Rosewater tapped the valve on the end of the condenser spigot and peered down into the curving tube surrounded with chilled water. The frost lily extract gave off an almost peppermint smell, sharp and cool, but with a warming after scent as she covered the flask and swirled it once to make sure there wasn’t any water left in the final oil extract.

It wouldn’t do to help Roselyn with her candlemaking and leave water in her contribution. Exploding candles were typically frowned upon, after all.

It’d taken almost two days to prepare the flowers for the reduction process, and it had taken almost her entire pannier full of them in order to get the small flask barely a quarter full of the fragrant oils from the petals. The hair-thin stamen could be used as a part of a less fragrant tea, but Petal had already said she was going to dry her haul for teas in their entirety, and that would make for nearly as fragrant a tea as the candles would be.

Hopefully, with a good mixing, she could help Roselyn make more candles than Rosewater could make bottles of perfume after so small a haul.

Two days since her date with Collar. Two days since she had been so certain he was in love with her, or falling into it. How two days made her doubt her instincts, to second-guess what she’d thought she’d seen in his eyes, and in his voice and their farewell: an embrace that had lingered longer than she thought friends would in Damme.

Yet he’d given her the metric of his love. A kiss. He didn’t kiss those he didn’t love. He hadn’t kissed her, and so doubt had been sown and even throwing herself back into her life in the Garden with the same gusto she’d once held six years ago hadn’t let her hide from those little niggling fears.

Work had let her escape them for a time, letting the flowers dry, working on orders for her resellers overseas for the spring rush, and finalizing an order that would go out on the next ship. She’d already called for a carter to carry it to the ship, and the bill of lading was nailed firmly to the crate packed with straw and cotton wadding to protect the delicate vials of perfume.

But when she ran out of work for a given day and crossed off the tasks she’d allotted for that time from her work board, they came back.

Tomorrow, Collar would be on his date with Cloudy, and tomorrow, he would know that she had placed her hoof into his love life without his permission. That Cloudy had not only given permission but asked her to help didn’t matter. He was a Dammer, and no matter how much he respected the Principes, even to not be bothered by Cloudy continuing to follow her heritage, he might not accept that for himself.

Then an agonizing two day wait for the next time she saw him again. Two days in which anything might happen.

Get a hold of yourself. She tucked the flask in her day pack and took a deep breath.

Before she’d even made it to the door, the front door bell chimed as it opened, and again when it closed.

There’s a ‘closed’ sign. Rosewater sighed and pushed open the door to the smaller parlor to find… Roselyn. She was perusing the bottles in the glass case at the front of the showroom area, and ticked her ears once as she heard Rosewater close the door.

“Your tourist pricing is too low,” Roselyn said. “You could charge double and they’d still buy.”

“Maybe. But most of my money comes from outside Merrie. There’s too much competition here, and if I raised my prices, I’d not get half the local sales.” Rosewater sat behind the display case and opened the lockbox. Just a few bits and buckles she kept for making change. “I’ve been closed most of the time while I’m engaged with negotiations.”

Roselyn made a small noise, almost a grunt, and nodded. “I suppose that makes sense. It’s just a distraction, isn’t it?”

“It can be. I still need to keep up my overseas contacts, and tourist season is dying down anyway.”

“But not dead. A new ship full of southern Equestrians came up to watch the turning of seasons.” Roselyn made a face and rolled her eyes. “They’re all staying in Damme, of course.”

“A shame. They could buy some of your candles if they came here.” Rosewater smiled and slid open the case’s back to pull out one of the silver-filigreed green bottles and set it on the counter. “Or one of my generics.”

Roselyn reached up a hoof to tentatively tap the applicator, squirting a drop of perfume on the edge of her hoof. She sniffed it, hummed for a second, and shrugged. “Pardon for me saying, but it’s…” She hesitated, laughed, and shook her head. “Generic.”

Rosewater laughed with her and set the bottle back in place. “So, what brings you here? I just finished reducing the frost lily petals and was about to head over. Very nice batch, if I do say so myself.”

“Well…” Roselyn grinned, that devilish, firebrand ‘I’ve done something’ smile that Bliss said always presaged one of her unexpected schemes. “You know candlemaking and soapmaking share a lot of final steps of production. And there happens to be a soapmaker that the Garden uses almost exclusively for our private and public baths… and I help her out. And we have fun because our names are really similar.’

