Page 47 of Growing Memories (Valley of Sylveren #2)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ollas pulled Eunny toward the rear antechamber, the one that had housed their secret seed project all term. She grabbed their potted cutting, now the size of a small shrub and bursting with unopened buds, and scrambled inside.

Ollas slammed the door shut behind her. Then, hitting a rune emblazoned on the wall, he locked them in together.

Ushering Eunny toward the back of the antechamber, Ollas faced the door. Eunny’s mother appeared in the half-window. The door handle rattled when she tried it, but it didn’t budge.

“Open the door, Mr. Nevin,” Bioon said. “Do not make this worse for yourself.”

“Says the thief.” Eunny came up beside him. She stared at her mother as if seeing her in a new, unflattering light. “What are you doing, Mother? There’s no sneaking off into the dark this time. The school will know what you’ve done, and so will the Sentinels.”

“True, but I have a job to do, Eunji.” Bioon’s arm moved, but the door hid her hand from view. “A duty, and you would see my point of view if your judgment about the Coalition wasn’t so clouded.”

Ollas stepped away from the door, scanning the wall.

The greenhouses weren’t exactly armories, and when it came to tools that could serve as weapons, the antechambers were even more lacking than the central room.

The long-handled hoes and big shears hanging on the other side of the wall would’ve come in handy right about now.

Even worse, Trunk was just the storage building.

No fancy, blade-like protector plants in here.

“You threatened your own sister and her business, but I’m the one with the shit judgment?” Eunny said, incredulous. “You want to steal the thing that could help save Rhell!”

“They’re effective against the poison, then? Those plants are Coalition property, and as such, the organization will see to their distribution. An organization that keeps a nation prosperous can’t be sentimental.”

“They’re not Coalition property, though,” Eunny said slowly, gaze going distant as she thought. “You had me check them at the delegation. They’re Eyllic.”

Bioon’s expression went carefully neutral.

“Why was the Coalition negotiating for plants effective against the poison? If you were there to bargain over something like that, Rhell should’ve been involved.”

“It was a complex situation, and it wasn’t necessary for you to be privy to all of the topics being discussed,” Bioon said with a dismissive shake of her head.

“How did you even know about them?” Eunny asked. “Now. Here.”

“The Coalition has been monitoring the elective’s progress closely. Its successes have great implications for the market?—”

“I’ve never mentioned them,” Ollas said, earning a withering look from the older woman. “Neither has Rai. These aren’t part of the elective at all.”

“And you didn’t start asking questions until later,” Eunny said, more to herself than either of them.

She met Ollas’s eyes. “After you started looking into the greenhouse records. That must’ve tipped them off, because she ambushed me at the Mighty Leaf, was asking if I remembered anything about the delegation.

Wanted to know if the elective had started a new trial, and asked me to report on you.

Like I’d ever do that for you.” She directed the latter statement at her mother with a derisive scoff.

Bioon’s eyes closed briefly, nostrils flaring with an annoyed sigh.

Just as quickly, her eyes snapped back open, fixing on her daughter.

“I warned you not to meddle in the Coalition’s affairs.

” She glanced to her left, chin dipping in a small nod at one of the guards standing next to her before her gaze flicked back to Eunny. “I did tell you that.”

“Watch out,” Ollas said, reaching for Eunny as the butt of a garden hoe’s wooden shaft slammed into the window.

“Shit.” Eunny staggered back a step. A round indent had formed in the glass, small cracks fanning out around it.

Bioon held up a hand to stop the guard from attacking again. She met Eunny’s eyes, her expression impassive. Like this was business as usual, regardless of the conditions. Then again, Ollas was beginning to think she really did feel that way.

“Last chance,” she said. “This door won’t hold. Hand over the plant and I’ll ensure Rhell gets first call on the product, at cost.”

Eunny held up the pot and gave it a taunting shake. “Liar. This thing would be up in flames before we left the building.”

Bioon turned to Ollas. “And you, Mr. Nevin? The Coalition will press charges over your handling of its property. You won’t have a teaching position here anymore if you continue to stand against us.”

“I like where I’m standing,” Ollas said. “Ma’am.”

“Fucking shameless,” Eunny muttered.

Bioon heaved a disgusted sigh. She stepped back again, motioning for her guard to continue breaking down the door.

