The appeal of seeing rare specimens from another continent trumped the general ambivalence for an event as mundane as garden viewing, the tour drawing a sizable number of the party’s attendees. Alana was rather surprised by the holdouts. If asked, she would have said that the pirates and smugglers would have been the first to beg off, but they seemed excited for, as one of the girls graphically put it, petal fondling.

She supposed Arthur was responsible. He seemed to be the focal point of the group, the others deferring to his decisions. They were a lot more respectful than she would have expected from young adults from Graywatch, something she put down to Arthur occasionally grabbing a shoulder or slapping someone on the back of the head.

The pirate-son had really changed. She only had a faint idea what Geneva did to him and while it sounded horrific, she couldn’t argue with the results. He was far more pleasant to be around, but the biggest change was his confidence. Not the disgusting arrogance he flaunted before his “re-education” but the effortless charisma of someone who’d been tested and came out of life’s challenges stronger. He reminded Alana of some of the older knights, the ones who’d seen double-digit campaigns. He was certainly grim enough.

Her second guess would have been Alyssa and her maybe-date, the hunter she thought was named Jack. They’d stuck close together by the drinks table, gulping down shroom juice like it was water and muttering to each other. Alana wasn’t sure if they were together in that way. She didn’t even know why she cared, as little as she cared. She never thought about things like this before but now she couldn’t help being curious about who the redhead was interested in.

Alyssa seemed to despise Lou and was immune to Kierra’s savage charms. On the other side of the coin, even Alana, with her limited romantic experience, could tell that the man called Lane was interested in her, but the instructor brushed aside his not-so-subtle advances with the subconscious disregard that resembled someone swatting away a fly.

The redhead despised Aurelius and didn’t seem very interested in the broad-shouldered Brutus, though that could have been because the other instructor had a date. It was none of her business, but the grizzled hunter and Alyssa seemed to…fit the best of the available options. The two of them heading for the garden together only served to stoke her imagination.

Three people rejected the offer for a tour. One was Farran. Cynthia’s plus one but not her date, something the poor man didn’t understand until he was repeatedly bludgeoned by the alchemist’s overt flirtation with Lou. Anyone with eyes could see where that road was headed and the man didn’t seem interested in witnessing it firsthand. Instead, he turned his attention to a worse target. If he continued making eyes at Umphrieltalia, something more than his ego was going to be bruised. Likely by the second person who didn’t seem interested in walking the gardens.

The estate’s mistress showed no interest in taking the guests through her domain. Instead, she leaned against a wall beside one of her skulls, quietly sipping from a cup while she watched Farran.

It was like watching a rabbit cluelessly hop past a predator lying in wait. She didn’t know what was motivating Farran, attraction or mere pettiness, but it wasn’t going to end well. Kierra was waiting for him to make a mistake. Alana hoped he lasted until later so she could see what the elf did to him. It was bound to be memorable.

The last person to show little interest in the offer of a garden tour was Talia herself. She endured Farran’s flirtations with her usual blank look, slightly swaying on the stage as she hummed to herself. Preparing for her performance. The song earlier was just a teaser to draw interest from the crowd. Later, Rolly and the servants planned to join her, delivering a spectacle worthy of the capital, as Lou put it.

Despite the holdouts, it was a sizable group that made their way to the back of the house. Alana smiled at the excited murmurs and gasps of surprise as they entered the garden. She had no hand in its construction or maintenance but what was Kierra’s was Lou’s was hers, so she felt comfortable taking pride in it. A well-maintained garden was always a spectacle but the colorful lighting and imposing black arches with glowing red gems along them made it something fantastical.

“Good evening, everyone.” The group’s attention turned to Gajin as he theatrically stepped from behind the base of one of the arches. The mopey gardener had cleaned up, though he still looked like a madman out of a children’s story dressed in a long brown coat with plants growing out of the pockets. He bowed at the waist.

“I am Gajin, the gardener of Mistress Atainna. It is my pleasure to share my work with you all this evening but please be warned that the mistress’ domain is not hospitable. Do not touch anything without permission. I say this both for your safety and that of the plants. Please gather around.”

As the group gathered around the gardener, Alana noticed Lou discretely leading Cynthia away. With a quick glance around to make sure no one was taking notice of her, Alana trailed after them.

The garden was a very different place depending on where one was within it. The back of the estate was Kierra’s personal domain, dictated by the perimeter of trees around half the property. It was a slice of the wild, as Kierra preferred her garden to be. Dangerous and intriguing plants grew in the shade of green giants with minimum supervision and no order, at least none that anyone but Kierra could discern.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The front of the estate was still had touches of the elf but was maintained solely by Gajin, arranged in a more traditional manner. Flowers planted in picturesque ways and divided by hedges, some flowering, all neatly trimmed. They were as tall as Alana shoulders. Tall enough to swallow the pair as Lou led the alchemist through the garden, their arms intertwined.