“Roseling?” Rosewater asked, her heart leaping into her throat. She glanced to the door, expecting it to open and usher the mare herself in.

“She’s not here, silly, but I’m having lunch with her today, and mentioned that you seemed to be doing better. Less scared, more… healthy.” Roselyn cocked her head to the side. “She misses you still, and she’d like to see you. As long as you’re not going to run away.”

“I’m done with running away.” Rosewater rubbed at her cheek and pulled the flask out of her day pack, considered it, and sent it back to her work table and locked the door. “I wasn’t sure if she would want to see me.”

Roselyn nodded solemnly. “She hedged for a bit, but she accepted if I could get you to come. And made you promise not to avoid her anymore.”

“I won’t. I can’t imagine our paths will cross that often unless we want to strike up a relationship, but… I won’t avoid her.”

“Good. Let’s get going.”

She was already there, of course, sitting in a corner booth with her eyes on the door, and giving Rosewater no time to assess her mood before that look of surprise, and a touch of… something else. Annoyance. Frustration. Maybe happiness.

Then it shifted as Rosewater came closer, mechanically returning Glass’s greeting and made her way to the seat, eyes locked on Roseling and trying to read her mood, her emotions, trying to understand whether Roseling hated her or…

“Rosewater?” Roseling’s voice wasn’t as steady as it was when she was there with Rosetide, and it was an effort not to adopt the gruff, rough voice she used for Rosetide.

“Stars…” Rosewater whispered, stopping shy of sliding into the seat. “I… I thought…”

Roselyn nosed her way past Rosewater to slide in next to her sometime business partner. “She promised,” she said, giving the other earth pony a nuzzle.

Roseling nodded her head lightly, the smile still there, the amber shade of her eyes clear and sharp. “I… wanted to make sure you were doing okay. I have my friends, after all, and they helped pick me up after… well…” Roseling waved a hoof at her. “I had no real expectations that the heiress of Merrie would take an interest in me… or for her to hold that interest.”

“But I should have…” Rosewater fished for words as she slid onto the bench across from the other two. “That night meant so much to me, Roseling. You didn’t act like I was… anypony special. You didn’t seem to care who I was. That was worth more than you know.”

“Then why, for the Mare’s sake, did you let go?” Roseling demanded, then calmed herself with a pushing out of her hooves just before Roselyn nosed her. “I know why… intellectually. It’s not as easy for me to accept that your mother was the reason why. That’s not our way, Rosewater.”

“I know it’s not.” Rosewater crossed her forelegs on the table. “But… you made me happy for that week, Roseling. Happier than I’ve been in a long time. I knew it couldn’t last, and I didn’t want you to get hurt. I tried—”

“You told me,” Roseling said with a sigh and flicked an ear at the crowd apparently listening in. “Can you… do your magic silence thing? I want this to be just us. Talking this out like adults. Not for the town gossip.”

Before Roseling was done asking, Rosewater had the spell woven and around their booth, shimmering faintly with the air-fuzzing properties of sound-damping in open air. Immediately, a weight rose from Rosewater’s shoulders. She wouldn’t have to worry that Roseling would blurt out that she was Rosetide. This soon after her last visit, she was almost certain to know.

If she took it as well as Rosewater’s year-long absence after a week of almost romance…

“I know it’s you, Rosewater. It took me a while to figure it out, but one thing I learned from some of my friends is that you can’t cover a pony’s eyes with an illusion, else they can’t see.” Roseling met her eyes steadily. “I know you’ve been visiting me to help and keep up with me, and Roselyn helped me to understand why you felt like you had to keep away.”

“I—” She knows already? Rosewater felt her jaw go slack, but wasn’t able to do anything about it. It wouldn’t respond.

“Stars, she can be surprised,” Roselyn said with a laugh. “And here, I thought the most surprising thing would be Roseling’s reaction to you being Rosetide.”

Roseling chuckled, a trifle forced. “You, of all ponies, should know that secrets can’t ever be kept in this city.”

“You’re…” Rosewater studied the mare for long moments before continuing on, some more of the tension she’d felt at this first reunion happening fading away again. “Upset.”

