Insignia: Scars of Lumierna

Five

Past the bakery, the shops of the market district, and the homes on the outskirts of Lumiera's limits, Jannell crosses the city border. She checked on Stirling after feeding him breakfast and told Giles she is visiting a friend and stopping by the apothecary for Stirling. It's a harmless white lie. She is visiting a friend, but she is not stopping by the apothecary.

She treads over a hastily put-together bridge of laid down thin trunks allowing her a safe passage over a running creak to a small cottage at the edge of the woods. Calling it a cottage is more than generous. The small one-room hut is structured of branches and small trees tied together with a thatched roof. A place for an herbalist to rest her head at night or hide from the pouring rain.

The herbalist's garden is her legacy. In her eyes, who needs a house with many unused rooms when she has the colors of the rainbow surrounding her? Green of mint, purple of flowering thistle, orange of marigold, and yellow of St. John's wort. There isn't an elaborate archway in the castle that compares to her web of twine strung across her yard with drying bundles of sage, lavender, and chamomile.

Jannell can hear the wind chimes of metal and hallowed wood sing in the gentle breeze as she steps through the morning glory arch leading into the mystical garden. White petals line the curling currents of the wind. She holds her hand out to catch one on her palm as one would catch a snowflake. She lifts it to her nose to smell the sweet aroma. Smiling, she blows on it lightly, returning it to the dance in the wind.

"Faerydae!" Jannell calls out.

A woman with straight brown hair that flows like silk down to her hips pokes her head up from a batch of elderflowers, "Jannell!" She jumps up with excitement. The multiple colors of fabrics sewn into a layered skirt bounce individually with the movement.

Barefoot the tall and slender woman runs soundlessly over to Jannell, nearly knocking her over as she wraps her arms around her. Jannell returns the embrace, hugging her friend, who always smells as if she fell asleep in a daisy patch, and knowing Faerydae, she probably has.

Jannell pulls back, holding her loving friend by the elbows. "Why do you always act as if I haven't seen you in ages?"

Faerydae pouts her bottom lip. "Because last week was ages ago."

Dropping her hand, Jannell slips her hand into Faerydaes', giving it a supportive squeeze. Her friend, her sister in her heart if not blood, is one of her few lifelines. Giles is the wall keeping her safe. Stirling is the sun brightening her day. Faerydae is the root keeping her grounded when life blows through with razor winds.

Faerydae sees the ripples in the leaves of her dandelion-haired friend. "What is it?"

Sighing, Jannell tells her, "Stirling, he got severely hurt while playing." Faerydae gasps, covering her mouth with her hands. "I closed the wounds and put honey on it, but I still worry about infection. He feels warm to the touch and the area around the wound is red and angry."

"Oh, hon," she says, pulling Jannell into another hug for reassurance. "I've got just what you need. My favorite little man will be better in no time." She leaps away from Jannell, her long legs dancing gracefully through her garden.

She stands on tiptoe as she floats through the flowers, not a single delicate plant disturbed as she passes them. Stooping down, she picks the white flowers of coriander, the leaves of the purple flower periwinkle, and the entire stem of musk mallow.

Holding up her medicinal bouquet matching the floral design on her arm, she breathes it in. She loves her job and all it entails. She lives each day to tend to her babies in her garden. She blooms awake in the morning with her flowers to spend the entirety of her day under the blue sky soaking up the sunlight. When customers come by, she can't help but be excited as she talks about the healing remedies of each plant. The best way to steep the leaves, dried versus fresh. The differences in properties between the flower petals versus the leaves. How thyme can taste good but can also fight against infections.

She twirls back to Jannell who is leaning over a patch of nettles observing a butterfly float from flower to flower.

Jannell pokes her finger to the top of a flowered nettle, soft and free from the spines, and watches it bobble back and forth. "I wish I got to live out here in nature."

Leaning her head back, Faerydae lets the sun kiss her cheeks. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." Her attention is caught by a robin flitting around the branches above. "Why did you move to the city, to begin with?"

Jannell tilts her head back watching the robin. "I love to bake, and I wanted my own shop. I didn't want to be just help around my brother's shop. I came to the city in search of that dream and I fell in love with Giles, he gave me everything I wanted, a shop to call my own and a son to call my world."

They stand there momentarily lost in the beauty of the earth. Faerydae speaks first, returning her gaze to Jannell, "Still don't see what you see in him. I guess he's all right looking. But I am glad, adorable little Stirling takes after you, curly hair and all."

Jannell listens to the running creek as her mind wanders back. "He's not the grumpy man he appears to be. There's a sweet side reserved only for me. He is nothing but kind and caring, though." She drops her gaze. "I wish he showed that side to Stirling more. I'm afraid of what effect that will have on him as he grows up. His father never showed any love for him."

"Then you'll just have to give him extra cuddles to make up for it. When he is better, bring him around next time. It's been a while since I've seen that smile of his," Faerydae suggests.

"Trust me, he isn't a day without my snuggles." Jannell's smile lifts Faerydae.

Faerydae hopes to have what Jannell has one day. She can do without the frowning spouse, but she wants to love someone the way Jannell loves Stirling. The unconditional love a mother can have for her child. The way the world doesn't turn unless she sees him smile.

She will find a companion who compliments her and her trade. Someone who helps her garden grow and doesn't make her leaves wilt.

Her shoulders sink.

She just hasn't found them yet.

Maybe a handsome alchemist will visit her garden in search of ingredients.

She sighs, letting go of her fantasy, she shakes it off and returns to her sprightly ways.

Faerydae grins holding out her bouquet of herbs to Jannell.

Jannell graciously lifts her hands to accept.

Faerydae pulls it back teasingly, she wags her finger. "No no. First, you have to promise me you're going to come by and spend the whole day with me soon. I'm more than just herbs you know."

Jannell gives her a heartwarming smile. "You know I will always come by to spend a day with my best friend. If I weren't so worried about Stirling, I would stay today."

"You should steep the coriander in hot water, it will help with his fever. You can wet the periwinkle leaves and put them under his wrappings. Smash the musk mallow into a paste, that will help with healing his wound." Faerydae takes Jannell's hand, closing it around the bouquet. "Now go take care of your boy."

"Thank you," Jannell says to her friend. She begins to pull away from Faerydae's grasp but her grip tightens.

"Jannell." Her eyes are the size of the moon. "Don't forget to take care of yourself, too. Remember, I'm always here for you. Even if you have a cough, come by to see me, and I'll make you better."

Jannell pulls her friend into a final embrace. "I'll come by every time I sneeze."

A giggle ensues in Faerydae and she nuzzles her cheek into Jannell's curls. "Well, if that's so, then I'm going to sneak ragweed into your house." She steps back, taking in a full view of Jannell. Reaching up, she pulls on one of her loose curls and watches it spring back into place. "Give Stirling a hug for me."

"Will do. I'll see you soon," Jannell says, backing up.

With her hair flowing in the breeze, Faerydae watches her favorite person leave the circle of her small garden world.