Title: Coming Home
Author: Sara Newberry
Summary: You can come home again but things are never the same. Sequel to Winter Flowers.
Rating: PG – for now
Chapter 1
At three minutes until twelve noon on June the fifteenth, nearly three years since her disappearance, Lilith Lourdes Tremain entered the Court of Miracles through a door cleverly hidden in an alley. Under her dark blue cloak, she wore a plain brown homespun gown with tight fitting sleeves and high neckline. Her similarly clad two-year-old daughter clung to her hand like any normal child. No Parisian citizen would have believed her had she told them who she was.
Lily, the notorious Winter Flower was the woman who had brought both the Minister of Justice and the King of the Gypsies to their knees.
*******
Clopin Trouillefou lay on his back, his hands behind his head, and sighed rather pathetically. Dahlia, his current paramour, snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his bare shoulder. Her coarse raven black hair scratched against his neck and he growled his discontent.
"What is wrong, my love?" Dahlia raised her head to look at him. He gazed back with a slightly disinterested expression before rolling out from beneath her. The Gypsy King sat up in bed and reached for his clothing with a grunt. Used to her king's frequent mood swings, the young girl merely shrugged and sat up as well, threading her fingers through her hair. Clopin turned to watch her and wondered, for the umpteenth time, why he had ever taken her to bed with him. She was barely 17, unintelligent, and not much to look at. Shaking his head, he determined not to think of it.
He had finished dressing in no time and was nearly out of the room when Esmeralda burst into the tent. Dahlia gasped and pulled a sheet up to cover her bare chest but the other woman paid no attention.
"Clopin, my king, we are late!" Esmeralda grabbed her king by the wrist and pulled him out of his tent. The Court of Miracles was nearly empty; it's inhabitants having swarmed the streets already to make their day's earnings. Esmeralda slowed her pace only slightly once they reached street level.
She glanced back at her king. "I don't understand why you insist on leading that poor child on, Clopin. Dahlia is a sweet girl and I hate to see you using her."
The king merely straightened his hat and flicked the scraggly yellow feather out of his face. "I am doing nothing of the sort, my dear."
Esmeralda snorted. "Of course not! Just like you didn't use Rosemarie or Violetta or Lavender or any of the others. You have to face it Clopin. It doesn't matter what their name, they will never be her. They will never be your flower."
"My flower? I never had a flower."
"Denying it won't make it any less true." Esmeralda spat at him. The King sighed so deeply it was nearly a growl.
"Esmeralda, every day you tell me this and every day I answer the same way. She is dead and if you mention her one more time, I will-"
"You will what? Banish me?" They had reached Clopin's performing wagon by this time and were nearly growling into each other's faces. Esmeralda lifted an eyebrow. "You cannot even say her name out loud. You are a coward Clopin. If you had been a real man instead, you would have made sure she never left in the first place. Lily may not have meant that much to you but at least you could have been a man."
Clopin's eyes glittered dangerously. "I am through with you today, Esmeralda. Leave me be!" He hissed before storming into the wagon and slamming the door behind him. The small cabin rocked on its wheels. Esmeralda shook her head before turning away in disgust. She walked away muttering to herself.
Before she knew what was happening, she was being dragged into the nearest alleyway, a small hand clamped firmly over her mouth. In the darkness of the alley, she whirled to face her attacker and fainted with shock.
*****
Lily anxiously waved the end of her cloak over Esmeralda's face. Brittany stood nearby, twisting her dark black hair with a tiny finger.
"Is she dead, Momma?" Lily glanced over her shoulder.
"No, sweetie, she was just very surprised. Come stand over here by Momma so I know you're safe." The gypsy dancer turned back to her friend and frowned worriedly to herself. Esmeralda's eyes cracked open as Lily stroked her hair back with feather-light touches.
"Lily?" Esmeralda breathed out. The Gypsy Flower smiled gently. "Where have you been?"
"Around," the younger girl shrugged, the smile still spreading across her face. It faded when the elder did not return it. "What is wrong, my friend?"
The raven-haired gypsy sat up slowly. "Why did you leave, Lilith?"
"I had my reason." She evaded the question but Esmeralda was having none of it. One dark eyebrow was arched above an emerald green eye.