“Of course I am. But—” Roseling raised a hoof and tapped it down in the center of the table. “I have had time to think about things since Roselyn and I sussed out who Rosetide actually was.” She shook her head slowly back and forth and leaned back in her chair. “I…”

Glass tapped a hoof on the inner side of the barrier, then stepped through. “Rosewater, nice to see you again.”

“Did you know she was masquerading as a stallion?” Roseling asked in a low voice.

“Sort of. It’s hard to mistake that voice or those eyes,” Glass said amicably. “I only knew knew she was Rosetide a couple weeks ago. Just before that mess Roseate got herself into in Damme.”

“I’d heard about that,” Roseling murmured, giving Rosewater a more appraising look. “And that you’re going after their heir for… what?”

“Courtship,” Rosewater said in as steady a voice as she could manage. “Honestly, it’s hardly a secret anymore. He’s not been reciprocating, either, which is also hardly a secret.” It hurt to say aloud, but Roselyn didn’t know. Petal didn’t know. “But we have become friends after a fashion.”

Roseling glanced at Glass, then said, softly. “My usual, please. On her tab.”

“Accepted,” Rosewater said with a smile. “And I’ll have my old usual if you still have it on the menu. And Roselyn’s usual.”

“She doesn't have one,” Glass said with an arched brow. “She orders somethin’ different every time.”

“I like to experiment,” Roselyn replied with a salacious wink. “I’ll have the day’s special.”

“Heartbreak special for you, then,” Glass told Rosewater. “Not too popular these days, but I think Gingersnap can whip one up for you.”

“You really had to call it that?”

“Nopony but you orders the charred salmon filet with artichoke hearts.”

Rosewater sighed and resisted the urge to hide her face behind her hooves. “Am I that predictable?”

“You like fish,” Roselyn said drily. “It’s your favorite dish, almost.”

“It is not. Besides. I need a lot of protein. I can’t get that from the usual fare and not overeat.” Rosewater sniffed. “Honestly, being a tall mare has problems all its own.”

“I’ve missed you,” Roseling said, smiling. “It’s good to hear your voice again, and I want you to visit my shop more often. Even if it does make your eyes water.” She cleared her throat and glanced at the rest of the tavern. “I hear you’re living at the garden now?”

“Mostly, Roseling, mostly.” Rosewater bobbed her head, took a breath and plunged ahead. “I’ve been in a better place mentally than I have been in a long time. I feel… I feel like I’m finally free of a choking miasma.”

“And you worried about me.”

“You were the last pony I felt a connection to, Roseling. The way I ended things… it wasn’t fair to you.” Rosewater reached a hoof across the table, cup up, and hoped. “I wanted, at least, to apologize.”

“I could have loved you,” Roseling said softly, touching her hoof to Rosewater’s. “I could have, Rosewater.”

“But time moves on.”

Roseling nodded unhappily. “Time moves on, and while I thank you for the apology, and meeting me face-to-face, I fell out of love long ago.” She tapped Rosewater’s hoof and reached further, capturing her foreleg with a strong ankle grip. “Maybe we could have rebuilt, but you’re already trying to reach for Collar, Rosewater. I won’t interfere with that, nor would I like to be a second fiddle.”

“I know.” Rosewater squeezed lightly in return. “Have you been seeing anypony?”

“A few ponies,” Roseling replied, squeezing once in return and withdrawing. “Another soaper, and I got involved with one of the salons that buys my soaps. Both of them are wonderful, and I would absolutely recommend them if you need a manecut.”

“I may need one soon. I plan on making a splash at the gala.”

Roseling’s and Roselyn’s eyes lit up, and they glanced at each other. “You’re going to the Commoner’s gala?”

“Well, that too, but I meant… the Gala gala. The one held in Damme.” Rosewater coughed delicately and sat back once more. “I was planning on laying low in the Garden’s exclusive area so as not to scare off any Dammers that wish to come visit and partake in the festivities.”

“Pah!” Roselyn slapped the table. “You have to be there. You’re one of us, and I won’t let you hide. You need to be seen as one of us, proudly, and we want to let others know that you belong.”

Roseling chuckled. “I agree with the firebrick, blunt as she is. Don’t let your reputation hold you back. I know it’s bunk. The Garden knows it’s bunk. The more you’re seen out in the open, having fun, the more it will do to help other ponies see you for who you are.”

