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“I'm not sure. I felt drawn here.” Silently, I scanned the courtyard which now looks like a midsummer evening. String lights hung between the rough tops, the plants in full bloom. “Before, it almost looked like death rolled through the courtyard. Gray and ashen. Now look, it has been restored to its former glory. Well, as glorious as my amateur hands can manage anyway. Back at home, I spent most of my days outside either in the garden or hunting. When Uncle Ov showed me this little garden, I had to bring it back to life. Then I saw your beautiful lodge gardens, and I knew I needed to try.”
Blushing, I watch Apollo.
Would he like my work? Compared to the lodge, my little garden feels lifeless.
“What’re you thinking,” I ask as his eyes take in me and the garden.
“At the moment, a lot. Part of me is shocked. Nothing grows here anymore. Honestly, I'm happy that you brought some life here but there’s also mourning.” Shrugging, Apollo takes several moments to contemplate, “This was a garden of someone that I loved deeply.”
“Was it Persephone?” My voice drops low. Eyeing the flowers, he stands, frozen in place and lost in time. Reminiscing in distant memories.
I didn't want it to be her.
But who else could it be?
Compared to her, I'll always be the inferior mortal maiden.
But looking at Apollo, I see despair. The toll the memories have taken from him runs deep.
My heart feels for him. I remember when I lost my dad. My world felt like it was upended. I could hardly walk past his study without bursting into tears.
“Apollo? Would you like to sit down?” I gestured in the direction of my favorite bench by the pond.
He nods softly. As if in reflex, he extends his arm to me. I place my hand in the crook of his offered elbow. “You’ve a talent for giving life to the dead.”
I have a feeling he is talking about more than the withering garden.
Winding slowly down the bending path, past flourishing trees, flowers, and landscaping. “For years, my heart had long since hibernated. So still that I would've thought the curse plucked it from its cage. Forever gone. Forever dead. But from the moment I saw you, I felt it once more. My heart had hope amongst my despair.”
I wanted to crawl on his lap and burrow into him.
Around others, I felt strange. Around Apollo, I feel special and gorgeous.
I murmur, “Thank you. I'm happy you aren’t mad at me.”
Apollo pauses mid step, “Why would I be mad?”
“Just looking at the gardens, I knew they were important to somebody. But I still came in and gave it an update. I could've changed an important memory,” I rattle off.
Taking several moments, he collects his thoughts. He adds, “I owe a lot to you. You could’ve left and let those assassins poison me and have been far from Caelum before anyone knew to look. Even when my stubborn anger lashed out at you, you risked your life to save me and my court.”
“You can have a thick skull at times,” I laugh.
“What can I say, I get it from my father.” he gives me a cocky smile. Apollo joins in with my laughter and pulls me toward the bench by the pond. A mother duck and her ducklings circle the pool of water. “A god needs unwavering willpower to survive but he also needs people who are willing to go toe to toe with a god.” He bumps his shoulder into mine, “People like you. I hope that someday you’ll like it here. Here with me.”
Could I like it here? “But the plague…” I'll be dead soon and I have no idea how to change fate.
Worse than death.
Mud. I would be mud. Basically, one of those clay statues from the basement.
Shaking his head. “Have faith. I know you’ll be able to stop this.”
Stop a magic that I don’t understand.
Gaia, look at Apollo and Artemis. With each passing day, they become more stiff and rigid.
“Whose garden was this?” I ask as I watch sadness leak into his expression.
