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Liana has always been fond of pretty things. She’s also the type of person who finds pretty things everywhere. This is both a blessing and a curse, because her father is a merchant, and as her mother passed long ago, she spends most of her time on the road with him.
She loves seeing every new place--the sparkling cities, the idyllic countryside, every quaint little town. Wherever they go, her father’s only concern is whether the people there have money to buy their wares. She supposes that’s valid. They have to make a living, after all. But they are always on the move, never taking time to stop and smell the roses. Or the tulips, or the gardenias, or the petunias, or--well, flowers are one of Liana’s favorite pretty things.
She likes shiny rocks, too. Her father buys all kinds of gemstones and jewelery, hauls them across the country, and sells them for a hefty profit. They are pretty, but so are the rocks she finds in the creek, and those are free. Despite growing up in this life, she never quite understands why people spend so much on certain rocks, just because they’re rare or someone somewhere decided they were special. If one looked at it objectively, was quartz not just as pretty as a diamond?
Her father teaches her how to appraise things, of course. She gets rather good at it. By the time she’s thirteen she can truly spot a diamond in the rough. At markets, she can identify valuables and antiques that the seller doesn’t know are worth as much as they are. She doesn’t like to cheat them, though. She tries to pay people a fair amount, though when her father catches on, he stops letting her go alone. They travel with a caravan, so whether it's her father or one of his assistants, there’s always someone to shadow her.
No matter. The market is fun, but when she tires of their shadowing at whatever town they’re in that week, she slips away into the countryside, or the woods, or the mountains and finds treasures of her own. Her father stopped finding it cute when she was ten or so, but they still make Liana happy.
As she gets older, she gets restless, which is strange for someone always on the move. They are doing quite well in their trade, and she asks her father why they can’t settle for a bit, so maybe she can make some actual friends. But trade is so good then that he refuses, saying they’d be crazy to pass up every opportunity.
It is for this reason that Liana is feeling melancholy when they pass through the country on their way to another small town. Everywhere she goes, she sees girls her age talking together like sisters, or walking arm in arm with a boy they hope to court. She wonders what it's like, to have someone you can confide all your thoughts and secrets in.
Her grim mood lifts when she sees a sign that says ‘flowers’, painted in bright colors, pointing down the road. “Father, can we stop there?”
“Flowers are hardly a part of our business, Liana.”
“Fine. I’ll go myself and catch up with you later.”
“Liana--”
She’s hopped off their wagon and is racing down the fork in the road before he can stop her. In any case, he continues without her, no doubt more concerned about keeping to his schedule than anything. As long as Liana shows up at some point before they leave, she has nothing to worry about. Besides, she’s eighteen now. She can handle herself.
It’s a nice spring day, and Liana sings to herself as she makes her way down the shaded trail. Eventually she realizes her voice is not alone. She quiets, listening to the other voice with a smile. She’s too far away to make out words, but the other singer has a melodic, feminine voice that makes her sigh dreamily.
Too bad there’s not a way to bottle up sounds and take them with her.
She sees the cottage on the hillside first. It’s charmingly overgrown, with ivy snaking up the windows. Before it lies an exquisite field of flowers, a burst of color within the green woods. She spots movement within the flowers, and realizes it’s the source of the singing. A girl about her own age, approaching each flowerbed and kneeling down with care to tend them.
Liana watches for a few minutes. She’s never been anywhere long enough to have a plant. Eventually she approaches the stand, laid out with a couple of pots and bouquets.
It is then that the other girl notices her. “Hello, traveler!” she calls, waving from the field. She removes her gardening gloves and hurries over. “How may I help you?”
Liana gasps as the young woman looks up at her. Her eyes--they sparkle more brightly than any jewel Liana’s ever traded, and her soft pink lips shame the flowers she holds in her hands. Her warm, tan skin is dotted with a constellation of freckles grander than any in the night sky.
The other girl looks at her for a long moment too, but then seems to remember herself. “Miss, are you alright?”
“Oh--yes. I was just admiring you. I mean, your garden,” says Liana, her cheeks turning pink.
The other girl smiles, a playful glint in her eye. “I see. You are a merchant, I take it?”
Liana nods. She must have guessed by her dress--she wears traveling clothes, sturdy enough for life on the road, but fine enough to impress the average peasant and blend in with the nobles should they come to a wealthy estate with her wares.
Meanwhile, Liana manages to pull her eyes away from the girl’s face and admires her dress. It’s pretty in a way she never really considered before. The blue skirt is patched in several places with mismatched fabric, giving it a sort of mysterious charm, making Liana wonder the story behind each tear.
“Yes,” she finally manages. “I--Is this your home?”
The woman nods. “I’m the sole owner and worker of this flower stand. Are there any that catch your fancy?”
Liana gazes around, eyes sparkling in wonder. “Oh, all of them. You must be a very talented gardener!”
The girl smiles. “I learned from my mother. She was the best.”
“I find it hard to imagine a garden lovelier than this one. How much for...” Liana can’t leave without a souvenir. She looks across the stand, debating what she would want. The bouquets were lovely, but they would wilt before long. On the other hand, it would be hard to keep a potted plant alive on the road.
The brunette woman looked at her with some concern. “Are you alright? You must be tired from all that walking. It’s a warm day. Sit, I will bring you some water.”
The girl disappears into her house before Liana can object, so she takes a seat in the grass and waits. The florist comes back with a pitcher and two glasses. She pours a glass and puts it in Liana’s hands, then guides it up to her mouth. Liana has never found herself in such a state. Not since she was a toddler had she needed help with such a simple task! The woman has somehow sensed how out-of-sorts she is today, for reasons she can’t explain.
“Thank you,” Liana manages, after swallowing a sip of cool, refreshing water. “What is your name?”
