Hermonia woke early, before any of the adults in the house were stirring. She listened to the sleeping house, hearing little squeaks and snippets of conversation all around her. She couldn’t make out who or what was being said but she found comfort in these conversations.
She slipped from her bed, shivering in the cool of the house after the warmth of her bed. Hermonia slipped into her favorite slippers, lemon yellow and hand-knitted by Mum, her padded feet making no sound as she shrugged into her coat and slipped outside.
The morning air was crisp and cool, a layer of fog covering the flowers and lawn. “Daisy, are you up yet?” Hermonia’s voice was urgent but soft.
Daisy fluttered up from where she had been sleeping, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she came into view. “Hermonia, its early so early the tree frogs haven’t gone to bed yet. Why are you up?” Her voice was husky with sleep but friendly.
“I know it is early. I’m sorry but I couldn’t sleep anymore. We are supposed to go see the herbalist this morning and I was wondering what you knew about her.”
Daisy could detect the undercurrent of strain and trepidation in Hermonia’s voice. “I don’t know much but what I do know isn’t pleasant. She has two sons, Brock and Flinn and clearly favors Brock. She doesn’t associate with the village much and she is generally thought of as a necessary evil. I also know that she is only a successful herbalist because of the flower fairies. She has a black thumb worse than Arsenic’s and if it weren’t for the flower fairies, everything she attempted to grow would be dead.”
Hermonia looked thoughtfully at Daisy while she spoke, a line of worry began to crease her brow. “Is she going to do horrible things to me?”
Daisy smiled, “Not possible, even if you weren’t going with a member of your family the flower fairies would not allow Elspeth or Brock to harm you.”
Hermonia beamed at this and Daisy watched as another worry flitted behind her eyes. “What is concerning you now?”
“How do I hug a flower fairy without crushing you?” Hermonia’s voice was puzzled and thoughtful, clearly indicating this was a problem she had spent considerable time reflecting upon.
“Well, I’m never actually thought about it myself,” replied Daisy. “No human has ever asked to hug a flower fairy.”
Hermonia’s face screwed up into a pout, clearly not the answer she wanted. “Humph, I will think of something but now I must slip back inside before everyone else begins to wake-up. I will come find you after the visit to the herbalist’s today.”
Hermonia waved and before Daisy could respond she had already slipped back inside the warmth of the house. Daisy smiled and made her way back to her bed. She crawled in between the rose petals and curled up next to her sister Petunia.
Crispin woke early too, before any of the other dragons and he stretched reveling in the solitude. The bigger dragons were asleep outside in their barn but here inside Zovah’s house all was quiet, still, and warm. He had fallen asleep curled up on his favorite cushion by the roaring fire last night. Now this morning, the fire was just glowing embers of pale orange and vibrant yellows. However, the house was still warm and cozy and Crispin was well rested despite his concerns for the activities planned for later this morning.
Crispin strolled around the house and decided to act as expected and promptly pounced on the sleeping Zovah. Zovah grunted with annoyance as Crispin landed on her stomach with all his weight and wings fully extended. He purred and nudged his head beneath Zovah’s hand so that she would pet his head. Zovah, still mostly asleep, petted Crispin unaware that her smallest dragon was up to things she had no clue about. Zovah sleepily decided that it was time to start her day and pushed Crispin onto the floor unceremoniously.
“Time to get busy old boy,” Zovah said as she clambered from her warm and comfortable bed. Crispin roared his displeasure as he threaded himself between Zovah’s legs. He was satisfied with how his morning was progressing and was sure it was a good sign for the morning’s activities.
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