Bouquet ~ Twenty Three

[annarti.livejournal.com]

Chapter~ 1443
Total~ 38 483

Flannel Flower wished she could see the expression on the empress’s face when she found out what her Silronan assassin was up to. She would know, most definitely. She had been following the progress of the Executioner case as closely as the Golden Kris. Flannel Flower knew because she had referred to her as the Executioner in one of her letters, years ago, when she was first becoming known amongst the Silronan investigators.

As such, it hardly surprised her when a messenger knocked on her door one morning as she was eating breakfast. She had been poking around for almost a month now, just enough time for word to get up to Assiraz and a letter to get back down here.

‘Good morning,’ the boy said with a bow of his head. ‘I apologise in advance; I was not given your full name. I have a letter for Flannel Flower? Is that you? I apologise again, sorry ma’am.’

Flannel Flower shook her head with a light laugh as she took the letter. ‘Don’t worry about it. She thinks it’s a joke.’ She flicked a copper coin up for the messenger boy to catch. ‘Thank you!’

She sat back down at the kitchen table with a cocky grin and cracked the frangipani wax seal as she put another spoon of porridge into her mouth.

My most precious Flannel Flower,

Oh, I hope you still remember me! When did I last write you a letter? Too long, it seems! Oh, I do hope you aren’t too worried. Fear not. I am safe. I am no longer in the treasury. It seems now that my only fear is for you. You still remain the only flower in my life. Am I the only one in yours? I hope so, because otherwise my heart would be broken. Then, even the most beautiful bouquet in Kazin would not console me.

Please, when will you ever return to Assiraz? I’m sorry I haven’t sent you a letter in so long, really I am. Too much has happened in Assiraz lately, with my new and far safer job. I’m a scribe. Isn’t that fantastic? It is stressful though. Everything has to be done immediately or not at all.

It is terrible sometimes, as there is always so much for me to write. I feel that my hand will drop off at the end of every day! I don’t doubt it will be stiff and unusable by the time I am thirty, how terrible! I should probably ask for a raise, for all my journeys to the healing house. I haven’t written you a letter because whenever I have time, all I wish to do is rest my poor aching hand. I hope you understand. I know there are people at the scribes’ office who will write letters for those who can’t, but that wouldn’t be right. For me, I feel that the letter I write you should be done with my own hand, however it aches. The ladies at the healing house know me well now. They have these wonderful jars of salve for me, and say all the scribes use it with success. They give me a lovely welcoming every time I come in. I must buy them all gifts for Winter Solstice.

I have used some of it writing this letter, in fact. I know that I still will not be able to write it all in one sitting. I have so much to tell you! Oh, how I have missed you. Some days I forget just where you are. I have asked my mother to take us all to Silrona, forgetting how far away it really is. When will we ever possibly meet again?

I am so sorry that this letter is taking so long to write. Two days already, because it is so painful. I asked my supervisor for a raise yesterday. She said mine was a special case and she would look into it. She says that for a task like mine, my wrist shouldn’t hurt as much as it does.

Oh please, Flannel Flower, is it possible for you to come to Assiraz, even for a short while? Of course, you know I will continue to write to you as often as I can, but this is too much. My poor, aching wrist will require more than just cream, I think. It is getting more and more painful every day. Sorry, I will stop giving details of it now, though it seems the only thing in my life now.

Well, except of course for you. I know that together we can get through anything. The trees still whisper your name. When will it ever come, the next time I can see you? Must this distance be the price we must pay to be together?

Forever yours,
Frangipani

Flannel Flower’s spoon froze mid-air to her open mouth as she decoded the last paragraph, and her eyebrows shot up as she checked and rechecked what she had read.

‘Now that is a letter,’ she proclaimed, spooning the last of her porridge into her mouth and resting back in the chair, picking the sentences apart over and over, more for fun than to be sure she had it right. She had been ready to scoff at the letter, roll her eyes and throw it on the fire then head for the palace for work, but that last paragraph made her curious.

In fact, truth be told, curious was a gross understatement. Her recent re-entry into spy work made her mind start bursting with questions. How desperate was the empress? Was it another suicide mission? Who was the target? What made it a ‘special’ task? How high a price could she name? Was it a mission at all? Was she being relocated so Frangipani could keep an eye on her? Who was she going to be meeting with? Empress Shizaaqa? Four black horses who would dump her in the dungeons, never to emerge again? An informant? The rest of the bouquet? Were they all going to be sent off to do something together that couldn’t be accomplished by one?

The last thought would be interesting, however unlikely it was. Flannel Flower had wondered occasionally about the rest of Frangipani’s bouquet. She had an idea that they were all women, only because of Wattle’s note. It seemed like the kind of thing a woman would do, especially since the all superficial words about kookaburras in the dead gum tree and the grocery shop down the road had been true.

