Flowers

Heron had been living in Crull for about a month now. He still felt homesick but he felt more settled in now. It helped that he had two friends now, even if he still wasn't incredibly close to Kuryzan, the elf was rather friendly to him.

But Elswyth really made it so much easier. Even though with how much she followed him around it got a bit annoying but it also made him feel so much safer. His ranger friend was definitely more capable than he was.

Though she also was impressed with him. Though that might be because she had very low expectations in the first place – she did not see royalty very well and he had been rather sheltered.

Anyway, it made it a lot easier to adjust when he had two people to talk to.

Today, he was not in the library. Elswyth had chased him outside. Kur had decided to stay in – partway because he had a visitor.

Elswyth and Serendiah both made sure he went outside a lot. Already he could see some improvement in his health. His color had improved tremendously, as had his appetite. He even felt somewhat stronger – he was still rather weak, but at least it felt more like he wasn't on the verge of falling ill or something.

So, he was walking in one of the city's many beautiful gardens. The Gardens of Armia, named after Queen Armia who was known for her love of nature and building of several such gardens all throughout the city.

As they walked through the garden, Heron sprouted off bits of stuff he had read about the gardens as Elswyth listened in amusement. Though she was willing to listen to him talk about the gardens, Heron knew she would get annoyed if he started on architecture, at least after a few minutes. He was honestly more interested in the gardens anyway, he only really paid attention to styles with buildings – he couldn't care less what the material used was.

He tugged on her hand as he saw a rare flower, pulling her along to show her.

"Look. A weeping mother. I read this garden had them, and I was hoping to see one." He said, as he bent down to look at it, "Its beautiful. And very rare."

The weeping mother flower was a very odd flower too. It had a drooping bloom, with five petals, two of which were longer than the others. The color of the petals were golden, with red streaks. Its pistil was small and surrounded by its seven stamen which also had a slight droop to them.

It was remarkably eye catching. And rather beautiful. This garden was one of the few places in which it had ever been planted. The flower itself originated from some valley in Nix'Ryl.

"They are rather pretty." Elswyth said, "Though I prefer the white bride myself."

Heron grinned, "Some grows here. Wanna find it?"

"Sure." She smiled as he led her. He had a general idea of where to go.

It did not take long to find it. It was a rather large patch of flowers.

Elswyth smiled when she saw them, "I haven't seen any in a while, they are gorgeous right?"

The white flowers really were. They were not as big as the weeping mother's were. But they were pretty in a different way.

Snowy white petals that popped out from their green foliage it was easy to see where they got their name. They had two layers of petals. The inner one was more close knit, hiding the stamen and pistils almost entirely. The outer layer was larger and thinner, almost translucent in the sun.

"Yeah." He agreed. They really were. Though he personally thought that the weeping mother was prettier.

"Most girls like this flower a lot," Elswyth said. "Theres a superstition around it you know."

"Oh, really?" Heron's interest was piqued.

"Yeah. They say if a young man gives you one, your love will bloom and you'll get married soon." She laughed, "A bit romantic and silly. Sure if a man gives you one, yeah you probably are about to get married, but its more because of the superstition causing men to give it to the girl they like."

Heron laughed, "Oh? And what if the girl doesn't like the man?"

"Then they avoid him so he doesn't gift them one." She laughed, "It's silly and fun. Also it's the traditional flower for weddings here, so even without the superstition its still a rather romantic flower."

"I had no idea you were a romantic." Heron said laughing a little.

"Oh. Most girls are. At least a little. I don't particularly need a man…but I sometimes wonder what it would be like to get married." Elswyth smiled. "He'd have to be a sweetheart though."