von Riegan Estate - Afternoon - Warm
Amalthea von Kreuz
Amalthea smiled a little to herself as she wandered through the von Riegan estate. The ball had been a success; in Thea's eyes, of course, because Mercer had named a wife. He'd made a show of it, like she knew he was going to do, but it was also a big slap in the face to a lot of the nobles. Thea still didn't know much on how nobles worked; she'd only been able to read a few things on Adrestia's nobles. Even they worked a bit different than those in the Alliance, but Amalthea didn't really care. They were going to have to accept that Sorcha was going to be their future Duchess, or queen, or whatever she would be once she married Mercer.
It was still lingering heavily on everyone's minds, Thea knew this much. It was why she'd asked most of her friends, minus the guys because Thea thought that they needed some time apart, to meet her in von Riegan gardens. There was a tradition in the Alliance, apparently, where women would make garland crowns for themselves, and the ones they supposedly fancied. Thea fully intended to make one for herself and for Vridel, but that wasn't why she wanted to make them.
She thought it would be a good way to help everyone relax, and to ease out some of the tension they were no doubt feeling. She was the first to the gardens, though, and pursed her lips together. “I did tell everyone to meet me here around noon, didn't I?" she mused out loud.
“You did," a voice called out, startling Thea slightly as she turned to face Senka who was rolling her eyes a bit. “After every battle you've been in, and you're still this skittish?" she stated, huffing lightly as Thea pursed her lips at the other woman.
“I wasn't prepared, and we're not on the battlefield, Sen," Thea responded, sticking her tongue out. Senka smiled a little before rolling her eyes again.
“Of course we are, Thea. We're always on a battlefield, even if it's not a conventional one," it was Sylvi who spoke next, smiling brightly at the both of them. “And we're early," she mused out loud, glancing around. Thea nodded her head, though.
“The others will be here shortly, I'm sure."
They showed up at the same time actually, Sorcha in deep discussion with Sofia and Deirdre about something. Quite possibly Alliance politics, as there was still kind of a lot of work to do when it came to that. They had to get the rest of the Roundtable Conference on board with making a push into Faerghus and then eventually the Empire, which was probably not going to be easy. Some people were sure to think it was fine if the others killed each other, as long as the Alliance was safe. She didn't have to know a lot about nobles to know that much.
But Sofi patted Sorcha's arm as they arrived, ending the discussion with a soft smile before turning towards the others. “Hello, everyone," she said with a little grin. “What brings us all out to the garden today, Thea?"
Thea grinned at the question. “Well, I figured everyone could use a bit of a break after the events of two days ago," she began, tilting her head in an innocent manner. “And since we're in Garland Moon, I figured the best kind of therapeutic remedy would be to smell the flowers!" she stated, earning a snort from Deirdre.
“Uh, huh, and what does that mean, exactly, Thea? Literally smelling flowers? Because I don't see how that's helpful," Deirdre stated as she arched a brow at Thea. She laughed, though, at Deirdre's statement but shook her head.
“No, not literally smell the flowers. What I meant is that, since it's Garland Moon, why don't we try to make some of the garland crowns that are associated with this month?" she stated, earning a confused look from Sylvi.
“Isn't that something children do, though? I mean, some of the young adults do it too, but since most of you are... er, well all of you are engaged, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of making them?" Sylvi stated. Thea rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“No, Syl. It doesn't have to be made regarding that particular part of the tradition, but I thought it would be a nice distraction." She certainly hoped it would.
“Actually, in the alliance it's traditionally maidens that make garland crowns, so I think we might all be disqualified," Sofia said with some amusement, though she was already eying the flowers, a sure indication that she didn't actually care about a silly rule like that.
“Erm." Sorcha coughed, looking vaguely uncomfortable. “What flowers do we use exactly?"
Sofia's eyes had widened a bit at her as she seemed to catch onto something. “White roses are traditional, but honestly anything works," she replied, clear humor in her expression.
Senka arched an amused brow in Sorcha's direction, but before she could say anything, Thea interjected with a statement of her own. “But we want this to be colorful so let's try something different! So we'll stay away from the white colors and only choose things with vibrant hues. I think most of us have already established that we go against tradition, anyway." Thea grinned a little at that.
