#elderberry

The ȩ̶̸̷̨̬̥̮͉̙̤͈̯̞͖͇ͯͥͮ͋͗͢͝ͅļ̵̸̣̮̰͎̘̬̥̓͆̽̓̎́̑͊͑̆̎͋̚͠_̡̻̮̼̦̽̉ͧ̓̂́̅̚͡͠d̜̈́͌͡_̵̸̮̺̭͙̗̹̠̗̙̺̫̳̌͑̉ͤͩͧ͛͊̇ͥ̍́͌̑ͯ͋͜͞͝͡͞ͅḛ̢̟͓̲̒̓̓ͥ̌ͫ̚͢r̷̵̸̨͓̺̦͔͙̼̘̗ͩͬ͒̎̂͢b̧̢̗ͣ͊ͭ͢ę̖̤̦̮ͪͩͭͩ͐̇̌ͬ͂ͣ͘͠͝r̷͚̹̣̔̑̐ͅr̡͕͙͛̔ͩ͜͡y̵̢̯̜̹̫̳̫̻̱̐̋́ͭͭͥ̓ͣ̈̒͘͘̕͟͜͞͠

"Please don't leave."

Bright Sugar's voice caught in her throat.

What could she say? How could she say anything? The most beautiful woman in the world knelt at her feet, clenching her hand tight as though she would vanish the moment she let go. It was not incorrect, but it still made her freeze.

She couldn't stay. Her kingdom needed her. Her friends needed her. This place only offered escapism from that, wrapped in the plush softness of what had become her worst memory.

Elderberry peered up at her, and her heart ached. Those lovely magenta eyes were so grief-stricken. She loved her, she really did, and it hurt her to cause her any fragment of pain.

But she couldn't stay.

"I… can't. I'm sorry."

"No, please! If you do… it means this," She pulled a hand away to gesture to the hall, full of drunk and drugged escapism. "This…happiness…this happiness that I've worked to nurture…" Her voice caught. "Was wrong." Her hand came back, and the grip became tighter. "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me. We are the only two cookies that can truly understand each other."

It wasn't wrong.

But… "I'm sorry." She pulled her hands away and ignored the ache at the loss. "I have battles to fight and friends that need my help."

Elderberry knelt there for a long, long moment, tears rolling down her cheeks.

And then the tears stopped. The queen of the hall stood up, her heartbroken frown tensing into a wide smile. "So be it, then. You can always run back to your troubles, because I'll always be there to drag you out of them."

"Uh… what?"

Elderberry's shield appeared in a flash, the soul jam gleaming on it. "Warriors!"

Her voice echoed off the walls of the hall, and a disturbing silence fell across the hall. Every member of the party straightened up, turning towards her and the rest of her party. The gleam in their eyes was no longer of partying, but instead the same mania that had engulfed her garden.

Oh. She was in danger.

Elderberry grinned.

"You cannot leave my domain if you are bound down forever."

A few of the native species in our backyard, and the stream bank I'm fighting knotweed, buckthorn, and honeysuckle on. Everything is a lil fuzzy because it's cottonwood season. Spent maybe four hours out there today pulling buckthorn and digging up multiflora rose roots! Exhausting work, but it's worth it to make room for these, very motivational to simply think "well I have to protect the irises."

Pictured in order: blue flag iris; the streambank planted with already-occurring black elderberry, more blue flag iris, marsh marigold, sweetgrass, bullrush, fireweed, and Culver's root; cranesbill geranium; sensitive fern

Things planted today:

Tamarack (American larch, Larix larcina)

Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)

Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)

Shrubby St. John's Wort (Hypericum prolificum)