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"So, what is with this plant you have been hanging around?" Janai asked.
Amaya stared at the branch of a shrub in Janai's hand. Vibrant green leaves with pointed ends, and berries that closely resembled the full moon. Janai had caught Amaya going around the kingdom, tying the boughs in every doorway she could. Even Gren had been helping her with it.
"It's a human tradition," Amaya signed.
"And what is the tradition?"
Amaya smiled and pushed Janai against the shut bedchamber door and kissed her softly. Janai rolled her eyes at the smirk Amaya gave when she pulled away. "What an incredible explanation."
"Thank you."
Janai went about the rest of her day, assisting her people as they continued to rebuild themselves. Things were going well, they'd even managed to re-establish trade with the other elves throughout Xadia. In a few days, Janai even planned to propose trade routes into the human kingdoms.
But until then, she had to figure out what these strange berries were.
"Lesedi!" Janai shouted to an older woman. A botanist before Lux Aurea fell. "I have a question for you!"
Lesedi's ashen hair was braided into a loose bun at the back of her head, and the sunbursts painted at the corners of her eyes had started to smear from her wiping noontime sweat from her forehead.
"My Queen," She bowed as much as her old knees could allow. "How may I be of service?"
"These plants that my wife has been placing around," Janai held forward one of the boughs. "I would like to know why."
Lesedi's eyes widened in a mixture of awe and concern. "It's mistletoe, Your Majesty."
"What is its significance in human traditions?"
"I… do not know. I only know that this is a very poisonous plant. It grows parasitically, attaching itself to other plants nearby. I also know that there are red ones, and white ones. The red ones can make you ill when ingested, and the white…"
"What do they do?"
"Kills you slowly from the inside out. Only skilled doctors should even attempt to make this into medicine, but it is quite a difficult process. My Queen, if your wife is unaware of these effects, my advice to you would be to help her dispose of them."
Through the rest of the afternoon, Janai's shoulders were knitted tighter than armor. Her concentrated frown grew so deep she could feel it in her jaw. Of course Amaya would never harm a single person here without cause, but she seemed to have been quite… secretive about what they were.
Janai would ask simply, calmly. The last thing she wanted was to imply that her wife was planning to bring harm to the already weakened Sunfire elves. They'd endured too much together for distrust to remain.
At last it was nightfall, and Janai stepped back into her chambers to find Amaya struggling to remove a piece of her armor. She stepped up behind Amaya, smiling at her in the mirror as she helped loosen the leather strips.
"My dear," Janai said, resting her chin on Amaya's shoulder. "I spoke with a botanist today. She told me something about those berries."
Amaya looked confused, but motioned for Janai to continue.
"She said that ingesting them can be deadly. I know you would never plan a mass death event, but I am… concerned. Not about your loyalties, but about the ignorance of me and my people. Curiosity may lead them to taste them. I do not wish harm to my people, but I do not wish a divide between us either."
Amaya's eyes were steady when she was thinking. Firm and strong like sun-baked bricks. She shrugged her armor off and put one hand on Janai's face, signing slowly with the other.
"Gren and I made sure to inform everybody beforehand, but I do see how it could still be an issue. I'm sorry."
"I will send my people ot deal with this," Janai embraced Amaya tightly. "What is the purpose of hanging the berries, though?"
"A human tradition," Amaya spelled in the air. "Couples are meant to kiss underneath it."
"But… why?"
To that, Amaya shrugged and turned around in Janai's arms. Her kiss was soft and warm, Janai's hands coming to rest on her strong jaw. This human tradition was indeed something she could get used to… if the plant itself weren't a problem.