Flower Crowns

Adiria knew waiting like an old friend.

She stood impatiently in the stuffy banquet walls, her crazed blonde locks sticking out in every direction, slouched as her parents shot hissing whispers about etiquette and status.

"Stand up straight." They'd strain through forced smiles that would never quite meet their eyes. "Don't forget to smile, dear."

And with a roll of her eyes, she always complied. Adiria found it easier in front of crowds to be the golden heir to a land she'd hardly even known. A land that seemed alive in every aspect. Alive in a way she never truly knew, but craved to connect to. Yet her parents always seemed afraid of the kingdom they ruled outside of their castle walls. Adiria huffed, she'd always wait for her parents to be done with their gatherings, so she could feel like more than a prize to be polished and shown off. Feel more than her title. Her family name.

The sun was tipping over the horizon when they'd finally left. Kissing the day goodbye and giving way for the moon to finally show her face. Adiria craned her head towards the clear skies, spottings of stars starting to become visible in the streaks of deep pinks and oranges. She could hardly hear what her parents were saying in front of her, something about her behaviour, she'd guessed. Everything in her life had become so mundane. So predictable. Her life was nothing but a ticking clock. Continuous. Mind numbingly familiar.

Adiria dragged her feet against the gravel as the Valerian heat continued to beat down on her. She tilted her head down, eyes glazing towards the towering figure of her mother.

"Mum.." She whined, drawing out her words. "Why do you always make us wear this? It's bloody boiling. Do you want me to die of heatstroke before I even have the chance of becoming queen?"

Adiria wished that would happen.

Her mother, Dorothy Alceto, let out a rattling sigh.

"It's customary, Adiria."

"Is it? Is it?" Adiria asked, her voice pitching up as she tugged on the endless tassels hanging from her corset. Despite all of the vibrant colours Adiria had seen across her kingdom, she was dressed in a pure, petal white. She'd been compared to an angel on many occasions, her pale complexion and hair making her almost blinding. Her dress billowed beneath her, enough ruffles and tassels to make her a really boring tapestry. She always tripped on herself, and swore as soon as she had the authority too, she'd burn all these dresses to the dirt.

"Yes, my dove." Dorothy said, almost soft. "You are our future. You are bright, beautiful, and soon? You will be queen. You must adjust to these customs. There is much to celebrate about our culture. You mustn't hide from it."

Adiria sighed, almost growling under her breath. She didn't say anything else, just followed her parents into the castle, and finally separating herself from them. She was by herself now. Finally able to be herself.

Her shoes clicked against sleek marble flooring like the rhythmic ticking of a clock, and she passed the same paintings and tapestries as she dragged herself to her room once again. She swore she could do this trip with her eyes closed. She'd counted how many steps it took to cross this specific hallway - 35. Most halls could be walked across in increments of five, she'd learned.

This was grating. Everything about this was. She was painfully aware of how lonely she was in the castle. Waiting for the next banquet, the next royal gathering, the next event she'd be called for to simply stand there. A glorified wax statue. Adiria hummed at the idea, amused. Amused until she realized how her parents would likely prefer such a thing.

Blowing a stand of messy hair out of her face, Adiria finally met the end of the corridor, turning and making her way into her room.

Adirias room was large. Too large. Everything in it made her feel like she was in wonderland. Her bed was triple her size, with a large, slick canopy adorned with laced edges. The far left wall of her room was turned into a bookshelf, and the young princess had already read every book on its shelves. No point there. No point anywhere.

She twirled in place, allowing gravity to guide her. There was always something else pulling her towards a direction in her life. She never felt like she truly had a choice. Fate, she'd heard. Adiria had always been fascinated with the concept of fate... Though she was too young for an existential crisis. She was fourteen. Only old people have crises', Adiria thought.

She fell onto her windowsill, crossing her arms as she watched the gardens from above. Night had begun, and always felt like a living thing. The gardens seemed to breathe when the moon rose, and the stars finally began to watch over them like cosmic guardians. She waited at the window, staring down. Maybe she'd see a mouse. Or a bird. Or a squirrel. Or a really strange red haired girl in full clad armour marching down the perimeter like it'd personally wronged her.

Wait. What?