She shook her head and tossed the letter back on the table. Exciting as it might be, Frangipani wouldn’t let any of her assassins know who the rest of the bouquet was. That would be dangerous. Not for the bouquet, but certainly for the empress.

The questions and possibilities played through her mind as she walked to work, hands shoved in her pockets and eyes on the cobblestone road. Thinking now, it had all the hallmarks of a trap. She was being lured in, the bait being whatever she wished it to be.

And yet, the element of danger made her even more excited. She was back in the bouquet now. She had her strength back, she’d polished all her old skills, and she was ready for anything Frangipani could throw at her.

‘Morning,’ Kez said with a yawn when she arrived in the diplomacy office. ‘How’ve you been?’

Flannel Flower rubbed her hands together with a devilish smile. ‘I’ve been called to Assiraz.’

‘Oh, finally!’ Kez clapped her hands and jumped in excitement, then paused. ‘Wait, it is about Sissillya, isn’t it? You’re not transferring?’

Flannel Flower returned her with a blank look, then blinked a few times. That would actually be a better cover than what she’d first thought of. ‘You know, they didn’t tell me. I just got a letter asking me to come up there as soon as I could. “Immediately,” I believe the word was.’

‘You wouldn’t take it if they did, would you?’

She laughed and shook her head. ‘Please, no way! Assiraz diplomacy? They’d have me talking to Raykinians every day. I couldn’t pothibly thtand that acthent every day.’

Kez giggled. ‘Fair call. So when are you leaving?’

‘I’ll let the powers that be know, then start packing.’

‘What, today?’

Flannel Flower nodded. ‘They were pretty insistent.’

Kez looked shocked and slightly hurt, then pointed an accusing finger at her. ‘You’d better be back before Solstice. I’ve got plans.’

The assassin gave an impressed ‘ooh’ and nodded firmly. ‘I’ll make sure they give me a break if nothing else. I’ll be back, promise!’

Comments

[drazzi.livejournal.com]

... Still slashing them

But I love lisp mocking in every shape and form, just because I love the lisp so much.

And ooooh, things are getting interesting now. And I admit I'm not reading the letters but for the 6th letter of every sentence now XD

[annarti.livejournal.com]

Psh, why would you? XD Pointless padding that adds to the word count X3 And yet still take so bloody long to write xX;;

I love mocking the lisp XD Don't get to do that often enough when I'm writing the Raykinians, cos duh, they're the ones who do it XD;

[ladylight.livejournal.com]

I too love the Raykinian mockery XD Nolly is thuch a thweet boy.

I also like the fact that Flanny has certain mundane suspicions mixed in with the rest - is she just going to lock me up? etc. Poor Shizaa; must be tough to be so mistrusted and misunderstood. Or, er, perfectly understood and mistrusted for that reason. ;D

Why is it dangerous to Shizaaqa for the bouquet to all know each other?

*was going to stop at ch. 20 and make dins*

Meep.

[annarti.livejournal.com]

Dangerous cos they could all mob together and KEEEL HER =0! Never trust anyone in this empire, especially the trained killers *nods sagely*

'Do they not have a single S in their entire language then?'
'Nup, not a one.'
'But they've got so many snakes there. What do they do for a snake noise?'
'.....Tttthhhhhhhhhhhhh.'
'*ded*'

...I amuse myself X3

[shanra.livejournal.com]

ooooh.... Wait. Didn't you write Kez Kiz in either chapter 21 or 22?

Flannel Flower knew because she had referred to her as the Executioner in one of her letters, years ago, when she was first becoming known amongst the Silronan investigators. <- personally, I am lost. Is it in one of her letters to Kris or in one of the letters Kris read?

I couldn’t pothibly thtand that acthent every day.’ <- *cackle* She would so hate Dutchies speaking English. ^-~

And that sounds even more omnious... *twitches* And my praise is competely down the drain tonight. Plot thickens. I am caught and I want to know what happens, durn it! (and I want to read about Bratty Nol, but that's neither here nor there. Maybe he's just a really good actor as a kiddie...)

*scurries off again*

[annarti.livejournal.com]

Yep, Kez is one of her mates in the diplomacy X)

...Wow~ that's a crappy sentence. Oops XD; Yeah, in one of the letters Shizaaqa sent to Flannel Flower, Shizaaqa mentioned the Executioner. That's how it's supposed to read, anyway. It really, really doesn't. Oops again >>;

Mini Nol's had his cameo, and that was it, I'm afraid ^^; He gets enough airtime in virtually every other story I've written XD