He smiled slightly. "Well, you aren't wrong." He said with a soft laugh. "I actually have no idea, I don't have much to do with the gardens upkeep." He said, looking around the gardens. "But yeah, there are definitely a lot." He agreed with a small smile. The signet ring on his hand flashed in the sunlight, the light catching on a golden dragon on it. He sighed softly, looking around.
She continued to mutter excitedly, the names, scientific and casual, of each plant spilling off her lips. She flitted back and forth across the cobblestone path through the gardens, slowly moving along it. "Half of these are plants I haven't even seen in person." She commented, more to herself than anything. Her behavior was so different from the guarded demeanor from before, now much resembling that of someone carefree.
He followed her slowly, watching her carefully. After about ten minutes, a guard came in. It was the same one from earlier, Captain Mikhail.
"Sir." He said.
Soren turned. "Captain Mikhail." He greeted.
"Sir, the descendants have been apprehended and taken into custody. Would you like to speak to them?" Captain Mikhail asked.
Soren shook his head. "Not now. Thank you, Captain. Outstanding work."
Celeste's happy buzzing about came to a sudden stop at the sight of the man from earlier, the Captain of the Guard, she assumed. She tilted her head curiously, brows furrowing with slight worry as she watched the interaction between the two. There was the urge, again, to ask if everything was alright, but Lin's comment in the throne room about her butting in, and her upbringing having no boundaries(more true than anyone other than her realized.) caused her to bite her tongue.
Captain Mikhail bowed. "Of course, sir."
Soren smiled, inclining his head in a gesture of honor to the captain. "Was there any trouble?" He asked.
Captain Mikhail frowned slightly. "Yes, a bit. We believe at least one had witch blood. Two had elementary magic. Another had an unknown type, similar to…" He trailed off, glancing at Celeste. Not in a suspicious way, but in a I'm not sure she should hear this way.
Soren followed the Captain's gaze, and understood. "I see. I'll talk to you about it later, shall I? For now get some rest, plan our next move." He gave a small smile.
"If it's important, and you need privacy to discuss it, I can always leave." Celeste finally spoke up, as Pluto took his usual place between her and the newcomer. She didn't seem at all affected by the glance, knowing that she had no place in this discussion, or whatever was going on. "Though, if you're having trouble with a witch, I suggest using lavender to null the effects of their abilities." Of course she knew that lavender nulled a witches abilities. It had been used on her countless times. Though, what others didn't know, was that it had been used so often that she'd built up a resistance to the qualities of the plant.
The captain looked at her carefully. "Not a full witch, miss." He replied respectfully. "A witch blood."
Soren sighed. "She's not from here; she doesn't know the difference." He told Captain Mikhail. He turned to Celeste. "Witch Bloods are different from normal witches. They're descended from the survivors of the witch massacres, and they have…strange magic." He explained. The witch massacres was a point in history when one of his ancestors had banned witches, and so all the witches had been hunted down and killed. Few had survived. The ban had been lifted two generations ago, but many of the witches and witch bloods were still bitter against the monarchy because of it.
Celeste tilted her head in thought, before nodding. "Iron's your best bet then. Usually encompasses anything with magic in it's blood, if I'm understanding that right." It felt odd, to be giving these tips to strangers, who had the power to use them against the object of their issue. But she hoped they wouldn't, and she had been careful not to slip up and share anything that could kill a creature. Shaking her head, she shot both of them that same friendly smile, this one reaching her eyes. "Did you need me to leave? I was planning on seeing how many plants in this garden I've never encountered, to record them, anyway."
Captain Mikhail bowed his head to her. "No, I was only here to deliver the message. The king may come and interrogate any time he wishes." He left.
Soren smiled slightly. "We don't need to discuss it now, anyway." He told Celeste. "Eliha and-er, Captain Mikhail and I can always discuss it later." He sighed softly. "I told you I'd give you a tour. And what kind of guide am I if I left you here, in a strange palace?" He shook his head.
"I've been left on my own in strange places before, you know." Celeste pointed out with a small laugh, the sound light and musical. "And I'd rather not distract you from important business." At some point, a few honeybees had begun buzzing around her head, occasionally landing in her hair for a moment or so, though she didn't seem very concerned.
"Strange places are different than palaces." He replied. "And you aren't distracting me, I promise." He smiled slightly. "If I dropped everything for every descendant captured, for every terrorist apprehended, I would never get anything done." He continued, walking over to a corner of the garden. "Which is why I'm going to finish this tour. I keep my word as much as possible, which means not leaving just because something happened." He paid no mind to the bees around her head, figuring it was just part of the whole witch thing.
