“It’s not enough that we have aphids and moles, leaf larva, and greedy snails,” he said, his creaky voice reminding Tanti of Aklivor, the water explorer. “We also have those girls coming to pick the Dimdam flowers in order to tear out their petals. Be careful, don’t step on them!” His voice rose to a shout. Tanti froze in place, while the man came closer and leaned toward the ground at his feet, from where he collected several more blue petals and put them gently in his other hand. He brought his lips closer and whispered several words toward his cupped palm.
“Pardon me, Mr. Gardener,” Tanti said. “What are you doing with those petals?”
“I’m putting them back in place,” the man said and raised the bare stem in his hand.
“How can you? They were already picked.”
The man laughed. “Of course, you can’t return petals to the stem after they’ve been picked unless you’re an experienced gardener, proficient in ancient growth studies, like Belomer Gom, for example.”
“Who’s Belomer Gom?” Tanti asked.
“That’s me. Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself properly.” The man bowed with all of his considerable height. Tanti feared that, in a moment, his long, thin back, covered with long grayish-green hair, would break. His faded clothes, the color of olive leaves, were full of straps and pockets that contained work tools and other instruments.
“My name is Tanti,” Tanti said and bowed too.
“It doesn’t really matter,” said Belomer Gom. “And now, come with me.” He started walking into the bush.
The plants drew away from each other, making way for the man, and a path formed where he stepped. Slowly, the bushes returned to each other.
“Are you coming?”
Tanti hurried before the man disappeared, and before the path was impassable again. He didn’t know why he was following him and responding to his invitation.
They walked along a bubbly stream, which disappeared and revealed itself beneath round pebbles. They passed over a curved bridge on stilts and quickly arrived at a cabin that had live tree trunks serving as its wall beams.
Next to the cabin stood a shed, and inside was a long table, cluttered with artifacts, plants, and gardening tools. The gardener approached the table and placed the flower stem and petals on it. He pulled a jar off a shelf above him and poured a solution into a clay bowl. Tanti drew nearer.
“Be careful,” the gardener said and placed both hands over the bowl. “Too much curiosity will bring upon you troubles that you can’t even imagine.”
You called me to follow you, Tanti wanted to say.
However, Belomer Gom was already engrossed, whispering and moving his hands in circular movements. Suddenly, he flung his hands up. Green fire shot out of the bowl. Now, he curved his fingers, as though collecting the flames without touching them. The fire became yellow and red. He took another jar and poured black crumbs into the bowl. The fire died down, tiny sparks accompanying its demise. A few drops of black, viscous solution remained in the bowl. “Hurry,” he said, putting the ragged stem in Tanti’s hand. “Don’t move it now, not even slightly.” He took one petal, dipped it in the solution, and immediately placed its base between the remaining petals, with precise accuracy. The petal emitted a fizzing noise and, before Tanti’s wondering eyes, stayed glued in place. He repeated the action until all the petals were back in place. One petal crumbled the minute it came into contact with the black solution. Belomer Gom continued until the blue flower, fresh and almost complete, was in Tanti’s hand. The bowl of solution was now empty.
“Don’t move,” the gardener said.
He disappeared and returned with a yellow petal. Sighing, he dipped it several times in the bowl, searching for remains of the solution in order to glue it on. The yellow petal chirped, fizzed quietly, and stuck. Belomer Gom sighed in relief.
“I didn’t think you could return a torn petal to a flower,” Tanti said admiringly.
“Gluing back the petals are the least of what we can do for the Dimdam flower, which is gradually becoming extinct,” the gardener said and brought a glass jar full of a transparent, crystallized substance. He took the stem from Tanti’s hand and stuck it into the jar. “Tomorrow, I’ll be able to return it to its mother bush. Poor Dimdam. I’m afraid that from now on, blue flowers with one yellow petal will grow in the garden, or yellow flowers with one blue petal. They’ll be mocked and ostracized by their friends. Oh, my heart goes out to them.”
“I’ve never heard of plants mocking other plants.”
