vi.

Jayen

Aoife had to help Maj around the house. There was too much work for Maj to do it alone so I was left alone with the plants and my thoughts. It had been a few days since we received the letter telling us the lady was on her way. . . with him. She was due any day now.

I've done a good job ignoring that. Ignoring the tightening feeling in my chest. Suppressing my memories. If it wasn't Mr. Widmen it was Jinan. There was nothing else to do except to throw myself into the garden. I pruned some of the flowers and I thought about Joshua.

"Remember Jay, the plants actually love this."

We were sitting in his backyard, tending to his garden. He was holding a pair of scissors made specifically for him and his garden. The plants that we were in front of were roses. Brillant red ones.

"It makes us feel lighter." They said cheerfully.

I was still too scared to prune them. "Doesn't it hurt? It's cutting off your heads, how will you talk to me?"

They laughed, "Oh no, it is not our flowers that we exist in but the roots. Pruning us is like. . . getting a haircut! Does getting a haircut hurt?"

I shook my head. I had just started hearing plants. I didn't want to lose it.

"You're ten now, Jay. It's okay to still be scared, but you can't let it control you."

Snip.

"Watch it!" The roses yelled at me.

"I'm so sorry." I wasn't paying attention and accidentally snipped a rose. The yellow flower hit the ground and I stared at it. Something so beautiful can be taken away in an instant. I thought of Aoife, briefly and chuckled to myself. I guess I did technically lose her. She's just working somewhere else for a bit. I sat down and picked up the rose. I held it up to my face and twirled it with my fingers. The sky was a light blue color and it was around noon. The yellow in contrast to the blue felt comforting. It wasn't too bright out and it was cool outside this time.

I heard voices in the distance behind me. I knew Maj's voice when I heard it but I couldn't place the other one. They were speaking too quietly. The door shut and the voices stopped as two sets of footprints crunched towards me through the grass.

"And this is Jayen. She's our gardener." Maj said. She was using her formal tone.

Oh no.

Oh no.

I turned my head to look who was behind me. My heart was in my throat and it tasted like fear.

Oh no.

"Hello, Jayen."

Aoife

I hated dusting. I hated it so much. The dust would get in my hair and up my nose. I would be sneezing for the next thirty minutes if Maj hadn't given me a tip. She told me to soak a rag, wring it out, and then cover my nose and mouth. I was starting to really like Maj. She was a very motherly person. I thought about something my momma told me.

"Inion, when you go off on your own. I want you to remember something." My momma had said. She was kneeling down in front of me.

"I don't want to leave you or grandpa." I said. I was seven.

"Honey, it's okay. One day you'll add to your family, maybe a platonic family, maybe you'll have kids, maybe someone else would be a mother figure to you but--"

"No! I don't want to replace you." A tear slid down my cheek.

"Oh, honey, a family is never replaced. A family never shrinks. It only grows."

I was dusting one of the guest rooms--guest room thirteen--when Devi came in. She had started to grow on me too. More like an infectious moss than a beautiful ivy.

"Do you hear it?" Devi leaned in close to me. I felt a shiver up my spine. The woman was just so damn cold.

I stopped for a second. "Nope."

Devi shook her head. "There's a horse on the road. It's either very large or just drawing a carriage too."

"How can you hear that?"

Devi just grinned, showing all her teeth. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders and a few strands fell over her face. "I know you've been trying to figure it out."

"You're a very unsettling person, you know that?"

Kuna

Today started wonderful. It's beautiful out. The birds were singing and the dough I had started yesterday was rising beautifully. We should have fresh bread by late afternoon. Maybe the twins would join us for dinner.

Devi has been more active during the day then usual. I think it's Aoife. Devi's probably just messing with her. Devi's a nice person but she often doesn't understand social cues. You have to deliberately state something if you want her to get it.

I mixed the filling a little more quickly. I was making some lemon tarts for Lady Dupon when she gets here. I hope she likes lemons. Jayen's lemon tree was producing a ton of lemons this year then usual so I'll have to use them before they go bad. I poured the mixture into the shells I was cooling by the window.

The scent of lemons was so strong my mouth watered and my mark itched. That's just what happens when you get hungry. Or at least that's what happens to me. Maj thinks it's funny.

"What's that smell?"

I whipped around to see Ferni standing at the doorway, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"I'm making a lemon tart, do you want some?"

He nodded and I pried one out of the tin. The crust was a perfect golden brown.

He took it from me and studied it before taking a bite. His eyes widened in surprise. "This is really good. I thought it would be sour!"

I laughed and he ate the rest of it in one bite. He licked the yellow jelly off of his fingers. "Can I have another one?"

There was a knock at the front door

Devi

I like Aoife. It's really nice to have a new face around here. Her eyes are really pretty too. I bet you she's a Poison-Eater. She moves like one. I can't wait to have more people here, the walls are bare with the lack of new memories.

"Am I really that unsettling?" I asked. I would sit on the bed but it was recently remade.

She shook her head. "You're an odd one, do you know that?"

I nodded. My father used to tell me that. He was Normal though. He thought everything was odd. He was a tall, stern man but he was very kind to us. Even when he should've been stricter.

We grew up Covenless.

I opened my mouth to say something when there was a knock at the front door.

Ferni

I like lemons, but I love Kuna's cooking more. What a wonderful combination that they made something with lemons! The best of all worlds! My father had hated lemons

Maj

My morning started wonderfully. I woke up next to Kuna. Usually, they're up way before me but then came the problem of them sneaking out of my room. I felt like a teenager sneaking someone out the morning after.

I paced the main entrance room like I had been doing for the past day. I had to be the first to greet the lady and ignore Jinan. I'm usually not nervous but my heart was racing.

There was a knock at the front door.