Like the Frigid Winds

High above in the Frozen Peaks lies a kingdom named Creseon, a place built up from the cold permafrost and sturdy timber of the trees above. In the heart of the kingdom, an abundant garden sits idly, seemingly untouched by the eternally frigid environment. This garden, titled the Garden of Forgiveness, stretches far and wide, the foundation of Creseon; a place of refuge for those who have successfully made it through the perilous journey, or just a place to be free from the chambers of your own mind.

Every day, when the sun rises and the moon fades into the sky, Queen Silvia makes it her job to tend to each and every one of the plants and flora—no matter how long it may take, the specific requirements for the plant, she will make sure each one is properly taken care of. With fatigue from yesterday’s activities still lingering below her eyes, she lifts up her dress from the ground and begins going down the spiral staircase. Step by step, thump by thump, she moves with a grace of a swan’s, naturally elegant as her heels lightly click against the blue sodalite steps. Each tap of her boots creates a subtle ringing noise through the frost-coated spire, the sound echoing and fading into the air. The sound of morning birds chirping and gentle breezes whispering danced with her steps, the melodious harmony being interrupted by the swinging of the door opening, the frozen hinges creating an unpleasant screech against the calm environment.

Although, before she could step out, she had noticed her gardening supplies prepared inside than them being unprepared outside her spire. She usually set up everything in the morning, collecting water in her large ivory white watering can, wiping snow from her gardening tools, and having to stomp in her frozen gloves so they could become wearable. This time, she found herself pleasantly surprised, everything set up just the way she had set it up. She collects everything, walking out of the door with excitement to get to work.

“Your Majesty.. Please refrain from opening the door so quickly, we’ve yet to polish those old hinges. It’d be a disaster if that door were to fall right off of its support one day.”

One of her servants speaks up, having heard the door squeak from afar. They held an old rag and a bucket of warm soapy water, emitting steam from the contrast of temperature. 

Silvia chuckles heartily yet apologetically, nodding her head as her hands went over top one another in front of her. “Oh! I apologize, I wasn’t aware!” her gaze drifts over to the view beside her, her gaze scanning over every draping vine, bloomed and budded flowers, and all of the other life that sprouted within the Garden of Forgiveness. She rips her eyes away and back to one of her subjects in front of her. “I can’t help myself. How am I supposed to be when I’m able to look at this wonderful sight each day?” she smiles softly, her moonkissed face clashing with the freezing environment around them.

Her servant stares at her features, seemingly starstruck before quickly snapping themselves out of it. With a shake of their head, they sigh and smile a little themselves. “Your words are true, Your Majesty. Waking up to a beautiful kingdom and an even more dazzling queen is a bountiful blessing indeed.” 

The usual blush from the frigid air against Silvia’s skin became more vibrant with her subject’s compliment, a childlike giggle coming from the queen’s mouth. “Oh, you. You must be looking for a raise, aren’t you?” she teases, in which her servant frantically shook their head.

“No, no! Not at all, Your Majesty! I’m simply stating the truth.” they reply, their tone now more flustered. Their gaze drifts over to her supplies in her hands, remembering something else to tell their queen. “Oh, right! Princess Maria and Prince Marione had prepared your tools themselves today, Your Majesty. If you wish to thank them, they’re in the Butterfly Pavilion.”

Smiling wider, Silvia nods at their words, planning to thank her children later. “My, how thoughtful of them! I raised them right, didn’t I?”

“Indeed.”

With another laugh coming out of her mouth, she bids her servant goodbye as she walks over to her first plant victim, a plethora of hellebore flowers that spread across the beginning of the upper wing of the spread out garden. Leaning down slightly, she spreads an even amount of water into the soil, watching pollinators hide beneath the petals and water drip from the leaves. Silvia always loved looking at the smaller details that contributed to the big idea, especially things that were often overlooked. She went from plant to plant, tending to each of their precise needs with meticulous care. 

Having treated the North Wing and Northeast Wing already, she had moves on to the middle of the East wing. After trimming some hydrangeas, she moves along to a patch of pale blue succulents. Her constant smile shifts into an expression of worry at seeing their condition. Despite her always giving them exactly what they need, for some reason, she always found them in worse condition than the last.

Her knees dig into the frozen soil, getting her pale blue dress dirty as she looks down at the succulents. Her hands drift to her eyepatch that covered her blind eye, her left one. Taking off her eyepatch, she holds it up to one of the succulents that were barely scraping by, yet still looked like it was in decent condition. She knew her late husband went to great lengths to get her the best, but she hadn’t expected him to get it to look exactly right. 

Suddenly, her reminiscent expression shifts into a scowl, quickly putting her eyepatch back on, looking around to make sure no one had seen that. She quickly trims the dead flowers off and tends to the surviving ones, moving along as quickly as she can. Her head slowly begins to hurt, feeling a headache coming on at the thought of her husband.