“If that's what Thea wants," Senka replied, smiling somewhat before glancing out towards the flowers. She pursed her lips together, though, and turned her attention back to Thea. “I know Mercer wouldn't necessarily care, but... are we actually allowed to pick flowers from the garden?" she asked. Thea hadn't thought about that. She meant to ask Mercer beforehand, but she must have forgotten along the way.
“Yeah, it's fine. Like you said, Mercer wouldn't care, but this part of the garden was specifically planted for us to pick from. The gardens on the other side of that wall, though, are off limits. Only Mercer and his wife would be allowed beyond that point. The previous Duke, the one before Mercer's grandfather, had it installed for his wife to be private for only the two of them. It's become somewhat of a tradition for only the Dukes and their wives to visit whenever they want some peace and quiet, or don't want to be disturbed."
Deirdre glanced in Sorcha's direction after the explanation before grinning. “I think the previous Duke even installed a private rest area just for those purposes." It was obvious as to what Deirdre meant when she stated that, and Thea couldn't help but snicker a little.
Sorcha's face colored, but it was clear that she didn't mean to be put off her tempo that easily, and so instead of responding, she simply walked forward, searching the flowerbeds as though looking for something specific.
Shaking her head at her fiancée, Sofia followed, trailing her fingertips over various leaves and petals. “I like the idea of doing something a little more colorful..." she murmured, then chuckled softly. “You know, I've never done this. My mother used to say it was for common girls and children, and forbade me from even picking flowers for it. I actually thought it a relief at the time—it meant I didn't feel any pressure to choose a boy to make one for. The tradition tends to be horribly traditional that way." Her eyes slid sideways to Deirdre.
“What flowers do you want, Deir?"
“Hm," Deirdre seemed to genuinely contemplate which flowers she wanted before glancing up at Sofia. “I want these," she stated, pointing to a few King Alfred Daffodils. They were a bright yellow color which wouldn't really compliment Deirdre's hair, but Thea supposed that wasn't the point. Deirdre wanted a bright yellow flower, and that had been the point. Colorful. Chuckling softly to herself, Thea walked towards a cluster of flowers as well, pursing her lips as she perused the options.
She rolled her eyes at herself, though, when she found herself in front of the sunflowers. They were her favorite flowers, but she wanted to do something different. Instead, she made her way towards a cluster of white jasmine flowers. These she could do. Taking a few for herself, she moved on to another cluster, this time blue in color, and nodded in a satisfied manner.
“Which ones do you want, Sofi?" Thea could hear Deirdre ask. Senka still seemed to be contemplating her own flowers, standing in front of a hibiscus cluster before moving onto to a cluster of iris flowers.
“Call me boring," Sofia said, “but I'd like roses. The pink ones. But don't cut yourself on the thorns." She smiled a little wider at the last bit, which sounded more like teasing than a totally serious warning. Dutifully, she started to pick the daffodils, making sure each had a healthy length of stem before cutting with a small belt-knife.
Sorcha had one in-hand, too, with a blue and white inlaid handle, absently spinning it in her hand as she searched for the blooms she wanted. Eventually, she must have found them; she stopped in front of a cluster of spider lilies, their delicate red petals a bold hue to be sure. Carefully, she crouched and started to take a few, humming quietly to herself.
“Sure, pink roses for Sofia," Deirdre stated, huffing lightly to herself as she made her way towards a rose bush. She picked a few flowers, gathering them in her hand in a careful manner, perhaps, not to prick herself on the thorns. Thea thought it was a little funny. Deirdre always managed to hurt herself one way or another, but it was kind of sweet that she was trying to do as Sofia asked.
Senka seemed to finally decide on a flower herself, and picked a few iris flowers that looked to be the bearded variant, Ocelot Iris if she remembered correctly. It was two-toned in color, a pale peach at the top with the skirt petals a deep, black-maroon. Thea huffed lightly; it would look nice and compliment Cyril's own coloring if he actually wore the garland. Thea was pretty sure he would, just as she was sure Vridel would wear the one she was going to make for him.