Rosewater settled back to think, trying to think of objections to raise while the two mares watched her expectantly. On the one hoof, it might scare off some Dammers who knew her only by her reputation. On the other hoof… it would be more of her walking through Damme with Cloudy. She wouldn’t be alone or feel like she was restricting herself.

“I’ll try. I admit, being sociable is… it feels new again.”

“Because you’ve been hiding for six years,” Roselyn harrumphed.

“Point made,” Rosewater said with a wince. “Yes, I was hiding, and running. And I did promise I wouldn’t do that anymore, didn’t I?”

“Darn right.” Roselyn slapped her hoof on the table again. “I’ll drag you around and introduce you to ponies.”

“I’m afraid I’ll be busy,” Roseling added, dipping her ears. “The Commoner’s gala is one of my best single sales events, but if you stop by, I’d love to see you.”

It was the final weight on the scale that tipped her decision. “Okay. You both win. Stars, I’ll try to be more social. It’s… hard.” Rosewater hesitated, glanced between her two friends, one she’d just made up with, maybe. “You deserve to know… what I can tell of the truth. Some of it’s secret enough that I can’t even tell Dazzle.”

Roseling’s ears pricked forward. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Neither do I.” Rosewater paused as Glass came back with their food and drinks, and she paid for both out of her day pouch. She hummed softly as the fragrance reached her nostrils. Just the right amount of sauce drizzled over the salmon and artichoke hearts, with just the right amount of richness as only a Merrier could appreciate.

“You don’t have to tell us,” Roseling said, and nudged Roselyn when she appeared about to protest. “Really. I understand you’re privy to more secret information than us, and frankly, I’m not sure I want to know if it makes you look like that.”

“Very well. I… don’t want you to think I’m keeping secrets from you unjustifiably.”

“Eat. We can talk later on the way to my shop,” Roseling said, nodding to her. “I heard from Roselyn that you have an already reduced batch of frost lily oil, and I’d like to talk to the both of you about splitting the haul and either trading or paying for it.”

“I’ll gladly take a trade in soap,” Rosewater said, nodding. “And candles.”

“Settled,” Roselyn said after a bite of creamy, spicy-scented tomato soup with onions, split peppers, and celery making up the body. “I can make more with less in candles, they’ll just be less potent.”

“Ah, but you use the whole oil, and mine is only part of the formula,” Roseling countered.

Rosewater listened to the mares dicker over who would get how much of Rosewater’s reduction and felt a glow settle into her heart. This was having friends again, and in the open. Not lovers, not business partners or customers. Friends who shared her interests in making beautifully scented things.

It was like she was six years younger again.

“Everything’s ready,” Rosemary whispered, glancing up to see Collar’s ears twitching where he sat at the window.

Cloudy bobbed her head lightly and relaxed minutely. “Who’s helping?”

“Plat. She’s going to give me a cover story. Already arranged.”

Collar’s ears twitched more violently, and one actually flipped back, then forward as he sighed and kept watching outside. “I can only pretend not to hear you two for so long.”

“Oh, hush,” Cloudy said aloud. “You wanted to be here.”

Rosemary could almost see Collar rolling his eyes. “I can, um, silence the room, or here.”

“No need, we’re only discussing a vague plan of action that Collar doesn’t have any idea about.”

“That also,” Collar added in a low growl, and silenced the room before continuing, “involves Rosewater smuggling contraband across the river?”

“Scented candles,” Rosemary said with a huff. “They’re not for me, either. They’re a gift to someone special to me here in the palace who wanted them.”

“And scented petals,” Cloudy added.

Collar grunted. “You realize that you’ve technically broken the law.”

“Add another few buckles to my sentence, then,” Rosemary said with a dismissive sniff. “This is important to me, and it was important enough that Rosewater risked it as well. It’s not only for me.”

Collar turned from the window and leaned against the wall. “Will it interfere with tomorrow?” He nodded to Cloudy.

“I’m only focusing on us tomorrow, Collar. Not Rosemary. Not Rosewater. Not anything but you and me. It’s been too long since we’ve been able to take a whole day together and do nothing else.”

