Chapter five:

Raven made her way into the castletearia, she grabbed some breakfast and then looked around to see who she could sit with. The moment Raven spotted Maddie a wide smile spread over her face, she made her way over to her friend and greeted her cheerfully. "Morning Maddie."

"Good morning Raven." Maddie said back to her just as happily.

Raven sat down beside her friend, Maddie quickly looked around to check no one was too close to hear and whispered to Raven. "Have you had any more floral tributes?"

"Yes, I have. I still have quite a few suspects for who could be sending them to me…I'm really hoping that it will be…Well you know who." Raven said to her blushing slightly.

Maddie smiled at her. "Yes I do know who…Have you told Apple who it is yet?"

Raven shook her head. "I haven't told you, so I am hardly likely to tell Apple, I am not sure if I can tell anyone who I am in love with…Pluss I am fairly sure that Apple and you would both be surprised that I have feelings for this person…I'm not worried that you wouldn't accept my feelings for her, but as always I worry about how Apple is going to react…"

"I can see why you would worry. Apple tends to act out when people don't follow their destiny." Maddie said thoughtfully.

A chuckle left Raven. "Boy is that the truth!"

Maddie looked at Raven and said softly. "Still maybe Apple could see beyond destiny just this once."

"I guess it is worth considering…" Raven agreed, before she started to eat her food.

Raven spent the rest of breakfast catching up with Maddie and while turning over the idea of telling Apple who she liked over in her mind.

As Raven made her way up the many stairs leading to the tower hair salon on her free period Friday morning, she considered how she might be able to ask Poppy if she had any knowledge of the language of flowers and not arouse to much suspicion from her.

After thinking the situation over for a while Raven decided that she would do as Apple had suggested a few days ago and use the excuse that she is helping Apple with her interest in the language of flowers, by asking students if they knew of the language and if they would ever use it.

When Raven entered the tower room, Holly looked over from where she was sitting in the chair while Poppy was doing her hair and smiled in a friendly way at Raven.

Raven returned the smile, then she looked to Poppy intending to tell her she had arrived for her appointment, but it was clear to Raven that she was very involved with her work and so Raven waited quietly for Poppy to realise she had arrived.

After a few moments Poppy looked up from her work on Holly's hair, she noticed that Raven was standing nearby and greeted Raven cheerfully. "Hey Raven! Sorry I didn't greet you right away I was absorbed in my work. Take a seat I'll be with you soon!"

"No worries I completely understand." Raven assured her before taking a seat in one of the plush waiting area chairs and waited for her turn.

When Poppy had finished with her sister's hair, she then got things ready for Raven's appointment, before coming over to Raven and saying to her cheerfully. "I'm ready for you now Raven."

"Great!" Raven said happily, before she got up, made her way over to the chair and settled down in it.

Poppy carefully put a cape around her. "Just a trim for you today, right?"

"Yes please." Raven confirmed to Poppy.

"So how has your week been?" Poppy inquired of her conversationally.

Without hesitating Raven answered this question. "Oh, it's been okay. Apple has developed this interest in the language of flowers and you know how Apple can be when she has something on her mind."

Poppy nodded to her and said. "Oh yeah, she can be very focused."

"I said I would help Apple if I could…Needless to say she didn't hesitate to take me up on my offer. Apple's asked me to ask any students I run into if they know about the language and if they do would they ever use it." Raven explains to her, before addressing Poppy once again. "While I am here what about you Poppy? Do you know the language of flowers?"

Poppy gave her a nod. "Yes, I do…With all the time mum spent in the tower she learnt a lot of things, the language of flowers was one of those things. Mum then taught Holly and myself all about the language of flowers, I have to admit it was quiet a fun thing to learn."

"Would you ever use it?" Raven asked her curiously. While at the same time excitement raced through her as Raven knew that the floral admirer had learnt the language of flowers from her grandmother not her mother.

After thinking about it for a moment, Poppy shook her head. "No, I wouldn't, it's not really me."

Raven smiled with understanding, before she then spoke to Holly who was now sitting in one of the chairs in the room. "What about you Holly?"

"Well as I hope to be saved from my tower by my prince, I don't think I would ever have a need to use the language of flowers…Accept…It might be nice to use it for my wedding bouquet." Holly told Raven in a thoughtful voice.

"I have to say that the idea of a wedding bouquet with a meaning sounds lovely." Raven said sincerely to Holly.

"I think so too." Poppy agreed, smiling over at her sister.

When Raven was finished having her hair trimmed, she expected her hair before saying to Poppy. "My hair looks great as always Poppy."

"Thanks!" Poppy said to her gratefully.

Raven got out of the chair, she paid for her hair cut and then made her way back towards the school. As she walks along Raven feels happy to know that when she got back to her dorm room, that she can exclude the twins from her list of suspects.

