The letter from Seren arrived on a Tuesday, as it always did, but this time it came with a package. Clara unwrapped it in the garden, the winter light pale on the snow-covered stones. Inside the cloth was a small pot, and inside the pot was a cutting—not from the stone flower, not from the memory-flowers in Seren's garden, but from something new. The leaves were not grey-green. They were silver, almost white, and the bud at the tip was the color of winter dawn: pale pink, almost translucent. "What is this?" Clara asked the messenger, but the messenger only shrugged and handed her a letter. She opened it while sitting on the stone bench, the gold flower glowing at her feet. Dear Clara, This cutting grew from the roots of the stone flower. Not from the flower itself—from the roots. They have been spreading underground, beyond the walls, beyond the village. I found this growing in the forest, a mile from my garden. It had pushed through the frozen soil, reaching toward the light. I
閱讀更多