Christmas Plans

CHAPTER 5

POV : Clarice

Clara got the flowers sooner than she expected. They came the next morning in a large bouquet. She got to making the arrangements. Sorting them middle to front by size. She had a lovely scheme of bouquets all lined up when her mother burst into her work room, aka the old carriage house. When her parents had carriages, which was at least 50 years ago, the house was beautiful. But, since then it had fallen into disrepair. 
"Clarice, someone is here for you." Her mother had a thick layer of what little makeup she could afford slathered on her face. She got up, picking Tamara up with her from her makeshift highchair. She followed her mother out and into the cottage. To her surprise, The Prince was standing there, once again. 
"Ah, your highness. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you today?" He rushed over to her dragging her into her bedroom. His face was white and he looked like he was going to throw up. 
"Do you have a bouquet or something I can give to Jamie?" She paused for a minute. 
"Why would you need flowers for Jamie?" He flushed and she immediately understood. "Are you two going on a date?" His averted eyes told her everything she needed to know. "Follow me." She led him back out to her garden and to her shelves and shelves of both dried and thriving flowers. He stood in awe at how many different kinds of flowers were in one garden. 
"What is off limits?" He asked. Trying to be kind, she assumed. 
"Just the asters. They are about to die for the winter, so I assume you wouldn't want that. Plus I just planted them last year, so they are pretty small, anyway." He walked from bush to bush of flowers, looking at the shelves too as he went. He pointed at different ones occasionally and she cut and arranged them as he went. When she had a pretty small bouquet in her hands still, he turned to face her smiling. 
"Do you think that is big enough? Will he like it?" She smiled softly at him. 
"How about I add some that I know he will appreciate?" He nodded in agreement and she handed Tamara to him. She added some gardenias and some roses so symbolize romance. Some jasmine and lavender for accents and a few pink calla lilies. She wrapped it up in some nice white paper and traded it for Tamara. He smelled the flowers and smiled. 
"It's perfect!" She smiled and turned to walk back to the house. "Wait!" He called out. "I need to pay you." She was surprised at this and started her objections. 
"You really don't have to. I'm not in the business anymore, so I am not subject to be payed. You are also the prince. I am doing you a service." He shook his head and pulled out four gold coins. She gasped when she saw them. Those combined were worth 40 silver coins. That was almost enough to reopen her shoppe. He put them in her hand and walked away. It took her a moment to realize what he had done and ran after him. She was too late, though. He had already gotten into his carriage and started to move off in the direction of Jamie's shop. 

