The Last Flowers Ch. 05

Willow crouched to whisper in her ear. "They eat much more than we do."

She remembered. A single piece of fruit wouldn't fill them. But she'd seen what little the orchard had to offer. They'd just taken most of it in one meal.

Rozenwild took another bite and passed the apple to Ellowyn behind the elhuvens' backs. The perky nymph's face turned sad as she realised the same thing. She took a bite and tried to pass it on to Willow, but the older nymph refused to take it.

As the night wore on they shared stories, the elhuvens opening up about their lives, and the nymphs telling what theirs used to be like before. For Rozenwild, there were mixed emotions. The last time she'd sat down with friends it was with the nymphs, most of whom she'd never see again. But at the same time it was great to be in a group again, and there was a feeling of hope.

"Are you ladies getting tired?" Willow asked, rocking Sage in her arms.

As if on que Kerensa yawned.

"I guess we should go to bed. It's been a big day," Sarielle said. "Where everyone's sleeping?"

"We built the new shelter close to the fire, but there's not enough room for everyone under the there. Someone's going to have to come with us." Willow explained.

Rozenwild didn't need the fire, so she went to camp with Sage and Willow. The elhuvens were settling into the new lean-to, sharing the single blanket Kerensa brought. But Ellowyn was looking lost. Despite her obvious desire to join them, she chose the nymphs instead.

~

~*~:~*#S#*~:~*~

Sarielle's toes found grip on the tiny ledge, allowing her to shift her weight lower on the rock face. She jumped the last couple of feet to the ground, where Rozenwild steadied her so she didn't fall. Ellowyn was waiting by the edge of the river for her.

"Hold onto me," Ellowyn said, wading into the water.

Aster was the last off the cliff. Rozenwild was going to take both her and Kerensa. They'd decided the five of them would be the ones for the journey, seeing as Sage couldn't come and Hevani was too afraid to go anywhere near the town. Willow stayed to keep them company and ease Hevani's fears. They'd already walked for an hour and spent another climbing along the cliffs to reach the river that would take them west of the town.

Unlike the pleasant stream, this water was deep and when the coldness of it lapped at Sarielle's nipples, she grew nervous. Ellowyn took her feet off the bottom and paddled in a circle. Sarielle tried to copy, but found her chin started to sink below the surface.

"Help!" She flailed her arms, splashing water everywhere.

"It's okay." Ellowyn cruised over and hugged her. "You're not going to drown."

"Unless you splash like that," Rozenwild added. "Then you will sink."

"But today you can hold onto my shoulders." Ellowyn moved and Sarielle clasped onto her tightly.

Together, they floated across the river. Rozenwild had a frightened elhuven clinging desperately to her on each side. They were weighing her down, but she didn't look bothered. They came out the other side dripping and sat down to rest.

There was a lot more walking to get them safely to the north of the town. Once there, they had to wait until dark to sneak in. As quietly as they could, they crept along the tree line to the back of Sarielle's house. She took the halter from a hook in the barn and walked into the paddock to catch the horse. The bay mare stared at her curiously and let herself be caught. She led the animal over to the cart, where Kerensa and Aster were waiting with the tack. Once they had the horse hooked up to the carriage, they quietly started to load boxes of cheese into the back. She felt bad about stealing from her father, but the cheese was the product of her labour and she was only borrowing the cart.

Everyone climbed in and Sarielle led the horse by the bridle through one of the paddocks and along the grass corridor so the wheels didn't crunch on the roads. When they got outside of the village, she climbed into the driver's seat and took up the reins. The lanterns they lit did little to light the way and Sarielle was worried about the dangerous road.

"Sae, we need to go faster. If anyone heard us they could easily catch up to us at this rate," Kerensa said from the back.

"It's not safe."

If she'd been someone else there might have been more argument, but no one wanted to bring up Dagen.

The road started its descent and Sarielle grew nervous. It was so hard to see. She stopped the horse and jumped to the ground. Her hand swiped a lantern and she walked up the front to lead the mare.

Ellowyn appeared beside her, apparently having jumped from the moving cart. "You'll get tired."

"I need to light the road for the horse," she said a bit abruptly.

"Then I'll walk with you."

"You don't have to."

She took her hand and squeezed. "Is something wrong? You don't seem yourself."

