“...Are you sure we should be doing this?”

“Hm?” Dallia looked up from the flower crown she was making as she and Ro sat in the garden.

“I’m just saying, I’m sure these flowers are rare or expensive or something.”

“We can grow more.” Dallia shrugged, standing up from the grass to put the crown upon Ro’s head. Ro had... mixed feelings, to say the least. Haz had been up to something with Jeddard, some big project they weren’t allowed to speak about, which left Ro to be the object of Dallia’s attention instead. Ro was used to training with the knights or the rock and stone of the mines, something physical. She hadn’t sat down and enjoyed the grass since she was maybe around Dallia’s age, or younger. Tea parties, games of tag, dolls, it was... it was a whole other lifetime ago, to Ro.

Or maybe she just wasn’t used to people, let alone friendly ones. She fiddled with the crown on her head as Dallia beamed at her. “...Thanks.”

“What’s your favorite flower?”

“I dunno, I don’t know a lot of flowers.”

“Why not?” Ro felt a hint of annoyance, reminded of Haz’s non-stop questions when he was younger, but she tried to come up with an answer that was polite enough.

“I... didn’t get to see flowers much while I was in the mine.” The realization hit Dallia admittedly and she began to quickly apologize, but Ro waved her off. “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

The two sat awkwardly in silence for a while. Honestly Ro just wanted to get up and get back to training but she felt like she had to get closer to Dallia now, if only for Haz’s sake. “What’s... what’s your favorite flower?”

Dallia brightened up and pointed to a bush- well, “bush” was generous, in Ro’s mind. The plant had only a few sharp woody branches, pockmarked with small purple flowers and berries. “The Saintess’ Gift.”

“...It’s...” Ro couldn’t even lie about the plant looking beautiful, so she changed gears. “What’s the name from?”

“They say the Saintess used it to feed our people on our journey through the Stormlands, and she used the wood to treat everyone’s pain.”

“That thing? It looks like it barely has enough berries to feed the birds.”

“Oh, birds don’t eat them.” Ro looked at Dallia in confusion. “The berries are too bitter, they eat the seeds inside, but the Saintess fed the berries to her people, and it kept them going until they reached the Heart.”

Ro hummed, looking at the plant again. “You’ve eaten the berries, then?”

Dallia’s mouth immediately puckered and Ro swore a shiver went through Dallia’s body. It couldn’t have been that bad, surely? She’d eaten worse in the mines. Ro got up and moved towards the bush, plucking one of the berries and popping it into her mouth. She swore she heard a tiny, quiet “noooo...” from behind her as she bit into the berry, chewing on it... and her chewing steadily slowed down as a sour, bitter juice spread through her mouth. She tried to power through, but her eyes started to water and her whole mouth tingled until she stopped chewing.

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“Hello all, finally on a break- uh...?” Ro turned and could just about see the blurry outline of Hazard. “Ro!? Are you okay, what’s happening!?”

She tried to say something but all he could get out was a “merp” due to her soured mouth, and the blur of Dallia came up to her, raising something to her. Ro took it, and realizing it was a teacup she quickly raised it to her lips and downed the contents. A wave of relief washed over her mouth as she was finally able to swallow, coughing and gasping once her mouth was clear. She used a hand to wipe away her tears and got out a croaky, “Thank you.”

“Explain please.” Hazard hobbled up to them, looking at Ro worriedly,

“S’fine, just tried berry.” Ro pointed with her thumb to the berry bush as Dallia got her another drink, and it was one of the greatest things Ro tasted by dint of sheer relief.

“...Right, I... just came out here to check on you both during the break. Can I trust you not to poison yourself if I head back?” Ro waved off Hazard’s concern and he nodded before he left again. When he disappeared into the Spire Ro chuckled, and Dallia looked at her curiously.

“What?”

“Nothing, just funny whenever he tries to fret about me.” Curiosity turned to confusion, and Ro explained, “Because he’s usually the one that needs looking after.”

“Does he?” Now it was Ro’s turn to look confused. “I think he does a lot on his own.”

Ro was about to scoff and give an example but she wracked her brain; what was the last thing she had to do for Haz? It was... odd, to not be able to think of something. “I, I guess he does...”

“...Ro-”

Ro cleared her throat, “A-Anyways, anything else special about those berries?”

“The Saintess made a spear out of them.”

“...Of berries?”

“No, of the wood.” Dallia pointed to the woody branches of the plant, “They say she used her magic to grow one long branch and used it as a spear to defend herself. She used the poison to make people sleep! She was a lot like you: she fought to keep everyone safe.”

“...N-Nah, c’mon.” Ro definitely was not blushing, not her, she definitely did not feel a little pride in that comparison. Though, she was growing curious now: there weren’t a lot of people in the mines who were keen on religion and considering she practically grew up in the mines, it wasn’t like her parents really focused on teaching her all the holy stories. Still, she was surprised she never heard a story about the Saintess being a warrior, let alone having a spear; it was usually talk about her magic or how kind she was or some foss like that.

“It’s true: Ha- Cheval didn’t tell me much, but he said you were always a hero.”

“I think he was definitely exaggerating.” It sure was a sunny day, must be why Ro’s face got so hot.

“He said you were always looking out for him and Lord Jeveraux, and you tried to hide it but he saw you helping out a few of the other miners. He says you even gave them some of your money.” That took away some of her giddiness. He saw her giving out some of her pay? Sure, she didn’t make a habit of it and she knew he gave out some of his smaller gems to help some people, but if he knew, why didn’t he say anything? All that time she chastised him for giving-

“Ro?” Dallia’s words broke her out of her thoughts. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Tell me a bit more about the Saintess, was she really a fighter?” Dallia’s eyes lit up and the younger girl unleashed a flood of stories, and Ro was thankful for the distraction. This... was nice. She’d still like to be back at training, but she supposed there was nothing wrong with taking a break for a day, and if she dug into her own feelings it felt a little like those rare moments she managed to get Hazard to open up and he got extra excited. Maybe that’s why the two youngsters got along so well, and maybe, just maybe, that could help the two girls get along as well...