Garden of Delights|Aegestrom, Maelstrom

[Darastrix]

Despite the cool weather, the garden on the Brightmore manor grounds was in bloom, all but the most cold-sensitive plants having been coaxed into flower. One of the manor staff stood by a hedge of new rose bushes, snipping flowers to take back inside to decorate the mansion with. She seemed to be enjoying her time outside, humming to herself and sniffing the blooms before she lay them in her basket.

"Ow!" She pulled her hand out of the bush and sucked on the tip of one finger for a moment before returning to her work.

[Northen Light36]

Shadow was enjoying the day, wandering the garden aimlessly with Lumi and Dami and getting a great deal of pleasure out of watching his son and daughter.

Dami clearly adored his sister, following her everywhere she'd let him and giving her offerings of his toys. "Lumi," he called out now, holding out a flower he'd picked. "For you!"

[Kender Bard]

Luminous's stance on her brother had softened a little with time. The sibling worship certainly helped the matter. She glanced back over her shoulder and smiled at him, coming to bend and sniff the flower before accepting it. "Thank you, Dami," she said and turned it to tickle his nose with. "It's beautiful."

[Darastrix]

The maid glanced over her shoulder at the children and smiled, tugging absentmindedly at her collar. When her gaze settled on Shadow, she averted her eyes quickly and returned to her work, as she so often did. It wasn't proper for a maid to stare at her betters, after all. Especially the king.

She hissed as the thorny bushes scratched her again, and she decided she had quite enough roses. She'd been fighting the bushes for a good while, and she was getting warm. She moved on to another recent plot of flowers. The gardener had said they looked to be a red variety of a plant he was already familiar with--commonly white--and that it should be all right to pick a few as well.

She knelt by the bed and began picking the blooms carefully, making sure not to pick too many from one spot and leave a gap in the plot. They were nice, she thought. Red was such a cheery colour. She sniffed one of the flowers before putting it in her basket with the others and stood, turning to face the rest of the garden.

King Shadow caught her eye again, and this time she did stare, a rosy blush sweeping over her cheeks as she gazed at him, her basket slipping from her fingers.

[Northen Light36]

Dami giggled cheerfully and clapped, before losing his still quite shaky balance and toppling back onto his well padded backside. For a moment he pouted, then seemed to decide it wasn't worth crying about and smiled up at his sister.

Shadow chuckled softly, pleased that Dami wasn't going to make a fuss. The boy could scream nearly loud enough to shatter glass sometimes. A trait he gets from his mother, no doubt. At least it's probably better then Lumi, and my, tendancy to sulk.

Years of paranoia kicked in suddenly and he felt eyes on his back. Turning his head to look, Shadow spotted the blushing maid and relaxed again. Just a servant with a crush. Annoying and thankfully more prone to happen to Flash then Shadow, but not dangerous. "Can I help you?" he asked, expecting she'd stammer out a denial or make some high pitched noise, then flee, leaving him in peace with the children.

[Darastrix]

"I--I beg your pardon, Your Majesty," she murmured. She gave a deep curtsy and picked up her basket in the same motion. "I know you have your family and I'm not worth your royal attention, but I must speak." Her hand tightened on the handle and she looked up at him, eyes wide and her expression pleading.

Please let him understand. It was almost too much to hope he might consider taking a mistress, but she hoped he would be kind. "I'm just a maid; I never had a tutor and I don't know poetry, so all I can do is be plain and honest. I love you, King Brightmore."

[Kender Bard]

Luminous glanced up at that and stared at the woman in open shock. She said the only thing that came to mind, the first thing that did.

"Mother's not going to like this."

[Northen Light36]

Shadow looked at the maid in disbelief and shock. That response had been entirely unexpected and, really, completely out of line. It was on the tip of his tounge to ask if she'd been drinking. "No," he murmured to Lumi. "She's not."

Forces, had he even seen this silly girl before? Probably. He never paid much attention to the maids. But he'd surely never given her any reason to think her... advances... would be welcome. "Young lady, while flattering, your remark is entirely unseemly, out of line and the feeling is in no way mutual," he replied at last, disapproval in his tone. "I cannot begin to imagine where you got the idea this would be appropriate behaviour."

[Darastrix]

The maid's lower lip began to tremble, and her eyes grew bright with tears. He hadn't even tried to spare her feelings at all! She blinked and the first of the tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I know it isn't," she said, voice cracking. "B-but I had to--had to tell you all the same. If you only knew...."

She swayed a little and put a hand to her forehead. It wasn't just hot out now; it was positively sweltering. Dizzying. Or maybe it was just due to the breaking of her heart. "P-please, Majesty. Can you--can you not find the smallest b-bit of affection in your-your--"

Another wave of dizziness made her sway again, and she reached toward Shadow as though to steady herself before losing her feet completely.

[Northen Light36]

Shadow swore as he caught the woman. If she was ill, he didn't want her to hurt herself. If she wasn't, well he'd still prefer not to see her crack her skull open on the paving stones. After checking to see if she'd really fainted, Shadow frowned grimly and told Lumi, "Go fetch Angel. Quickly now."

[Kender Bard]

"Yes Father," Luminous murmured. She hitched up her skirts a bit so as not to trip and took off running into the palace. A while later, she returned, following behind Angel's brisk walk. The woman had her basket of remedies in hand. "Any idea what's wrong?" she inquired as she checked the woman over.

[Darastrix]

Despite her having fainted, the maid's face was as flushed as it had been while she had spoken to Shadow. Her hair was damp with sweat, and beads of perspiration dotted her forehead, which, like the rest of her, was hot to the touch.

[Kender Bard]

"She has a fever," Angel concluded quickly. She dug about in her basket and began to put together a hasty concoction. "What was she doing before she fainted?"

[Northen Light36]

"Annoucing her love for me," Shadow commented dryly. "So I think we can assume she was ill before her collapse. I think I saw her picking flowers when I brought the children into the garden."

[Kender Bard]

Angel slipped an arm around the woman and dribbled a small bit of liquid into the woman's mouth and tried to get her to swallow it reflexively before setting her back down and going to inspect the garden area, looking at where flowers had obviously been clipped or otherwise tampered with, or for any insect or creature that could have gotten to her.