"Sorry. It's...my older brother died on this road. His cart overturned and crushed him."

"Oh, that's terrible. I understand your caution now."

Ellowyn loyally stayed until Sarielle's legs ached and she had to stop to let someone else take over.

~

~*~:~*#K#*~:~*~

Kerensa heard a scraping next to her and warmth press into her shoulder. Rozenwild had moved close enough to lean against her and was gazing at her intensely. Kerensa looked away sheepishly. She knew the nymph was coming onto her and didn't know what to do about it. Which was somewhat silly because they'd already had sex. But that was in quite unusual circumstances. They'd bypassed the flirting and all that stuff. She was still new to this sort of thing and she'd known Rozenwild for a day and a half. In that time she hadn't learnt much about her. The massage was more of a medical thing than anything else and during that time it was mostly Kerensa sharing her life. The nymph had very little to say and sported a sour expression a lot of the time. Most of what Kerensa said only seemed to irritate her further. Being familiar with aggression and its usual consequences, Kerensa kept dropping the subject, but Rozenwild would tell her to go on. The nymph even apologised and explained she wasn't angry at her.

Soft lips kissed her neck, making Kerensa hunch her shoulders and turn back to look at Rozenwild. The nymph stroked Kerensa's face, her fingers coming to rest on her jaw. Kerensa didn't pull away. It felt nice and she wanted more. She realised she'd developed a crush on the nymph. Hopefully it wasn't her brain being stupid again.

"The problem with night-time is I can't see how pretty you are." She leaned in to press her lips gently to Kerensa's.

Kerensa sat there feeling very unsure. It was one thing to sleep with a girl while under the influence of an evil, pollen-spouting tree in order to save her life. It was another to make that choice when sober. She also had that awful habit of melting into pliant putty when someone said nice things about her.

"Is something the matter?" the nymph asked. "It's okay if you don't like it. Just say so. I won't be angry. I'm grateful for the rescue, but it doesn't mean you belong to me now. I don't want anything else from you that you don't want to give."

"No, I-I like it..."

Rozenwild gave her another peck. "It'll get easier. I'll show you." She kissed her, slow at first, then more heated. Her tongue slid into Kerensa's mouth to caress hers. The cart coming to a halt made her reluctantly stop.

"Can someone else take over for a while? Sarielle's getting tired," Ellowyn asked.

"I'll switch with you." Aster jumped over the side and went to take control of the horse. "Those two are starting to get a little frisky," she tried to say quietly.

Sarielle climbed up into the cart bed, but Ellowyn stayed on the ground holding the lantern.

"I'll keep Aster company. You make sure Rozenwild behaves herself." The nymph trotted back to the front and the cart lurched forward.

They rode along in silence for a while, Kerensa resting against Rozenwild. She managed to fall asleep at one point and had to be woken to take her turn leading. When the land started to level out and the road improved, they got back in the cart and Sarielle took up the reins once more. Their progress was still slow and the sun was starting to come out by the time they reached the Aroxville. But they didn't stop to wait for the shops to open. It was a small village and to their knowledge didn't contain any masters of magic. With light, they could travel at a faster speed and covered the distance to the next town in only an hour.

Sarielle made the horse stop so she could rest and drink. "I'll go ask some folk if they know anyone who can remove a curse."

"And I'll try to get us something to eat." Aster took a wheel of cheese from one of the crates and went off in search of someone to trade with, leaving Kerensa with the nymphs to mind the cart.

Aster returned first, the pocket on her apron filled with bread and fruit. They all crowed around to take a share, although the nymphs didn't touch the bread. Sarielle came back a few minutes later shaking her head.

"We have to go to Gersbroir to find someone like that," she said as she climbed into the cart.

Gersbroir was the largest town between Selrilve and Ametissa City. It was so large it was nearly a city itself. They'd need to stay overnight in the least and have to find out where they could sell the cheese.

Kerensa sighed. "I could ask Gawain for help. He lives there."

"It would be great if he would."

"Who's Gawain?" Rozenwild asked.

Kerensa looked down. "A guy I...uh...did naughty things with."

"Well, I'm sure he'd be happy to help then."

She hoped so.

*****

AUTHOR NOTE:

Hello everyone. If you're enjoying the story please let me know in the comments. Who's your favourite character? Do you like cheese? I really appreciate hearing from you.