Petrified Carcass II

Petrified Carcass II

Kyra blinked her eyes open, the sunlight burning their hazy awareness. She yawned, arching her back up in the bed before slipping from the bed. Reyn had been nice enough to let her sleep and stay at his place for the night, but now she felt obligated to go. The sun had risen only an hour before, and Kyra was betting her buttons he was still asleep.

The girl, still in her violet shift, crept from her room in the back of the wood cottage, and into the kitchen. "Morning!" Reyn said with a sweet smile, handing her a single red rose. Kyra blushed, her gold and amber eyes flashing up to him and grinning. "Weren't thinking on sneaking away, were you?"

"Well, I... ah, you. Were so nice, I don't want to..." Kyra trailed off, feeling foolish. Why should she sneak away? It would've been polite to say goodbye with a hug and a wave, letting him know she was going instead of disappearing. Reyn laughed and Kyra snapped her head up, offended.

"Stay with me longer. Please? It's a treat for me," the older man said, setting a hand to her shoulder. She nodded, and he went off to get breakfast ready. "There's some clothes for you in your room if you wish to change," Reyn said, and before he could say anymore Kyra was off to her room.

Fashioning herself in a simple red dress with a white velvet cape to match her bow, Kyra placed the rose behind her ear, having seen that Reyn took all the thorns off for her. She came back out, gently tugging red-heeled slippers on. The smell of eggs and fresh milk drew Kyra in more, eyes staring wide at the table decorated with a bouquet of flowers and two plates filled with eggs, milk abundantly flowing into tall glasses.

"Haven't you seen breakfast before?" laughed Reyn at seeing his guest's shocked. Holding the seat out for her, Reyn scooted Kyra in to the table before taking his own seat across from her.

"No-well, yes, actually. But not like this!" Kyra said her grace and dug into the meal, devouring the food. She was malnourished as Reyn could painfully tell, the girl's beautiful eyes hallow in her narrow face, the fullness of hair competing with the actual face itself. "Are you not hungry?" asked Kyra after swallowing, indicating to his food that went untouched. Reyn took in a spoonful, to show he was eating, and Kyra went back to her silent meal.

It didn't take long for his guest to finish off the plate and be filled. Reyn took the dishes and Kyra went out with a bucket to find the well. Reyn had told her directions, but the outside of the place dazzled her in sunlight! She could see everything in its true, vivid colors.

The roses outside grew with multiple shades, to some Kyra didn't even know the name of. A bright teal rose was fully bloomed, the bee in it busy at work. Lavender flowers graced the air with fragrance, their soft purple color accenting the mint green of the catmint bushes. Wisteria clung over a trellis, their petals raining down gently to Kyra. In the center of this vibrant garden sat a tall, thick oak tree. She ran up to it, trying to wrap her arms around it but barely got the 1/3rd of the way around. Its old bark roughly scratched her clothing, but the girl didn't care. Leaving the bucket, she grabbed hold of a branch and pulled herself up, hoisting her legs around the sturdy limb. Swinging up side down over the cobblestone road of Reyn's garden, she began laughing.

This was a rare thing, her laughing. But it was deep and sounding more mystical than moonlight, the shimmering voice calling out over the paradise instead of echoing into it. Kyra hung there, feeling her blood rush up to her skull, before pulling herself upright into the evergreen leaves. Yanking and pulling herself up further, Kyra couldn't even get halfway to the top before she had to stop. Kyra was already too high for comfort, and began her descent, leaping from the last branch to the thing river of grass surrounding the great oak.

Finding the bucket again, Kyra ran off like a child to the well, which was surrounded by the most bountiful Butterfly Bushes she though could exist. Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies gently fluttered against the Heavenly scent of the bloomed flowers. Standing still, Kyra held out her hand and a Monarch Butterfly landed against the back, sitting there before it was startled and flew off. "'Bye-bye Flutterby," the girl whispered, then turned at a sound in the brush.

Reyn stood there, a handful of tiger lilies in his hand and raised an eyebrow. "I see you like my garden," he observed and Kyra nodded, realizing there were twigs peppered in her curly amber hair. Pulling them out, Reyn shook his head and handed the flowers to Kyra, picking up the well bucket and dipping it into the brim-full well. "Come on, silly, I'll teach you how to weave a crown."

Kyra followed Reyn past the Grandfather -the grand oak's name- and then through a tunnel of random yet perfectly decorated flowers she had no name for. The two ended up at a hill covered in white and for a second Kyra thought that was the grass, but realized it was daises completely covering the ground. Reyn led the way through the knee-high white flowers, showing her a patch that had been bent down into a comfortable sitting space on the hill.

Setting the tiger lilies into the water, Reyn picked a hand full of the daises and gave them to Kyra, then for himself. He showed her the steps of creating the first layer, then how to weave more layers on. Kyra sat there, struggling with her delicate white flowers and succeeding in a sloppy, amateur crown that was lop-sided. Reyn laughed, handing her his perfect crown and wearing the one she made. "I think it's charming," he told Kyra, who had to laugh.

"You weave with an enchanting hand, Reyn Avery," Kyra claimed, standing up and holding the bucket filled with water and lilies. "Weave these."

"Oh no, they're much more delicate than daises and besides, I was going to make lunch with these," he said with a laugh. Kyra shook her head, then looked out over the hill to see a field stretching out, then disregarding into a desert. "Where does that lead?"

"To some temple ruins in the sand dunes," Reyn said flatly, leaving Kyra extremely curious.%u201D I wouldn't suggest going there. Dehydration, booby traps, and vicious birds that will eat anything that moves." Startled by this nightmarish vision, Kyra turned to where the fields turned into the Petrified Carcass, the woods. "What's through there?" Reyn asked.

"Nothing happier," Kyra said with distinct melancholy. "A castle that rages war against its own peasants, a King who has no humanity left and a Queen who's as greedy as her tax collectors. And a palace where no one goes in or out of, yet the inhabitants hasn%u2019t ever died. Nothing very happy."

"Sounds morbid," Reyn muttered, weaving a bracelet now.

"It is," Kyra answered with as much monotone she could.