“What do you know about the Flores coven?” I asked him.

He looked away from me to the fireplace, where the last of the letter burned to ash.

“Why do you ask?” he questioned.

Suspicion riled more anger within me.

“Don’t play games with me,” I warned.

He sighed and rubbed his right shoulder, where I knew an old injury bothered him in the cold.

“It was before your time, I was just a boy myself, your father had only just brought relative peace to the united Houses and then we were hit with the harshest winter known in our histories,” I nodded. I had learned of that time, the hardship was responsible for some of the greatest advancements in agriculture, “I remember rumours, I, I didn’t fully understand it as a boy, as a man I remember with more clarity,” he told me.

“I’m not following. What rumours? Rumours concerning Flores?” I questioned.

“Yes. Flores and their magic became an invaluable asset during that time. It was five years of back-to-back horrendous winters, then nonstop rain. I felt like I missed out on a childhood, being unable to go outside and play with the other children. It resulted in such poor crops. Famine spread fast. Within months of the first ruined harvest; it’s why we have so many stores now. People were dying from hunger. That type of thing makes men desperate. They’d do anything to feed their family,” he explained, and a dreadful understanding began to form within me.

“Flores was an invaluable asset?” I asked.

“You can imagine, I’m sure, what happened,” he said.

“I can, but I want to know what you know of it and why I have been uninformed of this,” I replied.

“Flores witches were abused, forced labour at first, but the abuses did not end there. Eventually, they began to fight back, and then they disappeared from public life. No more Flores witches travelled the kingdom offering help. They seemed to vanish. It was never really spoken about. I remember my mother crying over a friend of Flores she had known. Then nothing. It was like it never happened. As I grew, when Flores was spoken about, the narrative was that they simply chose to abandon us. I’m sure that’s what most believed. There weren’t exactly many of them to begin with. In further south Houses, it was common for them to never have even met a Flores witch; the winters didn’t hit them as hard as the central and northern Houses, but they didn’t produce enough to feed the whole kingdom. Eventually, I think everyone just forgot, or wanted to forget. Evil finds its home in desperation.”

“The truth was simply forgotten,” I stated.

“As far as I can tell. I don’t think it was a cover-up or anything. I think just so few knew what was truly happening, and those that did turned a blind eye, so long as food was being produced.”

“Flores has not forgotten,” I told him.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“The plaything that Adamantia insisted on keeping,” I told him.

“The New Foundation girl?” he asked.

“Yes, they broke the blood oath.” Rylan winced at this; breaking a blood oath was not an easy or pleasant task. “And the girl revealed that their leadership is the Flores coven and that an attack is planned to take place at the closing ceremony,” I informed him.

“The Flores coven?” he asked quietly, understanding immediately the need to keep such information private.

“Yes. This information does not leave this room. Do not bring it up to me or inform anyone else,” I commanded.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he agreed.

“I’ll need to inform Father of the planned attack, but the information regarding Flores stays between us.”

“Understood. Are things with the King strained?” he questioned.

“The King is to be treated as hostile. He has diverted resources from the search for Percy and made a crude attempt to manipulate me with false information. For what purpose, I don’t yet know. Proceed with caution,” I warned.

“My loyalty and that of your Royal Guard is firmly and only with you,” he reassured, “And Percy,” he added with a hopeful smile.