Lady Flowers stepped through the ornate doors of her estate. The entrance hall gleamed with polished wood and subtle lighting that suggested old wealth rather than ostentatious display. Taking a deep breath as she welcome being home again.
"Welcome home, my lady." Her butler appeared with practiced timing, already reaching for her travel case. "I trust your trip to the Hallow Empire was successful?"
"Quite successful, Reginald." She allowed herself a small smile as she removed her gloves. "The spoils have already been transferred to R&D. They should find the samples... illuminating."
"Excellent news." Reginald accepted her coat with the efficiency of someone who'd performed this ritual for decades. "Stephen is waiting in the study. He arrived approximately an hour ago."
"Of course he is." Lady Flowers' smile turned knowing. "The man has impeccable timing. Tea, please. The good stuff, not what we serve diplomats."
She made her way through familiar corridors, past portraits of predecessors who'd shaped the political landscape for generations. The study doors stood open, warm light spilling into the hallway.
Stephen sat in one of the leather chairs, reading from a tablet that he set aside as she entered. His expression carried the weariness of someone juggling too many responsibilities.
"Ms. Flowers," he greeted her, rising briefly before settling back as she waved him down.
"Stephen." She took the chair opposite him as Reginald appeared with the tea service. "As quick as ever, I see."
"Someone has to keep track of your schemes." His tone carried the easy familiarity of old friendship. "So how was the show, by the way?"
"I take it your asking about your children? Well, Cameron and Janet are hardly children anymore." Lady Flowers accepted her teacup, breathing in the familiar aroma. "Though I was pleased to see them at Trexlor. Cameron's even coming out of his shell, I noticed. Working with that shipwright seems to be good for him."
Stephen's expression sharpened with interest. "Was it really Sage?"
Lady Flowers took a deliberate sip before answering. "It was. And they seem to have found themselves quite the bonded—stubborn, brilliant, and refreshingly innocent of the larger games at play."
"Innocent won't last long, not with what's coming."
"No," she agreed quietly. "But innocence paired with determination can be a powerful force. Better than cynicism paired with ambition, at least." She set down her cup. "It was good of you to send Cameron and Janet to Eden-Five when you did. The timing worked out perfectly."
"The Lady's timing, you mean." Stephen's slight smile suggested his own Gardener's influence. "She's been quite insistent about positioning the children where they'd be most useful."
Lady Flowers nodded knowingly.
"The Lady has always understood the long game. Did you get what you needed from the trade show?" asked Stephen with intense interest.
"The navigational chips and black boxes that young Furrow demonstrated—they're exactly what we need. With proper modifications, we should be able to reach Utopia and get its defences operational before Dominus realises what we're doing."
Stephen leaned back, his expression troubled. "It's strange, isn't it? Five Gardeners awakening simultaneously after centuries of silence. And Utopia's location was discovered simultaneously. That's not a coincidence."
"No, it's not." Lady Flowers gazed into her tea as if reading patterns in the liquid. "Though getting more details from them is like pulling teeth. You know how they are. My sister used to complain about her Gardener being stubborn and cryptic."
Stephen gave a slight smile. "The Lady has her moments, too, though she's usually more direct except about this. She only says it's something about the Builders and their master plan. Cryptic warnings about cycles and preparations."
Bringing up her sister brought a pang of old grief. Lady Flowers had learned to carry it quietly over the years, but it never quite disappeared.
"Speaking of my sister," Stephen continued carefully, "are you certain about giving Sage access to her old ship? That derelict has been sitting in dead space for nearly two hundred years. Whatever she was working on—"
"I've waited almost two hundred years for a peaceful Gardener to awaken," Lady Flowers interrupted, her tone carrying steel beneath the gentle words. "Sage was worth the wait. And if anyone deserves access to my sister's work, it is a naïve country girl that won't use it for war."
Stephen accepted the statement with a slight nod.
"Have you had any luck tracing the fifth Gardener?" asked Lady Flowers, wanting to change the topic of conversation away from her sister.
"No." Stephen's frustration was evident. "We know the others: Archon bonded with an incompatible host and was sent back by Sage—presumably for reintegration or punishment. Dominus is making disturbing strides in the Fall Kingdom with his bonded; their military movements suggest they're preparing for something significant. Zero is still lying low in Collective space, and I honestly can't predict which side they'll choose. They follow logic to a fault, which makes them simultaneously predictable and completely opaque."
"And the fifth?"
"In hiding. Deep hiding. No activity, no signals, no bonded host that we can identify." He spread his hands helplessly. "The Lady says she can't sense them either. They could be dormant, they could be planning something we can't see, or they could simply be waiting. We don't know where to look."