“Alright, since everyone has, more or less, their flowers, let's go sit at the gazebo and start making them. The materials are already there; I had them brought so we wouldn't have to go look for them, later," Thea stated once everyone had returned with their choices.
The group settled beneath the gazebo, passing tools around freely; Sofia made sure to hand Deirdre a set of clippers so she could remove the thorns from the rose stems before she started to try weaving them together. There were also spools of floral wire, so the more awkward flowers, like Senka's irises, could have a little extra support and show to their best effect.
For a long moment, Sorcha stared at her flowers, narrow-eyed. Her fingers stroked the stems almost absently, lips pursing into a thin line. But after several more seconds, she picked a few of them up and started to weave them together, a strange mix of confusion and assurance in the focused furrow of her brow.
It was pretty clear that Sofia, as she said, didn't actually know how to do this, but she simply watched the others work and imitated them, not asking for any particular instruction, and pretty soon she seemed to have the hang of it, only needing to backtrack and unweave a couple of different times.
Thea worked on weaving her own flowers with deft hands. She was used to doing things like this, mostly because it had been a past time of hers. She hadn't done it much in the last five years given everything that had happened, but she was more than happy to pick up on it again. Even more-so now that she was doing it among friends again. Senka seemed to be going at a slow pace, perhaps trying to get everything situated in the right way as Deirdre finally managed to get most of the thorns of the roses.
She began weaving them, occasionally pricking her hand on something, but it wasn't enough to draw blood, it seemed. If Thea had to guess, she'd say that Deirdre just had bad luck when it came to not hurting herself. She huffed lightly, though, and grinned once her crown was finished, and set it to the side to start on the second one. She wanted to have matching crowns with Vi, after all, and that was kind of the point of what they were doing.
“Mother crap," Deirdre stated as she hissed, putting her finger into her mouth as she furrowed her brows. It looked like she'd accidentally cut herself one the scissors when she tried cutting a stem a little shorter, causing Amalthea to roll her eyes.
“Give me your hand, silly," Thea stated as she stood from her spot and made her way over towards Deirdre. Once her finger was no longer in danger from bleeding, Thea shook her head and sat back down, weaving the last of her flowers together before humming a satisfied note.
“Alright, how is everyone doing?" she asked, turning her attention back towards the others.
“I'm going to have to learn white magic just to keep you from hurting yourself on everyday objects, aren't I?" Sofia said with a little grin. Her progress was much slower than Thea's, as she was far from an expert, but the extra time she was taking seemed to be preventing many errors, and the garland had a nice weave to it, a little thicker than most but almost perfectly circular.
Sorcha's was a much more delicate construction, though seemingly expertly-formed. It made sense that way, though, because the lilies themselves had very thin petals, if a lot of them, so the balance was nicer that way. She was just starting in on her second, still rather intently focused on her work, when Thea asked the question, and she blinked, hands faltering for a moment as she looked up. “Fine at the moment. Thanks, Thea."
She used the back edge of a pair of scissors to curl a few of the thin leaves, adding more volume to the crown.
“You and Vridel will look adorable in those," Sofia said, gesturing to Thea's crowns with her chin.
“Thank you, Sofi. I really hope so," Thea stated with a light grin. The white jasmine flowers weren't going to be so visible in Vi's hair, but the blue would hopefully off-set it a bit so that they could be seen better. Plus, the floral wire would help, too. It wouldn't matter so much in Thea's hair; her hair was so bright green that almost any other color was easily reflected off of it. Which was kind of strange, now that she thought about it. She glanced back towards Sofia, though.
“And yours and Deirs will look really amazing on you both," she stated. Senka huffed a little as she finished her first one, and began working on her second crown. “Do you need help, Senka?" she asked, grinning at the other woman. Senka glanced up from what she was doing, and huffed lightly.
“I'm good, Thea, thank you. I'm just trying to get them perfectly situated so that they don't fall," she replied, turning her attention back towards her flowers. Thea chuckled lightly before turning her attention towards Sorcha.
“Those are really pretty, by the way, Sorcha. I think those will look really amazing on you and Merc," she stated, smiling softly as she did.
