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“Oh, you were paying attention,” Endora teased, leaning forward, her hands flattening against the mattress as she set her body forward. “I believe she’s a very talented botanist.”
I stared at her blankly. “What?”
“Botany. Plants?” she offered.
“I know what a botanist is, Endora. I just… What are you saying?” I demanded.
“The little that I can glean from her is that she has a natural aptitude for working with plants. She’s a botanist.”
I continued to gape at her, waiting for her to elaborate, but that seemed to be the gist of her contribution. Inhaling, I turned away, heading for the bathroom as Endora called out to me. “Where are you going?”
“To wash my face.”
“Okay… and what about the trespasser?”
I didn’t look back as I answered. “Get rid of her.”
Endora appeared in the bathroom ahead of me, blinking her eyes in shock as the smoke cleared around her. “What?”
“Get rid of her,” I repeated.
The enchantress appeared appalled by my response. “She doesn’t know who she is, Zen. I don’t think it’s fair to kill her.”
I shoved past her. “I mean, let her go. We have no reason to keep her here if she has no memory. She’s clearly no danger to me or anyone else in the kingdom. Have someone drive her into Catalonia and leave her there.”
The lights immediately activated in the bathroom as I fully entered, the heated floors warming beneath my feet, and I padded across toward the triple sinks. Endora remained at the threshold, studying me pensively.
“Drop her where? She doesn’t even have proper clothes. They were ruined by whatever she endured.”
“Then find her some clothes!” I grunted, exasperated. “Leave her at a hotel! Do I really need to do everything around here?”
Endora didn’t move. “What if we don’t?” she suggested slowly.
Turning on the cold water, I splashed the liquid over my cheeks, half-listening to the enchantress as my mind already began moving ahead with my day. The matter with the lost fae was no longer my problem—if only Endora would leave it alone.
“What if we don’t what?”
“What if we don’t send her to Catalonia and we keep her here?” Endora replied.
She had my attention again. I flipped off the tap and whirled around to glare at her.
“What? Why?”
Endora shrugged. “She could apprentice under Lacroix. The old goat isn’t getting any younger, and he’ll need to pass the torch soon enough. He’s got full control of the greenhouse these days, and it would be good to give him some company before he goes full-fledged hermit.”
My mouth parted in disbelief. “We don’t know anything about this fae!” I choked. “There’s no way to vet her, no telling where she’s come from—”
“That’s what makes it so good,” Endora insisted. “She’s malleable, and she has no past to overcome. She’s the perfect apprentice.”
The urge to argue died on my lips as I considered her take. She wasn’t wrong.
I eyed her skeptically. “You’re sure you didn’t get any kind of reading off her at all? How can you be sure she’s a botanist?”
“I did a mind tap, and the images I got were all involving plants. I could fully see her working amongst gardens, handling herbs and flowers. She’s competent in flora. I’m certain of that, but nothing else about her.”
“And that’s it? That’s all you got on her? You’re sure?”
Endora rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think I would have told you if I got anything else, Zen? But I do believe she has a lot of power inside her, tied to botany. We could use that to our advantage.”
