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Alcryst always looked forward to returning to the Somniel.
Not because of the novelty of being welcome to wander a holy ground or because he was particularly close to the Divine Dragon (which was true, but he would deny it vehemently when others brought it up).
Rather it was the lush greenery, the garden full of subtle fragrance that didn't irritate him into a headache, and the peaceful nooks that he could tuck himself away into to enjoy it all in silence with a book.
He loved being around people, but could only imagine how burdensome his presence was when seated in the cafe or at the campsite, and he was never one for swimming. Not that Brodia ever had much beyond a lake here and there anyways for him to really know how to swim.
In fact, Brodia with its rocky terrain and jewel mines was barren in comparison to this oasis in the sky. Alcryst knew he was undeservedly lucky to have an opportunity to experience the Somniel as often as he did.
He was also, by his own manner of perception, undeservedly lucky to always be sought out by the Divine Dragon herself after every skirmish.
Today was no different.
Gentle rustling, the sounds of footsteps along the grass was enough to tell him Alear was in search of him again. Not that he minded, he felt happiest when she was with him, but surely there were more important people to spend time with during their rest.
Alear would scold him if she heard that thought.
"Alcryst! There you are!" Her voice was cheery as she peeked around a shrub at the bench that he had settled on to read.
"G-good afternoon, Divine One." Alcryst nodded in greeting, marking his page and setting the book aside as she stepped in view, one hand behind her back. "What brings you out here?"
Her mismatched eyes seemed to sparkle as she smiled. "I know you don't like gifts, but I have something for you. Anna had a bunch of these for sale today and I couldn't resist."
Pulling her hand out, she presented to him a single white lily. Despite the massive bloom signifying that it was cut not too long after opening up, it was surely a modest gift when stacked against Anna's other wares, just as modest as the smile she gave him. No doubt she hoped that he would be willing to accept something as simple as a flower.
Alcryst shook his head. "D-Divine One, I truly appreciate the gesture, but...!"
"But?" Alear's smile drops a little and he curses himself a little for that.
"I simply cannot accept!"
Alear laughs, and then takes a seat on the bench beside him. "I figured you'd say something like that."
"Besides, something like the flower of Brodia should go to someone much more fitting." Alcryst continues to deflect, not that he entirely means it. He feels uneasy at the memory of lilies his mind dredges up.
"Hmm... the flower of Brodia?" Alear hums with interest as she eyes the bloom, holding it up to the sunlight that cracks between the trees. "I wonder how that came to be, I've never seen much by the way of gardens when we passed through. Though you would know more than me, Prince Alcryst of Brodia."
Declaring his title is meant as a playful jab, and he gets that. A prince of Brodia would be deserving to receive a piece of home in the way she intends to gift it to him.
And while he's seen the lilies grown in his mother's garden and in other parts of the country, gardens aren't what he associates them with.
"It's ironic," she says, twirling the flower stem in her fingers. Her gaze is soft as she watches the petals flutter, "how something like this could represent a kingdom with a history like yours."
Alcryst bites his lip. He doesn't have much of a rebuttal. On the surface, it was unfitting for the kingdom of might and war, and yet it was a flower he grew up around. However, it was what adorned the graves of warriors who had fallen amidst those battles with Elusia.
If he closed his eyes, he could see the fields of stone and flora, so cold and white, creating the illusion of an artificial winter. The first time he ever saw such a thing he was a child, passing by with his brother after a day of fishing, completely unaware of the significance.
At least until he was met with the grief of a widow. Always empathetic, he didn't even know what he was crying over as he clung to Diamant's pant leg at that time, just that he had to cry with this stranger.
Perhaps that's why he always associated it with gloom, with death. They were flowers of mourning.
And perhaps that's why he can't help feeling disappointed when Alear continues.
"Yet it suits you."
His shoulders slump and he stares down at his hands which lay open in his lap.
"I would expect nothing less." Alcryst sighs. It grabs Alear's attention, her fingers stop toying with the flower. "Being around me probably evokes all the same thrills as attending a funeral."
"Alcryst, come on." she tilts her head, trying to look him in the eye, but his downwards gaze shifts away. "That's not what I meant in the slightest."
"It's okay, Divine One. You don't have to console me."
"There is more to this than you think there is." Alear holds out the lily to him and twirls it, baiting Alcryst's attention at last. Taking hold of his hand, she slips the stem into his hold and closes his fingers around it comfortingly. "Flowers, I've learned, have a broader language than just love and death."
Not that he wasn't aware of the language of flowers, it was more that he didn't have the time to focus on it. Alcryst loved poetry, loved fairytales, and loved to write his own works. However, he pooled just as much time into training and his bowmanship as he did his academics. He could tell that the roses his father used to gift his mother on her birthday every year were a symbol of love, that the carnations he received from his retainers on occasion were a symbol of their bonds, and how the lilies he knew they would plant at the base of Morion's headstone were a symbol of his end.
"I read that the lily represents purity and innocence." Alear keeps her hands clasped around Alcryst's as she speaks. "They can symbolize rebirth or the start of a new chapter."
The cemetary still flashes through Alcryst's mind.
"They're a common funeral flower." He points out.
"And yet they're not out of place in a wedding bouquet. Lilies are a flower for celebration, of the life that was once lived and of the future to come." Alear adds softly. "This is what I mean, by the way, when I say they suit you."
"Ah..."
Silence hovers over them for a moment as a breeze passes through the garden and Alcryst chews on the thought.
He was a gloomy person by nature, but not everyone saw that in him as much as he didn't want to admit it. Alear certainly saw much more in him.
"Sorry, I read some of that in a book Chloé loaned me. I just...!" Alear pulls her hands back as she tries to explain herself better.
Somehow, it succeeds in flipping the mood.
Alcryst laughs. "No need to apologize, Divine One. I think I'm starting to see your point. I'm the one who should be sorry for throwing myself into such a downward spiral that I couldn't accept your gift at first."
"You've changed your mind?" Alear's eyes light up at that. It's cute, enough to make Alcryst's heart thump.
"Yes, thank you, Divine One." He delicately holds up the flower, more to conceal his face behind the blossom than to smell it, but Alear doesn't need to know that. On her end, she simply finds the view cute. "I'll accept your gift, i-if you don't mind...!"
She smiles sweetly, delighted at his acceptance. "Oh Alcryst, it was always meant for you."
"A-And..." Alcryst continues, raising the lily higher in hopes he could truly hide himself behind it. "If you ever find someone y-you cherish, I would be glad to repay this gift."
His face is so buried, he can't see the humored look on her face.
"Mother's garden usually provides fresh flowers for the graves of soldiers who die in battle, b-but..." Alcryst peeks over the flower now, trying to muster his courage. "I-it would be an honor to provide the flowers for the Divine Dragon's w-wedding bouquet."
Alear reaches out, a hand on Alcryst's wrist coaxing him to lower the lily so she could take a better look at his face.
"I would love that." Sunlight leaks through the trees, reflecting off of her tiara and illuminating her skin in a way that truly could only be described as divine. "Brodian lilies would only feel right."
If it's a hint, Alcryst fights to let it fly over his head. Instead he envisions her clothed in white, appearing even more dazzling than she usually is with eyes full of affection, not too far from how she looks at him now. In her hands he could imagine a large bouquet, exploding with his mother's lilies and a contrasting trail of ivy billowing out.
Truly a vision of purity and the joyous start of a new chapter, a life after the war. He longed to see her be that happy after all of this.
Alcryst closes his eyes and takes a breath to break himself from the image before he gets sucked too far in.
"I think so too." He finally says after a long pause. "I really, truly think they would suit you."