“Young man, plants are one of the highest forms of existence in the world. People are arrogant and pretentious regarding their evolvement. They indiscriminately hurt themselves and their environment and cling to trivial matters. They’re shortsighted and impatient. Plants, on the other hand, have been working on their survival for generations. They’re intelligent and aim to be useful, for themselves and other forms of life. Every plant defines its role and sticks to its traits. From the highest trees to the moss on the rocks. And in particular, the mushroom rules with its wisdom. It knows. It creates itself and changes according to its needs and the needs of the world. It protects itself and attacks, out of profound understanding, initiative, and determination.”
“How can mushrooms attack? They’re connected to the earth, or the trees.”
“You see the head of the mushroom, not its arms. And they grow long and can reach anyplace the mother mushroom wants to reach. You can’t hear its breathing, nor can you know its anger at people.”
“Its anger? Why and what for?”
“Ho ho. You go too far with your questions, young man. People have taken advantage of the benignity of the Masharin. Taken its unique qualities and twisted them to satisfy their greed. The world would’ve become extinct had not the Kagular Masharin mushrooms become so rare. In fact, you could say that they disappeared altogether.”
“The Kagular what?”
“The one mushroom with an existence as lethal as its shortcomings. It could’ve existed from the start of all generations until the end. It could’ve ruled its wonderful temples and carried out the perfect balance between beauty and wisdom. Until man discovered its unique qualities. Until he used it for his twisted desires. Arohema Lalo. Cease. Cease with your questions and don’t investigate what is beyond your understanding”
The man’s voice became thinner and higher. Tanti feared the gleam in his sunken eyes and the distant expression on his face.
“And you.” Belomer Gom continued. “Leave the healing for the healers and the mending for the gardeners and never ask about mushrooms. Or perhaps you’ve come here to ask and sniff after that lost Kagular Masharin?” The man raised his voice, and his face turned red. “Do you want a miserable, dead-end life of eternity and callous control of innocent and confused fates?”
The agitated gardener waved his long hands. He swept the artifacts on the table to the floor, where the jars smashed. Potions spilled and crumbs of earth flew everywhere. Tanti flinched and took a step back. He started searching for a way to get out of there. His foot stumbled over a step, and he fell back.
The man didn’t pay him any attention. He paced back and forth on his long legs, mumbling and thrashing. Although he feared him, Tanti sensed that the man was distressed. He got up slowly, not knowing whether to escape or go help him. Belomer Gom clutched his stomach and then his head, groaned, and rolled his wide eyes, which had started to glow. “Oh, evil one!” he said. “Without you, I don’t exist, and because of you, I exist, but I’m not myself. Oh, sweet one, wonderful and terrible. Leave me. My body aches from this endless growing, and my soul is trapped inside, growing twisted.” He started wheezing heavily, grimacing, his face graying with pain. He sat down on a tree trunk.
Tanti approached him cautiously. “Sir, can I help?”
The man raised his eyes, yet it seemed as though he didn’t even see Tanti.
“Sir? Belomer Gom?” While Tanti searched for a glass to fill with water, he noticed Belomer Gom’s raised hand, as he tried to speak.
“There.” The man’s voice creaked. “There’s a red bottle there. Put one grain beneath my tongue.” Tanti found a stool and climbed it. He started searching urgently. There were so many jars and bowls, brushes, boxes, tools, and unrecognizable artifacts. The light was fading. It was hard to notice the items among the crowded shelf.
“I can’t find it!” Tanti said.
“Close your eyes,” Belomer Gom whispered. His head dropped.
Tanti closed his eyes. His heart pounded wildly. He let his eyelids droop and his mouth fall open. The familiar trembling overcame his body. He felt a powerful sucking, and a flash of dark light shot from his closed eyes toward the shelf. He opened them and came closer. The red bottle was tiny and squat, hidden among pebbles and crooked clapper bells. He grabbed it and stepped off the stool.
