Aleks turned, and there it was. The plant was in his home, bigger than ever, looming with its tooth-lined jaws gaping open.
He froze. Surely it couldn’t be here to harm him. What did it want?
Aleks had shoved Vera.
The plant’s only thought was to protect her.
The jaws came down.
~
Vera walked through the tree-lined streets of Rosarva, watching the way they swayed and rustled in the wind. She thought of Aleks and sighed. It had been a month since Aleks had vanished, and already life was moving on, but she still thought about him constantly.
People speculated that he’d been so filled with fear that he'd fled Rosarva. Vera didn't believe them. She knew Aleks. He wouldn't run. Such a creature needed to be destroyed, and Aleks would see it done.
Privately, Vera thought he’d left to draw the plant away. One day, he might come back.
Vera saw a shade of lighter green among the willowy trees. She thought nothing of it at first, but then stopped in her tracks when she realized what it was.
It looked a little like a guardian plant, but like none Vera had ever seen before. It was broader and its arms and legs were incredibly human; the mouth, when it opened its tooth-lined jaws, was red and moist.
It seemed to be watching her, which Vera knew was impossible. Disquieted, Vera turned around and hurriedly walked away; she would find another way home.
There was something unnerving about the way it tilted its head.
The Inheritance Test
Massimo’s elder brother, Alonzo, returned from his first independent trading expedition grinning from ear to ear.
“My son has returned!” their father Giorgio cried, running down to greet Alonzo's lumbering wagon.
The wagon came to a halt, and after his father had kissed Giorgio on both cheeks, Massimo was the next to climb up the side of his brother’s cart, shaking hands and finally giving in to his elder brother’s embrace. Meanwhile, Giorgio ran to the back of the cart, peering in to examine the contents.
“I see marble from Torakon, silk from Altura, dyes from Tingara… It seems your venture was a great success! I’m proud of you, my son,” Giorgio said.
“Thank you, Father,” Alonzo said.
Giorgio finished inspecting Alonzo's cargo and came back to haul Massimo out of the way. Massimo stepped down from the cart and his father climbed up, moving Alonzo aside on the bench seat and sitting beside him.
“Now, Alonzo,” Giorgio said. “What have you learned?”
Massimo’s father always asked his eldest son this question. When Alonzo returned from classes at the earth temple: what you have you learned? When Alonzo went to his first dance: what have you learned? Always it was the same.
“Well, Father, I learned that Petryans are short on potatoes. Alturans need stone, particularly marble. Veznans are in need of Alturan nightlamps, Toraks need drudges, and,” Alonzo said with a laugh, “I missed Ralanast.”
“Missed Ralanast, or missed me?” Giorgio laughed along. “Well done, my son. You passed your test with ease, just like I knew you would. It's not long now, only a month, but when I retire, I know that Giorgio Sarto and Son Trading Merchants will be in good hands.”
Without conscious thought, the words burst out of Massimo’s mouth. “What about me?” he asked. “Will I get a test?”
Giorgio frowned when he turned to Massimo. “No, Massimo. You’ve got too much of your mother in you. You’re brave, I’ll give you that. And you’re a good lad; at least that’s what the priests say. But you don’t have a practical bone in your body. Before I go to Mornhaven I’ll see you placed somewhere – perhaps as a novice priest, or an advocate with the guild. After I’m gone your brother will be too busy to take care of you. Rather than me, it’ll be Alonzo who’ll be away most of the time.”
"I can take care of things here," Massimo said. "I can run things while he's gone."
"No, Massimo." Giorgio shook his head. "It's too much responsibility for you."
Alonzo stepped down from the cart and put his arm around his brother’s shoulders, leaving Giorgio running his eyes over the goods Alonzo had returned with.
“I don’t want to leave,” Massimo said.
“I don’t want you to either,” said Alonzo. “Perhaps when Father’s gone…”
Massimo knew that once his father pushed him into either the temple or the guild, he wouldn’t see his brother anymore. With just a month until his father moved to Mornhaven, Massimo’s time with his brother would soon end.
“Father,” Massimo called out. Giorgio turned. “Give me a chance, please. Give me a challenge like the one you gave Alonzo.”
Giorgio laughed. “You wouldn’t last a minute.”
“Let him try,” Alonzo said.