The Witch of Flowers
Chapter 6: The Selection Begins

Iris was woken by the sound of movement. She had no idea what to think of what she was hearing at first, and then she remembered. This very morning marked the beginning of the Princess Selection. Iris slipped out of the bed. Bianca stopped her before she could get far though. “You can’t leave the room looking like this, and you can’t dress yourself during the selection. We can’t show any weakness if we want to avoid attention.”

“Won’t me being a commoner already attract attention?” Iris asked. She had meant to ask the day before but it had been the last thing on her mind once they started talking about magical theory. Bianca seemed quite excited to learn more about her methods for controlling her magic. It turned out it wasn’t the Saudien Method but used some aspects of it. Iris didn’t know what to think of her grandparents’ methods taking inspiration from the supposedly advanced Saudien Method. To her it seemed unintuitive, but her own, when she explained it to Bianca, seemed even more efficient than the original version.

“Yes, unfortunately, but not as much as your appearance will. Nobles are often superficial, so at the very least we should minimize what they can criticize. I picked out a dress for you to wear during the first event. It is a tea party, so I selected an outfit similar to what I’ve seen nobles wear to those.”

“Is it going to be outside?” Iris asked hopefully. All she needed was to take a step outside and replace an excuse to touch the earth with her bare hands. Then she would be well on her way home.

“No, but the room it is held in has large windows overlooking the garden behind the Blue Palace. I wouldn’t suggest going outside alone until the slaver situation is resolved, even within palace grounds,” Bianca explained, as she helped her slip on the dress. Iris barely held back a pout. “Don’t look sad. After the first week, there is supposed to be a communal tea party in the nearby greenhouse.”

A week, Iris reasoned. If nothing was resolved in a week she could expose her location to the great spirit lords. “It’s not that exactly,” Iris tried to distract herself from the longing. It had been around a year since she had been outside. A year since she had touched the earth, touched nature, used her blessings to feel more alive instead of just to survive being fed putrid and rotting food. She wanted to feel the soil, feel the trees, the flowers, hear the birds and other wildlife. She wanted to see the sun without the barrier of a window in the way.

“I’m not sure how to manage your hair,” Bianca announced after a moment.

Iris frowned, “My hair wasn’t originally like this so I don’t have that much experience either. It was originally dark brown, but about a week before I was captured flowers sprouted and during my attempts to stop the slavers it turned green. The flowers can be removed with some effort, I ripped a couple of flowers out when they first sprouted.”

“I wouldn’t remove the flowers, if for no other reason than it helps me keep track of your health. I’ll try brushing a small bunch to see if your hair reacts poorly.” Bianca murmured but waited for Iris to nod before grabbing a soft-bristle brush from a nearby table. The sensation of the brush moving through her hair was much the same as it used to be. “Does it feel alright? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“It doesn’t feel any different from when I used to brush my hair before. While the texture and color of my hair changed, I don’t think it completely changed properties,” Iris explained. “Before the flowers required quite a bit of force to remove, but I’m not sure how durable they are in my current state.”

Bianca frowned but continued brushing. “I’ll keep the strands with flowers in them separate just to be safe. I’ll arrange a portion of them like a wreath atop your head. While leaving the rest of the flowers to join your hair. I think it’s best to avoid updos until your hair is a little less brittle.”

“Whatever you think will be best,” Iris managed. She had never paid much attention to her hair before, usually just letting her wavy hair just hang. It was a rare occasion when she did anything more with it. Though in summer there were times when she tied it up to keep the back of her neck cool when playing with Yuki and Faris. She wondered how the pair were doing. Were they fighting as much as they did before her capture? Would they be happy to see her again?

Luckily, she was distracted from her thoughts as Bianca finished styling her hair and quickly moved to makeup. “We’re going light on the makeup, mostly just hiding the bulk of your scars. Your pallor is looking almost close to normal so too much makeup would just be a waste.” Bianca explained what she was doing before applying the makeup. That took much longer and Iris’s thoughts wandered again to her friends. Those two had always butted heads since they had met. It made sense. They were both so alike. They were stubborn and strict in their values. Whenever there was a slight variance in those values, the fights would start. They got in a lot of trouble because of that. Their parents were just as strict in their values but much more accepting of each other. Iris wondered if they had grown out of their endless bickering and fighting. “What are you thinking about?” Bianca asked. “I mean, you don’t need to tell me but it might help distract you from this.”

