Not once did he think maybe this isn't a good idea, or hey, you're in a place you don't know. Archer was nearly brushing the plant's leaves when a sharp pain radiated through his shin.
"Ow!" he said, jumping back. He looked down to find a garden gnome. The gnome wasn't moving or anything, and he didn't think he'd run into it. At least not with enough force to cause a problem like that.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
Eden called from behind him. "You better be nice to the Gnomes. They're mean."
Hadrian snorted.
Archer turned to look at them, only to get another pain in his shin. When he whipped his head around he saw that the Gnome he thought to be frozen was actually moving.
"You're alive?" he said.
"Yes I am, and you're an idiot who's about to lose his fingers," the Gnome grumbled in a singsong voice.
Had he not been mean about it, Archer would have thought the words to be some type of children's nursery rhyme. Instead he was being poked at.
"You kicked me because I'm about to touch a plant?"
The Gnome rolled his eyes. "I kicked you because you were about to touch a plant that's poisonous, and personally I don't want the king to get upset about losing you. It's much easier for me to just do my job. That is to protect the people from touching the danger plants."
Archer shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He'd gone for a casual look, not sure what the day held in store. While he would have loved to stay in something soft and fluffy like pajamas or sweats, he also accepted the fact that he might leave the castle grounds now that he was well enough. Not permanently or anything. The jury was still out on that.
"Why have a plant that’s so dangerous then? What good does it do if no one can touch it or appreciate it?"
Hadrian came up beside Archer and threw an arm over his shoulder. "The point of keeping those things is in case we ever go to war. Have enough of them to cultivate your own potions and bye-bye enemy."
Archer froze beneath Hadrian's grip. "War?"
Eden came up on Archer's other side and scoffed. "Dude, it's totally fine, there's not gonna be any war. But you know, plants hold sentimental value and there's no point in tearing them down when there's a possibility, like two centuries from now, that someone's gonna tick Romilly off."
Archer looked back and forth between the brothers, then glanced down at the Gnome. "I think someone needs to sit down and explain this to me like I'm five, because I’m so lost."
The Gnome put his hands on his hips. Somehow he managed to look down his nose at Archer, even though the height difference between them was more than comical. "Well then, sit down in front of me, lad. I'll tell you all you want to know about these here gardens. I might even introduce you to my family. They're around here somewhere. The kids always keep my wife going, and all my brothers and sisters have troubles of their own. I've tried to get them to move to the outside gardens, but our grandparents live out there and frankly I don't blame them for not going."
Archer dropped into a position where his legs were folded, and his hands were in his lap. Everything the Gnome had justsaid to him was so much more than he expected. It was so far left field that he knew he needed to be closer to the ground lest he pass out.
Eden and Hadrian sat beside him. The trio eagerly awaited the Gnome, who was still shorter than them even though they were seated, to begin his explanation.
"You see, boys, the Gnomes go back for centuries. I'll give you what I know, and the rest is not important."
Archer wasn't sure that could be true. If there was something the Gnomes didn't know about themselves, then maybe so, but if it was something the Gnome was purposely keeping from him, then that was different.
He'd have to ask Romilly about it later.
CHAPTER 14
Romilly
It had been hard to proceed with the day as if nothing was amiss after telling Archer the news of the supernatural world. His little mate had put on a brave face, following Romilly around and doing whatever he felt comfortable with at the time. Romilly could still sense there was hesitation in his boy's mind. Curiosity, yes, but also a deep-seated need to know more.
While Romilly could have ripped the band-aid off and told Archer everything, he could have shared that they were fated mates. Could have told his boy about how they would be connected for all of eternity and that there was no force in the universe great enough to keep them apart.
He could have gone over all of the ways he intended to provide for his mate in the future. All of the plans he had to ensure their many, many years together would be fruitful and abundant.
There was just too much of a risk that Archer would be overwhelmed. Too big a possibility his boy would still run for the hills. Romilly knew logically the odds were low. He couldn't take the chance yet, though.
So he'd worked and worked, pretending as if nothing was different. When Archer had gone to bed, only then did he settle in his own space and send up prayers to Fate that he would get to keep his boy, that life wouldn't give him his mate and then take him away in a breath.
