the pot of pinks [OPEN]

[talia]

^{`Be careful of my gifts, good man; see that you do not lose the ring or forget to water the pinks. As for your daughter, I promise you that she shall be more beautiful than anyone you ever saw in your life; call her Felicia, and when she grows up give her the ring and the pot of pinks to console her for her poverty.'}

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Talia still wasn't used to the lush green of Narnian gardens. The brilliant colors, trickling streams and waterfalls, fountains, statues with little flowering vines wrapped delicately around them; all of it was new and astonishing for her--she thought she could stay in the gardens at Cair Paravel forever and eternity and never grow tired of the foliage. She was sure that her mother (on whom be the peace of the gods) would have loved the gardens as well, and the memory made the dark girl smile a little to herself as she sat down on the edge of a large fountain, reaching into the clear water to draw a waterlily towards her. Narnia was so different that Calormen, even down to the little things--had she still been in Calormen, she would have plucked the lily out of the water without thinking twice, but here, she almost wondered if she would snuff the life out of a nymph or something just by removing the lily flower from its stem. The Calormene girl therefore carefully resisted the desire to pick the flower, and instead lowered her head down to the level of the water to smell the sweet white petals.

Feeling a bit disappointed and a bit ignorant when the lily was rather plain-smelling, Talia sat back up, brushing her black hair behind her shoulders. A few strands had fallen into the fountain when she'd bent down, leaving a few droplets of water on her cream-colored sleeve. While dressed rather simply by Narnian standards, Talia felt extremely well-dressed. She wore a simple cream robe that swept at her feet when she walked. Tracing a curved 'v' just below her collarbone the neckline of the robe scooped out towards her shoulders before meeting under her hair in a shape similar to that in the front. The loose sleeves of the dress were tied with yellow braid once on her upper arm, once below her elbow, and again at the wrist for practicality, and a yellow sash belted the colorless dress to Talia's thin waist, and gave her a bit of Narnian color. That was another thing she'd noticed about Narnia: everything from the vegetation to the standards and tapestries, and from the costumes of the High kings and queens to the garments of the servants were colorful in some manner. Nothing was plain and drab, it was as though the color seemed to spring from the very spirit of the people here, as though by being colorful the land cried out "I am Narnia, rejoice in me!"

And rejoice in Narnia, Talia did. They say that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence; well, when the grass on your side is sunburned and struggling to grow in the dessert, the other side is definitely greener. Brushing a strand of dark hair out of her eyes, Talia soaked in the warming rays of the sun and the comfortable, soft breeze. Closing her eyes in relaxation, she didn't see someone approach her until she heard footsteps beside her.

[bess]

It was a clear day in Narnia as Bess walked around the castle, dressed in her red and gold Ladies-in-Waiting uniform. Bess was glad it was not raining or thundering especially due to her fear of storms, she would have been hiding in the closet if such a thing happened, in which she did sometimes if a storm occurred. Though the day was clear, it was still cold outside, but soon Spring would be here, something the lady-in-waiting looked forward to. Secretly, Bess hoped there would not be a Ball or Dance in the spring being it probably mean that royals from other countries would be invited. It was not that Bess despised the royal class, but it was just she did not like the rude ones who acted spoiled. Besides, Bess felt as though she did not deserve to go to any balls being she was not born of nobility.

Bess continued wandering around the palace until she decided to go outside in the gardens, to admire the flowers which she liked very much. When she had lived on the ship, Bess had not seen many flowers being how much they traveled, so she like the flowers they had here in Cair Paravel. She was extremely grateful to Queen Susan, Queen Lucy, King Peter and King Edmund for allowing her to work as a Lady-in-waiting to Susan, since if not Bess would have be homeless being the ship she had lived on had left her here after she had told the crew that was a lady-in-waiting. Bess finally reached the gardens and saw a girl, with the dark skin of the Calormene people. Bess assumed she must have been a foreigner from the country of Calormen, unsure of what she was. The lady-in-waiting jumped slightly at thesight of her being she scared so easily and that she was unsure if she was a friend of enemy. Getting closer to her, Bess said "Hello."

[talia]

^{`Be careful of my gifts, good man; see that you do not lose the ring or forget to water the pinks. As for your daughter, I promise you that she shall be more beautiful than anyone you ever saw in your life; call her Felicia, and when she grows up give her the ring and the pot of pinks to console her for her poverty.'}

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Had she been paying attention at all, Talia would have--and should have--noticed the dark-haired girl approaching her, but she was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the girl until she was nearly right beside her. She looked up suddenly as the unfamiliar girl said hello to her, the slightest bit startled at the unexpected greeting.

"Oh! Hello," Talia responded quickly, giving a hesitant little smile a bit nervously. What if she wasn't supposed to be in this garden? Was it open to everyone, or should she have asked someone before venturing into the gardens? The other girl was dressed beautifully in rich red and golds, and Talia suddenly felt very plain in her own simple attire. She didn't think she recognized the girl as one of the queens, so who was she? Someone Talia should know? She felt suddenly as though she didn't quite know what to say, and instead just sat there looking at the girl, completely dumbstruck.

[bess]

And your eyes...

Being she was closer to this girl now, Bess recognized her from the palace as a servant as well as her plain clothes, but did not remember her name. It seemed to the lady-in-waiting that she was a kind girl and so Bess decided to talk with her being she would be far more interesting than those boring courtiers. The girl looked rather surprised by Bess's presence, as if she was afraid she was not permitted to be allowed in these gardens. Chuckling slightly, the lady-in-waiting said "Its all right. Everyone is permitted to come here." Bess added, "My name is Elizabeth, but I would prefer Bess, and just Bess at that please." The lady-in-waiting simply did not like it when people called her Lady as well as when they called by her full name, Elizabeth. Looking curious, Bess said "And you are, Miss?"

"You are from Calormen I presume? I notice you have their dark skin and you are far too friendly to be a Telmarine." Bess said laughing slightly. She did not like those Telmarines very much as well as their King, Caspian. How someone as supposedly noble and brave as Aslan picked someone like Caspian to be King was beyond Bess, but she would not show him disrespect in front of Queen Susan of course.

[talia]

^{`Be careful of my gifts, good man; see that you do not lose the ring or forget to water the pinks. As for your daughter, I promise you that she shall be more beautiful than anyone you ever saw in your life; call her Felicia, and when she grows up give her the ring and the pot of pinks to console her for her poverty.'}

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"Oh, I um...Thanks" Feeling a bit stupid now that she'd been assured that her presence was not unwanted, Talia nodded slightly, giving the other girl a small little smile in return. The other girl continued talking, introducing herself as Elizabeth. No, Bess. She asked Talia what her own name was, and asked if she was from Calormen. "I'm Talia." The dark girl replied, her light Calormene accent coloring her words as she introduced herself softly.

"And yes, I do hail from Calormen." Talia added after a moment's deliberation. There couldn't be any harm in saying she was from Calormen, now could there? It wasn't as though she was revealing her entire life story just by saying where she came from, so Talia assumed that replying honestly wouldn't cause any problems. "Not all Calormenes are friendly, though, Miss Bess." She added after a moment, "Nor are all Telmarine's unfriendly--its more a matter of each person themselves, not where they're from." She commented softly. No two people were alike, really, and not everyone from each country was the same, either. Maybe it was just because Talia had a different view of most of Calormen than Bess probably did, but she didn't particularly think that Calormenes deserved any exultation above the Telmarines.