Rosewater tapped the tip of her quill against the inkwell and set it on the tray behind the letter and sat back to go over the ingredient list. Except her mind didn’t want to focus. Collar and Cloudy were having their date. In fact, they’d soon, if they hadn’t already, be moving onto the beach, and Rosemary and Platinum would be setting up the third and final act for them to enjoy.

It would be the moment that Collar knew she’d more than put her hoof in the date. Cloudy’s request would be the clearest indication of her own hoof in it. Few perfumists could make Longest Lust, and fewer still infuse it into rose petals.

He would be able to name her as one once Cloudy told him, if she didn’t tell him she made it herself. It was entirely illegal in Damme, even though it didn’t actually do anything except subdue sexual pleasure to prolong the experience.

“Focus, Rosewater,” she growled at herself, not bothering with a silence spell. “Stars above, mare you need to get this off to your suppliers or it won’t arrive in the spring.”

It was addressed to Saddle Shipping in Saddle Arabia’s largest port city of Saddlesea, and it would take a month for the ship to reach there by taking the safe coastal route. They would take time haggling with the writ of payment she’d send along for what she needed.

Which was why she’d had to prioritize the list, and now needed to make sure that she’d accurately ordered them so she’d get all she needed, and everything she could get in order of what she couldn’t substitute.

“Okay. Okay… so…” Rosewater pushed the date as far from her mind as she could and stared at her planned lineup. The ingredients she would need for each flowed through her thoughts, jumbling with the date occasionally when she thought Cloudy might like the scent of the raw ingredient.

Stars, mare.

Almost an hour later, she felt confident that, aside from a few where she honestly hadn’t been certain of the costs and availability, the order was as best as she could manage it.

Which left her to contemplate the next item on today’s ‘Distract Rosewater’ list, a modification of Mother’s Kiss with an eye to lovers. It would take more of her talent to create, but instead of memories that hurt… she could use memories that made her heart soar. The chase with Cloudy that still made her wake up with her heart pounding when she found herself winning or losing, her sheets in a mess and the scent of sex and come in the air.

It would be expensive to make. Copper would make a better base than gold, for the warmth it held. Silver was also an option, but it wouldn’t be as good. Silver wasn’t as warm and wouldn’t hold her lustful emotions as well. Silver was better for concentration, for things that required calm.

She wanted, when this perfume was used, to remember the dreams that faded in the morning, the memories that were harder to remember as time went on. She wanted to give her lovers the same, and for Rosemary to experience the same with Cloudy, and hopefully Collar.

The look in Cloudy’s eyes as she came, as Rosewater let herself come soon after. The glow as they held each other afterwards, surrounded by friends and lovers past, present, and future as they came to bliss or basked in it. It was the heart of being a Rose.

Togetherness.

Capturing that would be as difficult as capturing the feeling of family had been. She could bridge some of the gap between scent and memory with her magic, but relying too much on her magic would shorten the life of the perfume just as much as if she put it in an unenchanted, ungilded bottle with a cork stopper.

Passion needed to be a part of it as well, but not too much. She had a vial of Tuberose extract that she’d only tempered at playing with, but she’d need to subdue the animal lustiness of the oil somehow. Something lighter like one of the lavender oils she had, or… perhaps one of Seed’s exotic flowers would do.

She’d have to tour his greenhouses and haggle with him to get a decent price on some of his rarer delicacies, but some of the frost lily oil she’d decanted would help, if she could convince Roselyn and Roseling… or…

Rosewater hummed softly and sat back to think, casting her mind through the glossary of scents she carried with her, mixing and matching mentally and considering which would blend best, and which she could impress upon with her magic to bend it to her will most easily.

She began to write down ideas on her experiment slate board, testing mentally which combinations would work best for what she needed, discarding some outright and—

“Rosewater,” a voice called from the front of the store. “It’s Rosie Bliss.”

Or it can wait. It would take her days, if not weeks, of experimentation to find the right amount of the rest of her ingredient list to make a prototype, and another few days, provided she had enough ingredients left, to fill a bottle at any rate. “Come on back, Bliss. Nothing is on fire.”

Bliss nosed past the door, sniffing delicately at the air. “No perfumes today?”

“Not yet, I’m afraid. I forgot to order ingredients.” Rosewater nodded to the board already half full of ideas, some more or less erased already. She’d need to attack it with water to clean it fully. “And I was just about to start on a personal project, but…” Rosewater smiled and stepped away from the table. “I always have time, sweetling.”

