Ferry got to the lawn of the Pride Mansion earlier. He wanted to see the place by himself before Ol' Joseph arrived.

The air smelled like moist soil. It had rained the day before and the drops still sparkled in the grass kissed by the few rays of the grumpy autumn's sun. The grass had been trimmed, but it looked as if spring was coming. Every blade of grass had the same size and shape as the one next to it.

The lawn served for the famous Pride parties, but also for golf and cricket games. During the Fires of the Hills, the entire lawn was covered in white; that was because of the tents where the guests of the Prides were feasting, listening to music, and having fun until the break of dawn. Seen from above, it didn't look so intimidating. On the other side, in the distance, there was the maze. Though it was a nice day, heavy clouds lingered above it.

Ferry had flown a few times over the maze. For some reason, he never liked it. He couldn't get too close, in fear someone might have seen him. Ferry always watched the town from high above. From up there, he'd seen the tangled paths of the labyrinth. The shrubs were placed in circles. Even now, when the fall was coming, they were still green. Every here and there, the rows were interrupted by bushes trimmed in strange animal shapes.

Every seven-year, on the first night with a full moon of the first month in the summer, the maze was hosting the Quest; it was a reunion for the friends of the Pride family, one of which the whole town was talking about. The guests arrived days before. There were always ten of them, men and women of all ages, each time others. And each time, they were allowed to be accompanied only by a person, be it relative, friend, or employee.

On the day of the party, all the employees at the mansion were having a day off. Except for the members of the family and their guests, everyone was forbidden to get near the Pride domain. The gates leading to the mansion were guarded by strong men brought from outside the town, each time different from the last time. Sometimes, there were even six well-built guards watching the gates, all wearing guns. Ferry knew that piece of information from his father who was using his day off to go fishing with his friends.

The next day, everything was going back to normal as if nothing had happened. The employees at the mansion were coming back for the cleaning. And each time, the maze looked like a battlefield. The bushes were torn; some of them so much, that they needed to be pulled out and replaced. Ferry's mother participated in the cleaning after the Quest. She had no idea what that meant. No one did. Everyone was suspecting it must have been a game only privileged persons were playing.

Ferry looked away from the maze because it gave him a headache. He turned his eyes to the mansion. The building was imposing; the stone walls were covered in moss, black mould, and climbing plants. Ferry thought he was to ask Lavender about the age of the mansion the first time they would meet. He looked for the last room on the third floor, which was also the last floor of the building. He knew the last floor was locked and abandoned. Yet he remembered that during his flights over the town, he could see the room lit and shadows walking to-and-fro in the room.

He looked at the heavy curtains in the windows. They made the house look asleep. He heard a rustle behind him and turned. Ol' Joseph was walking towards him, dragging a rake behind him. He was over seventy-years-old and he's been the mansion's gardener since he was sixteen. He was loyal and hardworking. But he had gotten old, and even the easiest tasks, such as watering the plants, had become a burden. But Ol' Joseph 'didn't give up. And the Prides appreciated his loyalty, keeping him as a chief-gardener. He was also among the few employees that lived on the land. Ol' Joseph lived in a small, neat cottage behind the mansion.

Yet gardening helps were hard to find. The old gardener was never pleased with any of them, and no one resisted more than a few months.

"You came earlier," Ol' Joseph muttered when he saw him. "I was expecting you'd be more... well-built," he said, studying Ferry from under his white, bushy eyebrows. "But you're all right that thin, I guess. I'll be doing the hard work, anyway. You have no idea how many helps I had to deal with without them being of any help at all... Now, come," he said, making a sign at Ferry to follow.

Ferry looked again at the window of the room on the third floor.

The old gardener didn't like that, "Don't you just stand there!" he heard his husky voice. "Those leaves aren't going to rake together by themselves."

Ferry followed without objecting. The lawn was full of leaves that fell because of the storm. Ferry started to rake while the old gardener was watching his every move, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Put some heart into it, you're a young fellow... When I was your age, I was moving mountains. I took care of the entire garden all by myself. Well, the maze didn't exist back then, but still... " 

And as Ferry was raking the leaves together under the old gardener's piercing look, Ol' Joseph was reciting, as if a master of ceremony, the rules Ferry needed to follow in his garden — he had to trim the lawn, rake together te fallen leaves, water the maze, the lawn and all the plants in the garden, but also take care of the trees, the flower beds and the hedges on the domain.

Ol' Joseph's only responsibility was to take care of the flower beds in front of the mansion which he considered the most important; the garden in front of a house was its business card, he said. Then, he handed Ferry a map with a shaking hand and said in the same husky, yet firm voice, "This is the map of the maze. You can keep it for one day, learn it by heart, then bring it back and never say a word about it to anyone. It is forbidden!" he said, lifting a knotty finger in the air. 

"You got that?"

"Yes, sir," said Ferry, studying the map.

