A scowl remained firmly affixed to my face as my mana surged up the tree’s branches. One of them bent towards me, as if the tree was trying to bow, and I snatched up three of the fruits located there. Before Aesa or Alys could say anything, I bit down into it.

  Sweetness burst onto my tongue. Sweetness, and something else… something subtle and pleasant that made the fruit taste remarkably unique.

  I was still scowling as I swallowed the treat under the mildly shocked gazes of Alys and Grandmother. It took more than a few bites to get through all the ‘flesh’ of the apple-like fruit and reach the large, pit-like thing at the center. This was different from a normal manchineel tree, I noted. Typically, the flesh was rather thin.

  Once I reached the pit, I squeezed it with enough force to crack its surface, finally getting at the six small seeds hidden within. My scowl only grew deeper at what I sensed when I ran my mana through them.

  “First, the fruit is actually sweet and completely safe to eat, even for regular mortals,” I admitted, airing my thoughts out loud. “In fact, it contains both a potent antidote and a mild healing effect. Long-term ingestion could be beneficial, in the sense that it might pass on a mild resistance to the tree’s own poison. I can’t tell you yet whether it would also affect weaker poisons.”

  I held the fruits out to Alys and Grandmother, both of whom showed me more than a bit of trust by immediately taking them and biting down. I could tell they liked the taste from the way their tails and wings twitched.

  “Don’t ask me how this is possible, since it is not a typical effect of similar fruits and plants, that I am aware of. Detoxification and mild healing are not unusual, but permanent benefits are. I can definitely sense it, however. The fruit is trying to develop a permanent resistance to the tree’s poison in my body. I am already resistant, of course, but the effect is there.”

  I paused, once more spearing the trees with a glare before getting into the less favorable news.

  “Now, onto the problems I discovered.”

  Grandmother immediately focused in on me.

  “All of the trees are now connected through a network of roots. If you try to pry one up, you will damage both the tree in question and its neighbors. I can’t tell you yet how severe the damage would be, but it would not be limited to the trees.”

  “Hrrrm? Explain,” Grandmother demanded.

  I grimaced. “The roots all contain extremely potent poison veins. Those veins make it possible to share the benefits of increased toxin potency in one tree with all of them. This does mean that even if we focus on nurturing only a single tree, the entire grove will grow more useful. However, if we damage the roots of only one tree, the subsequent contamination of the soil would make this area useless for growing anything but the mutated manchineel trees. For… a long while.”

  It might have been hypocritical of me, considering what I had unleashed on the forest before, but I wanted to avoid that kind of outcome. After all, the poison I had previously inflicted on the environment was the kind that either lost potency quickly or didn’t affect the soil in a way that prohibited new growth. I had a strong feeling that wouldn’t be the case here.

  Which felt like a trap.

  I wouldn’t pretend to understand the rules and thought processes of nature spirits, even if I was a fae. Actually, I wouldn’t do that precisely because I was a fae. My own kind were often described as insane by mortals, which wasn’t too far off the mark, honestly.

  That meant I had to proceed with extra caution. I knew there were two spirits somewhere in our vicinity. I didn’t want to give them any justification to interfere harmfully in our lives.

  Even without knowing their rules, damaging their domains seemed a certain way to trigger their supposed wrath.

  My scowl was now reflected on both Alys’ and Grandmother’s faces as they worked through the implications of my words. And I wasn’t even finished.

  “Furthermore, the seeds of the trees are… wrong.”

  “Wrong how?” Alys asked.

  I experienced a brief flash of shame due to the worried look on her face. My dragoness, in typical dragon fashion, had just chomped right through the pit of the manchineel fruit when she was done with the flesh, wrinkling her snout to show she didn’t care for the taste.

  “Don’t worry. They’re not in any way bad for our child,” I assured her. “They are simply weak, for lack of a better of word. Almost like someone tried to make the trees barren and couldn’t, because such a deed contradicted their own nature.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  I glared at the ground like it owed me money. Not only had the spirit mutated my trees, but it had also tried to wipe away my ability to grow more of the mutated manchineel. If not for the fact that it was a nature spirit, it probably would have succeeded. Again, I didn’t know all the logic of nature spirits, but I was fairly certain that they didn’t typically try to stop plants from propagating.

  “So, we cannot grow more of the trees elsewhere?” Grandmother asked, frustration plain in her voice.

  “Oh, I didn’t say that. I can still force the issue, but the resultant tree would be far less potent in every regard. Its properties, both poisonous and healing, would be a shadow of the trees in this clearing. If we planted a new tree here, it would likely link up with the others already present, and that would give it a boost. But away from here?”

  I practically snarled, resisting the urge to pace only because Alys was still attached to me. I didn’t want to drag her around by her tail just because I was angry.