“Flirt,” Bliss said with a laugh. “I’m looking forward to our next night together.”

“I can check my calendar and see what I have open,” Rosewater said as she sauntered closer, flirting her tail. “I would say tonight, but if I recall, you and Roselyn are celebrating an anniversary?” And I want to be free while Cloudy and Collar are making love.

“We are. Half a year together. We’re chasing tonight, so we won’t be long at dinner.” Bliss ruffled her wings and met Rosewater halfway across the floor, lips parting briefly before they slid their muzzles side by side. “I almost want to ask you to join the chase, but…”

“I don’t want to interfere, tonight, Bliss. Tonight should be for you and Roselyn,” Rosewater murmured. “But… if you’re free in…” Four days until the Commoner’s Gala, and a fitting before that. Two days to her next visit to Damme, and just three until her next date with Collar. Stars, along with her regular daily tasks, her calendar was getting full, and she had more social events than she’d had in years.

It was, honestly, a little exhausting. But exhilarating at the same time.

“A week and a few days?”

“I’ll clear my calendar.” Bliss ruffled her wings and nipped Rosewater’s cheek. “I look forward to it, whatever may happen. But that’s not why I stopped by today.” She shook herself and transformed into all business in moments. Rosie Bliss flattened her ears and looked around.

Rosewater hung her silence spell from the charms on the wall. “It’s safe now.”

“A honeymooning couple from Canterlot came by and asked for you by reference, though not by name.” Bliss took a breath. “They said Cloudy Rose sent them.”

“By reference, hum?” Rosewater raised an eyebrow. “That’s a curious game. Cloudy should be on a date with Collar right now.” She leaned to the side to look past Bliss and creaked open the door to check the shadows on the street outside. “Or she should be heading back from it soon. Stars, I didn’t realize it was so late.” It’s up to you Rosemary.

“Oh?” Bliss raised a brow. “You know so much about their love life?”

“It’s more that Rosemary is involved, and I through her and Cloudy.”

“More lovers’ plans, then.” Bliss grinned and gave her a side-eyed look. “I like where this is going. But if you’d like to come to the garden early, I can introduce you to Golden Glow and Fervent Wish.”

“Of course. I’m curious to see what Cloudy had in mind with this pair. What’re they like?” Rosewater flicked her ears back and dropped the spell. “Tell me on the way.”

Rosemary stopped her pacing, staring at the clock. She was usually early. Where was she?

Platinum! Where are you? She had barely an hour before Cloudy and Collar were due back from their beach-side walk. Maybe a little longer if the weather was warmer. The pack of candles from Roselyn sat by the door, waiting for her to set them up in Collar’s chambers. The fragrant petals in the wax-sealed pot atop it. They were red rose petals steeped in a perfume of Rosewater’s making, not a lure, and not suggestive, but something to relax the mind and body and ease the stresses of the day, whatever they might be, and let the lovemaking last.

It was a fragrance for romance, lovemaking, and relaxing.

A scent wafted in under the door as she paced by it, stormclouds and rain. “Come in, Stride,” she said before he could announce himself, and forced herself to calm. It wasn’t easy. “I’m just a little antsy.”

“M-my apologies,” he said as he opened the door. “I know Lord Collar is on a date with, er, with—” Stride stared at her, ears splayed as he closed the door behind him with a back hoof.

“My lover, Cloudy Rose,” Rosemary said as gently as she could. “I know. I helped her plan it. Often right under his nose.” She raised a brow that dared him to comment. “Really, Stride, I love Cloudy, but I would never ask her to be mine exclusively.”

“Th-that’s why I came, actually,” Stride said, looking at the pile of things for the latter half of the date curiously for a moment. More, she knew, to keep from looking her in the eye while he gathered his thoughts. “I wanted to apologize, Rosemary.”

“For what?” Briefly, she ran back through their last conversation, trying to find any place he might have misplaced his belief that he had insulted her or Cloudy. “I can’t think of anything you could apologize for. You’ve always been polite, Stride, even when you didn’t really understand me.”

“For…” Primfeather Stride rustled his wings and raised his head, looking her in the eye for a few seconds. “For assuming things about you. And Cloudy. I respect both of you, and I know your culture is so very different from mine. I’ve never made an attempt to understand it.”