Mid-conversation, Lou suddenly looked over her shoulder and their gazes met. Alana froze, the primal reflex overriding her rationale mind telling her that there was no need to be worried and her inability to reason her way through her emotions only enhancing her embarrassment. Lou smiled before turning away. Leaving Alana to her…interests.

Alana wrestled with the delicious feeling of impropriety making the fingers of her right hand twitch but didn’t stop tailing them. The alchemist wasn’t nearly as observant and remained oblivious to the snooping presence as Alana quietly moved behind them.

“Be honest with me, Lou,” Cynthia said as they stopped before a hedge intertwined with violets. “What will you do about your tension with the local authorities? I don’t see you surrendering yourself to the lord’s judgment.”

“Concerned?”

“A little. As much as the Grand Hall prides itself on being an independent entity, our future is very much intertwined with Quest’s. Especially for those like myself with businesses in the city and beyond.”

“Maybe you should share these concerns with the guilds and the lord of the city.”

“Oh, I have. You would think the opinion of a learned alchemist, accomplished merchant, and longtime instructor at the Hall would have weight, but Quest is a city of hunters. The guilds only respect each other.”

“So you decided to try your charms on me.”

“Oh? Do you find me charming, Lou?”

Alana fought an urge to roll her eyes.

“I’m surprised you need to ask. A woman of your means must have access to a mirror of sufficient clarity.”

Cynthia chuckled. “You’ll have to forgive me a bit of insecurity, darling. A woman can’t help comparing herself to a vision like Kierra and will often find herself lacking.”

Lou hummed. “That’s not how I think of it. A garden isn’t composed of a single kind of flower but a dozen varieties. Each enhances the presence of the others. Everyone has a favorite but even a rose gets tiresome when you stare at it alone for years.”

“Is that why you pulled me aside, Lou? Because you’re tired of your elven rose?”

Alana reflexively smiled as Lou chuckled. “Tired? Never. I’m sure I’ll still be trying to figure her out decades from now. This…is about enjoying everything the garden of life has to offer. Appreciating the other blooms that complement the rose.”

The alchemist giggled, a sound both unbecoming for her age and completely adorable. The older woman continued to put out bait as the two of them wandered through the hedges. And Lou obliging played her game, flexing her wit as she heaped a mountain of compliments on her date.

It was maddening, their little game.

Oh, it was entertaining enough when she was the one playing but from the outside looking in, the thick tension was a hindrance. It was crass, but she wanted them to hurry along to their eventual destination. The only reason that she could endure was because she noted they were slowly, but surely, making their way to the treeline that divided the gardens. Lou hadn’t forgotten their conversation from earlier. Or Alana’s request.

Her patience was rewarded when they eventually reached said trees.

“Are you sure we can’t cross? Not even for a little peek?” Cynthia asked in a pouting voice, tightly pressed against Lou’s side.

“Nuh-uh. The things in there can barely be called plants. I swear, some of them will look back at you if you look at them too hard. Besides, we both know you don’t want just a look.”

“Oh?”

“You’re an alchemist, Thia. If I let you in there, there’ll be a little something extra under your dress when you leave.”

“Lou, I’m hurt you think so little of me.”

“The opposite. Kierra thinks ambition is good and I admire it as well. Which is why I’m going to tell you a secret. You don’t have to go wandering in dangerous places to find alchemical delights.”

Alana perked up, recognizing her lover’s tone. Lou was ready to bring the show to its finale.

“Really?”

“You’re currently clinging to the most magical thing in this garden.” The older woman gasped as Lou turned, wrapping her arms around her and pressing their bodies together. “I wasn’t born with this fine form. Everything, down to my last strand of hair, has been altered to serve one purpose.”

“Fighting?”

Alana scoffed, softly echoing Lou’s own. “No, though I can do that pretty well too. The answer is…”

Alana couldn’t hear what Lou whispered in the other woman’s ear, not even when she moved closer. She did hear Cynthia’s response. “Those are bold claims.”

“More than claims. Though I wouldn’t expect an academic like you to believe me without…verification.”

“Is that an offer?”

“Nope. It’s a promise.”

Alana gasped, a shiver of excitement going through her as Lou took a metaphorical hammer to the thick tension in the air by pulling the older woman into a kiss. Like horses whipped into a gallop, the slow pace was overtaken by frantic energy. In a few breaths, the two women were all over each other.

Alana quietly admired Cynthia’s zeal. The older woman had at least a decade more of age on Lou, without the benefits of a pure physical affinity like Kierra, but easily matched Lou’s aggression. She was practically thrown against a tree but that didn’t stop her from pulling off Lou’s shirt. Alana crept as close as she dared, close enough that she could just hear Cynthia’s quiet moan as Lou broke their kiss to undo the laces of her dress.

“Don’t tease me,” Alana muttered, anxious that the deliberate actions meant a slower pace. She loved the caring role Lou took on when they were together, but she had to admit, if only to herself, that she preferred to watch more…beastly behavior.

“Normally, I’d take things slow but—” Cynthia yelped as she was turned around, her hands placed over her head and pinned there. “This is just the beginning of a looong night.”