Sage had a difficult time staying asleep. Maybe it was the heat coursing through his veins from the ginger or the hardness of the tree behind his back, but he was awake for the day long before the sun announced morning.

From where they sat, cast in the tree's shadow, only the smallest fraction of starlight silhouetted Violet's form. She lay curled onto Sage's lap, one arm gripping his outer thigh, wisps of her loosened hair tickling his arm. With his free hand, he caressed her shoulder, not wanting to wake her, but not able to resist the temptation to touch her, either.

He'd never seen her sleeping before. And even though they were promised a lifetime together, he didn't want to risk missing a single moment. Although he still couldn't quite see her, he felt her slow and steady breaths and the way she seemed to melt into him. He stared at her as if under a spell, trying to will his eyes to see through the darkness. When the sky finally paled, he attempted to memorize each nuance of her form: the delicate bow of her upper lip, the angle of her wrist bone, the shadow at the corner of her jaw.

Soon birds chirped, welcoming Xanthus back to the sky, and Violet stirred, first her shoulder rolling, then her arm stretching out.

"Good morning," she said, yawning and sitting up.

Without her weight, Sage was suddenly chilled, and he brought his knees up to his chest. "You are so beautiful when you sleep," he said with a sigh.

"And when I am awake?" she asked. Sage leaned towards her for a kiss, but she stopped him with a hand to his chest. "My breath... I need some water."

At the touch, Sage became aware of the tightness of his bindings. Two nights in a row he had slept in them, and he could feel his skin protesting. He stood and turned away from Violet, who was taking a sip from one waterskin, and he slipped a hand under his tunic to massage out the creases of flesh under the strips of linen. They weren't so tight as to restrict his breathing–he was lucky to have a small bosom–but if he wasn't careful, his skin would chafe. It was already itching.

"Where is that ginger?" Sage asked. "That will help with morning breath."

Violet put the waterskin down and handed Sage his satchel. He opened it and took out the cluster of roots.

"Wow," Violet said, her head pivoting.

"What?"

"Look around. There is ginger everywhere. And look at the color of the flowers!"

Sage saw what she was looking at, but his knowledge of plants was pitiful at best. "They are a beautiful shade of pink," he observed, "but we saw that last night."

"In the fading light, I wasn't sure, but I've never seen anything so vibrant! You tasted it. Are you sure it's ginger?"

"Yes." Sage took his small blade and peeled off another thin slice of the root. "Here," he said, handing it to her.

She held it up to her nose. "Smells like ginger." Then she tentatively brought it to her mouth. Immediately, she grimaced and spat it out. "That's gone bad!!"

Sage peeled off another piece and began chewing. It had the same sharpness as the night before. Floral with bitter and spicy notes. But it tasted just like he expected it to. "Seems fine to me," he said, swallowing and peeling off some more, savoring the warmth that emanated from within his chest.

"Don't eat all of it. We need some for Tawny."

"Speaking of, we should probably start walking." Sage stood. "But maybe first we should harvest some more ginger root."

"That's a good idea." Violet squatted and pulled several more dirt-caked ginger roots from the ground, shook off the excess soil, and then handed it to Sage.

Sage used his hands to brush off as much of the dirt as possible. Then, before placing the plants into his satchel, he took out the last of the apricots. "Breakfast?" he asked, holding one out to Violet.

She took it, and soon they were walking on the path.

The garden came into view sooner than Sage expected. They had been walking for just over a half hour when the path veered towards the beach. In the daylight, there was an obvious difference in color between the bay and the wider ocean beyond. Light teal stood in strong contrast to dark gray-blue. At the southern tip of the bay, the watercolor distinctly marking this boundary, the land jetted out in an isthmus. It was a spear piercing the waves. At its end was a walled structure: the gardens of Cerikipos.

"The path is narrower than I remember it," Violet said, stopping before they stepped out onto the thin ribbon of land that connected the coast to the gardens. Waves hit against either side of the rocky divider, causing spray to darken the sandy path to a dark umber.

"It must be high tide," Sage answered. He knew little about the ocean, certainly not as much as his mother would have liked, but everyone knew tides came in and out.

Violet grasped Sage's hand. "Don't let me slip."

"I won't," he reassured her as they both stepped out onto the walkway.

By the time they reached the walls, their clothes were damp and their hair was misted with ocean water. At the base of the walls, there were two gleaming dark wood doors, which were propped open.

"Do we just... enter?" Sage asked Violet.

Before she could answer, a priest draped in gold-lined pink robes stepped into view on the other side of the gate entrance. "No," the priest answered in a rich and melodic voice.

This priest was nothing like the doddering old man who Sage had met at Tawny's temple. The person who stood before him was quite striking, with high cheekbones and bright eyes. As Sage took in the priest's sculpted brow and full lips, he realized he couldn't tell if the priest was a beautiful young man or a fierce young woman. Or maybe they were neither man nor woman. This sense of unknowing was both tantalizing and delightful.