Because of your family. Rosemary kept her mouth closed over the thought, and said instead, “You’ve made remarkable progress. I wouldn’t expect you to just accept that Cloudy and I are in love, and that she is also in love with Collar.” Or that I want to see if I can be. “What is there to apologize for?”

Stride acted like she’d spoken aloud the thought, flinching away and dropping his gaze. “I shouldn’t judge ponies from another culture. I don’t want to see Lord Collar hurt. And I was worried that…” His eyes found her face again and flinched away at some imagined glare.

“That Cloudy being in love with me hurt him,” Rosemary finished for him, gentle. She touched his chin with a spell and tipped her head to the side to meet his eyes. “I don’t want to see him hurt, either, Stride.” And you don’t know the half of what he’s up to. “Is that it? You were angry at me for…” She raised a hoof.

At first, he shook his head, though the lie was given away in the set of his ears, and he seemed to realize it, and dropped his head again, breaking free of her gentle hold. “Yes. Please don’t tell him!”

“Stride, it’s okay. This is all new to you, okay?” She stepped closer, hesitant, and nuzzled his cheek, just under his ear, and whispered. “And I won’t tell him. I promise. Just promise me you’ll work through it. I can help.”

He froze for a long moment, tendons in his neck straining as if she were holding a brand to his cheek instead of her nose and lips. Then he relaxed and pulled away. “I-I need some time. To think. I-I’m sorry, Rosemary.”

Just as she took in another breath, she smelled Platinum outside, the distinct scent of freshly laundered padded armor and a faint undertone of sweat and mare accentuated by a lightly fragrant perfume that was neither too much, nor so little that she missed it. “Platinum’s here,” she whispered.

Stride jerked as if she’d slapped him with a hoof. “I-I didn’t—”

“It’s okay, Stride. She’s a friend of mine, too. Just like you.” Rosemary backed away and raised her head. “Come on in, Platinum. Stride is here with me.”

“You’re both decent, right?” Platinum called back. “I won’t ever forget walking in on you and—”

“Platinum!” Stride squeaked. “Stars, I would never—” His dapples turned to embers as he stared at Rosemary, his mouth open, moving, but no sound coming out. “I-I-I would not!”

“We’re decent, Platinum. Stride came to talk.” Rosemary patted Stride on the shoulder lightly with a hoof and gently pushed him aside.

The look he gave her was half horror and half grateful adoration, and he turned as the door opened. “M-my apologies, Platinum,” he said as the mare came in. “I-I didn’t know you were scheduled right now.”

Platinum gave him a curious look, then shifted to Rosemary. “He in the know?”

“Yep.”

“Good. I’m not. Coat’s gonna play foil while I sneak Rosemary over to Collar and Cloudy’s rooms and set up for tonight.” Platinum grinned and tossed her mane. “By my stars, I never thought I’d be involved in something like—” She caught Stride’s horrified look. “Oh, no, no! Not like that. I mean, look. The pots and candles. We’re going to set up the room so it’s romantic when they get back.” She jabbed a hoof at the pile Rosemary had already set up.

“I-I think I should go…” Stride finished his journey to the door at a dash and slipped through.

Coat peeked his head in, brow raised. “So… that went well.”

Rosemary rolled her eyes. “I’ll need to be gentler with him, I think. He’s still recovering.” Rosemary closed up the sack and passed it to Platinum. “Remember, Coat, I’m having sex with Platinum, not off causing trouble in Collar’s quarters.”

Platinum flinched minutely, her ears tingeing pink before she recovered and offered Rosemary a tremulous smile. “So that means I’m stuck in your room tonight?”

“It’s okay, Platinum. Really. We can talk, if that’s all you want. I’m happy to be your friend if that’s everything you want.” Rosemary winked at her. “But I’m also still waiting to hear back about that offer I made after cards.”

Platinum rolled her eyes, but the color on her cheeks said the offer was still under consideration. “We’re burning daylight, Rosemary.” She hefted the pot of petals and sent the bag of candles, oil, and small candle cups to her. “Come on. We have a gap in guard patrols.”

It wasn’t hard to spot the newly arrived Canterlot natives sitting around the fire pit behind the villa. For one, they were dressed far more warmly than any Dammer or Merrier would consider for the time of year. For another, they were staring openly as Roslyn kissed a blushing Dazzle, seeming all too aware of the attention the two mares were giving the open display of affection.