The gardener didn’t move. In his current position, he looked like a tree, like part of the trunk on which he was sitting. Tanti poured the bottle’s contents in his hand. One grain was there, slippery and transparent. He searched for the gardener’s mouth, which was hidden beneath his abundant hair. Gently, he lifted the man’s head, held his chin, and put the grain between his dry lips.
Before his eyes, Belomer Gom’s mouth was filled with a red light. The light spread to his brow, his eyes, and his ears, and down to his neck and chest. The red man stood slowly, smiling, rolling his eyes, and swaying like a drunk. His arms moved like branches in the wind. He looked happy.
“Izmerandi,” said Belomer Gom, his voice like the wind. “Don’t go. Beware. Don’t go.”
“It’s late. I—”
“There will always be a light guiding you, if you know where to search for it. Go to it. It’s tiny, yet still leaves you no place. It’s transparent, yet contains all the colors inside of it. It’s soft and unyielding. Don’t go to it.” Belomer Gom gripped Tanti’s chin forcefully. “It’s hungry, starved for human blood. Halama. Alum halama. Hold it for a moment, and it will hold you forever.”
He let go of Tanti and stroked his face. “Abaya. My last one. Stay with me. I’m growing. I’m on the way to eternity.”
Once again, he turned to Tanti. “You’re a thief. I’ll crush you before you rob our treasure. The tree’s roots will open before you and immediately close, like a fool’s trap on your heart. They cleaned your secrets.” The gardener’s eyes were close now and wide, a gleam of madness flickering inside them. “The earth will suck you up. Its fury will rip your flesh. The ceiling will collapse on your head. Envy and greed will pursue you, Izmerandi. The days of innocence are over. The knife of fury is out.”
Tanti stood frozen with fear as he gripped his neck, his fingers closing like pincers.
“Tanti? Where are you, Sir Tanti?” He heard someone calling from the other side of the snarled shrubs.
The gardener paused and fell silent, his hand loosening its painful grip.
“Tanti?”
“Someone’s looking for you.” The gardener’s voice creaked in his ear.
“I’m here,” Tanti tried to say, but his voice wouldn’t obey him.
“Go to him.” Belomer Gom pushed his back. “What you saw here, erase from your memory, and don’t forget what I told you.”
“I won’t forget, and I won’t erase. I mean, I will erase. Whatever you say, sir.”
He stumbled like a blind man in the dark, Belomer Gom guiding him as he whispered, “Go back home. Don’t wish for what you cannot acquire.”
Tanti felt branches slide against his face. “I must continue,” he said. “I can’t… I mean, I’m not allowed to stop.” While he talked, the gardener shoved him forward. He stumbled, steadied himself, and found himself on the path, under the light of the moon.
“Tanti, there you are! What aren’t you allowed?” Afleck rushed toward him. “I’ve been looking for you for over an hour. Dinner is getting cold on the table.”
Tanti looked back. A dense, congested tangle of bushes stood along the path. There was no sign of the cabin or the gardener.
“You’re trembling from the cold,” Afleck said. “Why didn’t you wear your jacket? You might catch a cold. Good thing I found you before you came across the old royal gardener. An ageless, odd man.”
“Who?”
“The gardener. I told you. He might be an expert in the secret of growing plants, and he has a magical touch with vegetation, but I can’t say the same about him and people. With them, he’s fickle, grumpy, and impatient. I wouldn’t want to run into him after dark.”
Tanti didn’t answer. He followed Afleck down the path, yearning to reach his warm, familiar room, where he could remember all the secrets he had been ordered to forget.
Chapter 38
Deployment
Dawn started breaking. The red sun spread its rays over the horizon, while the sun itself hid behind heavy clouds, which filled the sky. In the stables, the horses waited for Tanti, weighed down with food, water, clothes, and camping equipment.
Tanti shivered from the cold. His new coat, a present from Queen Cyan, wasn’t enough to protect him from the invasive morning frigidity. Yet he was excited and looked forward to embarking on his journey.