Violet nudged him, and when Sage looked at her, she was kneeling. A blush spread across Sage's face as he fell to his knees, embarrassed at his own inept rudeness.

"Have you brought a sacrifice for the Goddess Cerise?" the priest spoke, their voice a perfect blend of alto and tenor.

Sage's fingers instinctively felt the empty pouch cinched at his waist and again cursed himself for leaving on this adventure so unprepared.

"Yes," Violet answered, reaching her hand into the folds of her skirt. After a moment of searching, she brought out something thin that Sage couldn't discern.

"Bring it to the altar," the priest directed.

Violet stood, head bowed, as Sage remained still as stone. She approached a small stone slab, next to where the priest stood, and held out her hands while whispering words that Sage could not decipher.

After a moment, the priest spoke again. "You may enter. The Goddess Cerise has blessed these plants herself, and from them, love will bloom."

Those words rang in Sage's ears as he stood and approached Violet, keeping his head lowered until he had walked past the priest.

Together, they entered the lush gardens. Tall palms swayed in the sky, rich scents filled the air. Sage had never seen such a variety of exotic plants before, and he was overwhelmed by the density of colorful vegetation.

Violet's fingers brushed against his, and she led him down a winding path. "Winter cherry plants are very common. They're practically a weed. But, they might be harder to spot because all the berries have long dropped by now and it's likely too early for them to have flowers," Violet spoke as they walked along a curved section of the path. "Barrenwort will be trickier to find, though. They'll have delicate blossoms and red-veined leaves that should be easy enough to identify, but they'll only be found under the shade of trees."

"It doesn't seem very shady where we are right now," Sage said as he looked up at the bright mid-morning sky.

"No, but I was hoping to first find... hmmm." Violet stopped and stooped down to examine a shrub. "No, not it." She kept walking.

"What should I be looking for?"

Violet didn't answer. Her eyes were too busy scanning the edge of the path. After a minute, she stopped again. "Oh, good! I am pretty sure this is winter cherry. See how there is a curl at the edge of these dark leaves, and how there are a few white buds flowering?"

Sage knelt next to the shrub. It just looked like a nondescript bush to him with woody stems and dark leaves, but that was why he needed Violet. He was depending on her to help him identify the plants that Tawny had named. "We need the roots, but this is a much larger plant than the ginger."

"We should have brought a shovel." Violet kicked at the dirt. "Maybe you can use your staff to loosen the soil, and then use your knife to cut off some roots. We probably don't need much."

Following her advice, Sage used the tip of his shepherd's crook to free up some of the soil around the base of the shrub. Then he knelt and worked at it with his hands. When some of the woody roots became visible, Sage took his small knife from his belt and took some trimmings. He handed them to Violet, and after she brushed off the dirt, they looked like a small pile of twigs.

"Two down, one to go," Sage said as he closed up his pack again. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't recently eaten a full meal.

Violet cleaned her hands on her skirts, and they continued to walk. "There looks to be some larger trees over there." She pointed. "Might be a good place to look for barrenwort."

"Okay." Sage nodded.

"Do you know why barrenwort is only grown here in Cerikipos?" Violet asked.

"I didn't realize it was onlygrown here." Sage found that odd.

"Yes. It is a plant that is particularly useful to Cerise because it is the key ingredient in many..." Violet's neck blushed and she lowered her voice. "In aphrodisiacs."

"Love potions?" Sage asked, curious.

"Yes, it actually has another name that some people call it, but..." She shook her head. "I don't know if I can repeat it."

"Oh, come on!" Sage laughed. "Now you need to tell me." He reached out his hand and ran a finger across her shoulders. "Please?"

Violet stopped and looked around, making sure no one was eavesdropping. "They call it horny goat weed."

He laughed. "I've heard of that!"

She shook her head and kept walking. As the path wound its way through different parts of the well-maintained gardens, they walked under the shade of many trees. Each time Violet stopped and examined the delicate shade-dwellers, but each time she shook her head.

Just when Sage was losing hope in their mission, Violet let out a yip of excitement. "Here it is!" She pointed to a cluster of small-budded purple flowers. "See the leaves?

"I do," Sage said, squatting down next to Violet. "These fellows were certainly good at hiding."

"They're a rare find," Violet said, standing and taking a step back towards the path. "Tawny definitely gave us a challenge."

"She did, didn't she?" Sage pulled up one plant by the roots, shook off the dirt, and placed it in his satchel. "How many do you think I should take? If they're rare..."

"Sage!" came a strangled scream.

Jumping to his feet, Sage turned his head. "Violet?"

She was gone.

"Violet?" he repeated, his voice raising. She was nowhere in sight. Where was she?