“Alexa Rivera. And yours?”
“Liana Richardson.”
Alexa smiles. “Tell me, what brings you here? I’ve never found a merchant interested in my flowers. Or one who travels without a caravan.”
Liana can’t help but smile back, though she thinks her own silly grin must put this lovely woman’s to shame. “They went on ahead. I just...happen to like flowers.”
“Let me show you my favorites, then.” Alexa stands and offers a hand. Liana admires it before taking it--it’s delicate but calloused, with dirt under every fingernail. She must work so hard, Liana thinks. And she thought women this lovely only existed in palaces where they lounged around while servants did their bidding!
She follows Alexa for a tour of her garden. Alexa tells her the names of all the plants, and points out her favorites. Alexa’s favorites instantly become Liana’s favorites too. Nothing is quite as pretty as Alexa, though, especially when her face brightens as she tells her enthusiastically about every plant. Liana drinks in every syllable, thinking that her speaking voice is almost as lovely as her singing voice.
As the tour ends, Alexa bids her to get to town before nightfall. The sun is setting, casting the sky behind the cottage into a lovely shade of pink.
“I have taken up so much of your time!” Liana exclaims as she realizes how much time has passed. “I feel I must compensate you.”
“Don’t be silly. Looking is free.”
The way she says it makes Liana blush, like she knows she was more focused on her than the flowers. “Still, I...let me buy something from you. To brighten my room at the inn.”
After some pressing, Alexa sells her a bouquet of flowers for a few copper coins. “Please be careful. Perhaps I should escort you--”
“No, no, you have done too much for me already,” Liana insists. “I shall make it before nightfall. Thank you for a wonderful afternoon, Lady Alexa.”
Alexa’s cheeks redden ever so slightly. “I’m not a lady.”
“If you say so.”
Alexa bites her lip and Liana, embarrassingly, has a brief flash of imagining those teeth on her own skin. “How long is your caravan in town?”
“Two weeks,” Liana breathes.
“Come back tomorrow, my lady.”
Liana turns to hide her blush, and waves goodbye before disappearing around the bend, seeing that her new friend still watches from the flower stand. She walks the rest of the way to town as if on clouds, singing and beaming the whole way.
The town is small, and she is quick to find the inn. She approaches the bar and waits for the innkeeper to finish with another customer.
Another patron, sitting at the bar with a glass of wine, looks admiringly at the bouquet clutched to Liana’s chest. “My, some handsome man must be very fond of you, young lady.”
“What? Why do you say that?” Liana asks in alarm.
The woman points to each different flower in the bouquet in turn. “Amaryllis--splendid beauty. Red rose--passion. And the camellia--desire.”
Liana blushes furiously, suddenly remembering when Alexa gave her the bouquet. It hadn’t continaed the last flower--she had plucked it from her basket and placed it in the center with a wink as a final touch.
The woman chuckled at Liana’s reaction. “Someone special for sure.”
***
Liana goes back the next day. And the next. And the next. Her father grumbles when she returns home late every night with another armful of flowers. She doesn’t care. Nothing can bring down her mood.
“It’s a shame you have to leave in a week,” says Alexa sadly a few days later. They are lying in the grass by the stream, watching clouds go by, giggling and making shapes with them.
Normally when Liana finds pretty things on their travels, she takes them with her. Of course, normally the pretty things she finds are rocks and leaves and shells. “Come with me?”
Alexa smiles sadly. “Would your father allow that?”
“No,” Liana says, just as sad, but equally certain.
“I’m not sure I could leave my family’s home. There’s no one else left to take care of it.”
Liana fights tears. “I wish I at least had something more to remember you by. The flowers you gave me will wilt soon.”
Alexa bites her lip in that way that Liana loves but hates because it makes her think things she surely shouldn’t. “I suppose there’s something else I could give you to remember me by.”
“Oh?”
Alexa leans over, their faces close, those brighter-than-gemstone eyes staring into her.
The kiss is the last thing Liana expected, and yet it feels like the most natural thing in the world, and she kisses back without hesitation.
The sun has set by the time they pull apart. Liana knows she has been out far too late, but she can’t bring herself to move. She is frozen in place, looking at Alexa’s dreamy expression in the twilight, their arms and legs still intertwined.
“This house gets very lonely with just me,” says Alexa quietly.
“I would hate for you to be lonely,” Liana whispers back.
Alexa stands and beckons her inside. Liana hesitates only briefly. No one will notice her absence for one night, as long as she returns early in the morning.
***
Liana awakens before dawn to Alexa’s arms wrapped snugly around her waist. She allows herself a few minutes more indulgence, snuggling close, running a finger over Alexa’s bare shoulder.
The action eases Alexa out of sleep. She sighs and looks up at Liana, eyelids fluttering sleepily. “Morning.”
“Good morning,” she replies lovingly. “I’m afraid I must be getting back to town.”
Alexa grabs her wrist as she stands. “Stay with me.”
Liana stops to kiss her lips one more time. They feel as nice as she always imagined. “My father will worry if I’m not there before everyone wakes up.”
Alexa blinks. “No, I meant... you are always welcome in my home. For as long as you wish.”
Liana feels her breath catch. “Do you mean that?”
“More than anything.”
Liana returns to town that morning. By afternoon she works up the courage to talk to her father. She tells him only what he needs to know. He doesn’t love the idea, but he has always known Liana was a free spirit, and she is an adult now. Besides, Liana reminds him, he passes through this area at least twice a year.
She returns to Alexa’s cottage that evening with an excited expression. Alexa’s face brightens at the sight. She clasps Liana’s hands in hers. “Will you stay?”
Liana squeezes her hands back. “Yes.”
And except for the times when the two of them embark on adventures together, Liana never leaves.