“We’re not going to do anything to interfere with your date, Collar,” Rosemary said softly, hedging around the truth. “Tomorrow is all about the two of you, as Cloudy said.”

Collar’s lips pursed, as if he was considering the truth of her words. It was true. She wasn’t going to interfere, but only do as Cloudy had asked. “Alright. I won’t report it. I don’t want you getting in trouble, Rosemary, or you, Cloudy, so please let me know if you’re going to do anything like it in the future.”

“Promise,” Rosemary said solemnly with a hoof over her breast.

He relaxed, let out a breath and shook his head. “You worry me, sometimes, Rosemary. You’re… more Merrier than any pony I’ve ever met. More free with yourself to everypony. I wish…”

“I wish we could both be at the gala,” Cloudy said softly. “But that night should be a show of Merrier and Dammer solidarity. Your friendship—”

Rosemary noted the flinch in Collar’s gaze, a sudden, sharp look away from Cloudy.

“—should be on display that night. You need to make a show that there’s a commitment to ending the war on good terms.”

Rosemary nodded vehemently. “If either of us is there, it will take away from that show. If I’m there, especially, it will raise talk of allowing me too much freedom for a prisoner of war.”

“And if I’m there,” Cloudy said softly, “and you spend too much time with Rosewater, talking to her and making that show, they’ll talk about your swaying interest.”

Collar nodded. “You’ve both been talking with Lace.”

“We have. I’ve been talking about my grandfather with her.”

“I’ve been pushing my lessons with her,” Cloudy added. “It’s become even more apparent that I’ve been too lax in trying to catch up to the title I’ll eventually hold. I need to be a lady in more than name, Collar. I need to be able to survive on my own at your level, at Rosewater’s and Rosemary’s level.”

Collar took a deep breath, nodded, and let it out. “I can’t disagree with you on anything you’ve said, as much as I want to. I am looking forward to tomorrow, Cloudy. But… there’s some things I need to talk to Rosemary about. About your mother. That’s why I wanted to join you. I didn’t think you’d scheme right in front of me.”

Cloudy laughed and bounced off the bed to give him a nip and a long, slow kiss. “Tell her, Collar.”

“She won’t tell Rosewater?” His eyes flicked to Rosemary, his cheeks heating.

“Collar,” Rosemary said, pushing indignity into her tone, “I hold confidences with the highest integrity. It is a tenet of Merrier relationships to hold them, and to encourage the one controlling the confidence to be open.”

“She does. She’ll never break a promise, but she will push you to be open. It’s our way, Collar. Being open.” Cloudy gave him a meaningful look Rosemary tried to decipher, but couldn’t. “I’m pushing you to be open with her.”

Then she slipped out, leaving Rosemary alone with Collar.

The silence in the room, magnified by Collar’s spell, seemed to intensify as he stared out of her window. In the reflection, faint though it was, his eyes were trained on distant Merrie, on the hill visible over the roofs and chimneys of Damme.

It was a hill she found herself watching, hoping to see a glimpse of white among the dark green and growing brown.

“I’m falling in love with her,” Collar said at last, closing his eyes and resting the tip of his horn against the glass. “I know it in my heart that it’s… how you call it ‘I could fall in love with her.’ Except… more. I should have said the words on our second.”

A thrill of excitement rippled down Rosemary’s spine at his words, but she suppressed it and made herself sound calm. “I thought that might be, Collar. Cloudy would only say she saw a change in you, in your attitude towards her after the last time you saw her. With me.”

Again, he was silent for a long time before he pulled away from the window and sat by her bed, laying his cheek down on the coverlet. “It was really the first time I saw her as a mother. I knew it, intellectually, and I know she loves you like her own, but seeing her hold you like a mother and her filly finally put the pieces together in my mind.”

Rosemary nodded and brushed a hoof over his cheek and under his chin. “And what did that lead to?”

“She would be a great mother.” Collar swallowed. “Of my children.”

“Our children,” Rosemary corrected gently.

He glanced at her, his ear ticking irritably. “Mine, Rosemary. Stars, at least let me admit that I have feelings for more than one mare before dragging me deeper.”

“Sorry.” Rosemary stroked under his chin gently until the ear stopped moving. “I… I want you to be happy, Collar. If what makes you happy is changing, explore it.”

