Diane had spent the whole morning at the garden, with Mira telling her about the family dynamics. Literally about who is who in the family, just to avoid her stepping on toes.
According to Mira, even if everyone had heard she lost her memory, they would not believe it. Instead, they would take it as a fake strategy of hers to garner attention. So, it would be in her interest to act more put together than the "I lost my memory" Lady Athea.
Daine thought otherwise. Thinking about other people and what they would feel is not her forte. She does not remember them or what they look like, nor does she remember her initial interactions with them either. This information she plans not to withhold.
She did not mention this to Mira, though. She imagined her throwing a fit if she had explained that she would not do any pretense today.
After watering the plants that needed water and making sure the potted plants that needed a little sunlight were facing the direction of the sun, she decided she was going to take flowers to Rose Hall.
She started picking up the roses first; she would replace the already wilted one at her bedside and take some for her stepmother-in-law.
"What are the flowers for now, milady?" "Athea, who had been picking weeds out of the plant," he asked. She was now standing very close to her. She bent as if to pick flowers too, but her hands were folded at her back.
"For the flower vase, Mira," she replied and stretched her hand towards her, handing the roses over to her. Mira gave her a corny smile as she peeled off her gloves and placed them on the handle of the cast iron bench beside them. She took the roses, and in she went.
Diane, now left alone, scurried the whole of the garden with her eyes. The flowers she would want to give should be able to make an impression. But what kind of impression is she going for?
Her mother would always talk about the importance of being intentional when giving flowers. And according to her, the most important thing to consider is the meaning of each flower. Her mother would go ahead to list the meaning of each flower as she arranged them in a bouquet.
Diane touched the blue iris behind the rows of rose flowers. She picked a few clusters of it. She looked over them from the highest tip to the end, making sure none was spoiled in any way. Satisfied, she moved them to her left hand, bemoaning why she had not brought a basket with her.
Mira appeared back in the garden, now with a wooden basket hanging dangly on her left fingers.
"How did you know I needed baskets?" Diane asked, visibly surprised at such intuitiveness.
"How would I not know, Athea, that you plan on taking flowers to her grace at Rosehall?" "I would be a fool not to notice." She said without an expression.
"What is it you are planning now? Mind letting me in on it?" She thrust the basket towards Diane, and when she didn't budge, Mira collected the blue iris flowers from her and carefully placed them in the basket.
"Planning? Of course not." "I'm not planning anything, Mira." "I just thought it would be better to greet her properly than show up empty-handed; don't you think so too?"
"I don't know, Athea; you don't give anyone flowers, unless you are subtly declaring war," Mira replied, now sitting on the bench with that her usual storytime expression.
It was when they were twelve and Athea had just started living at the Lyselles' house after the death of her mother. After her mother died, Athea's father brought her and left her there and disappeared. It's been eight years since she last saw him.
Living at the Lyselles' house as the daughter of an heiress who ran away to be with her lover, whom her parents didn't allow her to marry, was tumultuous. Her cousins picked at her at every opportunity they had. Athea took it all without a single complaint.
By then Mira had already been given to her as a maid, and they had become inseparable. They would go into the flower gardens and play until dusk. Sometimes they would sneak out and into the villages they would go. From running around the hills to hiding inside caves. They did it all and would get back very late at night. Because no one really paid Athea any mind, no one would notice their absence at tables.
Athea enjoyed the anonymity of it all. For the only attention she was ever paid by the Lyselle family was contempt. Her aunt, Lady Moon Lyselle, hated her only because of her weak healing abilities. When she first came, she showered her with love and attention, caring for her as her own mother would. As the days went by and she discovered that Athea could not do the least of what was described as the basic ability of a daughter born to the family, she instantly withdrew her attention. She could not believe her beloved sister, who had been the greatest healer, would give birth to what she referred to as an invalid. Then Athea was left to be cared for by the maids instead.
Kyra was Athea's cousin by her aunt Moon, who enjoyed scheming against Athea. At twelve, she was already at the third tier of healing. Unlike Athea, she was cuddled by the family as one who would uphold the family's legacy. And so, she was prideful.
One day, when Athea was fifteen, she and Mira sneaked out of the residence after a long hiatus; they had previously been warned to not leave the premises of the Lyselle house. They had been out for hours on end; it was the evenings when a local troupe would stage plays at the center of the village. Athea had been so engaged in the play that they lost track of time.
They ran all the way home. When they got close to the gate, they saw the mischievous Kyra. She smiled grimly at them as she slid the door shut. They ran, and on getting to the gate, they realized she actually locked them out. Athea was livid with anger. Some mornings, her aunt would walk around the residence and would casually stroll into her quarters to check if she was in at all. If tonight was one of those nights, they knew they were cooked.
The kind of gate at the Lyselles house wasn't the type that banging it would alert people inside; to attempt banging at it would mean destroying your hand or anything else you intend to use. And so that night Athea and Mira slept outside the gate.
When the gate was finally opened by the maids heading to market that morning, Athea and Mira had tried to sneak into Athea's room only to come face to face with a furious Lady Moon. She stood hands akimbo in front of the door, with Kyra smiling mischievously beside her.
For three days, they were locked inside and starved of water and food.
And for three days, Athea only thought and plotted one thing: revenge.