"Now leave the map," the old man raised his voice. "I've got some dry roots to pull out. When you're done here, come to the front garden. You have half an hour to finish." Then he walked away, dragging his feet.

Ferry sighed and carried on. It wasn't going to be easy. But he had no choice.

*

That evening, Ferry found his mother cooking in Lavender's kitchen. She wanted to show her appreciation by cooking a vegetable soufflé with fresh vegetables from Lavender's garden. The old fairy took out a bottle of white wine from her basement; then, all three of them set the table in the garden, surrounded by candles.

It was dark and quiet, and the candlelight was flickering with every wind blow. The night smelled like dry leaves and smoke. The table was set, and Ferry was hungry after gardening for hours at the Pride Mansion. Yet his mother was not eating.

"Mom, are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine, darling. It just... I don't want to take advantage of Miss Lavender's hospitality..."

Lavender smiled, "Don't worry, dear. You are always welcome here."

"I know, and I could never thank you enough... But I wouldn't want my presence here bother you..."

"What do you mean, dear?" Lavender wondered.

"I'd like the other inhabitants of this house to stop hiding. And join us for dinner..."

Ferry almost dropped his fork. Ever since they came to live in Lavender's cottage, Parsley, who couldn't go back to his animal shape, was hiding in the foliage of the garden, and only came out when Ferry's mother was missing. The other fairy-guardians were gathering late at night after Eileen went to bed.

Frowning at first, Lavender nodded. And Parsley made his appearance from behind a tree. A flapping of wings came from above; Thyme made his appearance. Sage and Rosemary were not coming that evening, choosing to stay with their young mistresses.

The two Guardians stepped closer and took their seats, slightly uncomfortable. Eileen smiled and gave each one a plate with the hot, juicy dish she had prepared. They all ate in silence, exchanging meaningful looks with each other from time to time. They looked like a normal family, gathering around the table after a long working day.

After dinner, Eileen and Parsley had a long talk about how much water was needed for the roses to stay in bloom, and how the nettle leaf soup can chase away all the pests from the beds of vegetables. Then, she said goodnight to everyone and went to her chamber on the upper floor. Ferry and Thyme went to the foot of the hill to train. They've been catching up with their training they've abandoned ever since Andrew came to town. And it showed. Thyme's always been tough on everything, especially on Ferry. That night, they were pretending to have a fight with sticks instead of spears. Ferry hesitated every time and each time, he was thrown to the ground.

"You're dead. Again," Thyme said, his eyes piercing to the depths of Ferry's soul.

They simulated another fight; the two clutched against each other, gnashing their teeth. Ferry tried to brake him with all his strength, but Thyme was stronger. He knocked Ferry down, and the boy fell on his back. The fall was so painful, that Ferry thought he broke his shoulder. He could barely breathe from the fall, Thyme's stick pointing at his neck.

Eventually, Thyme threw the stick away.

"All right, that's enough," he said, and he sat next to Ferry, breathing heavily.

Ferry sat up, massaging his shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that I'm tired. It was my first day of work. But I'm sure I'll get used to it soon. It'll be better in time, you'll see..."

But Thyme shook his head no, "It's not that. It's just you're not ready. You don't want to be ready..."

Ferry frowned, "What do you mean?"

Thyme got up on his feet, stepping away from him. Ferry also got up, still rubbing his shoulder. He followed Thyme, who turned to face him, "You can't see it, can you? All you talk about is May, your human mother, and father, the school, the garden, and now... the Pride Mansion," he said huffily.

"So what?" Ferry wondered.

"They are people, Garrett. They're people's things and business. You say nothing about your fairy abilities, which are still hidden within you, by the way. You don't talk about Akna. You don't ask about that place or the people who live there. It's as if you didn't care..."

Ferry stepped closer and looked him dead in the eye, "But I DO care. Why do you think I'm here?" he raised his voice.

"Would you like me to tell you why you're here, Ferry?" Thyme shouted at him, stressing his name. "You're here because your human mother is here. Otherwise, you'd be hanging around May's house or sticking your nose in people's business."

Ferry felt his breath speeding up and his sight getting blurry, "That is not fair, Baldie!" he shouted back. "I come here because I care. I care about you, and about Lavender, and all my fairy friends. I care about you because you're my family. But don't ask me to care about beings or places I don't even know!"

And Ferry broke into a run, although his whole body was hurting. It was unfair for Thyme to say those things to him. But what troubled him the most was that he was right.

Now, he felt the need to be as far away as possible from him. He kept on running until he almost lost his breath. When he stopped, he realized he was at the edge of the Pride domain. He skulked against the old trees that were bordering the Pride land. He climbed one of them and looked at the house. The building detached itself on the night sky, darker than the surrounding darkness. Even from afar, Ferry could see the lights were turned on in the last room of the third floor. He could also see a silhouette walking across the room, behind the heavy curtains.  

Thank you for waiting! I'm anxious to know your thoughts. You know what to do ;)