“My goodness.. I have got to replace those flowers soon.”

She murmurs to herself, shaking her head as she moved on to some other flower.

After a while, as afternoon creeped up on Creseon, Silvia had wrapped up everything that needed to be handled. She wipes some sweat that had formed on her head, sweating despite the freezing temperatures of the Frozen Peaks. She leans against the wall of her spire, setting down all of her supplies, making sure they were all neat so she, or someone else, could set it up the same way tomorrow.

A sigh escapes her mouth, mixed with exhaustion and relief from her routine. She walks around her spire to look at all of the areas she’s tended to, her eyes lingering on the West Wing as she remembers to thank her children. She strides through, looking at her hard work pay off, the flowers and plants looking their best, as they did every day,

Even though it had been a few hours by now, she knew her children, they always stayed a little too long in places they enjoyed, especially in their home. Her eyes soften as she reaches the entrance, seeing her twins enjoying their time in each other's company. Marie often pretended that she disliked her twin brother, often acting more distant or rough on him in public–but Silvia always knew. She always knew that she enjoyed listening to his dorky rambles as she made her crafts. That she enjoyed whenever they’d hang out to plan something for Silvia herself or for another one of their mutual friends. She always liked seeing their personalities clash in their own ways.

Walking up the steps, Marie and Marion look over to their mother, Marie’s stern expression softening, while Marion’s because even more happier than it already was. 

“Mom,” Marie began, sitting up in her chair slightly. “I hope that we had set up your tools correctly.” she says, looking to her brother. 

“You did, my dears. Precisely right, if I may add.” 

Marion moves a little from his chair, practically shaking with excitement to show his mom what he and his sister have done next.

“Well that’s not all we’re doing for you, mom!” He says, pushing a bucket to the front of the table, nearly knocking it down by accident. Looking into the bucket, Silvia found that it was full of what seemed to be just gray water.

“Oh? And what is this, if I may ask?” She inquires, trying not to make her tone sound disappointed as she had anticipated what it was from the moment another thing was mentioned.

“We know that eyepatch of yours reminds you of.. Dad, so we made a gray dye for you to dye your eyepatch in. You know, so you’re not reminded of him and his wrongdoings.” Marie explains, knocking on the hard wood of the bucket for emphasis.

Marione pulls out a bag of seeds from his front pocket. “We also got you some gray succulent seeds to match the eyepatch mom! Aren’t we just the best kids you could’ve ever asked for?” he chuckles, setting the bag on the table and putting his hands on his hips with a smile. 

Stunned, Silvia stares at her two children, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes fixed on both the seeds and the bucket of dye. After a few more seconds of that, tears begin to well up in her eye as her lips quiver, threatening to let those tears come rushing out. 

In an instant, her two children immediately rush up and stand in front of their mother. “Mom, are you alright?” Marie asks, her usual monotonous tone now sounding a little worried herself. “Did you not like the gifts? We’re sorry!” Marion apologizes.

Silvia’s hands shake, and in an instant, she wraps her trembling arms around both of her beloved children, her scent smelling like dirt and faint lavender. She begins to cry, digging her face in between her childrens’ heads. 

“Y-You all didn’t h-have to do this..! Y-You.. Y..” she stammers, sniffling as she pulls her head away from the two of them, tears still streaming down her face. “You’re all t-the.. The best gifts I could a-ask for.” she mutters, looking at her two offspring with motherly love and a desire to keep them safe despite them being adults. 

Marione smiles again, his smile gentler as he looks at his hysterical mother. Marie rolls her eyes, but she was about to start crying too if Silvia hadn’t spoken up quicker. “Yeah, yeah..” Marie mumbles, her hands grazing over her mom’s eyepatch. “May I remove this, mom? I’ll do the honors for you.” she requests, which is replied to with a nod of her head. 

“Hey, I wanted to do that!” Marione whines, in which Marie huffs, taking off the eyepatch gently from her mom’s face.

“We can do it together. You hold the succulent part and I’ll hold the strap.”

“Oh. Works for me!”

They both grab their parts, lowering the eyepatch into the dye.

“Okay.. Now we have to wait for like, 30 minutes.” Marie says with a groan. Silvia laughs softly at her daughter’s constant annoyance, knowing she never truly meant it.

“Well, that just means m-more bonding for us, hehe..!” she says, still sniffling and stuttering a little, wiping her tears away on her glove.

Time passed rather quickly, and by the time the eyepatch had finished dying, it was dusk, the sun falling and the moon fading into the night sky. Marie takes out the eyepatch, setting it down on a preset paper towel. Silvia looks at the eyepatch, now a gray color instead of the pale blue that her husband had chosen out for her. She finds her childrens’ words fading into the background as she stares intently at the drying eyepatch, a subtle sigh escaping her mouth as her eye lingers on the gray color–marking the beginning of a new path, without that scum of a husband, and with her two lovely children instead.