  “It would take time and effort to achieve the same result. Ironically, the flowers are helpful there. They passively strengthen their host tree, and I’ve sensed nothing about them that would keep you from growing them elsewhere. The trees here are ‘merely’ ideal for doing so. The flowers grown on the weakened trees might be a little runty for a while, but you could do it.”

  “Excellent. In that case, that is something we will start working on immediately,” The Molten Expanse growled, eyes and scales flaring up. “You might not be leaving with me, but if you are forced to do so quickly in the future, we will not lose access to these wonders simply because a couple of nature spirits were feeling possessive.”

  She glowered fiercely as her gaze swept over the clearing. If we had any idea at all where the two spirits were located, she very well might have tried to track them down then and there.

  Though she had promised not to pressure us into the safety of her lair, Grandmother’s protectiveness was not blunted at all. She was merely trying to channel it in a slightly more palatable manner for Alys, such as converting our home into a veritable fortress of magical defenses.

  I did not mind any of that one bit. If anything, it was a relief to have The Molten Expanse looming over anyone who wanted to harm my mate and child.

  “I can do that, happily,” I told her. “I still have a few pots Alys made for me, though perhaps you’d make a particularly large one for me, dear?” I beamed at my dragoness when she offered me a firm nod. “Thank you. In that case, I’ll see what I can do the moment we are home. I should be able to speed up the growth of any trees we plant by feeding them poison.”

  I was not completely certain that was the case. But my scans of the trees, using every diagnostic spell I knew, certainly suggested it.

  The proud, slightly malicious glint in Grandmother’s eyes made me flush a little.

  “Good.” She turned to begin stalking away from the clearing. “In that case, we should go back and do so now.”

  “Ah, just a moment.” My eyes were still fixed on all the flowers around me. “Before that, I am going to need to collect some samples so I can experiment with these flowers properly. I have no intention of wasting the flower I am saving for Alys due to some silly, preventable mistake.”

  That particular flower was, interestingly enough, still the largest and most potent one around, from what I could feel of the plants currently growing in the clearing.

  “We will also need to collect a few of the flowers so we can graft them onto the trees in the other two locations,” I pointed out, pressing my hand against another mutated manchineel.

  “Ah. That is correct, you did mention there were other groves.” Grandmother perked up, despite the lingering annoyance I could clearly see in her expression. “It will always be useful to have more of the flowers.”

  I nodded. “That is true. If nothing else works out, filling our home with them will certainly boost our growth rate significantly.”

  I was still a little distracted by what the flowers were doing to me. The sensation of extremely slow, yet consistent strengthening of my very being was… unique.

  Not unpleasant, by any means. Quite the opposite. But unique.

  “Ahhh, so I was right about that too, then,” Grandmother purred, looking supremely smug once again.

  I glanced at her in confusion before realizing I hadn’t told them what was happening to me when we ventured into the grove’s sphere of influence.

  “I am guessing you thought the flowers would now affect me the same way they do Alys?” She nodded, and I frowned. “They do. It is odd, the sensation, but they are definitely improving my bloodline.”

  My frown deepened as I began contemplating the matter further. Would they refine my bloodline as a whole? Or did the flowers somehow prioritize a more ‘important’ bloodline? In that case, would the effect latch onto my bloodline as a Belladonna, or would it latch onto the Royal blood within my veins instead? I wouldn’t particularly appreciate the latter, despite my issues with my family.

  This was just one of several questions I now needed answers to. Such a situation would typically result in me rushing off to my lab and failing to emerge until absolutely necessary. Now, however…

  I glanced at Alys, fixing the sweetest smile I could onto my face.

  “Alys, my love, my dear…”

  “Ugh.” She tried to scowl, but I saw the amusement and affection dancing in her eyes, as well as the twitches of her lips. “I’ve heard that tone every time my father tried to talk my mother into something that could get him into trouble. What do you want?”

  The comparison made me flush a little, but I pushed on.

  “Well… I was hoping we could spend the day in my lab? I have many tests to run, and I would like to complete them as soon as possible.” I gestured around at the clearing, my voice turning a bit waspish. “Just to be sure there are no hidden issues lurking within any of these wonderful ‘gifts’ life has offered us.”

  My dragoness’s eyes flashed, but she nodded.

  “Oh, fine. But only because you asked so nicely,” she demurred, her hand coming to rest on my cheek. Then, suddenly, she drew me into a quick kiss.

  Grandmother broke into laughter as I flushed a deep red, while my dragoness simply snickered at my plight. It wasn’t my fault that kissing her in front of her family was surprisingly embarrassing! I would have my revenge.

  At least, that’s what I vowed as I tried to ignore the urge to continue kissing her with Grandmother right there.

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