“I was just thinking about a couple of friends I used to play with in the woods. They always fought since they were so stubborn. I was wondering if they still fight as much as they used to, and,” Iris hesitated to admit it, “hoping that they will still want to hang around me once I’m able to return home.”

“How long have you known them?” Bianca asked.

“For most if not all my life. Their parents lived in the same forest I lived in, and not too far away either. We were pretty much the only children in the area so we were technically all we had at the time.”

“I’m sure they’re worried about you,” Bianca reassured her.

Iris was afraid of that. Just how worried were they. The pair could be impulsive when worried. She could easily see them causing trouble if their parents and Lux didn’t keep them in check. Iris swallowed, “I’m sure they are, but I just hope they aren’t fighting because of it, or blaming themselves for what happened either. They were in trouble with their parents for fighting when I was captured, so they hadn’t been around for a couple weeks.”

“All the more then. They will be happy to see you once this is all resolved. Would you like someone to send word to them so they don’t worry?” Bianca asked.

Iris froze. With the borders of the Great Forest of Lux closed off, that would be difficult. Even if that wasn’t the case, she had to be cautious about who she told about her connection to the forest. The slaver situation had proved that. When the slavers and her captor realized her ability they had sought to use her to hurt other people. She couldn’t let that happen again, and she didn’t want to experience anything like that ever again. “That might be a bit difficult.” It would solve her need to go outside to let the great spirit lords where she was, but the risks were too great. “The forest we live in is relatively isolated. I’m not even sure if the trade routes that used to come through every few weeks are still active.” Merchants were often responsible for the delivery of letters to smaller villages so her explanation wouldn’t be too odd. Iris doubted that Lux had left the trade routes active when the borders were closed, otherwise what was the point of closing the border in the first place.

“All done,” Bianca announced. “I’ll keep my distance unless your health requires me to step in. All you need to do is behave in a polite manner and follow the host’s directions.”

“What do you mean by polite?” Iris asked.

“It’s mostly just showing consideration for others, but no matter how much respect you show, you must manage your own self worth. If you show weakness the other candidates will pounce, and your stay here will be less pleasant,” Bianca explained.

Iris waited until she was announced before entering the room where the tea party was being held and immediately felt self conscious and a hint of fear gnawed at the edge of her mind. They were all around the same age as Count Maelifos’s daughter, the very people who had tormented her for the year she was held against her will, forced to use her magic for nefarious purposes and hurt her over and over and over. Iris quickly forced the fear down. Bianca said to avoid showing weakness and fear was a weakness. Most of the young women were better dressed than her, but she expected that after seeing what Count Maelifos’s daughter. Nobles dressed in clothes that were much more elegant than Iris was used to. She didn’t even know if she would feel comfortable wearing things like that if given a chance.

Her self consciousness rose as the nobles eyed her and the whispers started. “The commoner candidate. She doesn’t even look human. Why was she allowed to participate? I heard they were a last minute addition.”

Most of the nobles joined in the gossiping, but Iris’s attention fell to an elegant young lady sitting slightly away from the rest of the gossiping nobles. She looked at her with curiosity not the malice and judgement that the rest of the candidates were. When their eyes met she quickly averted her eyes, turning to the woman next to her, raising a fan in front of the lower half of her face, hiding her lips.

Perhaps she was just like the others but more quiet about it. Iris was about to put all those thoughts aside as she found a place to sit. The moment she was seated the woman next to the elegant young lady rose her voice gently. “It seems it is time to begin the tea party,” she gestured to someone standing at the edge of the room who quickly started bringing a serving cart loaded with small snacks that went well with various teas. Another person followed behind with another cart with multiple tea sets and various containers that Iris recognized as containers for fancy teas. Her grandfather had loved tea and had two such containers that were always replaced whenever they got low. He had said that they were a present from someone important to him, but never elaborated, and now she would never know. “When dealing with diplomats from other countries it is often customary to share tea prepared in their presence with them. The first test is to determine if you can manage such a task. I do not expect any of you to be perfect, the test is merely a measure of the effort and attitude you put into it.”