"And what reason would that be, my recently returned darling?" She brought a hand to her forehead and looked directly at the redheaded girl currently cowering before her.
Lily's face flushed red as she avoided the piercing gaze. "I could not stay in the Court of Miracles as I was. Things were not as they had been before and I needed to leave, to grow up on my own. I could not do that under the gaze of a king who, for all intents and purposes, would have had nothing to do with me had he known. No matter how much he claimed to have loved me at the time, there are some things that are not forgivable."
"Lily, he was devoted to you! What could possibly have changed that?" Esmeralda couldn't believe the words coming from her companion's lips. The two of them deserved each other, the way they both carried on. It was intolerable! In two years, she had forgotten just how much she hadn't missed this. Impatient, she waited as Lily avoided her question for a moment.
"Brittany." The young dancer finally settled on. It was then that Esmeralda noticed the tiny girl half-hidden behind her mother's skirts. The child had large brown eyes and dark black hair, obviously a gypsy, with neither her mother's soft features nor light hair. Esmeralda took in this new information slowly then did the last thing Lily had ever expected upon revealing her secret. The elder dancer drew in a big breath and began to laugh.
"Oh, you had me worried there for a moment, my dear." Esmeralda managed after her laughter was somewhat more controlled. "At first, I thought you actually might have something serious to reveal!"
"Something serious to reveal?! This is serious! I bore a child, out of wedlock I might add, who happens to be the daughter of the man who betrayed his people and his king. If that is not serious, I don't know what is."
"Lily, you claimed to have gone away to grow up but you obviously did not achieve your goal. In gypsy society, being born out of wedlock is not cause for great alarm, nor are children necessarily their parents. Clopin would not have disowned you for those reasons."
"But he would not have looked at me the same way," the young woman sighed. "I loved him so much that I could not have taken that."
"Loved?" Uncertainty filled Esmeralda's heart for the first time.
"Yes. Loved." The red-haired gypsy met her friend's eyes unwaveringly. "What I felt for Clopin is gone."
Lily couldn't remember ever telling a bigger lie.
To be continued…
Author: Sara Newberry
Summary: You can come home again but things are never the same. Sequel to Winter Flowers.
Rating: PG – for now
Chapter 1
At three minutes until twelve noon on June the fifteenth, nearly three years since her disappearance, Lilith Lourdes Tremain entered the Court of Miracles through a door cleverly hidden in an alley. Under her dark blue cloak, she wore a plain brown homespun gown with tight fitting sleeves and high neckline. Her similarly clad two-year-old daughter clung to her hand like any normal child. No Parisian citizen would have believed her had she told them who she was.
Lily, the notorious Winter Flower was the woman who had brought both the Minister of Justice and the King of the Gypsies to their knees.
*******
Clopin Trouillefou lay on his back, his hands behind his head, and sighed rather pathetically. Dahlia, his current paramour, snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his bare shoulder. Her coarse raven black hair scratched against his neck and he growled his discontent.
"What is wrong, my love?" Dahlia raised her head to look at him. He gazed back with a slightly disinterested expression before rolling out from beneath her. The Gypsy King sat up in bed and reached for his clothing with a grunt. Used to her king's frequent mood swings, the young girl merely shrugged and sat up as well, threading her fingers through her hair. Clopin turned to watch her and wondered, for the umpteenth time, why he had ever taken her to bed with him. She was barely 17, unintelligent, and not much to look at. Shaking his head, he determined not to think of it.
He had finished dressing in no time and was nearly out of the room when Esmeralda burst into the tent. Dahlia gasped and pulled a sheet up to cover her bare chest but the other woman paid no attention.
"Clopin, my king, we are late!" Esmeralda grabbed her king by the wrist and pulled him out of his tent. The Court of Miracles was nearly empty; it's inhabitants having swarmed the streets already to make their day's earnings. Esmeralda slowed her pace only slightly once they reached street level.
She glanced back at her king. "I don't understand why you insist on leading that poor child on, Clopin. Dahlia is a sweet girl and I hate to see you using her."
The king merely straightened his hat and flicked the scraggly yellow feather out of his face. "I am doing nothing of the sort, my dear."