Sorcha smiled, a little ruefully. “I hope so. I'm glad he's the kind of man that really wouldn't mind wearing flowers."
“You all got a bit lucky, there," Sofia observed, something knowing in her tone. “Not a one of them is traditional in that manner."
At this observation, Sorcha hummed softly. “I think I'd forgotten, what traditional was like. Most of the time, when it's just the battles and the group of us, it... goes away, that kind of thing. It's not that I'd ever want the fighting to continue, but there's a sense in which not having to deal with those kinds of pressures was—" She pursed her lips, shaking her head.
“You know a nobleman asked me to my face if I could still have children? I guess he'd heard about some part of what Cornelia did, but he really thought that was his business, because the Alliance 'needs an heir.' I... I was so surprised by it I'm not even sure what I said."
Senka's brows furrowed deeply as she looked up from what she was doing. “You shouldn't have to say anything because he shouldn't have asked. It really isn't any of his business. He's not the leader of the Alliance," Senka spoke, clearly upset on Sorcha's behalf, it seemed. Deirdre sighed heavily as she shook her head.
“Sounds about right, though. Al has the same problem which I'm quite certain has affected Rey, too. Since you know, they can't have kids and all," Deirdre stated, but her brows were furrowed, too. “Not that they couldn't take a kid in or something, but... well, technically the Goneril line will die with me and Al unless there's another bastard out there somewhere that we haven't heard about, yet." Thea couldn't fathom something like that; she hadn't grown up in a world of nobles or kings or emperors. She'd always just been Amalthea of Garreg Mach.
“It's an unfortunate thing to be of royal blood, or even noble. They expect you to carry on traditions even if it makes you unhappy. That it's always for the good of the family," Sylvi spoke as she set her garland down. She'd chosen the sunflowers that Thea had been eying earlier, but Thea supposed they would look nice on Devon as well. “I guess we kind of just got lucky," she added, glancing in Deirdre's direction and Senka's.
“Hey, now. We all got lucky, if you really think about it. Mercer has been with Sorcha since the beginning, Vi's been with me, Sen's had the Professor, and you and Devon had each other too. Sofia and Deirdre have had each other the longest, and for us to have had five years pass and have that bond still going strong? I think we're damn lucky," Thea stated, furrowing her brows as she pursed her lips together.
“I don't think I've ever believed much in luck," Sorcha noted quietly. “But in this respect at least, I'll agree."
It was still lingering heavily on everyone's minds, Thea knew this much. It was why she'd asked most of her friends, minus the guys because Thea thought that they needed some time apart, to meet her in von Riegan gardens. There was a tradition in the Alliance, apparently, where women would make garland crowns for themselves, and the ones they supposedly fancied. Thea fully intended to make one for herself and for Vridel, but that wasn't why she wanted to make them.
She thought it would be a good way to help everyone relax, and to ease out some of the tension they were no doubt feeling. She was the first to the gardens, though, and pursed her lips together. “I did tell everyone to meet me here around noon, didn't I?" she mused out loud.
“You did," a voice called out, startling Thea slightly as she turned to face Senka who was rolling her eyes a bit. “After every battle you've been in, and you're still this skittish?" she stated, huffing lightly as Thea pursed her lips at the other woman.
“I wasn't prepared, and we're not on the battlefield, Sen," Thea responded, sticking her tongue out. Senka smiled a little before rolling her eyes again.
“Of course we are, Thea. We're always on a battlefield, even if it's not a conventional one," it was Sylvi who spoke next, smiling brightly at the both of them. “And we're early," she mused out loud, glancing around. Thea nodded her head, though.
“The others will be here shortly, I'm sure."
They showed up at the same time actually, Sorcha in deep discussion with Sofia and Deirdre about something. Quite possibly Alliance politics, as there was still kind of a lot of work to do when it came to that. They had to get the rest of the Roundtable Conference on board with making a push into Faerghus and then eventually the Empire, which was probably not going to be easy. Some people were sure to think it was fine if the others killed each other, as long as the Alliance was safe. She didn't have to know a lot about nobles to know that much.
