"Rose'lhia, can I talk to you?" I asked the woman who saved my life.
"No, I don't think that would work, try applying it like this instead." she said to the mother-to-be that she was attending too. Completely ignoring me in the process.
So, with a roll of my eyes and an agitated sigh, "Ivy-Mother!"
"One moment," she told the petal before she stood up and faced me, "Can I help you, Dandel'lhia? Is Spruce'endoor in need of something or are you seeking my advice?"
"Yes, I guess you could say yes to both of those." I lied with the click of my tongue as I watched the pretending woman.
"Then I suppose I must go, then." she says before she turns to the other petal once again to clarify some details.
"Thank you, Ivy-Mother!" she let out gratefully as she nurtured the bulge in her belly. For a brief moment as well, a desire for it to happen again with me appeared.
"So where is Spruce'endoor?" Rose'lhia asked as she obviously took note of the lack of a son in my arms or near us.
"We're going to get him now." I honestly answer before silence overtook us the rest of the way. Only to be broken every now and then by Rose'lhia's professional antics. And once again, I could not help but notice the reluctance present each time.
"So are you and the Gilded-Bark doing alright?" she then decided to ask me. Likely because she saw my frowning. But that existed because of this behaviour of hers, not my lover.
"Yes, we're calming down from the initial excitement of my return. However..." I tell her before I glance over at the many thorns that had been ordered to keep watch over me.
"I suppose it cannot be helped..." Rose'lhia comments with a shaky voice once she notices what I did not completely finish saying.
"Yes." was all I then said, but perhaps I went about it a bit too ominously. Thankfully, we found my son in short order and I picked him up. Separating him from the other children he was playing with. Unfortunately, however, the ease at which he clung to me made me worry for him.
"Hello there!" Rose'lhia tried to greet as warmly as possible, but Spruce'endoor only shirked at her and dug against me.
"Let's find somewhere quieter." I tell the offended woman before we went and found such a spot. Then, when we sat down, I let my son play around with my fingers while Rose'lhia carefully watched him.
"Was that what you wanted to talk about? Why he was struggling to get involved?" she asked me to which I just shook my head. This left her confused but now was also the perfect moment to bring up what I actually wanted to talk about.
"No, Rose'lhia, I am here to talk to you about what you are doing. It needs to stop." I told her, looking her straight in the eye and getting to the point immediately.
"I can't stop being an Ivy-Mother." she laughs out nervously as she puts on a refined facade. But I saw how she trembled as those legs were crossed. She is fully aware that applying the pressure will make it break... So that is what I had to do.
And I could only pray that she would not hold it against me.
"Yes you can, and you have done exactly that to be with the one you love." I tell her firmly, emphasising the core detail that drove her away before. She wasn't scared about being found out. She wasn't running away from something. She was running after someone.
"Th-There isn't anyone that I love..." she lied as she looked away.
"Nin Urtuan." I uttered clearly, to which she flinched and looked my way yet not. So I cupped her chin and moved her gaze up to mine.
"He doesn't love me..." she whimpered.
"Did he not save your life? Did he not fight harder just to win you back!? Was the event that made you fall in love with him, to begin with, centred around how he felt about you!?" I say to her sternly, recalling what I could while quickly filling in the gaps for the rest.
"I was just a burden to him... An unwanted parasite."
"Unwanted parasites do not have their lives saved! People do not go out of there way to help parasites!" I nearly shout at her as I took her arm to keep her sat down.
"Let me go..." she whimpered.
"I am not letting you go anywhere until you stop whatever this is! You are not an ivy-mother! You left it behind to be with Nin Urtuan! The Champion who saved my son and our people!" I angrily tell her, much to the growing fright of my son who was stuck in the middle.
"LET ME GO!" Rose'lhia suddenly screamed as her magic flared. And it stopped as quickly as it started when my son started to cry.
"Shhh, it's alright, I'm sorry." I tell my son quietly as I remind him of how loved he was. It was my fault for bringing him here. But I had my reasons to do so. Rose'lhia cared about this baby boy, and he helped me more than he could grasp.
"Why can't you just leave me alone...?" Rose'lhia then quietly asked as she sat down with a sigh.
"Because you don't want to be here, and I cannot stand this pathetic behaviour from you." I told her sincerely. While we have had our rough spots, one thing stayed consistent. Like with everyone else, I respected Ivy-Mother Rose'lhia, however, this woman was not that one anymore.
"Pathetic...? How is it pathetic to realise that I am not loved by the man I gave my heart to? He does not love me so I am leaving him alone. There is nothing pathetic about realising your limits."