By the time that Raven got back to the dorm room Apple is waiting for her, she looked up from her thronework and smiled widely at Raven, before saying to her in a chipper voice. "Your back! I'm so glad! You have more flowers! I put them on your desk for you. I can't wait to hear what happened at the salon today and what you're the floral admirer has to say this time!"

Raven could practically feel the joy and enthusiasm emanating from Apple, it caused her to smile back at her roommate as she made her way into her part of the room. "I am glad to hear that I have more flowers. As for what happened at the salon, well I had a stroke of fortune while I was there."

"You did?" Apple enquired of her. Raven nodded in answer to this, which caused impatience to spike in Apple and made her ask in a voice which had an edge of aggravation to it. "So, what happened?! Please stop beating about the bush and tell me!"

While Raven told Apple what she had happened at the salon, she lifted up the latest bunch of flowers with her magic, Raven took the note from amongst the flowers and placed it onto the desk, she untied it and then placed the flowers into the next vase which Apple had already thoughtfully filled with water. "Well, I used the idea you had about telling Blondie I was helping you in your research into the language. I told Poppy and Holly that was what I was doing and asked them if they knew about the language of flowers and if they would use it."

Apple smiled widely at Raven and said to her. "Oh, that was a cleaver thing to do!"

"Why thank you." Raven told her smiling back at Apple.

"So, what did Holly and Poppy say?" She asked Raven inquisitively.

Raven answered the question. "They both admitted they knew of the language of flowers, neither of them planned to use it, though Holly did say she might use it for her wedding bouquet…Any way I am getting off subject a little. Apparently their mother learned of it while in her tower and then taught it to Poppy and Holly. I knew when they said this, that they couldn't be the floral admirer as she said it was her grandmother who taught her about the language of flowers."

"So, they can be excluded now too!" Apple said in excitement.

"Yes!" Raven replied as she pulled the list across the desk towards her and put lines through Holly and Poppy's names, with this done this Raven addressed Apple. "Now the twins are no longer on our list we are down to the last four suspects. Darling, Rosabella, Briar and Cerise."

"So, is your crush still on the list?" Apple asked Raven with unconcealed curiosity. Raven shot her an unamused look. Apple futtered her eyelashes at her innocently. "You can't blame me for asking! I'm so curious about who this lady love of yours might be, after all you've always been careful about giving your heart…I really want to know who at school could possibly have caught your eye."

Raven rolled her eyes at Apple. "You really do never give up do you?"

"Nope!" Apple admitted cheerfully, and then said to Raven. "You can trust me with this secret I promise Raven."

"I don't know Apple, you're very fixed in your ideas of destiny…And there fore who should be with whom…" Raven told her in a soft and sad voice.

"I know I can be…But…Maybe you are this person's destiny…Now before you say something about not wanting your destiny…I know that you want to find your own happy ending, but there is nothing to say that someone can't still be part of your destiny what ever form that takes." Apple said to Raven in absolute sincerity.

After a short silence as Raven once more contemplated telling Apple the truth, she came to a decision and spoke to Apple. "How about this, I'll consider telling you who I like and I will tell you as soon as I can if I feel I can trust you with that secret."

Despite feeling disappointed that Raven wouldn't tell her who she loves, she can also understand why Raven is reluctance to do so, after all with her behaviour in the past she hasn't exactly earned Raven's trust Apple deflated. "Okay. I understand Raven."

Raven lifted the note up from where she had placed it on the desk and said to Apple. "Shall I read the message now?"

Instantly Apple's eyes brighten and she smiles at Raven. "Oh! Yes please!"

Smiling herself Raven sat down on the chair at her desk and read to Apple. "Elder represents magical power, Vervain means enchantment, Witch Hazel's meaning is spellbound Lavender shows returned affection. My Raven this is my message to you this time. Your magical powers enchant me. It is as if you have cast a spell on me and I am held spellbound by you and I have no wish to be free of your enchantment. I wish I knew if you returned my affection, but yet I fear to show myself to you because I cannot stand the thought of you rejecting me. Please show to me a sign that my wooing pleases you, by leaving a red rose upon your windowsill. Always yours, your floral admirer."

"Aw…She is worried you don't want her! That's so sad and cute at the same time." Apple said to Raven in a soft voice.

Raven couldn't help but feel the pain of this person, to be trying to win someone's heart and not know if you were winning them over or not, had to be very difficult.

In the ensuing silence Apple asked her. "Are you going to leave them a rose or not?"

Raven didn't answer this question right away, instead she debated internally if she would leave the rose or not. Raven was rather tempted to leave the red rose on the windowsill, as the one she had romantic feelings was still amongst those who might be behind these floral messages.

Slowly Raven looked over at Apple and inquired from her. "Were would I be able to get a red rose at this time of day?"

