Chapter 16: 16-Sunflower

A week quickly passed as Rowan and Aaron grew accustomed to their daily routine at Grandpa Rodan’s house. Focusing on meditation first thing in the morning, Rowan took turns with Aaron in feeding the animals and battling with Buckbeak. After that was breakfast and then plowing the fields. When afternoon came along, the elderly farmer and two boys would stop for lunch and then rest after eating. Grandpa Rodan would then proceed to teaching lessons about mana for Rowan. Many of the things taught were information that Rowan was unfamiliar with. However, the majority of the information taught was a review for Aaron, so the aristocrat just sat on the side and rested. Then it would be time for dinner for both humans and animals. Once finished, it was time for bed to prepare for a new day.

A week could not be considered a long stretch of time, but it could not be considered short either. Both boys had seen changes in themselves that made them look quite different when compared to their arrival on the farm. The first change was that their skin had darkened from working out on the fields. The second change was that they both put on some muscle. For Aaron it was more noticeable as he initially spent most of his time in his manor studying. Rowan who grew up training with knights was used to hard labor and his body grew accustomed to the labor and change in environment. As both boys were still growing, so did their heights. However they themselves never realized the change as they worked themselves hard everyday.

One day during breakfast, Grandpa Rodan spoke up.

“ Since we’re almost done with the fields, what do you boys want to plant?”

The young aristocrat looked up positively in shock, thinking that he would be stuck plowing for almost the entire summer. Rowan was also surprised by the words, but had not expressed it as openly as Aaron.

What were they going to do for training if they finished plowing? Did that mean the boys could spend more time fighting the rooster? As much as he enjoyed battling Buckbeak, he did not want to do it constantly. He could feel himself steadily improving, each bout lasting just a tiny bit longer before being smacked to the ground by the arrogant bird. It would be a long time before he would be able to best the avian. He decided to voice his concerns out loud.

“What are we going to be doing in the morning then Grandpa? Why are we stopping half way?”

“I’m letting the other field rest for the season. Constantly growing crops on the same fields can lead to dirt degradation which would lead to worse quality crops. As for what we would be doing next in the morning? Don’t worry, there's always a plan for you boys. “

Rowan could hear Aaron let out a groan, but he didn’t complain out loud. On the other hand, Rowan was quite happy with his grandpa's answer. He asked as an answer to his grandpa’s question.

“What can we plant on the fields grandpa?”

“Oh I got a whole bunch of seeds here. There’s corn, cabbage, carrots, pepper, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and much more. If you name it, I most likely have it. Pick a few that you would like to eat and we’ll plant it.Freshly grown vegetables are the most delicious.” 

Rowan thought about it before listing a few vegetables that he enjoyed eating. “ Cabbage, carrots and potatoes.”

“ Do you only plan to eat bland meals with those vegetables?” Aaron could not help but blurt out.

 “Then what do you think? What should be planted then?”

“ For a tasty meal, you need certain ingredients. “Aaron looked at Grandpa Rodan and asked “Do you have spices here sir?”

“I have a few. What did you have in mind?”

“Oregineau, peppermint, ginger, and garlic. Just to start off with.”

“I do have them in stock. Not a lot for certain herbs  since they can be a bit tricky to store and grow. It sounds like you’re quite the gourmet.”

“Only the best meals for nobles. As one of the highest rank people of the kingdom, I should know what every ingredient goes into my meal. Otherwise how would I differentiate between food meant for people and food meant for dogs?”

Rowan could not help but roll his eyes at Aaron’s answer. It looked like there was no way to completely fix Aarons mindset on nobles and commoners.

“You’ll be surprised how much food can be shared between humans and dogs.” Grandpa Rodan spoke out. Whether the purpose was to intentionally dampen the aristocratic mind  as a jab to Aaron remains to be seen.

“Hey Grandpa, what’s your favorite vegetable to plant?”

Grandpa Rodan stopped and thought about it. “ I like planting potatoes since they are very easy to grow and cook. They're also very healthy. However, if you ask me what my favorite thing to plant is, then it’s sunflowers. I have a few growing in the back. Would you like to see them?”

“Sure!” Rowan answered excitedly.

“Great! Aaron clean up here and I'll send Rowan to help you out after a few minutes.”

The blatant favoritism caused Aaron to protest.

“Hey, that's not fair. Why are you only showing him?”

“That’s because Rowan asked. And he cares. Paying attention to the small details along with showing care can help a lot in politics. You don't really care about the sunflowers, do you?” Grandpa Rodan rebuked the young noble.

