Theanore was in the process of checking on the forest she had commissioned. With all the things that happened since Darion’s trial. Such as Elmar’s departure, the royal debacle and all the worry she had over the witch, Clotilde, she had not been able to check.

Now she understood her mistake. The ants had sowed the fields with trees and had dug out streams, so they would be fed with water, but there was neither rhyme nor reason to their planting.

Theanore stepped carefully, so she wouldn’t step on a seedling. She looked around and breathed in, and then held her breath, so her cheeks puffed up.

“It can’t be helped. Ants, line up,” said Theanore and forest ants, not her worker ants, came forward. She blinked down at them. The nymph had forgotten she even had such ants.

“Oh, not you. The worker ants. You are too small for what I need,” the ant grumbled, and it went back to its anthill. A worker ant came, and it clicked its antennas in satisfaction at being preferred.

“Ok, I require you to carefully uproot half of these trees and replant them in some empty fields that I own. In the rocky ones that you all are still clearing out,” the ant walked to an ant hill and worker ants came from its tunnels.

Theanore watched as seedlings were uprooted and transported down the road. She then turned to inspect the rest of the field, now that the most pressing matter had been dealt with.

There were flowers everywhere. All were peonies. Which was weird, since she didn’t remember planting them. And with a good reason, too. Peonies just wouldn’t survive in a shade filled forest.

They will still grow, but they wouldn’t bloom. And then they wouldn’t get any to be friends. And they would be lonely. Theanore chewed her bottom lip. That would be a tragedy, but she didn’t have any more fields.

So, she decided on the next best thing. She was going to sell the flowers and the seeds in the Mirstone market. But she needed to fill in her tax form first. How much tax did she had to pay for all these flowers? How many could she harvest?

The little nymph felt a headache coming on, and she touched her head. She would let Darion handle all the calculations. For now, she had to order her ants to action.

But they already had a task. Maybe she could give this job to the forest ants? They could collect the seeds, at least, and possibly even the flowers. Wait, had the forest ants been getting their sugar syrup?

“Tania, did the forest ant receive sugar syrup?” Asked Theanore, worried that a great injustice has been done.

They have. Darion makes sure all animals of the Apple Grotto dungeon are well-fed and happy. He is a gremlin worthy of prize. A true worker bee.

“Oh, that is good,” said Theanore, and she cleaned some sweat from her forehead with her hand. “But, just because I forgot about them, give them a little extra syrup today. And possibly some seeds. We have left over seeds from the planting of the fields, do we not?”

We do. But the worker ants deserve a reward too. The one ant Queen that remained has given you many new larvae. They would also need extra syrup.

“It won’t be fair if only the ants get something extra today. More honey bread to the pixies and greens to the giant hamsters, and to the little hamsters too! Would the dogs like some fish?” Theanore wondered what the pandas would like, but as they seem to only eat bamboo, she decided to give them extra pats and belly rubs.

I will consult Darion, and we will give a bit extra of all the favorite things to all the inhabitants of the grotto. Should I make a large order of cookies for the children today too? Maybe make it all as a celebration of the great goddess Pochva?

“Yes, do that. Dari would know how much our stores could support. Tania, can you tell the forest ants to harvest the flowers and seeds of the peonies? We can use the green bits as compost for the forest,” and Theanore turned around and made her way to the waiting wagon where her parents, Marinus, Mary, and Archibald waited.

“Did you get everything sorted, Thea?” Asked Crassus, and he handed Theanore a water skin. It was a hot May day, and he didn’t want for her to be thirsty. Theanore drank deep, realizing how thirsty she was, and she handed the water skin back.

“There will be two forests, the plain forest and the rocky forest. Furthermore, we have numerous peony seeds and flowers to sell and tons of compost to be made. The forest ants are gathering the peonies now,” Marinus turned to look at Theanore, confused.

“What, we still have forest ants?” Theanore looked down, embarrassed to have forgotten loyal subjects, and nodded.

“I too sometimes forget what type of mobs I have. That is what happens when you use only a couple of them daily,” Esmer said with a chuckle. She bends down and picks up Theanore and places her next to Mary.

The peach nymph hugged the apple one and stared at the fields, which were dotted with seedlings and peonies.

“Mommy, why didn’t you let the forest grow naturally? No one planted the forest of fireflies, right?” Asked Mary, nuzzling into Theanore’s side.

“Because I want the best life possible for all the trees in the forest. I don’t want any of them to be eaten by rats, to catch mold or worse, to dry up,” both nymphs shuddered as one at that. They had come from trees and so knew how important it was to watch over their roots.

“But I have happy news! We will have a celebration of Pochva again!” Exclaimed Theanore.

“And we can combine it with Sylen’s, maybe?” Mary liked the silent, kind, Pochva, well enough. But Sylen was more fun.

“Sure, just this once,” said Theanore with a sigh. If only Mary could see that Pochva was their true patron, maybe then Theanore wouldn’t be getting wrinkles from worrying that her daughter was not following her example.