A wide smile spread over Apple's face, she let out a noise of excitement and answered Raven in an excited voice. "I'm sure Briar would be able to give you one!"

"I'll go and ask." Raven told Apple and made her way out of the room.

Raven made her way to Briar's room, she knocked on the door to her dorm room and waited for an answer to her knocking. Sure enough a few moments later the door was opened by Ashlynn. "Hey Ashlynn, is Briar in?"

"Yes, she is, come on in." Ashlynn said politely and opened the door wider to let Raven inside.

Raven came into the room, she looked over at Briar and addressed her. "Hey Briar! Do you have a red rose I could have please?"

This question caused Briar to look at her with surprise. "Yes, I do have one. Can I ask what did you need it for?"

"It's something private…Sorry." Raven told her with an apologetic tone to her voice.

A knowing smiled slowly spread over Briar's face, she goes over to a vase in her room, she took out a red rose, walked over to Raven and handed it over to her.

Raven carefully used her magic to take the rose from Briar, she gave her a thankful look and said gratefully. "Thank you so much for the rose."

Before she could leave Raven decided to take this chance to ask Briar if she knew about the language of flowers, she decided that in order to not arouse to much suspicion in Briar she would ask both Briar and Ashlynn together. "Oh, while I am here can I ask you both something?"

"Sure, what is it?" Ashlynn asks her curiously.

"Do either of you know the language of flowers?" Raven asked them both.

Briar answered first, saying with a role of her eyes. "Of course I do! Roses are such an important part of my story that my mother forced me to learn all about what the flowers meant."

"I found a book on the subject one summer a few years ago and found it rather interesting." Ashlynn told Raven with a warm smile on her face.

"Why did you want to know?" Briar asked her curiously.

Raven didn't hesitate to answer this question. "I'm helping Apple with research into the subject. Do you think you would ever use the language of flowers to woo someone Briar?"

Briar turned this idea over in her head. "It is such an old-fashioned way of wooing someone that I wouldn't be someone to use something like that, after all I love to stay fashionable and up to date with anything."

Raven nodded to Briar as she said to her. "Thanks for answering the question!" Raven then turned to Ashlynn and addressed her. "I hope you don't mind if I don't ask you the same question Ashlynn."

Ashlynn gave Raven a look of understanding. "Of course I don't mind Raven, I am in a relationship with Hunter after all and therefore it would make no sense to ask me if I would ever use the language of flowers to woo or send romantic messages to someone."

"Thank you for the rose Briar." Raven said gratefully.

Briar smiled warmly at Raven as she said to her. "You are very welcome."

Keeping the rose at her side her by using her magic to float it along as she walked Raven left the dorm room, she made her way back to her own room and as Raven made her way inside, she called out cheerfully to Apple. "I'm back!"

"I see you got the rose." Apple said to her as she spotted the afore mentioned flower floating along beside Raven in the embrace of her purple magic.

"I certainly did. I plan to use some of my magic to make sure it stays on the windowsill all day tomorrow." Raven told Apple as she made her way across the room towards the window.

Apple nodded and said to Raven. "That sounds like a good plan."

Carefully Raven lowered the red rose onto the windowsill, she cautiously used her magic to make sure that the rose was firmly secured to the windowsill. "There all done."

"What did you tell Briar when you asked for the rose?" Apple asked her curiously.

Raven answered the question right away. "Oh, I said I needed it for something private. Hopefully that she won't be too curious about what my reason for wanting the rose is…However I did manage to ask Briar and Ashlynn about the language of flowers. They had both heard of it, but when I asked about using it for wooing Briar said it was so out of date that she as the epitome of fashion she is would never use something like that to win someone over. As for Ashlynn I said I didn't really need to ask her about if she would use it to woo someone."

"So that's another person to take off of the list." Apple said cheerfully.

Raven nodded to her, she made her way back to the desk and put a line through Briar's name. "I can't wait to discuss this situation in more detail with Maddie tomorrow, she might have some ideas on which one of our final three could be the one sending me all these flowers, or even suggest someone we haven't thought of."

"Will Maddie really be able to do that…To me she always seems a little scatter brained to me." Apple said thoughtfully to Raven.

Without hesitating she nodded to Apple as she said to her. "Maddie can seem that way to people who don't know her, but she is actually rather astute and notices things which other people don't."

Apple nodded to her and said with a touch of disbelief in her voice. "Oh I see."

Raven yawned slightly. "I'm going to get ready for bed now Apple."

"Okay Raven. I'll put my lamp on so I can study for a bit longer without disturbing you." Apple told Raven helpfully.

As she made her way to the bathroom to start to get ready for bed, Raven shot Apple an appreciative smile and said to her thankfully. "Thanks Apple."

I didn't take long for Raven to get ready for bed, as soon as she was done Raven climbed into bed, got herself comfortable and was soon fast asleep.