POV : James

He had been watching out the window for hours before he saw The Prince's carriage. He quickly jumped in front of a mirror. He looked alright for a ride. He heard the door open and walked out to meet him. The first thing he saw was the bouquet in his hands. He recognized Clara's signature work and smiled. He probably just bought those. The second thing he noticed was the big gardenia right in the center surrounded by all of his favorites and flowers with romantic meanings. He beamed. 
"For you." The Prince motioned for him to take them. 
"They are lovely. Did Clara give you these for free?" He asked, scoldingly. 
"Oh, no. I payed her. She tried to object, though. I insisted because she did such an amazing job on this and she deserved it." Jamie smiled and took the flowers. He found a vase and admired Clara's work. Her bouquets were always the best. She always managed to add flowers of meaning. She knew he would understand all of the meaning in this one, and he did. She made sure that all of the flowers complimented each other in a way that no two flowers stood out above the rest, unless you know the meaning on a first date. After putting them in water he turned back to The Prince. 
"Shall we, then?" The Prince asked. Jamie nodded. He followed The Prince outside. He watched as he unhooked two of the horses from the carriage and brought them over. "This is Esme and this is Eggs. You will be riding Esme." Jamie chuckled at Eggs and hopped onto Esme. 
"Why is he named Eggs?" The Prince looked at him with humor in his eyes. 
"It's his favorite food of course." He smiled and was off. Jamie did his best to keep up, but The Prince was a better rider that he let on. He led them into the forest where Jamie's deadly herb patch was located and he tensed as they passed the path. Once they gone a ways, he let out a breath. He wouldn't be discovered today. The Prince led them deeper and deeper into the woods and Jamie was afraid he was getting lost. Jamie grew up in these woods so he knew them inside and out. If they turned out to be lost he would get them out. One way or another. What he didn't realize is that The Prince had led them to a dazzling waterfall. Jamie had, of course, known about it, but he had forgotten it was in this part of the woods. He gasped when he saw the familiar jagged edges of the oh so familiar waterfall. He knew there was a razzberry bush behind the water and that its fruit would be ripe. The Prince stopped and hopped off his horse and Jamie did the same. They tied their horses by the water so they could drink. They had gone quite a long way in a short time. The Prince walked off towards the waterfall, gesturing for Jamie to follow. He led them behind a small crevice behind the water and into a lush cave. It had glowworms hanging from the walls and ceiling, lighting up the whole space. There was a lush carpet of moss and begonias all over. The razzberry plants lined up against the edge of the waterfall and he went over to them. It was just as he thought. The berries were nice and tart like the plants it came from. A razzberry bush is a hybrid of blackberries and raspberries. The Prince was visibly startled by Jamie's automatic way of going to the plants, clearly knowing they were safe to eat. 
"How did you know those berries are safe to eat?" He asked. Jamie swallowed before answering.
"I run an apothecary. I think I would need to know a thing or two about plants to do that." The Prince blushed at his response. 
"Of course." He went and knelt beside Jamie. He picked up a berry and plopped it in his mouth. He smiled and picked a handful before laying back and staring up at the glowworms. Jamie did the same and smiled at the view. The glowworms made patterns on the ceiling. Out of the corner of his eye he watched The Prince shift around uncomfortably. 
"Are your clothes bothering you?" He asked genuinely. 
"Yeah."
"Why don't you take them off then. You know like your coat and unbutton your shirt. It would release some of that tension from freshly ironed clothes." The Prince nodded. He peeled off his coat. He left berry stains on it from his fingers and Jamie resisted the urge to laugh. The Prince rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and unbuttoned the first few buttons. He instantly relaxed. 
"Tell me something about yourself." The Prince muttered. "I don't know much about you, but I'm sure you know all about me. Everything about me is posted in the media." Jamie thought for a second. 
"I was raised in this forest. I love berries. I knew all about this waterfall. I have a cat named Marrubium. I am gay. I don't like goats." He said blushing slightly. It was silent for a while and he grew nervous thinking he had made a mistake telling him he's gay. Though, he probably already knew that based on where they were now. 
"I have four half siblings. I love the texture of cotton. I have a sweet tooth. I have a friend living in my castle. I am also gay. I don't want a wife. I think parties are a waste of time. I also hate cows." Jamie smiled, his mind lingering on the fact that he is also gay. 
"If you are gay, why are you throwing this big party to find a wife?" The Prince sighed. 
"My dad doesn't know. I am sure he could guess, if he paid any attention to me. I mean, other that on my finding a wife." He sat up and let out a breath. Jamie got up.
"Come with me. I want to show you something." He held out his hand and The Prince took it. He pulled him up and dragged him out the way they came. He pulled him across the shallow part of the river and into the forest behind it. 
"Aren't you afraid we'll get lost?" The Prince asked? Jamie looked him in the eye. A fire burning behind them. 
"No." He led them through a thicket and out into a meadow. He stopped in his tracks and he pointed. A deer and a yearling were standing thirty yards away. He smiled and sat down. The Prince followed suite. The deer wandered of and only then did Jamie start talking. 
"Did you know that frogs, penguins, giraffes, lions, elephants, and dolphins all have been seen showing gay behavior. Bearded Dragons, frogs, cardinals, clown fish, slugs, hyenas, and even ribbon eels have been known to change gender depending on circumstance. That means that a girl can become a guy to mate with a girl she likes and a guy can turn to a girl for a guy. There is nothing wrong with being gay. Even animals are. It is not wrong to like who you do." He looked away and smiled. The Prince looked shocked, but not in a bad way. "Sorry, did I cross a line, my prince?" 
"Adrian."
"What?" 
"Call me Adrian." Jamie smiled. 
"Alright, Adrian. Let's get back to the horses before he get ticks." He chuckled as they both stood up and Jamie led them back to the waterfall. He splashed in the water and observed the fish as he felt Adrian's gaze on his back the whole time, watching from the shade. At one point he splashed Adrian and got a big laugh out of him. But soon, the sun began to set and Adrian had to get back to the palace. They rode back, laughing and talking the whole way. Adrian made Eggs slow down so he could. When they got back to the apothecary, they said goodbye and went their separate ways. Jamie knew in his mind, that this was the start of something. He didn't know if it would all be good, but he knew that he had never been happier. 

Sorry for the long wait. I had a rock climbing competition on Saturday so I needed sleep on Friday. I will be posting more frequently again. Sorry for type-os. I don't always go through when I finish typing so I assume there are always going to be mistakes. So please just make your best guess at what I mean. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!