“I already told you, Mrs. Kimpol, I want to travel outside the boundaries of this village. Maybe even see beyond this kingdom. I want to know who I am before knowing anyone else. I don’t even know all the things my heart desires. How do a bunch of old men?” Mrs. Kimpol sighs and gives me a defeated smile before I continue, “When I marry, if I ever marry, it will be because that’s what I want. In the meantime, council can go bug someone else because they get nothing from me.”
“As you say, dear.” She pats my arm, and I know that’s her way of disagreeing without offering further argument. She collects her items and starts heading to the door. “The shop will remain closed for the next three days. Go spend time with your family. Isn’t your sister about to deliver any day now?”
“Three days? I can keep the shop going for you.” I rush to her side like a dog begging for a treat. “I’ll keep it up and running. That way, you wouldn’t have to miss out on any earnings.”
Sheshoosme. “Oh, I’m not worried about that.” She stops with her hand lightly on the doorknob. A finger goes to her chin and she mumbles inaudibly to herself. Suddenly, she begins searching her pockets until she finds one she likes. She then pulls out a floral coin pouch and holds it out for me. “This should cover the next couple of days. No need to have you miss out on moinlings because I want to have a little fun.”
She perks up and swings the door open. My fingers feel along the pouch and I don’t even have to open it to know this is much more than my wages for three days.
“Mrs. Kimpol, I can’t—” She gives me no time to finish before I feel her pushing me out the door.
“Hush girl,” she orders once we’re outside. “Take it and go enjoy yourself.”
She locks the door to the shop and checks it once more to make sure it is secure. I help carry her bag to her wagon, and she plants a kiss atop my head before climbing up.
With the reins in hand she gives me one last look. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but if I were you, I would see if I could get council to offer me the deal once more. Once you get to be my age, comfort and stability are what you will depend on the most, and if someone is willing to offer it, I would take them up on it. And who knows, dear, you might end up falling madly in love with him later in life.” She fixes her sights ahead and flicks her reins. “See you soon, dear.”
“I doubt it,” I mumble before stuffing the coin purse in the pocket of my dress.
With nothing else to do with my day, I begin walking through town, making my way to the outskirts of the village. I dread the opinions my sister will unwarily share, but I make my way to her anyway.
The day is still a glorious one. The weather is perfect and the sky is bright and clear. Poking out above the various homes and shops are the Rosewood Mountains. The snowy peaks tease me with exploration. Just another place on my list to visit. Feeling the coins jingle in my pocket, as if a reminder of what I just acquired, I wonder if I have enough to go on an adventure of my own. Surely that journey would take more than three days, and I highly doubt Mrs. Kimpol would mind. She probably would push me to concede and give in if given the chance.
I spot a large crack on the cobblestone path. One invaded by a moss that is my favorite shade of green. I jump over it, much like I did when I was a child. A game Luna, my best friend, and I used to play as children. There was never any point to it. Just something for us to do.
Up ahead, I spot Shea’s trolley. He is a wild old soul and the village florist. As usual, I rush to my favorite section. Every dayI stop and touch the hydrangeas in his cart. Having a garden of my own I never purchase anything, but his are too pretty not to admire.
“How many times do I have to tell you, Ms. Tyddle, you either buy them or keep your grubby little hands off?” he says in a Saden accent as he comes around the corner with a wink and a grin. He looks around to make sure no one is near. “Have you seen the new ones yet?”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice before I start scanning the flowers. All I see are the usual ones. “Where? If you’re referring to the green ones, I saw those the other day. Stunning, but not as pretty as the…baby…blue.” My sentence slows as he pulls flowers from behind his back. He and I both know my obsession with hydrangeas, and he’s just shown me the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen.
The petals are like butterfly wings and the color looks like it’s been painted with rose gold and sprinkled with crushed diamonds. I take them from him without permission. “How did you get them like this?”
He leans in close before sharing, “Crushed eggshell in the fertilizer and I let loose magis worms. Harmless to the plant, but that nasty, shimmer goop they leave behind does wonders.”
My head snaps up with the perfect idea. “This is a good inspiration for a dress. How much?”
“For you? Nothing. Plus, I heard what you did at council and that alone deserves free flowers—for life.”
“How did you hear about that?” Suddenly, I’m all too aware of others roaming the village.
“You think you can deny council and there wouldn’t be talk about it before you even left the building?”
He takes a watering jug to a row of multi-colored tulips. A few streams don’t pour as easily as the others, so I snatch it from him and dig in my bag for one of my needles.
“I think those men should concentrate on more important matters.” My needle pokes through the clogged holes until the flow matches the others. “And people should learn not to fuss over matters that have nothing to do with them.”
“Ariah!” A dour voice beckons to me from down the cobble path.
Shea snatches the jug from me. “Looks like fuss is heading your way. You two take it away from my cart please.
Thankfully, it’s only Luna who waves me down; and doing as he orders, I meet her before she can reach us.
I toss Shea one of my newly acquired coins. “I said it was free,” he calls out after me, dropping the Saden accent so others can’t hear.
“Put it towards your shop.”
Shea has been trying to get a place of his own for years. Being from the rival kingdom of Saden, opening his own business has been difficult, and not many want to take a chance on someone they believe could betray them at any moment. Shea never would, but people have little trust nowadays.