Iris watched the others prepare tea for the host. Their methods were much different than the ones she used with her grandfather. She could see the slight displeasure the host showed as she sipped several of the teas. Iris resisted the urge to bite her bottom lip as her turn grew closer. Then Iris felt a sense of calm wash over her. She just had to do what she always did with her grandfather. The temperature, Iris remembered, she had to be cautious with that. It would be a good exercise in controlling her power while she was recovering too. It wasn’t like it was a difficult method. It required less power than what was needed for making potions.

“I bet the commoner has no idea how to make a decent tea. Maybe they haven’t even seen tea before,” one of the noble ladies whispered quite loudly. Iris ignored the whisper and ensuing giggles as she greeted the host, copying the same curtsey she saw them use to the best of her ability, dipping a little farther since she assumed nobility had different expectations from commoners.

Iris kept her eyes low as she asked, “May I ask if I have to use the tea leaves provided?”

The woman looked intrigued by her question. “Could you please explain what you mean?”

Bianca stood behind the woman and quickly shook her head as if urging her not to do it, but Iris just gave her head a small shake that made Bianca look worried. “As I’m sure you may have already heard as the host of this, my reasons for being here are connected to my unique magic. I can grow most plants if I know enough about it. My grandfather taught me how to make tea, so I wanted to make it with a tea leaf I know how to brew properly. I noticed that each of the teas the other ladies made used different water temperatures and steeping times so I didn’t want to serve you something unpalatable due to my inexperience with the tea leaves here.”

The woman’s eyes brightened and the curiosity rose. “I was told of the specifics of your stay here. I’d love to try your tea.”

Iris nodded and quickly activated her magic, first creating the plant the tea leaves came from. She let her magic pluck the leaves off as well as the blossoms. She left the blossoms for later. Iris pulled the water out of the tea leaves with her magic and then pulled on her ability again and a small water ball appeared in front of her. Iris let the tea leaves get enveloped in the water as she adjusted the temperature of the water carefully. It was after a few minutes when she felt her magic starting to shake. The tea was already done however so Iris quickly removed the steeped leaves from the tea and guided the tea to the two cups before her. It was only then that she allowed the tea’s flower petals to fall upon the surface of the tea and float on the liquid’s surface.

Iris took a small, carful sip. It tasted just the same as she remembered. It tasted like the embodiment of relaxation. The woman took a sip and a pleased look appeared on her face. “You have done a wonderful job young miss. What a unique taste? Where did your grandfather get these leaves?”

“I’m not sure. He always said it was a gift, but I never asked who it was from,” Iris responded.

“Can you give another display of your magic? I heard that you are even better with flowers if I’m not mistaken.”

Iris nodded. She closed her eyes and thought on which flowers she should focus on. Instinctively, irises came to mind. Her magic jumped at the thought. Damn, it was still way too unstable. Iris remembered the woman’s dress. Something about it brought the memory of the magnolia trees that grew in one of the small clearings in the Great Forest of Lux, all by themselves in a small grove. She had always loved the smell. Iris took control of her magic again and pulled at its edges, creating a magnolia blossoms a few inches above her hands. Iris opened her eyes and noticed that despite her intentions, irises were also created. The irises were dwarfed by the magnolia blossom, but surrounded the fragrant blossom with its purple petals. “Oh my,” the woman said softly, a sense of awe in her voice. “What a beautiful flower arrangement. Could you tell me the names of the flowers?”

“The large one is a magnolia blossom. Your dress reminded me of a grove of magnolia trees that grow near my home. The purple flowers are irises,” Iris somehow managed to keep her voice level as she replied, despite her growing discomfort being surrounded by so many people.

