THE FLOWER CHILDREN

Chapter 19

AS it turned out, it wasn't too hard to finish the gowns.

This was because they left the house a bit early, so they could buy the fabric she'd need. Elyn had acquired money, and neither of the others asked from where. But as soon as they got the fabric, it began raining.

Heavily.

They stood inside one of the buildings for a while until they spotted some trainees, that Asmeen only vaguely recognized and Wylla knew well, running in the opposite direction from the field. Wylla went out and stopped them, talking to them for a moment before running back in.

"What's going on?" Elyn asked, her face pinched.

"Training has been cancelled for the day," Wylla said. "Apparently the rain is quite heavy, so we're free for the day."

Asmeen exchanged a glanced with Elyn, unsure as to what to think. On one hand, it was great to finally get a break, and that too, for an entire day—but on the other hand, that meant their total training time would increase, as Dara and Osoric would just postpone whatever activity they'd planned for the day.

Still, there was nothing they could do, so Asmeen buried the fabric under the shawl Elyn had had the foresight to bring, and the three crept back out, ducking under the shade of street side shops and houses.

They still got quite wet, Elyn taking the most of it as she was trying to keep Asmeen's fabric from getting wet. They made one final sprint to their house, getting completely soaked, and Asmeen could see why training had been cancelled. She could barely see, and the rain was falling hard enough to the point of hurting.

She supposed they could have done something inside, but maybe the leaders had taken pity on them and decided to let them have the day off.

Anyways, Elyn passed the key to Wylla, who unlocked the door rapidly, they rushed in. Asmeen stood right at the door, seeing all the water drip down from their bodies on to the floor. One of them would have to wipe it all up later.

"Should we tell Papa?" Wylla asked.

"Let's get changed and dry first," Elyn decided.

Asmeen nodded in agreement, and the three of the tramped up the stairs, leaving little footprints of water as they walked up. As soon as they reached. Elyn was allowed to change first, because she was absolutely soaking, while Asmeen and Wylla toweled themselves off. When it was her turn Asmeen stripped off all her clothes and changed into the driest, softest dress she had.

While Wylla and Elyn went down to tell Azol everything, she checked the state of her fabric. Wet, of course, but it would dry soon. Elyn had covered it with her entire, body, it seemed. She set it out to dry, and by the time she was done, Elyn had come back up.

"Wylla's warming up some soup for us," she answered in return to Asmeen's questioning look.

"What did Papa say?" Asmeen asked.

Elyn shrugged. "He didn't have much to say. He's afraid father's return might be delayed by the rain as well."

Asmeen nodded. She hadn't thought about that. "I suppose it might. We'll have to wait and see, I suppose."

Wylla came up with a large tray, and three bowls of steaming soup, kicking the door opening as she entered the room. She set the tray down on their desk with a sigh. "I was terrified I was going to spill something."

Elyn nodded. "I shouldn't have let you bring it up." Then she sneezed.

Asmeen blinked. "Elyn?"

Elyn only shrugged, sniffing. "We spent a lot of time in the rain. We're bound to get a small cold. Asmeen, I suggest you get warm."

"Right!" Wylla said, turning wide eyes to Asmeen. "You're just healed. Sit!" Before Asmeen could say anything, she ushered her into the bed and wrapped the blanket around her. Although Asmeen tried to protest that she felt fine, Wylla shoved the bowl of soup into her hands with a firm order to eat.

It was like an early lunch, Asmeen supposed, letting the warm liquid soothe her. Elyn sat at their desk eating, while Wylla joined her on the bed, clearly trying her best not to spill. She hardly spoke throughout the entire meal.

After that, they studied for a while, which Elyn suggested, but neither of them argued for once. A few hours later, Wylla finally gave up.

"What time was father supposed to come?" She asked.

Elyn frowned. "By now, I believe."

Wylla nodded. "Then he's been delayed. Wonderful." She sighed, shaking her head.

"I'm going to take a break as well," Asmeen said, putting aside her notes. Thankfully, Elyn didn't argue, and Asmeen glanced around the room, her eyes landing on the set-out fabric. "I'll get started on these. Wylla, you're first. How exactly did you want it?"

While Wylla spoke, Asmeen set out the silky, deep green fabric. It would offset Wylla's hair and complexion beautifully. Out of the three of them, Wylla's gown was sure to be the most expensive, and Elyn's the least. Wylla did have a taste for the more extravagant, like her father.

She got started, laying out the fabric, Wylla helping whenever she could, though Asmeen didn't often let her. When Elyn declared that their break was over, she began quizzing both of them, seemingly satisfied with their answers.

Asmeen didn't want to spend the entire day on Wylla's, and she did have a knack for multitasking, so she took up Elyn's. Anyways, Wylla's had come along quite well, and only the external embellishments were left. She wanted to get the skeleton for Elyn's done by the time the day was up.

Elyn's fabric was the cheapest, and her dress was also the simplest. But the color was red, so it would be sure to stand out, especially paired with Elyn's quiet beauty. She made only a bit of progress before dinner. Their father still hadn't arrived, so she got some more work done before turning in for the night.

Now that she'd made significant progress, she was sure to finish the gowns in time.

A bit of a filler. I'm super excited to write the party! How has it been so far?

See you next chapter!