“That’s them?” Rosewater asked softly from the corner of the villa, trying to discern the game Cloudy was playing before she committed to it. “They make a cute couple. It’s always interesting to see how outsiders react to our openness.”

“They’re from Canterlot.” Bliss raised a brow. “At least Dammers expect this of us. I doubt they’ve seen two ponies kiss except in a play.”

Rosewater studied them as she made her way around the small hedge surrounding the firepit and its rolling benches and couches, the blankets laid out holding ponies who wanted to lay together and be more intimate than the couches allowed for.

They were like birds, darting looks back and forth, keyed up for any hint of danger and ready to bolt at the first sign.

“They’ve seen more,” Rosewater said softly, bending to nip at Bliss’s ears before she rounded the archway of vines turning slowly brown. They hadn’t had any more freezing nights since her last date with Collar, but one was all the plants needed to know winter was coming at last. “They came at an odd time, certainly. If they plan to stay long, they may need to winter here.”

“It’s an oddity for sure,” Bliss agreed.

The other ponies around the fire pit looked up as Rosewater rounded the corner. Prism and Tremor lay together, and Seed looked up from resting his cheek on Petal’s barrel. Petal was dozing quietly, or pretending to.

“Golden Glow, Fervent Wish,” Bliss said as she joined the circle and sat beside Roselyn, surreptitiously giving the younger mare a thwack with her wing. “It’s my pleasure to introduce you to one of the oldest, and most trusted members of our Garden. Rosewater, would you like to—”

“Oh… oh my goodness!” The dark blue one with the white mane sat up, her ears perking so hard her cap fell off. “Rosewater? Lady Rosewater Rosethorn?”

What did you tell them, Cloudy? “I prefer not to use titles at the Garden. Here, I am simply Rosewater.” She shot Bliss an accusatory look. You could have warned me she was jumpy. “You must be Fervent Wish, with an emphasis on Fervent, it seems.”

To her credit, the mare had the presence of mind to at least look abashed. “Y-yes, my lady. I apologize.”

Rosewater relaxed her posture, suddenly aware of how tight the mask was fitting over her features. “I apologize, too. It’s not my wish to be stern, here among friends.” She stepped across the circle and around the fire to offer her hoof to Fervent. “Welcome to the Garden of Love, Fervent Wish. I understand you two are here on a honeymoon?”

“We are,” the other, Golden Glow, said as Fervent clasped ankles with Rosewater. “I think my mother has one of your perfumes. A subtly sweet smell, almost like apple blossoms in summer. Very understated but I remember it well.”

“Apple Sunrise,” Rosewater said with a smile as she offered her hoof to Golden. “It was popular years ago in Canterlot. For gentle romantic feelings.” She’d made it before Carnation had been exiled. She hadn’t made it again since. Was that the game? But no, it couldn’t be. Cloudy didn’t know her old perfume catalog any more than Collar did. “If I may ask, I’m afraid I’m rather at a loss as to why you asked for me.”

“Well,” Fervent still looked abashed as she looked down at her hooves, then across at Golden. “She, um, Cloudy only told us to ask for a recently returned member of the garden.”

Rosewater tipped her head to the side and glanced across at Petal. “I suppose that matches me, and probably me alone.”

“I wouldn’t say that you left, per se. Seed clearly thought of you as family still.” Petal opened one eye and grinned at her. “That makes you as good as family.”

Seed coughed. “Auntie Rosewater never left. She was forcibly encouraged to stay home.”

“Mixed company, darling. The cousinships and family trees are rather complicated for outsiders to understand.” Petal raised herself up and nipped at one of his ears. “Cousin is used to refer to anypony with a drop of visible Rosethorn blood.”

“Much like it is in Canterlot,” Golden said in a small voice. “Anypony with any rumored descendancy is a ‘niece’ or ‘nephew’ of the Princess.”

“So I guess I match the description you were given.” How much can I tell them? “Cloudy is… I am acquainted with her through some diplomatic negotiations I am involved in at the Prim Palace. Did she say anything else?”

“That you could show us around Merrie,” Golden said in a more confident tone. “I apologize. We had no idea she would try to snipe at you through us.”

“You misunderstand,” Rosewater said smoothly, ears ticking back as she bowed her head. “Cloudy and I are friends of a sort. She is kind to my only first cousin. I’m afraid the political situation is a little much to go over on a honeymoon, but suffice to say that we’re on at least good terms.” That little tidbit would reach Roseate before too long. But with the Gala coming up, there wouldn’t be much she could do. Not without rocking the boat while the eyes of Canterlot were focused firmly on both cities.

