She stood on the deck, shivering; trying to forget as a cool breeze off the water whipped across her face.  The memories, however, persisted… demanding to be recognized despite her pain and tiredness.  Anne looked at her hands.  No longer the smooth porcelain hands of a prim and proper lady, within a day, they already bore the evidence of her new life- dry, cracked, bleeding.  Tears pricked the inner corners of her eyes, but she dared not let them drop.  Instead, steeling her resolve, she slowly and ever so gently moved her right hand beyond her left shoulder and onto her back.  There it was.  There is where she held her reason for running, and she would never forget.

Daddy’s dear girl, Philana-Narie; Anne to those who knew her best, was both the pride and misery of her family and friends.  A pretty little darling, with thick chocolate curls and devilishly beautiful gray eyes, she knew at a very early age the power she held over people. Oh, those luminescent gray eyes hid many secrets and were able to tickle many fancies. She always did as she pleased, often embarrassing friends and family alike.  Then, as usual, when her time of reckoning came, her parents dared not punish her for her small crimes.  After all, she was merely a child with an overabundance of energy and life.  Besides, as she grew, her wildness seemed to leave her as her charm increased.

Ethana, on the other hand, had always been a rather mousy-looking child with her blonde- brown hair and her pale almost sickly-looking skin.  Unlike her radiant elder sister, she kept to herself and never strayed far from the house, so it was difficult for anyone to notice her at all.  However, as Ethana came on her sixteenth birthday, she began to venture out a bit more.  Allowing the sun to kiss her hair a golden blonde and her skin to drink in the rays becoming both grand and healthy-looking.  Ethana, bore no childhood scars to mar her appearance, nor any sun damage from overexposure.  She was simply lovely like her mother and was catching up to Anne in both beauty and allure.

As children, they were an interesting site all together.  Loving sisters as they were, Anne always looked after and protected Ethana.  When a crowd drew anywhere near, Ethana would shy away from them, and Anne would eat them up.  She, Anne, was always the entertainer and always a crowd favorite, so much so that Ethana began to envy her and over time resent her.  She wished she could be so loved by everyone and loathed the fact that even their parents seemed to be under her elder sister’s charms.  At times Ethana felt neglected and even… forgotten.

One glorious spring day in the market, Reyna, their mother, announced to the town florist that she and her husband would soon be looking to have Anne married.  Anne, who was standing to her mother’s left and holding a lovely bunch of bright blue delphiniums, cast a sorrowful eye upon the flowers.  She wanted to make her parents happy, but she also felt that love should burn as hot as a phoenix’s flame.  She wanted excitement and an adventure so intense she might not endure.  Oh, how she wished and dreamed to find a love that would set her ablaze, but… she knew better.  Her parents were sure to choose someone with a rather steady character.

Ethana on the other hand, to her mother’s right, could not wait to be married, and knew her parents would choose someone marvelous.  She would trade places with Anne any day of the week.  “Mother,” she began as she moved her hands over a wicker basket of marigolds, “when will I be able to marry?” 

“As soon as you have reached your eighteenth summer, just as Anne,” Reyna finished with Ethana before turning back to the florist.  “I only need some wisteria today, Haru, but you are right.  The tulips are lovely this year.”

It was a wonderfully bright day.  The sky was a brilliant blue and the sun was hanging high above the cotton clouds, white and fluffy with hints of pale blue and gray.  On the way home, despite the promise of such a happy day, Anne felt alone and somewhat beguiled.  Of course, she knew this day would come; her parents had never hidden the subject from her.  She just couldn’t believe that next year was her eighteenth summer.  Where had all the time gone? 

Upon returning to the manor, their father, Thaniel, came bounding out and flew across their well-manicured yard to the carriage.  “Reyna, Anne, you will not believe who has just left not five minutes ago,” he yelled as if catching his breath were unimportant. 

“Thaniel, dear, calm yourself before you choke on the air,” his wife shook her head as she handed him the wisteria and began to climb from the buggy.

“Reyna, you don’t understand,” he assisted her descent.  “Duke Saben was here while you were at market.  He said that he has been keeping himself informed of the affairs of the young women in town.  He knows Anne is coming upon her eighteenth summer, and he is contemplating a marriage between her and his son!” 