“I’m worried about the laws and the opinion of my ponies, Rosemary.” He hesitated, his ears flattening. “I know what the right course of action is, to start. Next time she visits, I’m going with Cloudy to escort her to the palace. It’s only… three weeks and a bit to the gala. I want her to be able to… be social. Without others being afraid of her. She doesn’t… well. I don’t think she deserves the hatred and fear.”

“She deserves some of it. The fear at least. As any good soldier gets a share of fear from their foes. But you want to make ponies not see her as a foe, but a mare. A pony, just like them.” Rosemary pushed herself up to look down at Collar, to meet his eyes. “Somepony worthy of trust, love. And you.”

“She’s already worthy.”

“You and I know that.” Rosemary hesitated, then bent closer to him, her lips near to his ear. It was tempting to kiss it, to tease him. She whispered, instead, “You want everypony to know.”

Collar shivered, his ear flicking. “I do. I want to kiss her, Rosemary. That was the bar I set for her, for whom I loved. But…”

“But you want her to know the journey you’ve been on?” Rosemary pulled herself closer still, slipping a hoof, then ankle and foreleg under his cheek and muzzle, resting his chin against her breast. “You want her to know it’s real.”

He stared up at her with one eye, slightly wild before he closed it and buried his nose against the softer, warmer coat of her crimson heart mark.

Did I go too far? She’d wanted to remind him, as gently as she could, that she was also interested in him. Except he stayed put, his breath coming and washing through her coat slowly and evenly.

Hesitantly, she bent down to brush her teeth against the base of his ear. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Did I push too far?”

“No.” Collar drew in a deep breath and pulled away, sitting up straight to look her levelly in the eyes. “No,” he repeated, and leaned forward, hesitated, and brushed his muzzle against her cheek. “I know you well enough by now to know you like closeness, contact. It’s how you comfort ponies.”

Rosemary felt her coat shiver, the warmth of the desire sending her neck into an arch as the shiver coursed over her. “It’s how I show my love,” she said honestly. “I’ve been falling in love with you, Collar. All the time you’ve been showing your character to me, to her, to Cloudy, I’ve been falling in love.”

“I know.” It was better than Rosewater’s attempt. “I know, Rosemary. I’m not there yet. I trust you. I like you, and I’m grateful for everything you’ve put up with and done for us.” He hesitated, his lip caught between his teeth as he looked between Rosemary’s eyes before lowering them again. “I can’t say the words. Not until I’ve told her.”

That means you will say them? Rosemary nodded and laid back down. “I can wait, Collar.” She laughed and pressed a hoof to his breast. “I have time.”

Collar’s smile was a touch wan, but he nodded. “I’m going to walk with her the next time, but…” He closed his eyes. “I… I want it to be special, Rosemary. I don’t want to just blurt it out to her in…” He was silent for a long moment again. “I want it between us, and I want to have time to… to give her time. To give me time. Stars above, I’ll need time.”

“Tell her at your next date, Collar,” Rosemary said. “She’ll understand why you waited.” She pulled herself closer again and pushed her nose into his breast. “Make it special for both of you.”

To her surprise, he bent down to nip her shoulder, then laid his cheek against her back. “I might need your help. I’m new to this, Rosemary.”

“Do you know where it’s going to be yet?”

“Yes. And no. She wanted to go back to the overlook. And so do I. It’s where I first knew, Rosemary.” He shook his head, grimacing. “But... is there someplace better? Someplace special to her? Stars above, I need to talk to my mother, too, and we need to figure out how we can overturn Frosty’s law.”

“You’ll find a way, Collar.” Rosemary slipped from the bed, using a spell to lightly press him down, keeping him sitting while she reared up and leaned against his strong back, resting her chin beside his horn. “We’ll find a way, and I think you’ll find that a Merrier family, a Merrier marriage, is very rewarding.”

They stayed that way until her nose told her somepony was coming.

Then she slipped back to the floor and pulled over the book she’d been reading before Cloudy and Collar had interrupted her and leapt back into bed.

“Who is it?” Collar asked.

“Coat and Cloudy. Here, I presume, to talk about the itinerary you two have for tomorrow’s romantic seaside date.”

Author's Note

Ah! I've been so busy the last few days helping Evangeline, my new kitty, adjust to home life here i almost forgot! Chapter is here now!