“This isn’t Graelynd,” Eunny said. “The Coalition has no authority here. You won’t get away with this, Mother.” From the corner of her mouth, she muttered, “Any ideas, Nev?”

Another blow to the glass sent cracks spreading nearly the full width of the window.

The grovetender-made glass was strong, laced with enchantments, but it hadn’t been crafted with the intention of keeping intruders out.

Ollas batted one of the spindly vines out of his way as he searched for something, anything that could help.

Sylveren was a civilian school, not a military?—

His eyes followed the path of the sparse vines tracing the upper edges of the antechamber.

They grew along the ceiling, only trailing down to the floor in a few places, like the corners of the small room.

A single strand had traveled down to trace the edge of the doorframe.

The vine was still spindly, still had smallish leaves—and not very many of them at that—but it wasn’t quite so dry and flaky thanks to Ollas’s recent efforts to nourish it.

He never had managed to find the mother stem’s pot, but at this point, the plant seemed to have spread throughout Trunk and drawn bare sustenance from every available source.

True, it was nowhere near as impressive as what Rai kept in his office; certainly not as big or resilient as the ones living in Sprout.

Not much worth protecting in the storage greenhouse, after all.

But it was still alive, still one of the school’s protective measures.

If only Ollas had a handful of magic to offer the dormant plant.

Eunny and her mother were yelling at each other through the glass.

Their sharp words were nearly drowned out by the guard battering away at the window, chunks of glass ripping free and crashing to the floor.

Ollas ignored them all, going to the wall and reaching out to touch the vine where it came down next to the door.

He willed a few sparks of light to his fingers, holding his breath as they settled atop the vine.

His magic rested there, in particles so small they could’ve been mistaken for motes of dust if not for their arcane gleam.

The dots didn’t wink out, but they weren’t absorbed into the vine’s woody exterior, either.

“No authority.” Bioon laughed, the sound high-pitched.

Cold. “Oh, Eunji, you think this godsforsaken place has power? Control of commerce, that is real power. The world revolves around money, whether you like it or not. Your precious Valley cannot exist on morals alone. You speak of authority? The Coalition ensured the end of a war. The Order of Sylveren couldn’t achieve that. ”

“Funny, I don’t remember the Coalition sailing a fleet it doesn’t have up to fight the Empire.”

“Who do you think convinced Graelynd’s navy to sail?” Bioon asked in a falsely sweet tone.

“The Upper Council. They voted after the delegation.” Eunny faltered, eyes widening. “After the— After we— Oh, that’s rich, taking credit for us getting kidnapped. What, did you plan that, too?”

“What?” Ollas blurted. He realized he’d been watching their exchange, Bioon’s revelation shocking him to a standstill.

His attention was torn between the women and the vines as he reached for more of his magic; it gurgled in him, weak as ever, his drops of light more like soap bubbles and just as apt to pop.

“The Coalition organized the delegation,” Eunny said without looking at him. She glared at her mother, though, at this point, it was difficult to see Bioon through the fractured glass.

“You forget that none of us were pleased by the Eyllics’ treachery.

” Bioon sniffed. “The war was hurting trade. Everywhere, not just for Graelynd, but the Councils didn’t act until their own people were mistreated.

We didn’t plan it, but the Coalition certainly helped the Councils make the correct decision. ”

The specks of Ollas’s magic were gone now.

He reached inward, trying to visualize his inner well as all the textbooks and instructions he’d scoured always said.

But he’d come to realize long ago that his well was always on the dry side.

Unfortunately, adrenaline didn’t lend him any strength in this regard.

Desperate, he grabbed the vine and shook it. Nothing happened. No surge of power beneath his fingers, no explosion of sparks. Their options hadn’t been good when they’d escaped into the antechamber, he’d known that, but he had always been something of an optimist. Full of hope.

Regret twisted in his chest; he’d failed Eunny, failed to keep her safe when she’d asked it of him.

Ollas cast about for any sort of weapon.

Plenty of projectiles in the form of potted plants, though they’d be unwieldy.

The reed sticks serving as plant stakes were laughable in comparison to whatever garden tools Bioon’s henchmen were armed with, but they’d have to do.

Ollas pulled one from a large plant near the back wall.

“Eunny,” he rasped, preparing to step between her and her mother, “take the plant. You have to?—”