Page 18

A t Taiyo’s insistence, curing the irises was still Hellebore’s highest priority, not saving his life. He was also watching her with an eagle eye and curling around her every night to keep her from sneaking away to keep working. Which only made the two months she had left all the more critical.

Hellebore had all the information she could gather about the rot, but none of the tinctures she’d created had done anything more than slightly slow the spread. Almost every plant she got her hands on had some version of the rot embedded into it, even ones that looked healthy.

She couldn’t fathom how any person had been capable of this feat.

She’d had Taiyo explain it to her a thousand times and looked over his healers’ notes twice as many times, trying to understand how he had taken on some of the rot in the first place.

What was the solution? If Taiyo’s magic hadn’t been enough to cleanse them, what would?

Hellebore looked up from the glass magnifying the black roots and over at Taiyo who was lounging in his usual seat in her lab, alternating between his own work and watching her work. The second her eyes landed on him, he sat up, lowering the paper in front of him.

“Tell me the story of when you tried to cleanse the irises and ended up taking on the rot yourself.”

Taiyo sighed, setting the report Haruko had given him that morning on the table. “Isn’t it almost time for dinner?”

“Taiyo.”

“I’ve told you more times than I can count.”

“Tell me again.”

Taiyo held his hand out, and Hellebore rolled her eyes but indulged him, leaving her samples so she could put her hand in his. The second her hand was in his, he pulled on it until she was in his lap, his other arm wrapping around her. He leaned back in the chair, one arm wrapped around her back and his other draped across her legs, giving her no chance of escape.

Hellebore hadn’t had any idea just how touchy elves could be until the last two months. In normal circumstances, she wouldn’t put up with it, but Taiyo was dying, and if it made him more cooperative, she’d allow some of it. The way she sank into him, leaning against his shoulder, was part of that. It had nothing to do with the warm rush that went through her every time Taiyo embraced her.

“How about a different iris story instead?”

Hellebore straightened up and started to squirm, ready to push herself away if he wasn’t going to be helpful. “If you aren’t going to help me save you—”

“I think you’ll find this one worth your time, sunshine.” Taiyo’s grip on her tightened. “I promise I’ll tell you mine again afterwards; just take a break and listen to this one first.”

She settled back into his arms with a huff.

Taiyo laughed, thumb shifting across her skirts. “You’ve never asked me why the irises are such a sacred wedding tradition for us.”

“I assumed it’s because they share the same magic you do.”

“Yes, but do you know why?”

Hellebore opened her mouth, took one look at Taiyo’s mirthful expression, just waiting for her to spout off an alchemist’s explanation, and snapped it shut. Then she said, “No. Enlighten me.”

“A long time ago, back before alchemy had even appeared amongst the humans, and your people were busier killing each other than coming after any of us, we too were busy killing each other. The Sun Elves, the Star Elves, the Moon Elves, and the Night Elves. Everything changed when Agnarr of the Star Elves and his human witch discovered their comet and were able to create their ritual to bind all of the Star Elves’ magic to it, doubling the strength of the weakest of the elf kingdoms. The Moon Elves formed an alliance with the Night Elves, and the king of the Sun Elves knew it was only a matter of time before we were at their mercy.”

Hellebore sat up straighter. “Wait—Don’t tell me, there was an eclipse coming—”

Taiyo squeezed her leg gently and cut her off. “Can you just let me tell the story?”

Heat flooded her cheeks. “Go ahead.”

“The king had an unmarried daughter. He issued a challenge to his people. Whoever brought to him a way to strengthen their people in order to protect themselves from the Moon Elves and the Night Elves, he would give them the hand of his daughter in marriage. The princess was devastated to hear of this. She’d spent years dismissing every suitor that came her way, desperate to win her favor and hand in marriage, because she didn’t love any of them. How could she? She was already in love.” Taiyo paused, and even though Hellebore suspected where this was going, she didn’t interrupt him.

“He was no one of consequence, really. Just one of the many gardeners who worked in the palace. As much as she loved him, she knew her father would never let her marry him, so she loved him in silence, determined that if she could not be with him, she would not be with anyone. Now that choice was being ripped away from her. Like most of the young male elves, he thought the princess was the most beautiful elf maiden he’d ever seen, but more than that, he had seen the way she laughed with her brother, how she always had a kind word for her maids, how diligent she was, every day coming to the gardens to practice and train with her magic.

“She was radiant to him, always full of light. Until the day after the announcement when he found her in the garden, sitting by the irises, sobbing over her fate. He listened, heart sinking further with every word. It was only a matter of time before one of the cruel elves she rejected presented something to win her father’s favor and condemn her. She told him if only she could marry someone kind, like him, and before he could really even understand it, she kissed him. Then she hurried away, but hope lit in the gardener. His infatuation was not in vain, but what hope did a gardener have of presenting to the king something that could save their people?”