A snap realization hit her. They were from Canterlot. “Why did you come here, out of everyplace you could have gone for your honeymoon?”

“Well, you’re going to think this is silly,” Fervent said, recovering some of her bounciness when Rosewater didn’t bite her head off. Again. “But Goldie and I are both interested in the political situation here. I’m a diplomat, well, o-of sorts. I’m currently working with the Saddle Arabian embassy in Canterlot, but I’ve always been fascinated by the situation in Merrie and Damme. A war that’s gone on for centuries without bloodshed. Without Celestia putting her hoof down. It’s been fascinating to read the treatises and public diplomatic messages.”

“I’m an economist,” Golden said, laying a foreleg across Fervent’s. “I met Fervent while I was trying to track down some information on tariffs in and out of Damme for the Trade Office. That was four years ago, and we always thought it would be nice to visit the place that brought us together. When we got married, Celestia gave us both some extra time off to make it a sort of working honeymoon.”

Celestia works a deeper game than you two realize, I think. “That sounds like a story,” Rosewater said as she slid onto a bench kitty-corner to them and folded her forelegs over the edge. “You know what they call our fair city, yes?”

“The City of Love,” Golden whispered, stars in her eyes as she looked up at the deepening afternoon sky. Dark blue with just a hint of the sun hanging behind a steady stream of clouds heading out to sea. “I-I didn’t think it was meant so carnally.” She shot a look at Bliss and Dazzle.

“It can mean many things to many ponies, and for us, it is a city of many loves.” Rosewater dipped her ears. “For those who come to our streets unaware, it can be surprising to say the least, to see whispers and kisses traded where in Canterlot, I hear such things are done behind fans, walls, and doors.”

“And sometimes all three,” Fervent muttered. “For some reason, the nobility has thought, for the past decade or two, for it to be terribly coy and fanciful to be stoic in all places public, to the point they started trying to outdo one-another, and now I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to mate in ten petticoats and four shifts.”

“Fervent!”

“You complained about it on the way, love.”

“Yes, but…” Golden Glow’s cheeks turned a buttery shade of copper. “We wanted to, um… visit Merrie. Just so we could be more open. Maybe for a day. Maybe a night or two.”

“I’d rather stay here,” Fervent grunted. “It’s much more amenable to being in love.” Her cheeks colored, and Golden seemed to realize what she was about to do a second too late. “I want to kiss you, Goldie, and make love to you under the stars.”

Golden sputtered a wordless protest, her cheeks and inner ears now ablaze.

Rosewater glanced at Petal, doing her best to hold back laughter, and asked, “Do you have any honeymooner cabins available? I do seem to recall you expanded your capacity some three years aback.”

“And two years, and last year, as a matter of fact,” Petal replied, and shot a look at one of the younger ponies gathered at a smaller pit a good dozen yards away, tended by White Rose and, a few teenagers doing their work-detail by watching the foals, and attended by several of the parents from the village and their children. “Zephirine, could you please fetch the keys to the Moonlit Chalice cabin?”

“Oh, no, we couldn’t,” Golden protested. “We don’t have—”

“On my treat,” Rosewater said, breaking in over the protest. “One of my interests is with Canterlot,” she added, carefully not saying why or whom she was interested in, “and I would consider it well worth the while to hear the news and gossip of the city and palace fresher than the cryers’ decrees.”

“And without their biases,” Petal grumbled. “I’ll front the other half, my dears, if you’ll promise to grace our dinner table frequently enough to let us get to know you.”

Just then Zephirine pranced up, her wings fluttering as she dropped the pair of thick bronze keys onto the table in front of the mares and, despite not even being past her first majority, plopped down next to her brother, Seed, and yawned.

“Zephie,” Seed whined.

“Seedie,” she whined right back, in the exact same tone of voice.

“There’s your keys, my dears. There’s a cistern for water, and a stove in the bathroom for hot baths, if you fancy them, and I would suggest them as often as you may. It gets quite cold, but it’s a well insulated cabin.” Petal bobbed her head to Fervent. “And it has an enclosed garden with a small open hearth. Bedding for outdoors is in the closet if you wish to make good on your desires.”

Fervent’s cheeks reddened as she accepted her key. “I-I—”

Golden accepted hers meekly.