He had stayed in the Blue Palace for several more days. Balanter had tried to dissuade him from leaving, but when he saw Tanti was determined, he took some time off from his duties and sat down for a long talk. “You understand, these days, with the war looming, I can’t allow foreigners to wander around the country as they please.” Both of them stood on the small balcony leading from the meeting room. From there, they could see the horizon and the mountain range, covered by gray and white clouds. “You refuse to mention where you’re headed and your purpose. And even though your character has impressed me, as has your priceless help in founding the cavalry regiment, I’ve had my doubts.” Balanter stared at the mountains.
“In the meeting with the head ministers and high-ranking commanders,” he said. “I heard suggestions to lock you up until the end of the war for spying. Others suggested that we forbid you to leave the palace grounds in order to maintain the kingdom’s security and not commit the sin of ingratitude. On the one hand, your help with training the horses and founding the cavalry troops credits you with the rank of an officer and much honor; on the other hand, you’re deeply involved in matters of the Blue army, so we cannot let you walk about freely.
“Dionun arrived at that same meeting uninvited and said that if we indeed didn’t want to be lowlife ingrates like the Whites, we should just leave you be. Since you obviously aren’t working with the Whites, the rest of the details aren’t our business. He’s willing to vouch for you with his own life. The matter was brought before the king to decide. He wasn’t impressed with the Lizard’s ‘life or death’ statement, although he could no longer ignore his huge and valuable contribution in bringing information from beyond the border. He deliberated and hesitated until Queen Cyan and her lady, Tiponet, interfered. They declared that they wholeheartedly believed in your innocence, and that if you wish to leave now, they support you. They just want you to wait a day or two, because they want you well stocked for the road, as befitting the appreciation the kingdom owes you.”
“And you, sir? What do you think?” Tanti asked.
Balanter looked at him and smiled. “I tend, eventually, to agree and let you go on your way. Yet I join the queen and Tiponet’s request that you delay your departure further. We want to give you an appropriate farewell, and also pay the full extent of your wages.”
“Wages? I think my wages were paid many times over with the royal hospitality I received here. With the warmth with which I was welcomed here. In my capacity as a trainer and commander, I learned more than I taught.”
“I know,” Balanter said. “Yet pay we shall.”
/> It seemed as though they refused to accept his departure in the Blue Palace. Every day, there were new ideas about how to hold him back. Three days of nonstop rain delayed his departure and allowed him to organize his possessions and pack his equipment. The Blues had given him gifts, and he had to choose what to take with him and what to leave behind, without hurting the feelings of his eager admirers. His servant, Afleck, was miserable. He asked Tanti if he could accompany him. Tanti refused, just as he had refused a farewell party and festive banquet. He wanted his departure to be modest, without having to answer any questions or explain where he was headed.
He was loaded with camping equipment, new clothes, boots, and a wonderful coat, which was a gift from the queen, a short, sharp sword made by Martam Og, food, water, purple wine, a new, wonderfully comfortable saddle, elegant bridle, and spurs, which were a gift from the king. The head groom, Zanef, equipped him with everything he needed: tools and horseshoes, stirrups and reins, and a sack with concentrated food for horses.
The light, waterproof tent that Balanter gave him made Tanti very happy. With it, he could sleep even if he was far away from settled areas, and he wouldn’t have to go out of his way, searching for an inn. He received a wallet full of coins, and a packhorse on which he loaded his equipment.
The first stretch of the road was level. From there, he was to continue through a fertile valley, bordered by the limestone mountains. The slopes of the limestone mountains weren’t very steep. After them towered the high, snowcapped mountains. They were steep and rocky, and they looked impassable. According to the map, there was an entrance gate that led into the mountains through a tunnel or canyon or some other passage, which Tanti couldn’t really figure out by looking at the embroidered signs. Behind them, in the northeast, was the cave.
Tanti took deep breaths. He spurred his horse, in a hurry to leave before the grooms, cavalrymen, and palace people delayed him with emotional thanks and farewells. The palace gates opened before him. The guards saluted and cheered him on.
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