THE FLOWER CHILDREN

Chapter 3

ASMEEN walked out of the house in the afternoon, when things had probably calmed down a bit. She scurried along the familiar back lines, the dust trails leading her to the outskirts of the city, where the more run-down houses were.

She reached the one she was looking for, slowing down a bit once she reached the house, walking into the front yard.

"Nara," she said, stopping behind the slim girl in a worn dress and apron hanging wet clothes on thin ropes.

Nara whirled, her dark braid flying. She wiped her hands on her apron and reached out.

Asmeen clasped her instantly, squeezing tightly.

"You did it," Nara murmured into her shoulder.

Asmeen let go, pulling back and grinning. "I did! I really, really did this time!"

Nara laughed. "You really, really did. I'm so proud of you. I would've visited you earlier, but I was so busy, and Nyma only just told me."

"Where is your dear older sister?" Asmeen asked, glancing around.

Nara shook her head. "Out with her friends somewhere. One of them got in for the Children of the Night. She said to tell you congratulations. We're all thrilled for you."

Asmeen smiled. "Thank you." She glanced at the laundry behind Nara. "Here, I'll help."

The two of them continued stringing the wet clothes on the line. Nara was even shorter than her, so at least she could reach the lines, unlike at home, where Elyn and Wylla did the washing and drying and kept it up high for unfathomable reasons.

"You'll find out who your partner is tomorrow, right?" Nara asked.

Asmeen hummed in agreement, throwing a white sheet over the line. "I hope it's someone who won't be too competitive. That would be unbearable."

Nara nodded. "I don't think you'll get someone like that. I've heard that Dara and Osoric assign who they think will be the best match, personality-wise. You're not that competitive, so your partner probably won't be."

"You're right." Asmeen twisted her lips together. She let out a sigh. "Is it strange that I think I'm more nervous now than I was before, when they announced the names?"

Nara let out a laugh, grabbing a dress from the basket of laundry. "Yes. But in a way, I do understand. There's more pressure now, I suppose. Now that the final trainees have been chosen."

"There is." Asmeen shook her head. "I'm so glad to be chosen, but I don't know what I'll do if I fail. This is my last chance. My twentieth is coming up in a few months, so after that I won't be able to try."

Nara gave her a wry smile. "And after you've spent the last five years on this. Even if you do fail, you can get some job somewhere, like your sister, while you figure out what to do." She grinned. "You can always help Nyma with her cleaning business. She needs another maid to help clean all those big houses. She can't pay you much, though."

"Well, there is that." Asmeen inclined her head, grinning back. Then she dropped the smile, focusing on the laundry. "I just don't know what will happen if I fail. This is all I know how to do."

"That's not true." Nara frowned. "You can sew and embroider so well. My grandmother loved that blanket you made for her, by the way. And Nyma uses the scarf you gave her almost every day. Apparently, it's very stylish."

Asmeen sighed. "I can't make a living out of that."

Nara shrugged. "Who says that? Your father?" When Asmeen stayed silent, she sighed. "I think you can. And besides—your father! He must've been so pleased, right?"

Asmeen smiled, remembering how it felt to be held in her father's arms. It was a feeling she'd almost forgotten. "He was. He was so proud. It's so good to see him like that, after all these years of me failing."

"That's good." Nara nodded, fishing out the last cloth from the basket at their feet. "Still, don't be too worried. If you fail, we're all here. He'll get over it."

"No, he won't," Asmeen muttered. Still, she let the subject drop. "And you? How is your mother now?"

Nara scrunched up her nose. "She's getting better. Nyma's been out of the house lately for her cleaning—we're so lucky she's earning good money now that word of her business is spreading. Mother even talks of getting some fancy pain medicine for me."

Asmeen's eyes dropped to Nara's foot. A childhood accident had left her with a permanent limp, a permanent scar. It was incurable. It still hurt, she knew, even though Nara never said a word. And besides, after her father's death, she was well aware money had been scarce in Nara's house.

So she smiled, looking back up at Nara. "That's good to hear. I'll try to advertise Nyma's services in my neighborhood."

Nara smirked. "She'll appreciate that. Right now, she has mother telling all her clients about it."

Asmeen laughed. "Sounds like Nyma. She's resourceful."

Nara nodded, sitting down on a stone bench. Asmeen sat beside her. After a moment, Nara grabbed her fingers softly. "Whatever happens, you do your best. Making your father proud doesn't matter as much as being healthy and happy."

Asmeen let out a short laugh. "That sounds like something your grandmother would say." She squeezed Nara's fingers. "I have to make Father proud. Even though he has Papa now, I'm all he has left of Mother. I have to do justice to her memory."

Nara sighed but didn't object, and they sat on that bench the entire afternoon.

This one's really short, but chapter 4 is going to be a bit longer. What do you think of Nara? I like her.

See you next chapter!