“And who, I say,” Seed proclaimed into the silence, “is going to give these fine mares a tour of our fair city? It should be somepony who needs the practice, somepony that needs an excuse to get out and about in the city and be seen by her ponies.”

Rosewater covered her muzzle with a foreleg. “Stars, Seed, just tell them I’ll do it.”

“No, we couldn’t impose. You’re the lady heir of Merrie!”

“Not if you ask her mother,” Roselyn growled.

“H’okay,” Zephirine said, bouncing to her hooves. “That’s the start of depressing talk.”

“Sit down, Zephirine,” Rosewater said gently, and gave Roselyn a tiny shake of her head. “We’re all friends here, and politics is not what’s on the table before us tonight. We have two guests among us, and I would be happy to give you a tour of the city, my dears. As it so happens, I need to do some shopping soon, and there’s little better chance for me to stretch my legs a little farther than if I’m also showing two guests where to find the things they’ll need for their stay, however long it may be.”

“Well…” Golden bent around and pulled from her bag what looked like an itinerary from one of Canterlot’s larger travel aid houses. “Our ship—”

Fervent folded it back up before Golden could finish. “I’d like to get a look around and a feel for the place before we decide which ship we leave on.”

“But there’s only two—”

“We’ll decide when the time comes, love,” Fervent said more firmly. “We agreed to be flexible if… well,” she glanced around the ponies lounging around the fire pit. “If we found someplace that caught at our hearts. It’s certainly caught at mine.”

Golden nodded hesitantly, her eyes flitting to Rosewater and back to her wife. “Okay. But we need to make a decision before the end of next week.”

Now, that is cutting it close. That was the last ship to get anything going south before the winter winds and storms from the northern polar regions made the sea choppy and unpredictable as an avalanche. And overland was no picnic either. It’d start snowing inland earlier than it did so close to the sea, and the passes and trails, even the highway, would be all but impassable inside three weeks.

Provided they weren’t icy mud bogs already.

“Once the winter settles in,” Rosewater said gently, “the only way to get south would be by sled and snow-shoe overland. You may want to decide earlier if you wish to return home before then.”

Golden, for once, was the first to speak, and set her hoof over Fervent’s. “We know. We’re ready to stay for the long haul if we have to. We made plans before we left, just in case.”

Rosewater stared at her for a moment, then nodded. Golden, it seemed, responded best to gentleness, and Fervent to directness. “Settle in, then. I’m busy tomorrow, but I’d like you to be my guests at the Commoner’s Gala happening just a few days from now. It’s a perfect starting place to get a feel for Merrier culture without diving nose-first into the middle of the lake.”

“I’m not sure this is enough.”

Rosemary looked up from her art project of scattering the petals in a heart pattern with ‘C C’ in the middle on the bed. “Candles? There should be four.”

“There are,” Platinum said, looking doubtfully at the thick, short candles. They were meant to be put in a basin so they would start acting like oil lamps once the heat melted the wax into a puddle with the wick sticking out of the pool. They would last longer than they looked. “But they don’t smell like much.”

“Now,” Rosemary said with a broadening grin. “Trust me, when you light one of Roselyn’s candles you will feel it. They aren’t fragrant like you’re used to. And especially not these.” They were made with more exotic ingredients than Roselyn’s floral candles, and were meant to evoke calm and warm feelings. “You’ll get a nose full before we leave.”

Platinum frowned at them again. “They’re scent magic?”

“Sanctioned, I promise. We have Cloudy’s permission.” Rosemary winked and reared up to look down at her creation, nodding to herself before laying out a spell to hold them in place. “This is all a surprise for Collar.”

“I know that, I’m just worried…” Platinum sniffed at the candle she was settling into its deep basin. “After, well, Roseate…”

“Roselyn wouldn’t do that. She’s the sweetest pony I know. Even if she can play dirty with her games.” It would be like her to play more with Cloudy, but Rosewater would have stopped that in its tracks. Tonight was special for all of them, but they couldn’t tell Platinum. Not yet. “She won’t have done anything they won’t enjoy.”

“I’m going to trust you,” Platinum said as she set the candle and its basin back down. “How long will they burn?”

“We can set them now. They should burn long into the night.” Rosemary checked her petals again and set a spell on them to bind them in place on the covers until Collar moved them. Leaving them in place to be crushed beneath their bodies would release the perfume more strongly and mingle with their own desire. “I think we’re ready now, Plat.”