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Aaron grumbled silently but could not refute those words.

“But I suppose out of fairness you could come along and do the dishes later.”

Grandpa Rodan got up and the two boys out of the house and around to the back. There was a small garden there that Rowan never noticed. It wasn’t as grand as the farm fields, but it had a cozy feeling. Rowan spotted five sunflowers growing out of the earth, each one taller than him. Their stems were tied to sticks which was a strange sight to the ten year old boy. He asked his Grandpa. “ Why to you you tie the flowers to sticks Grandpa and why do you like these plants?”

“They are tied to sticks because  they’ll fall over otherwise. Do you know why I like sunflowers? First of all, they're tough plants. They will keep growing taller and taller and wont stop, even if they kill themselves while growing. Second, they produce seeds that are delicious for eating. The process of cleaning and drying takes a bit of time, but it's worth it in the end. Third and most importantly, they were a certain favorite of someone. If they were still alive, they would be your grandma.”

Rowan let those words sink in. This was the first time Grandpa Rodan had ever mentioned a grandma to him. He had seen others having grandparents, but was always shushed by his parents when he asked why his grandpa didn't have a partner. Rowan noticed that Grandpa Rodan's shoulder sag at those words and he seemed to shrink in size. Even Aaron kept his silence at the old man’s words.

“What kind of person was grandma?”

“She was a great person, one of the greatest i ever met in this life. Loving and happy. She lit my life like the sun in the sky.” The eyes of the elderly farmer grew moist as he talked. Then shook himself out of it. “Anyways, that's enough about my past. That's not the main reason I brought you back here. How your mediation going Rowan? Can you feel the mana inside your body yet?”

Rowan shook his head. Mana remained elusive to him as he tried to grasp a hold of it. However he felt like he was really close to grasping his own mana. He just needed a few more day of practice.

“No worries. I’m sure you’ll get there soon. We’re back here because I wanted to test an idea. Grab hold of one of the sunflowers and see if you feel anything.”

Rowan instantly understood what his Grandpa Roden wanted to do. SInce the plant growth blessing had something to do with plants, then testing his blessing on a plant would be the best way to figure out how his blessing works. He grabbed hold of the nearest sunflower and tried to feel something.

Nothing.

All he felt was the rough texture of the sunflower stem.

Rowan let out a sigh of disappointment and looked toward his Grandpa for the next step.

“Patience. We can try again when you have a better grasp of mana. I wasn’t expecting success on the first try. Step by step, that's how we improve.” Grandpa Rodan said to soothe his grandson's disappointment. “You said you wanted to be a knight right?”

“Yes, I swore I will become a knight no matter what.”

Aaron scoffed at those words “ You swear? To who? You cant even use your blessing.”

Grandpa Rodan glared at the young noble to silence him, before addressing Rowan

“There are no shortcuts to being a knight. Strive hard to improve yourself. Since your blessing is not combat based it would be more difficult than usual. I know, since I speak from experience. However, if you work hard and keep that wish even when you become older, then I would consider you a true knight. No matter if you actually receive the title or not.”

Rowan took a moment to take in Grandpa Roden's profound words. He had a feeling that even if he became as old as his grandpa, those words would stick with him for a long time. “Thanks grandpa. Are you saying your blessing is not combat based then? You never did tell us what your blessing was.”

The elderly farmer slapped his head in embarrassment. “Silly me. Must be old age. My blessing is animal communication. In other words, I can talk to all different kinds of animals.”

The strangeness of the farm animals was due to the blessing effect, but it still didn't explain one thing.

“I understand a lot now, but that does not explain why Buckbeak is so strong?”

“Oh that? I awakened the animals and taught them mana techniques out of boredom. Also it was to test to see if it was possible to teach animals to control mana. Who thought I would be able to succeed?.” Grandpa Rodan laughed off his unbelievable achievement as the boys mouths dropped open.

Only monsters were able to use mana. The fact that the farm animals could use mana meant they were approaching the realm of monsters.

“Come now, let's head back. Just because  I said we were almost finished with the fields, does not mean we are actually finished.” With those words Grandpa Rodan dragged the two boys back to the front of the house, with the sunflowers soon completely forgotten.

As they left the area, the sunflower that Rowan had held released a dim glow just for a moment. Barely noticeable, the glow dimmed and the sunflower regained its original appearance as if nothing had actually happened.

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