But Sofi patted Sorcha's arm as they arrived, ending the discussion with a soft smile before turning towards the others. “Hello, everyone," she said with a little grin. “What brings us all out to the garden today, Thea?"
Thea grinned at the question. “Well, I figured everyone could use a bit of a break after the events of two days ago," she began, tilting her head in an innocent manner. “And since we're in Garland Moon, I figured the best kind of therapeutic remedy would be to smell the flowers!" she stated, earning a snort from Deirdre.
“Uh, huh, and what does that mean, exactly, Thea? Literally smelling flowers? Because I don't see how that's helpful," Deirdre stated as she arched a brow at Thea. She laughed, though, at Deirdre's statement but shook her head.
“No, not literally smell the flowers. What I meant is that, since it's Garland Moon, why don't we try to make some of the garland crowns that are associated with this month?" she stated, earning a confused look from Sylvi.
“Isn't that something children do, though? I mean, some of the young adults do it too, but since most of you are... er, well all of you are engaged, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of making them?" Sylvi stated. Thea rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“No, Syl. It doesn't have to be made regarding that particular part of the tradition, but I thought it would be a nice distraction." She certainly hoped it would.
“Actually, in the alliance it's traditionally maidens that make garland crowns, so I think we might all be disqualified," Sofia said with some amusement, though she was already eying the flowers, a sure indication that she didn't actually care about a silly rule like that.
“Erm." Sorcha coughed, looking vaguely uncomfortable. “What flowers do we use exactly?"
Sofia's eyes had widened a bit at her as she seemed to catch onto something. “White roses are traditional, but honestly anything works," she replied, clear humor in her expression.
Senka arched an amused brow in Sorcha's direction, but before she could say anything, Thea interjected with a statement of her own. “But we want this to be colorful so let's try something different! So we'll stay away from the white colors and only choose things with vibrant hues. I think most of us have already established that we go against tradition, anyway." Thea grinned a little at that.
“If that's what Thea wants," Senka replied, smiling somewhat before glancing out towards the flowers. She pursed her lips together, though, and turned her attention back to Thea. “I know Mercer wouldn't necessarily care, but... are we actually allowed to pick flowers from the garden?" she asked. Thea hadn't thought about that. She meant to ask Mercer beforehand, but she must have forgotten along the way.
“Yeah, it's fine. Like you said, Mercer wouldn't care, but this part of the garden was specifically planted for us to pick from. The gardens on the other side of that wall, though, are off limits. Only Mercer and his wife would be allowed beyond that point. The previous Duke, the one before Mercer's grandfather, had it installed for his wife to be private for only the two of them. It's become somewhat of a tradition for only the Dukes and their wives to visit whenever they want some peace and quiet, or don't want to be disturbed."
Deirdre glanced in Sorcha's direction after the explanation before grinning. “I think the previous Duke even installed a private rest area just for those purposes." It was obvious as to what Deirdre meant when she stated that, and Thea couldn't help but snicker a little.
Sorcha's face colored, but it was clear that she didn't mean to be put off her tempo that easily, and so instead of responding, she simply walked forward, searching the flowerbeds as though looking for something specific.
Shaking her head at her fiancée, Sofia followed, trailing her fingertips over various leaves and petals. “I like the idea of doing something a little more colorful..." she murmured, then chuckled softly. “You know, I've never done this. My mother used to say it was for common girls and children, and forbade me from even picking flowers for it. I actually thought it a relief at the time—it meant I didn't feel any pressure to choose a boy to make one for. The tradition tends to be horribly traditional that way." Her eyes slid sideways to Deirdre.
“What flowers do you want, Deir?"
“Hm," Deirdre seemed to genuinely contemplate which flowers she wanted before glancing up at Sofia. “I want these," she stated, pointing to a few King Alfred Daffodils. They were a bright yellow color which wouldn't really compliment Deirdre's hair, but Thea supposed that wasn't the point. Deirdre wanted a bright yellow flower, and that had been the point. Colorful. Chuckling softly to herself, Thea walked towards a cluster of flowers as well, pursing her lips as she perused the options.