"And what happened to the Rose'lhia who brought herself to the top because she could?" I mockingly asked her as a glare appeared on both of our faces.
"I could become an ivy-mother... I am Ivy-Mother! My Love's affection, however, is not something that can be gained... So do not speak to me as if you know me. Because you don't!" she aggressively replied back with as she jabbed at my scars and mutilations. And, she was right, I really did not know her...
But I was beginning to understand her.
"I know enough about you to know that you miss him. That the reason you even did this for me, was to try and prove something to him. You keep making up reasons in your head but you couldn't be further from the truth." I tell her with a sigh as I rubbed my son's hair.
"And what do you know about our relationship, hm?" she asked with a snort at the end.
"I know he saved your life." I said once again, because that is all I really did know. An unfortunate side effect of what my perspective led me to do back on that mountain. I had no idea that that osibindah was the same human I passed my seed onto back in the hive...
"And there we go with it again..." she commented before she stood up, "Leave me be."
"I will not!" I declare as I quickly move to stop her from leaving. Side-stepping her attempts each time and forcing her to stay. And I could only apologize later for it, but, I used my son to keep her here as well. Her power was restrained by his presence.
"There is nothing to be done, Dandel'lhia. He does not love me, and I must learn to forget about him." she said before I stopped her once again with an outstretched arm.
"The Gilded-Bark did not love me once upon a time, you know that? I was not his favourite from the moment he laid eyes on me. Just another dandelion that met the standards befitting of one such as him."
"So?" was all she took away from that.
"You cannot just give up on Nin Urtuan like this! He cared enough to save your life again and again! There is love present, but you are too impatient!"
"Impatient?" she asks with a bemused huff, "I was with him and by his side since the moment he first was found by our thorns out in the valleys... When he was hauling you and so many others behind him on an old log! Yet, his heart did not become mine... It became someone else's..."
"Impatient." I repeated as she looked down at the ground.
"Did you just not hear a word I-"
"All I am hearing are the excuses of a quitter. Someone who is meant to teach the flower about love and the light that comes with it is the same one falling into darkness because she does not understand that love is not straightforward!"
"My entire profession is about love... How could I not understand it!?"
"Because no one here loves you!" I snap at her.
"I..."
"We respect you, Rose'lhia, that is all. But despite what wisdom you pass on, you have never been loved. What happened with Nin Urtuan was your first experience with it! And I will not suffer an Ivy-Mother who does not follow what she is meant to teach!"
"How dare you..."
"How dare I? How dare I what? Rightly point out how you have turned your back on your lover once again because you have some doubts!?" I aggressively asked her as I got up in her face.
"Is everything alright here...?" my lover asked as he suddenly appeared from one of the narrow passes that led here.
"Everything is fine, Oak'endoor, please, just give us some space."
"No... He deserves to know..." Rose'lhia suddenly let out tearfully as she dropped her staff and fell to the ground.
"Ivy-Mother!?" he let out in concern as he tried to reach for her. But her sudden explosion of magic made us all move away from her.
"Rose'lhia, what are you doing!?" I asked her as I held my son close to my chest as we watched the hysterical woman.
"I don't know..." she fearfully admitted as my scared son began to whine.
"Bad Woman want to hurt Mama again..." he whined against my chest. But, it was just loud enough for all present to hear.
"What...?" my Lover let out in confusion as a sight that had always concerned him began to grow in significance. But, when I turned to Rose'lhia, I saw that she had suddenly calmed down. Albeit, she was not crying at herself.
"I am, aren't I, Sapling? I'm the bad woman who hurt mama... I'm the bad woman who nearly got you killed by osibindah... I'm the bad woman who scarred mama for life and led to her being captured by human scum... I'm the bad woman who turned her back on the man she loved... I'm... I'm..." she let out all of a sudden as she trembled and cried.
"Is this true?" the Gilded-Bark asked me with a stern voice as he suddenly loomed over me. I could see that there was a part of him that wanted to be lied to. But, I could also see how much anger he was holding back.
Yet, I looked at the ground, because this isn't what I wanted to happen, "It is... But-"
"THORNS! ARREST ROSE'LHIA, NOW!" he roared as he suddenly approached her and violently hoisted her up by her hair!
"Wait, no!" I tried to interject as thorns came rushing in to restrain Rose'lhia.
"SEND WORD OUT! ASSEMBLE ALL THE OTHERS! A COUNCIL OF JUDGEMENT IS TO BE CALLED!" he roared as his own magic began to flare out with protective fury.
"Rose'lhia..." I let out in despair as I watched the broken woman get dragged away.