Chapter 6
Written by ACM – Illustrated by DCS

As soon as Rose felt stable enough to be around other humans, she called Marigold. Even if she couldn’t be with Fox, there was no way she could tackle her problems alone. It helped that she and Marigold were close. She was friends with all of her Knights, but she had known Marigold the longest—before Fox, before the Garden, before any magical destiny.

Even with their shared history, Rose’s palms were sweaty when she heard the familiar knock on her door. She took a deep breath and let Marigold in.

Marigold entered like a bright ray of sunshine and smelling like daisies. The first thing she did was pull Rose into a tight hug. She always hugged like it was the last time she was going to see someone and she needed to pour every ounce of love and care into the embrace. The top of her head brushed Rose’s nose.

“Hey, girl!” Rose greeted.

“Hey, girl,” Marigold replied with a beaming smile.

Released from the hug, Rose looked critically over her friend. Thankfully, she looked good. She wore a long colorful sundress in anticipation of warmer weather. Her box-braids were styled artfully into two huge buns on either side of her head.

“I can’t remember the last time I was here,” Marigold said, stepping out of her ballet flats.

Rose winced, “I know, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Marigold reassured her. “But you’ll have to tell me exactly why you’ve been ghosting us since the cafe. Well… longer than that, but I’ll settle for the last couple weeks.”

Rose laughed, “deal.”

Once snacks and drinks were gathered, the two of them plopped onto Rose’s couch. Cotton appeared at the crinkle of a chip bag being opened. He turned huge, pleading eyes on them until Marigold gave in and let him settle on her lap. She scratched her pastel yellow nails through his fur.

“So… I’ve learned some things since the cafe,” Rose started slowly.

Marigold looked over the forgotten journal, Nettle’s book, the stack of CDs and Rose’s pile of gel pens. She took a sip of her soda then turned fully to face Rose.

“Lay it on me.”

And so, Rose did. Everything that she had kept hidden from the Knights, what she had learned about the Night Blossom and her ever developing situation with Fox spilled out of her. She had never been good at keeping secrets, there would be no stopping even if she wanted to. No matter how much it hurt or embarrassed her to admit out loud, she held nothing back.

Marigold listened in patient silence. Until Rose mentioned the park.

“Whoa, wait, wait,” she interrupted, cheeks flushed. “You did what in the park?”

“I hadn’t planned to!” Rose defended. “We were just going at it and one thing led to another and—”

“You gave him a blowjob?” Marigold’s brows lifted, expression unimpressed. Clearly there were about one hundred other things she could think to do in a park.

“I, well—” Rose spluttered.

“Girl! He’s, like, the enemy!”

“He’s not!” she insisted. She sighed toward the ceiling. She set her soda on the coffee table. It was still full.

“It’s complicated,” she said.

“I’ll say.”

Rose rubbed her face, careful to avoid accidentally scrubbing her eyeliner off. She dropped her hands to her lap. Marigold waited while she composed herself.

“Fox is, honestly, the least complicated part about all of this,” she said. “I know how I feel about him but I also know I can’t be with him until I fix the Garden.”

“Fix the Garden?” Marigold repeated. Her large beaded earrings clicked when she tilted her head with confusion.

Rose nodded. She looked at Cotton for help. His eyes were closed in bliss, fur a mess from Marigold’s nails.

“I spoke with Nettle,” she started.

Then she fell into everything she had learned. The home they had all been fighting for wasn’t as innocent and peaceful as they had been led to believe. Rose’s own parents had opted to purge the Garden—destroying their own home and people instead of fixing even one mistake. With the last of their magic they cursed the same populace they had sworn to protect, twisting them into pained, monstrous shadows.

Rose barreled through her explanation, barely giving Marigold the chance to speak. She was afraid if she stopped or paused she’d never be able to continue. It helped that Marigold was the perfect audience. She gasped, cursed and looked appropriately scandalized at all the right moments. When Rose’s explanation wound down, Marigold slumped back against the couch.

“Oh,” she breathed.

“Yeah.”

Rose finally took a sip of her soda. The bubbles burned slightly against her parched throat.

“Then… what are we supposed to do?” Marigold asked.

“Fix it,” Rose answered instantly.

“How?”

That, Rose didn’t have an answer for. Everything had changed so quickly, was still changing. Whenever she felt she started to have a handle on things, something new would appear to throw her back to square one.

The silence was broken when Marigold asked, “do you really think we can do anything?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Garden is an ancient kingdom. Someone must have tried to fix things in the past, right?”

Rose shifted uncomfortably. She didn’t know which idea was worse, that their ancestors had known but done nothing or no one had ever known and had never tried to know. She took a large gulp of her soda as if to drown the thoughts.

“We still have to try,” she said, finally. “Come out with me tonight. Help me find one of the Night Blossom creat—individuals. Let’s see if we can talk to one.”

Marigold looked skeptical but after a short pause, “well, I can’t just let you go alone, can I?”

To Be Continued…