“Amazing, trees have such beautiful blossoms? I never knew that trees could produce such large flowers,” the woman said with a smile.

“Cherry tree blossoms can be even more beautiful in the spring, but I didn’t feel like it fit with the theme of the tea party. Their flowers aren’t nearly as large. In fact they are quite small, but it feels like the whole tree is covered in the blossoms in the spring. The flowers range from white to a pale pink. I like the pink ones best. There are larger flowers too, but not all of them are quite as pleasant.”

“I see. Your knowledge of plants is quite admirable,” the woman said gently. “I’d love to hear more some other time.”

Iris bowed her head, not sure how to respond. Luckily, the woman moved on to another young woman. The tea party continued without much more exciting things happening. Iris was growing increasingly nervous as the tea party continued. The anxiety spiked when she heard one of the candidates talking with another. “I still don’t get why we have a commoner here. So what if her magic is pretty. She’s a freak.”

Iris swallowed. “She’s nothing but a witch of flowers. Witches are only as good as the application of their abilities. Flowers are worthless, so we won’t have to worry about her sticking around for long.” The candidate the young lady was talking to replied.

Flowers weren’t useless, Iris wanted to object. Many were brewed into tea infusions, some of which had health benefits. Flowers could be used for medicines and poisons. The plants the flowers came from were even more useful. Even if they didn’t have a use, their beauty could bring people happiness. Iris remembered how much her grandparents smiled whenever they saw her place some of her flowers on a window ledge or on the kitchen table in a vase. No, flowers weren’t useless.

Luckily, the tea party ended not much later. Iris waited until a couple other people left before she dipped out as well. Bianca greeted her the moment she left. “What happened to avoiding attention?” Bianca scolded.

“I don’t know how to brew tea any other way, and it was a good exercise in magic control. Tea requires precise temperature control to turn out well. Besides, it’s harder to avoid using my unique magic in the first place. Most of the time, just touching the earth with bare skin causes flowers to show up. It’s less mysterious to just announce that my unique magic is connected to plants instead of drawing attention the moment irises start sprouting at my feet if I happen to walk outside for one of the events that are part of the Princess Selection.”

Bianca grimaced, “I guess that’s true, but you need to be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

“I’ll be careful in the future,” Iris replied as they arrived in her room again. “How many of these events are mandatory? Do I have to go to them all?”

“You don’t have to go to them all, especially since your presence here is only a formality meant to keep you safe until the slavers are caught. Missing too many would be problematic though since it would draw another type of attention, just as bad or worse than what you faced today. After today, there will be multiple events each day. Most candidates will attend at least one and sometimes two of those events. You should attend at least once daily. I’ll let you know if there is an event that you absolutely cannot miss. Those are ones that everybody will be present,” Bianca explained.

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind. If there are any events outdoors, will you let me know.”

“I will, though, I really do think it’s best if you avoid being outside before the slavers are caught,” Bianca said with a frown.

“I understand what you’re saying, but I haven’t seen the sun for around a year, let alone stepped outside during that whole time. It’s hard to enjoy just looking out the window. It doesn’t feel as real when I can’t feel the sun’s rays hitting my skin.”

Bianca gave her a sympathetic look. “I’ll let you know, but I’m still concerned about your safety. I don’t want you to be hurt again.”

“I’ll be careful if I ever go outside,” Iris said softly. She would still need to replace an excuse to touch the ground though. The only thing she could think of is feigning a fall, but that was, as Bianca put it, showing weakness. She trusted Bianca’s advice to avoid showing weakness, so perhaps she should think of another way to touch the earth.

Brent climbed through the window of the Blue Palace with his unique magic activated. William had asked him to check on Iris, but his visit wasn’t purely business, at least not William’s business. William hadn’t told him exactly what happened in that basement until this afternoon. He had to confirm what William said, that Iris had seen though his magic. That shouldn’t be possible. Nobody had ever been able to do that, even seeing the edges where the darkness ended and his shadow magic began shouldn’t be possible. It was the dead of the night when he straightened. Luckily the palace healer’s apprentice was in her own room. Brent had checked before climbing inside.