"I'm not exactly all that important, you know. It would make sense to leave if there was something more important to be done." She said, lifting a hand as she and Pluto followed him, allowing a couple of the bees to alight on her palm. She dug around the pouch at her waist with her free hand, eventually pulling out a small vial of clear liquid. She uncapped it and let a couple drops fall onto her palm, the bees happily taking advantage of the free sugar water.
He gave her a small smile. "I know. But hey, I'm allowed to shirk my duties if I want to." He said with a grin that didn't quite touch his eyes. He turned away, continuing down one of the winding paths to a small, secluded area. There was a stone bench beside a weeping willow, with smaller wildflowers coating the ground. He sat down, fingers finding the inscription on the bench: For Alana, dearest sister.
She fell quiet as she fed the bees, her head tilted slightly and her eyes on Soren. He was more complicated than he seemed, for sure, and she wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. She had been set to be terrified of any man closely aligned with her father, especially if he were to find out she'd been the one to kill him, but Soren…didn't scare her. Sure, she didn't trust him, but he didn't scare her. She watched as he sat down on the bench, staying standing as more bees joined the others to take turns with the sugar water.
He closed his eyes for a long moment, before standing again, brushing his hands off on his pants. He went to the other side of the bench, pulling up a few weeds from the ground. The groundskeeper didn't touch this little corner of the garden; no one did but himself. He sighed softly, throwing the weeds off to the side, then stood. There was now dirt under his fingernails, and he wiped his hands on his pants again, frowning slightly.
"It's peaceful out here." She commented softly, looking away from him and at the bees, and one colorful butterfly, on her hand and flitting around her. "You come out here a lot to relax?" The question was phrased an spoken in a way that made it obvious he didn't have to answer if he didn't want to. A lot of her questions were like that, actually.
He shrugged a little. "When I can." He replied quietly. He looked around the garden a bit, raising his eyebrows slightly when he saw the bees and butterfly fluttering around her. He rubbed a hand across his face tiredly
"You look like you could use a nap. I'd suggest laying off the coffee and getting sleep when you can." There was that tone, the one she used when giving advice to people that put the time into finding her and traveling out to see her. A suggestion, not an order or anything, but something in her voice made you want to listen. She whispered something inaudible to Soren, and the butterfly fluttered over to land on his nose, wings flapping lightly every once in a while.
He looked at her. "I can't. Too much paperwork." And too many nightmares. He added in his mind. He jumped slightly as the butterfly landed on his nose, staring at it in confusion. "What…?" He trailed off, raising an eyebrow. His eyes went from the butterfly, to her. "I see you're good with animals." He said in a slightly teasing tone.
"Your health is still important." She said decidedly, before smiling. "You could say that. Really, it's just a matter of communication." She might've been a bit too humble about that, considering not everyone could just…talk to animals. The butterfly seemed perfectly content to stay right there. "She likes the color of your eyes. They remind her of a flower she saw a while back."
"No, my ability to be wed and produce an heir is more important than my sleep, if you ask most of my court." Soren replied dryly. He nodded. "I see. So I have flower eyes, now?" He asked with a soft laugh. His eyes were the same eyes all the Aevin's had. Blue, with a dark ring on the outside and a pale ring on the inside.
"Apparently." Celeste said, nodding. Though, she filed the first bit of information away, to worry about later. And she would worry. Because that's what she did, worry about other people and their issues, and try to help the best she could. "I can see what she means."
He winked, laughing softly. "It's the family eyes." He explained. "Every Aevin has them. Except, obviously, those who marry into the family." He shrugged slightly. "Of course, blue eyes is a recessive gene, so sometimes we get a ruler who doesn't have Aevin eyes, and instead has, say, brown ones. But they always pass on the gene, and it eventually reappears."
"Science." She said solemnly, the effect diluted by the smile she was failing to fight. She clicked her tongue, and the butterfly left Soren's face, fluttering over to a nearby flower. "I wonder if my eyes are recessive or dominant, in that case." She mused, as the bees scattered somewhat to go continue on their way.
Soren nodded, then looked at her. "Well…what color are they?" He asked slowly. "Normally. Because it looks like your eyes change colors a lot." He shrugged. "Also did you inherit them from a parent? And if so, what was the other parents eye color?"