Esmeralda snorted. "Of course not! Just like you didn't use Rosemarie or Violetta or Lavender or any of the others. You have to face it Clopin. It doesn't matter what their name, they will never be her. They will never be your flower."
"My flower? I never had a flower."
"Denying it won't make it any less true." Esmeralda spat at him. The King sighed so deeply it was nearly a growl.
"Esmeralda, every day you tell me this and every day I answer the same way. She is dead and if you mention her one more time, I will-"
"You will what? Banish me?" They had reached Clopin's performing wagon by this time and were nearly growling into each other's faces. Esmeralda lifted an eyebrow. "You cannot even say her name out loud. You are a coward Clopin. If you had been a real man instead, you would have made sure she never left in the first place. Lily may not have meant that much to you but at least you could have been a man."
Clopin's eyes glittered dangerously. "I am through with you today, Esmeralda. Leave me be!" He hissed before storming into the wagon and slamming the door behind him. The small cabin rocked on its wheels. Esmeralda shook her head before turning away in disgust. She walked away muttering to herself.
Before she knew what was happening, she was being dragged into the nearest alleyway, a small hand clamped firmly over her mouth. In the darkness of the alley, she whirled to face her attacker and fainted with shock.
*****
Lily anxiously waved the end of her cloak over Esmeralda's face. Brittany stood nearby, twisting her dark black hair with a tiny finger.
"Is she dead, Momma?" Lily glanced over her shoulder.
"No, sweetie, she was just very surprised. Come stand over here by Momma so I know you're safe." The gypsy dancer turned back to her friend and frowned worriedly to herself. Esmeralda's eyes cracked open as Lily stroked her hair back with feather-light touches.
"Lily?" Esmeralda breathed out. The Gypsy Flower smiled gently. "Where have you been?"
"Around," the younger girl shrugged, the smile still spreading across her face. It faded when the elder did not return it. "What is wrong, my friend?"
The raven-haired gypsy sat up slowly. "Why did you leave, Lilith?"
"I had my reason." She evaded the question but Esmeralda was having none of it. One dark eyebrow was arched above an emerald green eye.
"And what reason would that be, my recently returned darling?" She brought a hand to her forehead and looked directly at the redheaded girl currently cowering before her.
Lily's face flushed red as she avoided the piercing gaze. "I could not stay in the Court of Miracles as I was. Things were not as they had been before and I needed to leave, to grow up on my own. I could not do that under the gaze of a king who, for all intents and purposes, would have had nothing to do with me had he known. No matter how much he claimed to have loved me at the time, there are some things that are not forgivable."
"Lily, he was devoted to you! What could possibly have changed that?" Esmeralda couldn't believe the words coming from her companion's lips. The two of them deserved each other, the way they both carried on. It was intolerable! In two years, she had forgotten just how much she hadn't missed this. Impatient, she waited as Lily avoided her question for a moment.
"Brittany." The young dancer finally settled on. It was then that Esmeralda noticed the tiny girl half-hidden behind her mother's skirts. The child had large brown eyes and dark black hair, obviously a gypsy, with neither her mother's soft features nor light hair. Esmeralda took in this new information slowly then did the last thing Lily had ever expected upon revealing her secret. The elder dancer drew in a big breath and began to laugh.
"Oh, you had me worried there for a moment, my dear." Esmeralda managed after her laughter was somewhat more controlled. "At first, I thought you actually might have something serious to reveal!"
"Something serious to reveal?! This is serious! I bore a child, out of wedlock I might add, who happens to be the daughter of the man who betrayed his people and his king. If that is not serious, I don't know what is."
"Lily, you claimed to have gone away to grow up but you obviously did not achieve your goal. In gypsy society, being born out of wedlock is not cause for great alarm, nor are children necessarily their parents. Clopin would not have disowned you for those reasons."
"But he would not have looked at me the same way," the young woman sighed. "I loved him so much that I could not have taken that."
"Loved?" Uncertainty filled Esmeralda's heart for the first time.
"Yes. Loved." The red-haired gypsy met her friend's eyes unwaveringly. "What I felt for Clopin is gone."
Lily couldn't remember ever telling a bigger lie.
To be continued…