Reyna’s beautiful blue eyes lit up and her mouth stretched into an exquisite smile.  “Really?  Well, when will we know if he has chosen Anne?”

“He will be here again Sunday next accompanied by his wife, the duchess, and their son; Oren.”

“But today is Saturday!  That means we’ve only a week to prepare.  Thaniel, how on earth are we going to get the estate ready within a week,” Reyna panicked as the two of them began to head inside. “We’ll have to manage, I suppose.  However, first things first, I must decide on a menu and a color scheme.”  They entered the manor bantering back and forth, leaving the girls to unload the carriage.

Anne, ever so slowly, stacked a few boxes and placed bags within bags to make for an easier carry with few return trips.  She was deep in thought, wondering what the duke’s son might be like, and if they would share the same dreams.  It was only Ethana’s hand on her shoulder that brought her back to the present.

“Anne, I asked if you were excited at all!  I swear you are not yourself today.  If I were you, I would be bouncing off the walls like a mad woman, well, either that or losing my last meal.  I do believe that I would be quite nervous about meeting the Duke and Duchess of Bercik.  And to be married to their son!  What luck…” Ethana continued with her mindless chattering. 

Anne had never heard the girl talk so much in her life.  She simply rolled her eyes and began to gather as many boxes and bags as was physically possible and set forth toward the manor house.  One would believe Ethana would, at some point, run out of things to say, but Anne supposed she had a great deal to convey due to her near lack of speech for sixteen years.  Thus, she made no attempt to quell her sister’s babbling as it followed her into the house and then to the kitchen.  

“Can you imagine living in a palace and having people constantly wait on you?  How lovely would that be!  Don’t you agree, Anne?”

Finally, a break.

“Ethana, I am not yet worried about such things.  The Duke has yet to choose me for his son, and only then will such matters relate to me,” Anne spoke as she handed a bag of potatoes to the cook, who simply smiled at the two girls as she began to stow away the food.

Over the next week, Reyna had both Anne and Ethana fitted for new dresses, gave the cook the menu for the Duke’s dinner, and had the house and yard staffs clean the estate from top to bottom.  All six bedrooms were dusted and aired out, linens changed, and windows cleaned.  The living area, dining room, library, and parlor were also dusted, windows cleaned, rugs washed, and the piano (in the parlor) was tuned.  Now Saturday again, the ladies of the manor were once more on their way to the market for the fourth time that week.  They needed to see to combs for Anne’s hair, pick up Ethana’s shoes from being repaired, and decide on flowers.  Anne and Reyna went to see about the flowers and told Ethana that they would meet her at the shoemaker’s.

“Anne, what do you think of the tulips or the stephanotis and the roses,” her mother glanced over the selection in the little shop.

“Mother, let us not be too presumptuous as to choose the most popular wedding floras,” Anne began to smile a little smile, “but let us choose the candytuft, foxglove, and poppies.”  She knew well the meanings of flowers and chose those most likely to ward off the Duke and his family.  “Oh, Mother, the sweet peas are also quite pretty, now.  Also, the pink and white of the flowers will make a wonderful addition to the cool blue you have chosen for decorating the manor.  Hmm, we should probably add a few of the lavender sweet peas as well.  A touch of something different.”

Haru looked to Anne with bewilderment before she spoke.  “Anne, you do understand what you have chosen,” she asked for she too knew their meanings; from the indifference of the candytuft, the insincerity of the foxglove, and the swift departure demanded by the sweet pea.   The poppies meant fantasy and oblivion, which was also an odd message to send when one wished to marry.   They were all truly beautiful flowers, and many could easily miss their meaning these days, but Haru couldn’t believe Anne would have forgotten.      

“Of course, I understand, and I would like to add some fir for greenery,” Anne shot Haru a warning glance as she handed her a field bunch of fir whose meaning begged for ‘time.’

Reyna was quite happy with Anne’s selection and was glad that her daughter knew better the language of flowers than she did herself.  Her own knowledge was limited to what was pretty, and wheat was not, and which flowers were best for a wedding.  Never had she been interested in botany or floral meanings.  “Yes, these are all very lovely, dearest.  An excellent eye she has, has she not, Haru?” 