She rolled her eyes at herself, though, when she found herself in front of the sunflowers. They were her favorite flowers, but she wanted to do something different. Instead, she made her way towards a cluster of white jasmine flowers. These she could do. Taking a few for herself, she moved on to another cluster, this time blue in color, and nodded in a satisfied manner.
“Which ones do you want, Sofi?" Thea could hear Deirdre ask. Senka still seemed to be contemplating her own flowers, standing in front of a hibiscus cluster before moving onto to a cluster of iris flowers.
“Call me boring," Sofia said, “but I'd like roses. The pink ones. But don't cut yourself on the thorns." She smiled a little wider at the last bit, which sounded more like teasing than a totally serious warning. Dutifully, she started to pick the daffodils, making sure each had a healthy length of stem before cutting with a small belt-knife.
Sorcha had one in-hand, too, with a blue and white inlaid handle, absently spinning it in her hand as she searched for the blooms she wanted. Eventually, she must have found them; she stopped in front of a cluster of spider lilies, their delicate red petals a bold hue to be sure. Carefully, she crouched and started to take a few, humming quietly to herself.
“Sure, pink roses for Sofia," Deirdre stated, huffing lightly to herself as she made her way towards a rose bush. She picked a few flowers, gathering them in her hand in a careful manner, perhaps, not to prick herself on the thorns. Thea thought it was a little funny. Deirdre always managed to hurt herself one way or another, but it was kind of sweet that she was trying to do as Sofia asked.
Senka seemed to finally decide on a flower herself, and picked a few iris flowers that looked to be the bearded variant, Ocelot Iris if she remembered correctly. It was two-toned in color, a pale peach at the top with the skirt petals a deep, black-maroon. Thea huffed lightly; it would look nice and compliment Cyril's own coloring if he actually wore the garland. Thea was pretty sure he would, just as she was sure Vridel would wear the one she was going to make for him.
“Alright, since everyone has, more or less, their flowers, let's go sit at the gazebo and start making them. The materials are already there; I had them brought so we wouldn't have to go look for them, later," Thea stated once everyone had returned with their choices.
The group settled beneath the gazebo, passing tools around freely; Sofia made sure to hand Deirdre a set of clippers so she could remove the thorns from the rose stems before she started to try weaving them together. There were also spools of floral wire, so the more awkward flowers, like Senka's irises, could have a little extra support and show to their best effect.
For a long moment, Sorcha stared at her flowers, narrow-eyed. Her fingers stroked the stems almost absently, lips pursing into a thin line. But after several more seconds, she picked a few of them up and started to weave them together, a strange mix of confusion and assurance in the focused furrow of her brow.
It was pretty clear that Sofia, as she said, didn't actually know how to do this, but she simply watched the others work and imitated them, not asking for any particular instruction, and pretty soon she seemed to have the hang of it, only needing to backtrack and unweave a couple of different times.
Thea worked on weaving her own flowers with deft hands. She was used to doing things like this, mostly because it had been a past time of hers. She hadn't done it much in the last five years given everything that had happened, but she was more than happy to pick up on it again. Even more-so now that she was doing it among friends again. Senka seemed to be going at a slow pace, perhaps trying to get everything situated in the right way as Deirdre finally managed to get most of the thorns of the roses.
She began weaving them, occasionally pricking her hand on something, but it wasn't enough to draw blood, it seemed. If Thea had to guess, she'd say that Deirdre just had bad luck when it came to not hurting herself. She huffed lightly, though, and grinned once her crown was finished, and set it to the side to start on the second one. She wanted to have matching crowns with Vi, after all, and that was kind of the point of what they were doing.
“Mother crap," Deirdre stated as she hissed, putting her finger into her mouth as she furrowed her brows. It looked like she'd accidentally cut herself one the scissors when she tried cutting a stem a little shorter, causing Amalthea to roll her eyes.
“Give me your hand, silly," Thea stated as she stood from her spot and made her way over towards Deirdre. Once her finger was no longer in danger from bleeding, Thea shook her head and sat back down, weaving the last of her flowers together before humming a satisfied note.
“Alright, how is everyone doing?" she asked, turning her attention back towards the others.
