Sunflower

Chapter Two: The Sisters

I sat atop the castle's rampart as late morning set in. A misty fog blanketed the ground below, but when I looked outward, past the tallest towers of the city's old buildings and the black sand dunes beyond it and over the river of cooled magma that divided the land between our territories, I could see the very edge of Cronos, a kingdom cast in the shade of the mountain that had birthed it. The black spire of its ruler's palace rose over it all, a mere needle against the hazy horizon.

"Thought I'd find you up here." Daffodil settled onto the old stones beside me. "Demetria received a response from Narcissus. He's agreed to the terms, and he's requested the marriage take place a month from now."

I swallowed. "That soon. I didn't think he'd be so eager to marry an enemy."

"It has something to do with a Crononite festival. He wants his wedding to coincide with it." She kicked her legs over the side, quickly finding the rhythm that matched my own. "I'm sorry, Sunny. You know, I would take your place if I could." She said softly, bumping her shoulder into mine. She and I had known each other the longest. I'd arrived here a couple of months after her and together we'd seen Sisters come...and go. I wondered what she was feeling now, knowing how unlikely it was that I would be able to succeed in my mission at all let alone return from it. I wondered if she knew how disappointed I was that she would never get the chance to bury me. I would have liked for it to be her. As it was, my body would likely decorate that black needle in the sky in a few weeks' time.

"I don't really look the most like her, do I?" I asked with a curl of my lip. "Do I look perpetually constipated and no one warned me?"

"You look like Demetria thinks she looks." Daffodil laughed, the sound low and melodic. "I was surprised too when she picked you, but after I thought about it a bit, it made sense."

"How so?"

"Because I think you can play the part of Demetria better than any of us. While the rest of us bow our heads and agree to every task she gives us, you are brave enough to stand up to Demetria from time to time. It annoys Demetria, but I think that she realized that that was what made you a more convincing body double. Like it or not, you two share that stubborn and combative nature."

I raised my eyebrows at her, struggling to fight back a smile. "Are you calling me a bitch?"

"You can be one at times." Daffodil slung an arm over my shoulder. "I don't know how this will play out, but I don't think Demetria made a mistake choosing you. You'll get it done and you'll come home."

I was not so convinced that my return was really in Demetria's plans.

Daffodil grabbed my arm and all but drug me off my seat. "Come on, the others are waiting for us in the kitchen." She said.

Before I knew it, we were already running down a staircase to the lower levels of the palace. I could already smell sugars and spices in the air from whatever treat the cook had in her ovens. "What for?" I asked as we halted before the kitchen door.

She looked back at me and grinned. "Your engagement party." She flung the door open to a chorus of cheers. My sisters, dressed in plain civilian clothes, their hair loose and flowing around them were gathered together in the kitchen with a throng of noticeably young and handsome friends from the palace guards. Their faces were already flushed with drink, their cups overflowing with the cheap ale the guards had gifted us. The cook had baked me a chocolate cake drizzled with a heavenly liquor infused icing that would have gotten us drunk right by itself after a few mouthfuls.

Someone played a fiddle. We danced and drank and ate until we were sick. My sisters flirted and teased their friends, stealing kisses and sitting in laps. Hyacinth even disappeared for a short while and reappeared red-faced and wild-eyed. Dahlia passed out after a few rounds. Daffodil talked the ears off the guard captain, an extremely handsome and quiet fellow, who was polite enough not to tell her to shut her pie hole after the sixth retelling of her miraculous kill of a Deathless assassin. Meanwhile I sat with my cake. Practically ate the whole damn thing myself. I ate and ate until I wanted to vomit. That cake and its sweetness was the only thing keeping me from weeping. Later, when my sisters were all sleeping in our shared room, I would let all that fear and grief out, but not there, not while they could see it, not when they were trying to make this fun for even the smallest moment for me. I licked the last drop of icing off my plate, wishing I could have shared my last piece with Primrose.