TRAINING was coming to a close, and it was showing.

Dara and Osoric were pushing them harder than ever, and Asmeen could barely drag herself out of bed nowadays. The only thing keeping her going was the fact that this would all be over soon. She repeated it to herself all the time.

Even Wylla's returned optimism had drained—again—leaving a ghost of her sister. In a strange twist of events, now it was Elyn motivating them, in her own way. Just a few days ago, she'd literally pulled Wylla off of the bed, straight onto the floor. Wylla hadn't talked to her for the entire day after that.

The stress was showing on Aven as well, and though they never ended up arguing as severely as they had before, it would be a lie to say they didn't snap at each other every now and then. It was still better than what Asmeen had hoped for.

All in all, she was desperately wishing for training to just finish. She thought that she'd be too tired by the end to care whether or not she'd made it into the Flower Children. It didn't help that she kept seeing Aira around town, or supervising training, and was reminded of her offer.

The day before's training had included something new—they'd had to write new incantations for different types of rituals, because sometimes Flower Children, and Children of the Night were expected to do that.

Asmeen...hadn't done well. As good as she was at sewing, she was exactly that bad at writing. Aven had done fine, though. Probably because he read so much. She'd been annoyed with him, because though she understood him not helping her that much, he could have told her a suitable word that rhymed with rosemary.

What made her mood considerably sourer in the morning was the fact that it was her mother's death anniversary.

It had been nearly ten years since the day, but Asmeen didn't think it would ever stop hurting. She barely remembered her mother, but the little she did remember ached every time.

Wylla and Elyn knew this, so despite the flurry in the morning to get to training, they were gentle with her. Asmeen appreciated it, she really did. Even Azol didn't say anything when he saw them in the morning.

Azol was probably up so early because he wanted to get away from her father when he woke up. Asmeen couldn't blame him. Every year, her father locked himself in his study and essentially sulked the whole morning. The one year they'd tried to approach him and get him to come out of the room, he'd shouted...some things Asmeen would prefer not to think about.

After that, they left him alone. By late afternoon he was mostly alright, if a little irritable. Asmeen tried to steer clear of him, even though she knew it was wrong, that they should share the grief together. But she knew she reminded him of her mother, and it was a bit of a disappointing reminder, especially with the current situation.

Because of that, they got out of the house as fast as they could, while her father was still locked in his study. And made their way to training.

Asmeen had refused Elyn's offer to buy her sewing materials for now, so when they reached the field early, they didn't have much to do. Elyn sat down and, presumably, began dozing. None of them had been sleeping much lately.

Asmeen closed her eyes as well, trying to think about her mother, even though it hurt, because as the years passed her memories of her mother faded even more, and she cursed her memory.

She barely remembered her—Asmeen even resembled her father. She could see none of her mother's features on herself. She'd only seen one portrait of her, hung up in her father's study, where Asmeen was barely permitted to enter.

But she remembered that her mother was kind, and always made time for her. Her father was better, she thought, when her mother was around. Less angry all the time. When Azol had come, it had abated, but only to a certain extent. Luckily, then, Elyn and Wylla were with her to take some of his ire and sympathize.

She really wasn't sure how she'd made it through the year, alone with her father, until the twins had arrived. She was sure she wouldn't be able to do it now. She couldn't imagine what would happen if one of them got selected and the others didn't.

She'd spent so long worrying about her and Aven's rivalry that she hadn't stopped to think about the three of them. She'd always imagined that either all three would get in, or they all wouldn't. Being separated from them was...unthinkable.

What if only one of them got in? Or, worse, what if two of them did? Asmeen wasn't sure how she'd stand it if the twins both became Flower Children and moved out, while Asmeen was left alone in the house with their fathers until she could manage to earn enough to move out on her own.

She shuddered, opening her eyes and looking at Wylla, who seemed to be in her own world.

"What?" Wylla asked, probably sensing her gaze.

Asmeen shook her head. She didn't want to talk about it just now. Not when she was already so sad—but just thinking about it had made her feel so heavy. If life was going to be like this, she didn't want to reach her twentieth. It would come around the time training ended, and after that, her life would change irreversibly, in one way or another.

She couldn't really lift her mood after that, even when the rest of the trainees made their way onto the field, even when Aven came in with that bright smile and sat beside her.

His brows furrowed when he saw her face. "What's wrong?"

Asmeen's gut twisted even more. Was even this, their friendship, going to change when only one of them was chosen? Of course it would. How could it not?

"Asmeen," Aven said, nudging her with her shoulder to break her out of her reverie. "Seriously, what's wrong?"

Asmeen shook her head. "I'm just...worried. And tired. Training will end soon, you know."

Aven examined her face, his eyes narrowed. Then he shook his head. "No, that's not it. What's wrong, really?"

Asmeen sighed. "Today is...it's my mother's death anniversary. I'm a bit..."

"I get it," Aven said after a moment, his voice softer. "Well, if you need anything, I'm here. If we have to write something today, I'll even help." He gave her a teasing smile.

Asmeen smiled weakly at his clear attempt of trying to cheer up. "I'll take you up on that."

It wasn't really needed. When the leaders arrived, they announced the task, which had nothing to do with making up new incantations. It was another kind of strength challenge, and while Asmeen pushed herself, she knew she wasn't doing as well as she would have done if her mind had been clear.

"Don't worry," Wylla said, as they walked out of the field together, Aven even accompanying them though his home was in another direction. "Today is a hard day."

"Just one day probably won't affect what they think about you," Elyn offered, in the kindest tone she could manage, Asmeen knew.

"Asmeen!"

Asmeen looked up to see Nara waiting for her.

"What are you doing out so late?" She asked, hurrying to Nara. "You really shouldn't be here."

Nara gave her a sad smile. "You think I wouldn't be here to see you, today? I don't care what sort of punishment you have, I can't leave you alone today. I remember her too, you know."

Asmeen nodded, taking Nara's hand and waiting for the other three to catch up.

"Hello, Aven," Nara said. "I heard you all having lots of fun yesterday."

"It was at your house," Asmeen said, looking at her. "Weren't you there?"

"She stayed in her room the entire time," Aven said, grinning good-naturedly. "We tried to get her to talk to us, but she didn't come out."

The dark prevented Asmeen from making out whether Nara's face had turned red. "I'm shy," Nara said defensively. "And if it had been a few of you, I would have come out to talk. I didn't even know everyone that day."

Aven nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Next time, we'll be sure to get you to stay."

"Good luck with that," Asmeen said wryly. Ever since they were young, Nara had always stuck to herself. Which was why Asmeen had pushed her to socialize at the ball, and why she'd been so pleased when Nara had danced with so many people.

"Well," Aven said finally, when they'd gone far enough. "I'll go home, then. Goodnight, ladies. Get home safe."

"Goodnight," Asmeen, Nara and Wylla called back. Elyn raised a hand in farewell. Aven turned and began walking in his own direction, his silhouette soon blending into the darkness.

Nara left when it was her turn, and that left only the three of them to walk into the house. Elyn had begun bringing the key every day, so they made it into the house, announcing their presence by letting the door shut loudly.

Neither of their parents came out, so Asmeen assumed that Azol was with her father. She didn't want to see him yet, so she walked up to their own room with her sisters.

She was...well, tired. She let the twins force her into eating a late dinner, even though she didn't do much more than push the food around, before finally going to sleep. The entire day had been so...sad. She just wanted to go to sleep and maybe things would be better the next day.

So she did.

See you next chapter!