Lady Flowers sipped her tea, considering the board as it stood. Five Gardeners, five different agendas, all converging on whatever the Builders had planned. And in the middle of it all, a young shipwright from a farm colony who had no idea what she'd become part of.
"What's your plan now?" Stephen asked.
"We use the navigation technology to accomplish two objectives," Lady Flowers said, setting down her cup with quiet finality. "First, lay traps for Dominus's fleet. His expansion into Fall Kingdom won't go unopposed, but we need to be strategic about where we make our stand. Second, use the beacon networks and navigation boxes to pierce the storms shielding Utopia. Once we're inside, we can bring the old defences online."
She met Stephen's eyes directly. "And if all goes to plan, we resurrect the Holy Order to its former glory."
Stephen's expression darkened. "Is that wise? you remember what they were like before the Fall."
"I remember." Her voice carried the weight of lived history, of watching an organisation she'd believed in get destroyed from both inside and outside. "I remember everything. Which is precisely why we won't make the same mistakes."
"How can you be certain?"
"Because we've learned from the past. Because this time, we're not acting from a position of strength and certainty, but from necessity and humility." She picked up her tea again, finding comfort in the familiar ritual. "The old Order fell because they believed they had all the answers and didn't believe the others would attack. The new Order will rise by acknowledging how many questions remain, and we won't be easy victims this time."
Stephen studied her for a long moment. "You're asking me to trust you on faith."
"I'm asking you to trust that two hundred years of waiting has taught me patience, if nothing else." She smiled slightly. "Though I suppose faith comes into it as well. We're trying to resurrect an organisation dedicated to protecting humanity from itself and its enemies, after all. Faith seems appropriate."
"What about the Furrow girl? What's her role in all this?"
"She builds ships," Lady Flowers said simply. "Now that she has my sister's ship, she will change how humanity moves through space. She might even build us ships that could help us defend against Dominus, maybe even find the fifth Gardener if we're fortunate." She paused. "But more importantly, she represents something we've been missing: innovation driven by curiosity rather than fear or greed. Sage chose well. It is time we moved forward again, instead of living in fear."
"She's also a civilian with no training in the conflicts you're preparing for."
"Which is precisely why she's valuable. The old wars were fought by people who knew exactly what they were doing and why. Look how that turned out." Lady Flowers gestured at the window, where her estate's grounds stretched toward distant mountains. "Sometimes the most important changes come from people who don't know enough to recognise impossibility when they see it. It will be interesting to see how a pacifist like Sage will deal with what's coming."
Stephen's expression suggested he wasn't entirely convinced, but he didn't argue further. They'd worked together long enough to understand which battles were worth fighting and which required trust.
"Cameron and Janet will watch over her," he said instead. "They're good at that—finding the people worth protecting and staying loyal."
"You raised them well, Stephen."
"Let's hope I've prepared them well enough for what's coming. If Dominus moves against the Hallow Empire or Utopia in force—"
"Then we'll use every advantage we have, including Furrow's navigation technology." Lady Flowers stood, signaling the meeting's conclusion. "The pieces are moving, Stephen. All we can do is try to guide them toward the least catastrophic outcomes."
Stephen rose as well, accepting the dismissal with practised grace. "I'll keep searching for the fifth Gardener. "
"Good." She walked him to the study door. "And Stephen? Keep an eye on your children. You sent them to help the Furrow girl, but that doesn't mean they're safe from the larger conflicts brewing."
"I know." His expression hardened with protective determination. "I won't lose, not again."
After he left, Lady Flowers returned to her chair and her cooling tea. Through the window, evening light painted the mountains in shades of gold and shadow. Beautiful and peaceful, completely at odds with the storms gathering across human space.
Five Gardeners awakened. Utopia found. The Holy Order poised for resurrection. And somewhere in the middle of it all, a young woman from Eden-Five building might be the lynch pin.
The Builders had planned this. Somehow, across millennia, they'd set pieces in motion that were only now converging. Lady Flowers had spent two centuries trying to understand their vision, and she still only glimpsed fragments of the larger pattern.
But she knew this much: the next few decades would determine whether humanity transcended its worst impulses or fell back into the cycles of war and suppression that had defined the Expansion Wars.
And Tanya Furrow, whether she knew it or not, had just become one of the most important pieces on the board.
Lady Flowers raised her teacup in a silent toast to her late sister, whose ship now waited in dead space for the young shipwright to resurrect it.
"You always did have faith in the impossible," she murmured. "Let's hope you were right."
Outside, the sun set over mountains that had watched empires rise and fall. Inside, an old woman who'd lived through more history than most would ever know prepared for one final gambit.