Adiria blinked, wiping the window, despite no mist collecting on it. Her eyes followed the girl diligently, so wide she thought they'd pop out and jump out the damn window chasing her. She fumbled with the clasp on her window, pushing it open. This was a bad decision, right? She knew if she was caught, she'd get an earful from her mother about her inside voice, or not disturbing the guards, or the gardeners, or the servants, or…

Who cares.

"OI!"

She called down to the girl. She stopped in her tracks, turning her head slowly to the window. Mechanical, almost. Her movements were stiff, like a golem. She said nothing. Only stared.

What now? Adiria panicked, stammering with her words. She shook her head,

"Gimmie a sec!" She grinned, pushing the window open wider. She'd done this song and dance at least a hundred times before. Having a large tree beside her bedroom window was really convenient when she didn't want to deal with anyone. Which, in Adirias defense, was most of the time.

She curled her hand around the branches, propelling herself onto a sturdy base. The red haired girl didn't say anything in response to the rebellious act. She only watched with a trained eye as Adiria slowly lowered herself with a practiced elegance and ease. Her feet collided with the ground, her heels digging into the soft dirt. As Adiria caught her breath, the girl spoke. Her voice was low, monotonous, and it scraped against the air like metal.

"That was highly dangerous, Your Majesty."

"Sure." Adiria coughed, hitting her chest. She pushed herself away from the tree, positioning herself beside the girl. "What's your deal? I ain't seen anyone my age around here all my life. Where you been hiding?"

"Barracks. Training grounds." The girl said, continuing to march across the perimeter. Adiria followed.

"Explains the armour. Didn't think they recruited anyone younger than, like, I dunno. Eighteen or something. Or was it twenty one?" Adiria thought, before sighing. "Whatever. Either way, you're way too young. Did you sneak in or something? Be honest, I can help you rob this place blind!"

"I was born here."

"You what?" Adiria asked, and the girl nodded.

"I was born here."

"Yeah— I heard you! What do you mean you were born here? That's so weird. You're weird." Adiria laughed, but the girl stared at her blankly. "Uh, a good weird. What are you even doing?"

"Patrolling the parameter."

"Sounds… fun?"

Silence fell over the two. Adiria cursed inside of her head. Damn it! The only kid her age, and it's like talking to some kind of brick wall! She huffed, throwing her head back. She still followed. Of course she did. This was something to do. Adiria never had anything to do. She was tired of sitting in her room waiting.

And waiting.

Adiria craned her head, and spotted one of her favourite areas to go when she really hated the world. She turned her head to the armour clad girl.

"Follow me." Adiria said, curling her hand around the girls wrist and pulling her closer to the royal water garden. The girl followed. Not like she had a choice.

…Well, probably. Adiria figured this girl could kick her ass if she really wanted to. But she seemed compliant.

"I am supposed to be patrolling the parameter."

"And I'm supposed to be in bed. We're both breaking the rules." Adiria shrugged defiantly. "Besides, I am literally above the law. I think. Come on, you've lived here all your life, you can't tell me that you've never been to the garden."

Adiria stepped between the hedges and into the beds of soil and life, still holding tightly onto the girls wrist. It annoyed her how she didn't even know her name yet.

"I don't believe I have, your majesty."

Of course she hadn't.

"Well you're seeing it now." She said, tugging her along. In the day, the royal water garden was bursting with vibrancy. Different flowerbeds and bushes curling into intricate patterns and unique arrangements. In the centre of it all, stood a grand fountain with water so blue it felt almost unreal. The sound of water rushing had always calmed Adirias mind. She almost preferred the serene shades the night brought. Everything felt so much more harmonized and isolated. Away from everyone telling her what to do. What her fate would be.

Adiria looked behind her, at the girl. This mysteriously beautiful girl. Something warm came to her chest as she finally took in her features. How striking her red hair was, pulled back into an impossibly tight bun, showcasing her pointed ears. Up close, she could see so clearly scars military life had given her, and how the moonlight kissed her skin so gently. Adiria couldn't explain how her chest fluttered, or why her throat felt like gravel. She coughed, gesturing for the girl to follow.

"Well, I at least wanna show you something while we're here."

"You have already shown me something."

"I mean- Something else. With the flowers." Adiria sat down, her fingers curling around the stem of a loose daisy. The girl followed, the metal clinking against itself as she slowly lowered herself opposite Adiria. She watched, expression blank, as Adiria pierced her nail into the near bottom of the stem.