Iris sat up and let out a yawn. She glanced in his direction and narrowed her eyes as if trying to see something there before letting out a yawn. Then she sighed, “Um, what brings you here? I don’t think I ever caught your name, mister his highness’s bodyguard.”

He let his unique magic fall away. “William, I mean his highness told me to check on you to make sure the first day of the Princess Selection went okay. Were you able to see through my unique magic?”

Iris quickly replied, “The tea party was okay for the most part, I think.”

“And my question?” Brent demanded. It was a security risk if somebody could see through his magic. He had to replace out how she was able to see though his unique magic so he could eliminate the risk.

“It wasn’t exactly seeing through it. It’s just I could see or, er, sense a difference in the darkness between the regular shadows of the room and you. The shape was different than in the place I was being held and looked similar to your build, so I just assumed. You are his Highness’s bodyguard after all, so you probably gifted the power to him temporarily to keep him from being spotted during my rescue,” Iris shrugged as if she was struggling to explain.

“And how were you able to tell that I was there at all? It shouldn’t be possible to see through my unique magic.”

Iris frowned for a moment. “It could be, um, I have a few blessings that might have affected my ability to sense things. The slave crest wasn’t able to stop some of them from activating, otherwise I wouldn’t be alive after being fed rotten food every few days. I don’t always notice when they activate so that might be why I’m able to see the edges of your magic.”

Brent winced. He had wondered when he had read the file William had compiled, wondered how someone could live so long in those conditions, but a blessing that purified the food after it was ingested explained that. Iris had said that she had blessings, as in multiple. That was very rare. One must have been darkness based. Not exactly unheard of, but very rare. It must be a strong one if she was able to see through his unique magic, even slightly.

“Did that answer your question?”

“Yes, sorry for intruding at this hour,” Brent said as he realized he hadn’t spoke since she explained why she could see through his unique magic.

“It’s not a problem. It isn’t like you were planning on hurting me or anything. Sir bodyguard, is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”

Sir bodyguard? What a strange name. He wasn’t used to people talking to him with such respect outside of formal settings, and it was never like that. “It’s Brent,” he managed. “Usually in formal situations people call me Sir Brent.”

“I see, then Sir Brent, do you wish to talk about anything else?” Iris sat upright as if trying to look more formal. Brent wanted to laugh at her behavior.

“This isn’t anywhere near a formal visit, you can call me Brent when we aren’t around nobles. William, his Highness always calls me by my name casually.”

“But he’s your employer, and a prince, of course he’d talk to a trusted bodyguard informally. And I need to practice being more formal if I don’t want to attract trouble during this whole thing.”

Brent nodded in amusement, “He’s more than my employer, we’re friends as well, but don’t tell anybody that. Not many would believe it. As for practice being formal,” Brent remembered William’s frustration with the Princess Selection as a whole and how he reacted to the thought of sending Iris off to face the harshness of the nobles. “It won’t make much of a difference if I’m honest. You might avoid a few minor issues by acting formal with the other nobles, but the nastier ones will just replace another way to attack you.”

“I guess that’s true,” Iris frowned. “I don’t exactly look anything near normal, especially with my hair like this. My magic is a bit showy too. A couple nobles were already calling me a witch of flowers, calling flowers useless without knowing anything.”

“Witch of flowers?” Brent asked. He had heard of her unique ability, but hadn’t thought of giving it a title before that moment. It seemed to fit her, but he bet the nobles who used it said it in a derogatory manner. After all, they had called flowers useless. Brent knew better. Some flowering plants were used in field medicine to slow bleeding and prevent infection. No, flowers were not useless. Never mind the fact that Iris could create more than just flowering plants.

“Yeah. I mean, I guess they are right that my unique magic does focus on flowers, but that doesn’t make flowers useless. So many flowering plants have good medicinal effects. Some are poisonous though, like the ones my captor forced me to make, but there are others that can be used in medicine with quite good effectiveness. Many potions use flowing plants as part of their ingredients. And flowers on their own can bring people happiness even if they aren’t good for medicine, so I wouldn’t call flowers useless,” Iris explained in an almost excited tone. She seemed to really like flowers.

