Tonight's dance, it seemed, was to be a Midnight Dance.

When we arrived at the village square, we discovered that the entire area had been decorated with blue and purple flowers, and several dozens of lanterns had been lit. Everyone around was dressed in their best, even the ones tasked with providing food.

Dandy was among them, serving her best cider, made of wild honey and raspberries.

Lily giggled as she watched the glow of the colorful lanterns, and I couldn't help but smile when I saw the decorations.

Soon enough, Mother and Father excused themselves to talk to a few friends, while Lily joined a couple of kids her age that were playing a Ring Dance game.

Meanwhile, I wandered around the square, waiting for the music to begin. I was excited that my favorite dance, the Starspinning, would be first tonight.

The Starspinning was a complicated dance, but it was said that if a person could dance the Starspinning perfectly, without any mishaps, the stars would grant them whatever they desired most.

I had danced The Starspinning year after year, but I could never complete it; I always tripped over my own feet, or I had to stop because I ran out of breath.
But this year... this year, I was determined to master it.

So focused was I on the decorations and my own thoughts that I bumped into someone, knocking both of us over.

"What the..." I started to say, but when I saw who it was, I frowned slightly.

The person I'd bumped into was none other than Zues Foxglove.

Zues was one of those males that liked to think he was very important, but was really just an overall pain in the abdomen.
His main problem was that he was a well-known Wildflower, a boy that planted his roots where he wished, and uprooted just as quickly whenever he was bored.

But that didn't stop the girls from lining up to try to get his attention.

Well, except for me, of course.
No matter how dashing he looked, I knew that he was nothing but trouble.

"Diana," Zues said in his usual soft, seductive voice, "I wondered if I would see you here."

"Go away," I replied as I stood up carefully, brushing dirt off my dress.

Zues's expression changed from smug to mildly hurt, and he said, "Truly, you wound me. I merely wish to have a simple conversation with you."

"No, you don't," I replied, "You just want to see if you can lure me to your bed, just like you do every other girl."

Before he could respond, I turned and walked away, praying to the gods that he wouldn't follow me.

Then I heard music, and I turned to watch a man with a oak leaf emblem on his chest gesturing to a bunch of daffodils, which hummed in time with his directions.

These weren't just any ordinary daffodils; these had been grown with the purpose of making music.
A lot of people could grow an ordinary flower, but only a Greengrower could grow and train musical blossoms.

Greengrowers had a rare kind of growth magic, one that could even affect the very foundations of nature.

Our Greengrowers, however, could only make flowers sing.
I'd heard that the more powerful Greengrowers dwelt in the palace of the...

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the music starting, and I realized that I was about to miss the Starspinning.

Quickly, I rushed to the center of the party, where the space had been cleared for dancing. Several others (mostly females, I noted) had gathered there as well, and were preparing to take the first step.

The Greengrower suddenly began the music, and...

Then the daffodils suddenly curled up, wilting before they'd barely gotten a note out. Several townsfolk gasped, and many of the other dancers stumbled over their first steps.

Then a shout went up as a large carriage rode up, driven by six black horses and surrounded by several tall figures clothed in vines and carrying spears made of wood that crackled with a dark energy.

But it was the design on the carriage that drew the most attention: a bush with sharp-looking thorns surrounding a blaze of fire.

Everyone gasped, including me, because we all knew what that design meant.

That was the sign of our ruler.

The Bramble King.