"Why would you stab it?" The girl asked. Adiria hummed,

"What do you mean?" She asked, pulling at another daisy. The girl winced as if she'd felt it.

"They are beautiful." The girl said. "Do you think they deserve to die?"

Adiria snorted as she threaded the daisy through the other one, repeating this process. "Come on. They aren't alive."

The girl brushed her plated fingers against the grass.

"Everything is alive."

Adiria's hands stopped for a moment as she considered the girls words. The nectar that stuck to her nails like blood. She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I don't think they'd mind. I'd wanna get plucked if I was just staying still all day looking pretty."

"Plucked?"

"Y'know. Taken somewhere else. Made to be something else, I guess." Adiria shrugged as she threaded another daisy, connecting both of the ends and holding her amateur crown up proudly. "Especially if I got to be with other daisies. I'd hate to be alone."

Adiria shuffled forward with her crown, lifting it over the girls head. It sat lopsided, falling in front of one of her eyes. She blinked, and Adiria snickered.

"Whose the majesty now?" She moved back, giggling to herself. The other girl didn't see much humor in it, however.

Adiria watched as the girl held her hand up to the crown, gently touching it as if it were glass. Adiria swore her cheeks grew darker. The girl rushed to her feet, bowing deeply towards the princess, causing her to flinch back.

"Thank you, your majesty. I will cherish this blessed gift."

"I-It's just a flower crown! It doesn't take much—"

"Then I will make you one."

Adiria watched with stunned eyes as the girl rushed back to sit, plucking daisies around her, whispering a prayer to each one as if they'd be granted tribute to Valhalla. Adiria couldn't help but smile watching the girl's fervent effort to create her a crown, the metal plated over her fingers making it difficult. It was interesting. The girl seemed so hardened by the life she'd been born into, resembling less of a girl and more of an instrument created to destroy. And yet, here she was, desperately scrambling to make a flower crown, praying for each daisy she'd taken to create it. That warm fluttering came to Adiria's chest again, and she cursed it. Damn butterflies.

The end result wasn't much, a sloppy crown that was barely holding together. Still, the girl rose to her feet and presented it in a formal bow.

"You don't have to do that, you know." Adiria took the crown from her hands, placing it over her head. She knew it wouldn't last, but something inside her shifted when it was placed upon her.

"I hope it suffices. I know it pales in comparison to your gift." The girl said humbly, tangling her hands together and averting her eyes. The sheer emotion she displayed took Adiria aback. She chuckled,

"Y'know, I think I prefer this over any gold they'd slap on my head in, like, ten years time." She adjusted it, her touch as light as a feather. "Makes me feel so much more royal."

Silence fell over the two girls like a silk blanket. Something warm, connecting. Adiria felt drawn close to that girl with red hair. Even as she departed back to her room, and she began her patrol around the parameter. As soon as Adiria fell back into her large bedroom, the flower crown crumpled onto the ground, broken, and sad.

She scoffed with a small grin, scooping it up gently and placing it on her beside cabinet. She couldn't help but stare at it as she changed into her pajamas. As she fell onto her thick sheets. And once she drifted to sleep, her dreams were full of endless fields filled with daisies, butterflies, and that girl with the red hair.

Their future meetings had been discreet. They always met in the water garden late at night, circling the fountain as Adiria complained about her royal life. She didn't learn much about the girl.

She figured there wasn't much to learn.

And when she didn't turn up one evening, Adiria didn't question it. Military life was a pain in the ass, she figured.

The second, she had a few questions.

The third?

She waited.

Her dreams began to dull, the fields growing emptier. Tracing imaginary lines and circles in her cursed head. She plucked the daisies, creating endless crowns, bracelets, necklaces, and shamefully — a ring she wished to promise to that girl.

She didn't know why it felt heavier this time.

After 3287 lonely nights, it was finally upon her.

The final night before she would be coronated to the queen of her land. The hours passed by, and she sighed, lying on her bed. The sad crown had wilted to nothing but sand.

Adiria stared up at the ceiling. She was an idiot to speak to that girl with red hair. Even stupider to think anything could come from it.

Her only friend was the ticking of the clock as she waited for the next event.