Crystal Roses

The garden glinted in the sunlight as hundreds of flowers slowly opened their blooms, petals spreading wide to greet the day. Dewdrops glistened on the myriad colors, a wild display that threatened the senses of onlookers. The garden, to the average person, looked much like any other flower garden. The scents of roses, orchids, and lilies perfumed the air.

This garden, however, housed most interesting secrets.

To begin with, its caretaker was a sidhe of the Seelie court. She looked human enough, even without glamour. It was one reason she'd been chosen to care for this particular garden, visible as it was to the human eye. More strange than that was what the flowers really were.

The sun rose higher in the sky, burning away the dew, and yet the flowers still glinted and sparkled. The sidhe brushed her fingers along the edges of one rose, reveling in the feel of the crystal against her skin. Nestled at the center of the rose was a small opal, white and fiery and full of magic and life.

It was not yet ready for harvest, but come autumn, the petals would fall away and leave the fully-grown opal behind.

Not all the flowers bore opals, of course. Some were growing emeralds, others rubies, still others sapphires. The Seelie court held magical gemstones in high regard, and Calista was the only sidhe capable of growing them. It was her special magic, not something she could teach; one had to be born to it. Her mother had been a gardener of supreme beauty and grace, and her father an enchanter who worked with the finest jewels.

Their magic had combined in her.

She wandered about her garden, watering the flowers where needed, and simply enjoying the sun on her face. Calista closed her eyes, inhaling the faint perfume of the crystal flowers.

It was a shock, then, when she opened her eyes to find a human male standing not two feet away, staring intently at her.