G – Grow

This story was written for the 2025 April A to Z Blog Challenge. Twenty-six words, one for each letter of the alphabet, were pre-selected by a random word generator (MacChatGPT) and were included for each section of the appropriate letter in the Challenge. The chosen word is highlighted within the text. To start the story from the beginning, go to https://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=4443.

When last we met in Part 6 – Forest: 

The queen revealed the truth about Adriana’s birth. Adriana chooses to find out for herself whether she is a princess or not, starting at the Forbidden Forest. Though offered a royal guard escort, Adriana decides to go alone, concerned about what the queen said: “There are those that still seek your demise. Should they find you, all may not go well.”  

———–

Destiny – Part 7 (grow)

The directions to the Forbidden Forest were not hard to follow. The queen had replenished her supplies and gave her one more piece of advice. 

“Be cautious of those you are willing to trust on your quest to help you. Loyalties can change. There is much deceit in our land,” the queen said.

Once she found the Forbidden Forest, she had to decide her next move. In all the conversation, Adriana neglected to ask the queen why it was named the Forbidden Forest. 

She decided to start by trying to find where she was discovered as a baby – the field of blue flowers. The difficulty this time was that the forest was very dense, with no clear paths to follow. 

Again, she marked trees with arrows pointing in the direction she would go using her carving knife. When she came upon one of her markings, she carved a line through it and chose a different direction to mark and go in. 

This went on for some time. Now and then, she would look around behind her. She had a sense that someone or something was following her. They were very good at it, if they were, for she could spot no one. 

At last, she reached a part of the forest with an open glade. In the middle of the glade was a large patch of blue flowers. 

Standing at the edge of the patch was Springbounder. 

As she approached, he called out, “I see things are going well.”

“You know about me,” Adriana said. “What can you tell me that might help?”

Springbounder replied, “I know pieces of your story; at least, those Queen Isolara chose to share with me. As I said before, I was tasked to start you on your journey to find your destiny. The queen was the one who could plant the seeds in your mind to allow you to move forward. You must have found your way to the queen yourself. Otherwise, you would not be here now. I guessed you might come here to seek guidance, so here is where I waited.”

Adriana accepted Springbounder’s explanation but was still unsure of his trustworthiness. 

“So now I’m here,” she said, “what is it that you advise?”

“I believe the blue flowers are important to your quest,” he said. “Some are believed to have special properties, though I know not what those might be.”

“So what should I do?”

“Pick three,” Springbounder said. “But make sure they are the right ones, for all flowers are not the same.”

She was about to ask how they were different since they all looked identical and how she would know the right ones from the wrong ones when there was a blazing flash of light whereupon the field of blue flowers burst into flames. 

Adriana hastily grabbed the first three flowers near her as Springbounder turned and ran away, shouting, “RUN!” and disappeared back into the woods. 

Without thought, she ran into the woods, clutching the flowers she had picked.

 Springbounder was gone, as was the field of blue flowers, which was totally destroyed. 

Adriana sat alone in the forest, wondering about what just happened. She had flowers that might mean something, but she did not know the meaning or how they should be used. Something caused the field of flowers to be destroyed. Was Springbounder involved? Was she supposed to be in that field when it burned up? Should she have taken the Queen’s guards with her on this quest? Should she just give up her quest?

A familiar voice spoke to her in her mind, “Once the seed is planted, you must wait for it to grow.” It was Queen Isolara’s voice.  

Adriana stood up straight and strong. “So be it,”  she said out loud to whoever might be listening. “I won’t let this stop me. I shall continue on!”

To be continued in H – Happy