This was turning out to be a dreadfully romantic story. Taiyo couldn’t have shortened it at least a little?

“Every day, suitor after suitor arrived at the palace, trying to impress the king with some new magic technique that was never really new at all. And every day the princess returned to the irises at sunrise and met the gardener. After wracking his brain, he finally came up with an idea. If the eclipse cut them off from their magic, then if they could find another source of sunlight to connect to, they would be able to use it to protect themselves. What better than an organism that already absorbs sunlight to survive? What if instead of wasting excess sunlight, it kept it? The gardener and the princess worked day and night trying to create a flower that would radiate sunlight with their magic, but no matter what they tried, nothing stuck.

“The princess began to lose hope, especially when the rumors began that an elf was coming with a weapon that would have the Moon Elves and Night Elves begging for mercy. The gardener, however, realized what was missing. The next morning, the princess came to the garden, ready to beg him to give up and run away with her instead because she could not bear the thought of living without him. Instead, she found the very first Sunrise Irises. When she realized how he had created them, her wail of grief tore through the castle. By the time her father and brother found her, it was too late. There was another swath of Sunrise Irises. As long as the irises survived, she and her love would be together. Her brother, in her honor, established the tradition, giving one to his wife on their wedding night to steward. As the irises began spreading throughout the land, so did the tradition. That’s why they’re so important to us.”

Wait…

“That’s it?” Hellebore startled. “They just both die?”

Taiyo nodded. “What did you expect?”

“I don’t know. That he’d succeed and they live happily ever after?”

Taiyo’s eyes softened. “It doesn’t always work that way, sunshine.”

“Well, that was a terrible story, so now you owe me yours.”

“I didn’t know you were such a romantic. I would have thought you of all people would have appreciated a tragedy.” Taiyo’s fingers brushed Hellebore’s belt, fingers fiddling with the leather. “But if you insist—even though surely you’ve had it memorized by now—you know I was desperate to find a way to cleanse the garden and stop the rot. I believed that because the irises share the same kind of magic, only a smaller amount of it, that I could make a connection between myself and the irises with my magic and my magic would purify them. It helped, but the rot didn’t disappear. All I did was transfer it into my magic and my blood.”

Taiyo was right. She did have it memorized. But…

Hellebore immediately started scrambling out of Taiyo’s hold.

“Hellebore? Hellebore!” Taiyo wheezed when her elbow connected with his abdomen as she forced him to relinquish his hold.

“I’m such an idiot!” Hellebore ignored him, successfully stumbling to her feet and racing for her worktable.

“What? Hellebore, what is going on?”

Hellebore grabbed her notebook, spinning around as Taiyo stumbled out of his chair after her, one arm wrapped around his stomach. She held it up as she grabbed a vial of decayed petals.

“I’ve been thinking about this all wrong. I don’t have two problems to solve, just one!” Hellebore waved the petals in the air. “I don’t have to cure you and find a way to cure the irises. I cure the irises and that is how I’m going to cure you!”

“Hellebore, I already told you that doesn’t work. You don’t have to—”

“Oh, will you stop it! How about instead you say, ‘Thank you, my brilliant alchemist,’ or ‘How are you going to do that?’” Hellebore came to a stop in front of him again, beaming from ear to ear. “Why, my dear Sun Elf, of course I’ll tell you. You got yourself into this mess because you thought of an idea only an alchemist could accomplish and went through with it with only your magic. Now you have rotting sludge for blood. I cure enough of the irises, then I use them before the eclipse to keep your heart from giving out. With enough irises, I can cleanse your blood. You couldn’t separate the rot from the magic. Once I have healthy irises, I can.”

Taiyo’s hands caught her elbows, holding her in place in front of him, a grin on his face. “Your dear Sun Elf? I rather like the sound of that.”

Had he heard nothing else of what she’d just said?

Also, where had that come from? The words had spilled out before she’d even realized it.

“Taiyo. Focus.” Hellebore pulled out of his arms and shoved the vial into his face. “If I cure the irises before the eclipse, then I can use them to purify your blood before you lose your connection during the eclipse.”

Taiyo blinked, reached up, and pushed her hand out of the way. A light started to flicker in his eyes. He breathed out, “My brilliant alchemist.”

Hellebore laughed, dancing back out of his arms and back toward her worktable. “Fine. Don’t thank me yet. Thank me when I have a cure for your irises.”

Although her mirth was only surface level. The hope entering Taiyo’s eyes cut her to the core.

He hadn’t believed her until this moment that she could even save him.