Dinner was a little more difficult to handle, and Lyra was having trouble concentrating on the conversations that were going on around her. There were more people here than usual, and that was due to a celebration for one of the guards. Francis, a highly skilled wolf with green eyes, had found his mate, and was introducing her to the various members of the house. Lyra had overheard her name, Sylva Preston, and she was gorgeous. Her chestnut locks fell past her shoulders, and gave a good cover for her face. Sylva had proved to be shy, continually hiding behind her mate, clinging to his arm for comfort, and Lyra couldn't help but empathize with how she felt.
Lyra was sitting across from Eleni, and fell into a comfortable conversation with her while they ate their food. It was delicious, as usual, and consisted of steamed broccoli with cheddar cheese, baked chicken breast, and mashed potatoes. When desert came, Thyrius excused himself and Lyra, insisting they venture to the gardens before nightfell. Lyra only softly nodded her head, and allowed him to lead her through the back door and to what she thought was one of the most beautiful sights that she had ever seen. An enormous, glass greenhouse, with twinkling lights scattered about the roof. The sun wasn't set quite yet, and there was a vibrant purple, pink and yellow glow behind it. The colors blended together in such harmony Lyra could only stare in amazement at it.
When they entered the building, Lyra saw that the greenhouse walls were lined with beautiful rose bushes, and she could count on two hands how many rare species of plants resided inside. Thyrius let her wander a little further, and watched as she carefully inspected each plant. Her soft hands caressed a few of the blooming flowers and he could see that she had a million watt smile plastered on her face, bringing a soft one to his own. "This room is temperature controlled, so the exotic plants that we have don't wither away in less than ideal weather conditions. Some of them can be temperamental, I'm sure you know. There's this greenhouse, and behind it is our seasonal garden, one we use for vegetables and fruit. Then just beyond that we have a smaller greenhouse dedicated to specific herbs. I'm sure that there are some that we haven't thought of, that you might suggest we add." His soft voice made its way to her ears, and she turned around to see an unreadable expression on his face. Lyra's heart dropped for a moment, remembering that he wanted to utilize her gardening skills to improve what she was looking at.
Lyra wasn't even sure that this place needed improving, just by the look of the first greenhouse, she was certain his gardeners knew what they were doing. She wanted to voice that to Thyrius, but he took her hand in his and led her out of the first greenhouse, and into the seasonal garden. It stretched on for about a mile or so, and Lyra couldn't help but notice how neatly organized the rows and rows of harvestable vegetables were. Thyrius was a very organized, and meticulous person, so Lyra wasn't surprised that his pack territory would reflect on that. She was, however, surprised that he wanted any input from her on anything that revolved around his pack. He seemed to have it all put together, and honestly, from what Lyra could see, he had a backup plan for his backup plans. She wasn't going to say anything just yet, however, because she did see that even though the garden was organized well, there were a few issues.
One of them being that the rows of vegetables, mainly the potatoes and the carrots, were not correctly spaced out, though even in measurement, they weren't the right measurement for optimal growth of either vegetable. She made a mental note to inform him after she saw all of the gardens. "This garden is beautiful Thy, I'd love to see the rest of it, and maybe the herb greenhouse if we have time." Lyra felt a furious blush creep into the flesh of her cheeks, and she looked down at her hands. She thought she was dreaming for a moment, because she could have sworn she heard him mutter under his breath, something along the lines of, "For you, I'd move heaven and earth to make the time." She couldn't help but feel her heart melt inside her chest, but recovered instantly when she heard Thyrius clear his throat.
"Yes, we can go anywhere you'd like, please lead the way sweet Lyra." He gave a dramatic gesture with his hand emphasizing his words, and that's what she did. Lyra led him through the garden, occasionally inspecting a few tomatoes, or peppers along the way until they made it to the doors of the second, smaller, but still absolutely mesmerizing greenhouse.
Thyrius moved in front of her to open the doors, and Lyra couldn't believe the array of herbs that resided inside. Lavender, mugwort, cilantro, rosemary, and so many more herbs were attacking her nostrils, and she felt as if she were transported back to the cottage. She couldn't help but feel an unfamiliar emotion wash over her, or there were just too many to pinpoint exactly what she was feeling. She missed her home, and she missed her garden, and her books, but no amount of missing and longing would be able to eliminate the feeling of being here, alone with Thyrius.