Page 11 of Found in Obscurity

An eyebrow winged up. “That isn’t what your wreath told me.”

“You don’t even know me!”

He pointed at the wreath again. “I do.”

“Did my grandma put you up to this?”

“Why would she have anything to do with it?” the guy asked, green eyes very clearly confused. “You got in a couple nights ago and as soon as you crossed the border, I knew what I had to make.”

Lorin sucked in a breath, his fingers tightening on the wreath in his hands.

The guy gave him a gentle smile and covered Lorin’s gloved hand with his own. The floral designs on his fingers wound all the way up, disappearing beneath his cardigan cuff. “All plants are silent, but they can carry our intentions better than anything else. All you have to do is ask them for help. They’ll hear you. They’re excellent listeners and even better helpers.”

Lorin swallowed, unable to find the words to tell him he didn’t intend for anything but leaving once this was all over. The guy removed his hand with a final squeeze.

“Have a wonderful ceremony.”

“You too,” Lorin murmured quietly, escaping as soon as he could.

“Watch that foxtail though,” the guy called at his back. “I have a feeling about it.”

Lorin paid him no mind, hastening to where his grandma was in the near distance. He came to a stop at her side, slightly too close, but he felt off center and she was his only anchor in this town.

“Took you long enough,” she said, but made no move to step away from him. She looked down at the wreath in his hands and made a curious sound in the back of her throat.

“What?” Lorin asked, tightening his grip on it.

“Nothing,” she said. “You wouldn’t want to know anyway, right?”

“I do want to know if it has something to do with me and all of this.” He held his wreath up. “What’s this all about?”

“It’s just Glenn’s way of making people feel settled before the ceremony,” she said, vague as ever. “He finds it helps them in their journey. And nobody minds so it’s just what he does.”

“I don’t need help in my journey,” he argued, and she threw him a look that would have made braver men cower in fear.

“No, you need a full navigational system, a ship captain, and someone to hold your hand.” She looked away with a dismissive flap of her hand.

Lorin clenched his jaw, unable and unwilling to argue with her. He stood to gain a lot by at least pretending to play along with the ceremony, and if holding a weird flower crown made by a weird witch he’d never seen before was the way to get it, then so be it.

“When does this start?” he asked to change the subject, not really enjoying the fact that she was laying the guilt trip on thick enough for him to actually start feeling it.

“It won’t be long now.” She pointed to the wreath. “Put that on your head.”

“Why?” he asked, frowning as he looked around and saw everyone else wearing their wreaths perched on top of their heads.

“Because I told you to.”

“I thought it had nothing to do with the ceremony?”

She leaned against her staff, looking as if he’d drained every last atom of energy from her body.

“It has a lot to do with the fact that people are looking at you even more when you’re purposefully disengaged from something they cherish,” she said, and this time, her voice was serious and clipped. “Your hands are covered, your posture is closed off, and you’re holding that wreath as if it’ll burn you. I’m going against everything I stand for, promising you what I did. The least you can do is put in some effort.”

She turned around, putting her back to him and leaving him alone to navigate the storm of emotions inside him.

He didn’t want to disappoint her, but it seemed like that was all he’d been doing for years at this point. He also didn’t want to go against himself, but it looked like he had no other choice but to compromise. Temporary participation for the chance of a lifetime of exclusion.

He lifted the wreath and placed it gingerly on top of his head, feeling it sinking between the strands of his hair, the heart-shaped petals brushing against his eyebrows. The sweet scent of the wreath reached his nose, and he inhaled it for a second, hating to admit it actually smelled pretty nice. Fresh and sweet.