“I'm going to have to learn white magic just to keep you from hurting yourself on everyday objects, aren't I?" Sofia said with a little grin. Her progress was much slower than Thea's, as she was far from an expert, but the extra time she was taking seemed to be preventing many errors, and the garland had a nice weave to it, a little thicker than most but almost perfectly circular.
Sorcha's was a much more delicate construction, though seemingly expertly-formed. It made sense that way, though, because the lilies themselves had very thin petals, if a lot of them, so the balance was nicer that way. She was just starting in on her second, still rather intently focused on her work, when Thea asked the question, and she blinked, hands faltering for a moment as she looked up. “Fine at the moment. Thanks, Thea."
She used the back edge of a pair of scissors to curl a few of the thin leaves, adding more volume to the crown.
“You and Vridel will look adorable in those," Sofia said, gesturing to Thea's crowns with her chin.
“Thank you, Sofi. I really hope so," Thea stated with a light grin. The white jasmine flowers weren't going to be so visible in Vi's hair, but the blue would hopefully off-set it a bit so that they could be seen better. Plus, the floral wire would help, too. It wouldn't matter so much in Thea's hair; her hair was so bright green that almost any other color was easily reflected off of it. Which was kind of strange, now that she thought about it. She glanced back towards Sofia, though.
“And yours and Deirs will look really amazing on you both," she stated. Senka huffed a little as she finished her first one, and began working on her second crown. “Do you need help, Senka?" she asked, grinning at the other woman. Senka glanced up from what she was doing, and huffed lightly.
“I'm good, Thea, thank you. I'm just trying to get them perfectly situated so that they don't fall," she replied, turning her attention back towards her flowers. Thea chuckled lightly before turning her attention towards Sorcha.
“Those are really pretty, by the way, Sorcha. I think those will look really amazing on you and Merc," she stated, smiling softly as she did.
Sorcha smiled, a little ruefully. “I hope so. I'm glad he's the kind of man that really wouldn't mind wearing flowers."
“You all got a bit lucky, there," Sofia observed, something knowing in her tone. “Not a one of them is traditional in that manner."
At this observation, Sorcha hummed softly. “I think I'd forgotten, what traditional was like. Most of the time, when it's just the battles and the group of us, it... goes away, that kind of thing. It's not that I'd ever want the fighting to continue, but there's a sense in which not having to deal with those kinds of pressures was—" She pursed her lips, shaking her head.
“You know a nobleman asked me to my face if I could still have children? I guess he'd heard about some part of what Cornelia did, but he really thought that was his business, because the Alliance 'needs an heir.' I... I was so surprised by it I'm not even sure what I said."
Senka's brows furrowed deeply as she looked up from what she was doing. “You shouldn't have to say anything because he shouldn't have asked. It really isn't any of his business. He's not the leader of the Alliance," Senka spoke, clearly upset on Sorcha's behalf, it seemed. Deirdre sighed heavily as she shook her head.
“Sounds about right, though. Al has the same problem which I'm quite certain has affected Rey, too. Since you know, they can't have kids and all," Deirdre stated, but her brows were furrowed, too. “Not that they couldn't take a kid in or something, but... well, technically the Goneril line will die with me and Al unless there's another bastard out there somewhere that we haven't heard about, yet." Thea couldn't fathom something like that; she hadn't grown up in a world of nobles or kings or emperors. She'd always just been Amalthea of Garreg Mach.
“It's an unfortunate thing to be of royal blood, or even noble. They expect you to carry on traditions even if it makes you unhappy. That it's always for the good of the family," Sylvi spoke as she set her garland down. She'd chosen the sunflowers that Thea had been eying earlier, but Thea supposed they would look nice on Devon as well. “I guess we kind of just got lucky," she added, glancing in Deirdre's direction and Senka's.
“Hey, now. We all got lucky, if you really think about it. Mercer has been with Sorcha since the beginning, Vi's been with me, Sen's had the Professor, and you and Devon had each other too. Sofia and Deirdre have had each other the longest, and for us to have had five years pass and have that bond still going strong? I think we're damn lucky," Thea stated, furrowing her brows as she pursed her lips together.
“I don't think I've ever believed much in luck," Sorcha noted quietly. “But in this respect at least, I'll agree."