“Yes, Reyna.  She does have quite a gift when it comes to flora,” Haru replied with a hint of sarcasm that eluded Reyna, but not Anne.  She just hoped, for Anne’s sake, that the rumors of the duchess’s floral ignorance were true.  If not, Anne could embarrass her entire family.

“Well, Mother,” Anne began as if she suddenly remembered Ethana was waiting for them, “we really should be on our way.  We still have to meet Ethana about her shoes and stop by the jeweler’s,” then glaring at the florist, as she gently nudged her mother out of the tiny flower shop, Anne spoke to Haru, “I trust you can have our order ready for us to pick up on our way out of town.”  With a nod from Haru, they were gone.

Sunday; the day of rest or the day of unrest?  Anne thought to herself as she unceremoniously threw on her exquisite light blue gown and slipped into her shoes.  She felt like some sort of prized cattle getting ready for the big auction as she sat at her vanity and looked at herself in the mirror.  Her hair was swept up at her temples and held back by two princess-like pearl and crystal combs.  Around her neck she had placed her favorite strand of freshwater pearls instead of the beautifully crafted pearl and crystal choker her mother had chosen just the other day.  Her makeup was flawless with its peach and rosy hues, making her look far lovelier than she felt. 

As perfect as she was, there was one thing left to do before leaving her room.  Anne looked to the small cedar trinket box on her table.  She ran her fingers lightly over her initials on the top before opening it.  The miniature jewel box had been given to Anne when she was four years old to hold her most prized treasures like pebbles, feathers and petals.  Now, however, it held a small love poem from Devin, a rather romantic and tenderhearted boy she knew from Sunday school.  Two years her elder, he left town that many years ago to attend the university in Sagedor.  She had always thought him very sweet but found him lacking in boldness.  The next treasure was a piece of fabric from her sister’s dress.  When Anne was thirteen, she would race all over the yard and jump over old logs, large rocks, or what have you.  Well, one particular day, Anne was determined to get Ethana out of the house, telling her sister if she did not come outside, she would hurdle the wooden fence only a few meters from the side door of the manor.  Ethana was beside herself.  She begged Anne not to do it but refused to go out, so Anne took a running start, jumped, and nearly made it over.  The tip of her left shoe snagged the fence, and she fell, face first, to the ground.  She had been smart enough to cover her face when she realized her fate, but she scraped her right leg and knuckles badly.  Ethana then flew out of the house, ripping the bottom of her dress as she went.  She then wrapped Anne’s bloody leg with the cloth and helped her elder sister inside.  It had been the first time Anne had seen her sister take initiative, and she believed seeing it was worth the bloody leg and a week in the house.  She kept a piece of the cloth to remember that very special day.  Her last treasure, a tiny stone no more than a half an inch to an inch in diameter, was truly a real treasure.  She picked up the small dark stone with its flecks of royal blue, aquamarine, and several shades of green.  She had always thought it was lucky and made it her good luck charm.  Well, today she would see just how lucky it was, she thought as she stood and placed the stone in one of the many folds of her lace bodice.  Then, she fixed herself back up, looked herself over in the full-length mirror, and made her way out of her room and down the stairs to her left.

“Dearest, where have you been?  You know the Duke and his family will be here at any moment,” Reyna looked as lovely as ever in her silk ivory gown and her diamond necklace which had once belonged to Anne’s grandmother. 

“Sorry, Mother, I was hurrying the best I could,” Anne looked to her mother who was more than nervous about the meeting.  Then just as she was about to tell her not to worry, Ethana glided into the foyer from the kitchen.

“Everything is fine, Mother.  Verna has everything under control and told me to tell you not to worry.  She also says that this is the most magnificent feast she has ever made.”  Ethana was also dressed in a silk dress like her mother and Anne, but the color was as delightful as the most delicate pink roses.  Anne noticed how the shade enhanced the color of her cheeks and complimented her hair.  She looked as fresh as the new spring and smelled deliciously of freesia.  Never had Anne seen her look so radiant, and she was happy Ethana had turned into such a beauty because she had always worried about her sister shriveling up and dying in the manor alone and miserable.  However, with the way she was looking now, her parents would have no problem finding her suitors.  Then, with a little smile, Anne thought how wonderful it would be if she could pass the duke’s son down to Ethana.  If only she could.