“The title fits, but the usage was definitely not a good reflection of the use of your power. I’ve had the same derogatory attitude directed at my unique power. Some people called it cowardly, dishonorable, but it allows me to better protect his Highness so cowardice and dishonor mean nothing to me in those situations.”

“Protecting people by using the shadows isn’t dishonorable or cowardly,” Iris nearly snarled. “You are using your power to protect people. How is that in any way dishonorable? And it takes a lot of courage to use that power and trust that it will always work, especially when you gift a portion to the one you are protecting.”

“I...guess,” Brent was surprised by her rage on his behalf. She seemed so delicate before that moment, then she reminded him of a wild beast, one willing to fight anybody and everybody to protect those under her protection. She probably felt indebted to him and William for rescuing her. William would hate it. He had blamed himself for not stopping the situation when he had no knowledge of it before her rescue, claiming that if he was stronger, Iris wouldn’t have suffered for as long as she had. Brent wasn’t all that sure. Count Maelifos was a sneaky type of terrible. He probably would have found another way to hide his wrongdoings no matter how much influence and power William had. Hopefully, William would realize that soon, that protecting people was more than being strong, that protecting people required more than influence and power, that it didn’t reflect a failing on his part that he couldn’t stop everything bad that happened to his people.

“I mean it. I doubt I would have ever been saved without your power. There is nothing cowardly or dishonorable about how you and his Highness rescued me.”

“Thank you for saying so, but that doesn’t change how others view my power. I do understand what you are saying though. His Highness is also insistent that I’m neither a coward nor dishonorable, but it is nice to hear the same from somebody else,” Brent replied, still shocked by her insistence that his power was something that required courage, that a stranger would say that his power wasn’t cowardly or dishonorable. “Now that I’ve done what his highness requested, I had best return and report to him. I hope you rest well and recover properly soon.” And that the slavers were caught soon. If there was anything he was regretting more and more with every minute it was that he hadn’t caught the slavers yet. Just how were they hiding so well? He would have to track them down before they caused any more people such suffering.

“Good night,” Iris murmured as he eased out the window.

Brent rushed to the main palace, and to William’s window, climbing inside without being spotted. Brent watched his friend pace the length of room with a determined look on his face, worry at the edges of his expression. Brent dropped his magic and William immediately stopped in his pacing, “Is Iris doing okay? While you were gone Lady Patricia came in to talk to me about the tea party.”

“She did? Did she say anything about Iris?” Brent asked.

“She seemed to really like Iris. She said that her magic was beautiful and she was very gentle and respectful. She even said that it was a shame that Iris wasn’t truly joining the Princess Selection. But she also said that a lot of the young nobles were quite rude towards her. I was worried about it, but to disrespect a candidate just because they are a commoner. If I had been there personally, I would have disqualified the nobles who talked like that immediately, even if I had to give the excuse that she was selected as a candidate because of her power in the first place, which they also disrespected, not realizing just how useful such a power is.”

“Iris said that they called her unique power useless, but I didn’t ask how the topic came up,” Brent admitted.

“She apparently doesn’t know how to make tea without using her magic. I heard it was quite a beautiful sight, which I can understand. It was awe inspiring when I saw her make the potion in the infirmary when she was still recovering. Still calling her a witch of flowers,” William shook his head.

“The name definitely fits with what we know about her. She is quite skilled at creating plants, especially flowering ones, and her knowledge on the subject is extensive if our short conversation was any indicator,” Brent frowned, “I don’t like the nobles used the name as an insult either, though.”

“I think we need to look into Iris’s background more closely once we replace the slavers, before we send her back home. Lady Patricia said that the tea that she prepared was extremely rare and very valuable, and Iris seemed quite familiar with the tea itself, knowing how dry to make the leaves and what temperature to brew it to make it taste perfect. She said that she doubted a normal commoner would be able to access such a drink. The fact that her grandfather was gifted the tea leaves suggests that her family might be some very important people,” William added carefully.