Her assistant nodded, still looking apprehensive as she pulled out the tinder stick and set it to a coal in the fireplace. “Here goes… my first willing use of scent magic.” Her ears flicked back briefly as she held the smoldering twig in her magic and glanced at Rosemary. “But…”

“It’s okay, Platinum,” Rosemary murmured as she joined the mare by the first basin. “Let’s do it together.”

“I thought you Roses watched your words,” Platinum muttered, her cheeks heating.

“I was,” Rosemary whispered, pressing a kiss to Platinum’s cheek, just below the ear. “We don’t have to let it just be Coat saying we had sex, you know.”

Platinum shivered and almost dropped the stick before Rosemary steadied the hold with her own magic. “I like you…” She set burning end to wick and waited while it caught. “I-is it really okay, though? You’re our prisoner.”

“I’m a guest, Platinum,” Rosemary whispered. Platinum wanted this. She knew it. Platinum knew it. “Collar doesn’t treat me as a prisoner, and I’ve never felt it.” It was true enough. She could tell her mother she was tired of the charade and defect. It would throw all of their plans into disarray, but it was her choice to stay. “The rest is up to you.”

“I-I have time to decide, right?” Platinum’s tail twitched as she set the next candle to light with Rosemary at her side every step. She was leaning into the touch, her nose to the air as she picked up the growing fragrance from the candles and the subtler one from the petals.

“It doesn’t even need to be tonight,” Rosemary murmured, nuzzling her at the third candle. “But I can tell you are interested.”

Platinum didn’t give her an answer by the fourth, or by the time they reached the door, but her ears were ticking back and forth as her thoughts raced from acceptance to not. They walked back to Rosemary’s room, not worried about being spotted now. They could claim to have been walking from elsewhere.

Coat, when he spotted them, perked his ears. “Success?”

“Success,” Rosemary said, careful not to disturb Platinum’s concentration. She wanted to nip her friend’s ear.

Except she didn’t need to. Platinum looked up at last, her ears flat, her cheeks flushed under her gray coat. “Yes, and…” She swallowed and ducked her head to nuzzle under Rosemary’s muzzle. “I accepted.”

Coat kissed her on the forehead and tapped Rosemary on the shoulder with a hoof. “You ladies enjoy yourselves. And thank you, both of you, for what you did for Lord Collar.”

Platinum flushed more darkly, but nodded as she slipped into Rosemary’s room, darting a look left and right.

Rosemary held back when Coat didn’t lower his hoof. “Be gentle with her. She’s like a little sister to me.”

“Coat,” Rosemary said as she raised a hoof to touch his, “I have never been rough with my lovers. She’s in my heart. She has been for some time, and I’m glad I get to show her how I feel.”

“I have no idea how you are so different, Rosemary,” Coat murmured. “You’re like no Rose I’ve ever known.”

“You haven’t really met my mother,” Rosemary said, rising up to nip Coat’s chin. “Maybe you will someday.”

She slipped in after Platinum before Coat could say anything to that, a thrill of excitement dancing through her as she found Platinum waiting for her on the bed, her ears flat, nervous, needing reassurance that she had made the right choice.

Silence first, and a descending light this time to let her know when time was up and she needed to pause and renew it. It also gave her a moment to let Platinum relax, knowing that her first escapade wouldn’t be bandied about the palace.

“I have hoped that you would accept, sweet mare,” Rosemary whispered as she slid half onto the bed, making Platinum tense and the flush in her cheeks rise hotter. “Relax, Platinum. Will you let me make love to you?”

The answer she got wasn’t what she expected, but Platinum’s lips on hers, a needful moan passing from mouth to mouth, said yes as loudly as if she’d shouted it.

Author's Note

I have a big backlog again, but I'm not going to release anything double soon. I'm saving four chapters for a two-week two chapter a week event arc that I know a lot of you have been waiting for. The Gala.

*record scratch* Oh, wait, no not that Gala. Sorry. The Commoner's Gala. A far less stuffy event than the actual gala that marks the end of this book, but still a very important moment in the series, as it's where Carapace will start publishing his chapters.

The Commoner's Gala does indeed cover four chapters for a one day event. I hope you all enjoy it.

Three weeks to go from today before that starts.

I think. math One chapter. Two chapter. Three - yes. Three weeks until it starts.