“Considering how good she is at managing her magic to make high grade potions and she learned the method from her grandparents I could see you being right about her family being very important. Though, there’s also a chance that it is directly related to her. I asked her about how she saw past my unique magic. It turns out she has at least a few blessings, one of which must be darkness based if she was able to see the edges of my shadow enough to discern our presence.”

“Blessings, as in multiple? That’s unheard of.” William sounded surprised.

“She mentioned that one was responsible for her survival when Count Maelifos was having her fed...rotten food. It apparently wasn’t restrained by the slave crest. And she claimed to have multiple that might have affected her ability to see the edges of the magic,” Brent managed. It was indeed unheard of to have more than one blessing. Hell having one was a rarity in and of itself. Still, she hadn’t seemed to be lying.

“Well, I doubt we have to worry about that with anybody else so we can leave that matter for now, but it might explain why she was able to get ahold of those tea leaves,” William sighed. “We really need to replace those slavers before they cause more trouble.”

“Agreed, I’ll go over what we have on them again before going to sleep.”

William was happy that Brent was chasing down a lead that he found looking at the evidence the night before. Perhaps he could replace the slavers, or at the very least get closer to capturing them, tracing their movements. He appeared at one of the selection events unannounced, hoping to tell Iris that Brent was chasing down a lead, but she wasn’t there. She was probably advised that she didn’t have to be present at all the events, and it would attract more attention to her if he continued attending random events until he saw her.

Still, he wanted to see her, if only for a moment. Being around her felt so different from being around other nobles, or even around Brent. Brent was his best friend, but the longing he felt to be near Iris was so foreign to him, he didn’t know how to explain it. William shook the thought away when a young noble lady approached him. He smiled politely as she greeted him as etiquette required. Her father was responsible for overtaxing his people’s farmers. She may not know that yet, so he couldn’t determine if she would become a trustworthy noble in the future. “That commoner doesn’t have the decency to greet you when you arrived. I must apologize for the displeasure you must feel having a commoner participate in this most important event.”

William stiffened at the woman’s words. “As I’m sure you noticed, I arrived without previously announcing my intent to join this event. She was selected to join this Princess Selection due to her special talents by the head palace healer.”

“What talent? Flowers are useless,” William noted which noble ladies winced at the girl’s words and which hid their agreement with her in their silence at her dishonor. She had discounted what he had said, a crime punishable by imprisonment if she was a commoner herself, at her age and as a noble, her punishment wouldn’t be quite as strong, but it would still be a stiff one.

She was able to craft an extremely rare high grade potion with a shelf life of over a year in less than five minutes while recovering in the palace infirmary. Once the circumstances that required her to join the Princess Selection are resolved she had agreed to help with the potion shortage. That was what he wanted to say, but considering the circumstances he knew that explanation would only cause more trouble. “His majesty has accepted the head palace healer’s referral. The specifics of which are not of your concern as you are disqualified from the Princess Selection as of the moment you defied my words.”

The woman’s mouth gaped but luckily a guard came in and escorted the lady out of the room. She would be allowed to pack here belongings but would be removed and sent back home before the next morning’s breakfast. He was relieved to see her go. He wouldn’t stand for anybody insulting Iris when she fought to survive so much hardship for the year of her captivity.

How would he keep her out of the palace politics if this continued. He could only kick out so many of the ladies for behaving like this about a commoner before his explanations wouldn’t be enough. The king’s approval of her referral was the only thing holding together his arguments at the moment, but he would be disappointed in him if he continued using his father as an excuse. He needed to come up with something better before anything else happened. The tea, he remembered. That was something that was only hers and wouldn’t put her at risk. He would have to learn more about that tea, but he could imply that she was an important commoner because of her access to such a tea, still without knowing the reason, he couldn’t carelessly talk about it, especially when it might be tied to the blessings she held, those blessings were something that shouldn’t be revealed to anybody. There were people who would try to use her once they found out that she had even one blessing. People with blessings were very valuable after all. No, he would have to replace another reason, a reason to keep Iris safe while she participated in the Princess Selection.