The Black Rose

by Diana Sweeney

  “Enchantresses and Sorcerers” Wilhelmina read the big gold letters on the front of the thick black book. She then sat down next to her freckle faced friend.

  “Yes and well…” Milly said trying to figure out how to explain it, “Oh well you have to read it!” She opened the book to the page titled Lord Endymion Melanthius and then placed it in Wilhelmina’s lap. She had the page memorized since she quite intrigued by it.

  “You’re not going to leave until I do are you?”

  “I want to talk about it once you’re done, it’s not that long,” Milly said pointing at the page. Wilhelmina sighed and began reading. Though she didn’t appreciate Milly looking over her shoulder and breathing down her back, she couldn’t help but be interested in knowing who Lord Melanthius was since he had caused Milly to dance around the room like a crazy person.

  Like Milly, Wilhelmina became absorbed in the story. She also hadn’t known that her parents had once had a sorcerer. After reading the short excerpt in the book, she wanted to know more about Lord Melanthius, but there that was the only information the book had. It was just a reference book after all.

  At least now Wilhelmina knew where the lumairas in her mother’s garden had come from. She always thought they were pretty flowers. Lumairas were the only flower known to glow a bright pink at night.

  “So, what do you think? Why wouldn’t your parents have told us about this Lord Melanthius person?” Milly asked as Wilhelmina closed the book.

  “I don’t know, but more importantly, don’t you think they’d be worried he’d try and come back if he is so powerful that he could turn plants into living things?”

  “I was wondering that too, he seems dangerous,” Milly jumped up and began pacing the room. Pacing helped her think and Wilhelmina was used to Milly’s odd habits.

  Wilhelmina opened the book again to read what he had done wrong. He didn’t seem like a bad person. He didn’t murder anyone. He just brought a flower to life and then it hit her, “What if it’s because he was unfairly punished!”

  “What?” Milly exclaimed thinking Wilhelmina was crazy.

  “Well, the only thing he did was take a rose and turn it into a person, what’s so wrong with that?”

  “It’s not normal,” Milly said falling back on the bed, “But I guess he could have been a good person. He did work for your parents after all, so maybe he just got misguided.”

  “I think banishing him was a little unfair.” Wilhelmina sighed, “But I guess we don’t know enough to assume that either.”

  “Your parents have a lot of secrets,” Milly said sitting up. She was concerned about Wilhelmina. The right to inherit the throne by birth being overruled was not something taken lightly. The whole council would have had to agree to that. Milly wondered if this sorcerer might have something to do with it, but as Wilhelmina pointed out, there just was not enough information. “I’ll do more research!” Milly exclaimed jumping off the bed.

  “Milly!”

  “There has to be more on this ‘Lord Melanthius’ in the library.”

  “Yes, but you already have been sneaking in and out of there for the past few days! You don’t exactly have permission!”

  “But this could be important,” Milly protested before heading out the door.

  “Oh, why can’t you let things be!” Wilhelmina exclaimed in frustration as she fell back onto her bed. Sometimes she wished Milly wouldn’t care so much. It would make things easier. Wilhelmina knew her parents had secrets, but she didn’t want to know what they were. In reality, she was just afraid that once she found out, things wouldn’t ever be the same.

  “What was that old saying?” Wilhelmina thought aloud, “A secret is a curse. When you don’t know it, you wish to know it, but when you know it, you wish you didn’t.” She sighed, a secret was indeed a curse and her parents had many.

  Milly spent the rest of day looking through all the shelves in the library to find anything about Lord Endymion Melanthius. She searched for his name, nothing. She searched every book about sorcerers, enchantresses and magic, and still nothing. By the time she gave up it was late.

  She hadn’t realized how late it had become until she realized that it had gotten dark outside. She also noticed that it was raining. There were little rain droplets on the library windows. A flash of lightening made her realize that it was actually storming and not just a light sprinkle.

  “How did I not notice the thunder?” Milly questioned as another flash of light lit up the room. She must have been too absorbed in her search that she hadn’t even noticed the storm. “Well this could work in my advantage,” She said heading toward the library’s entrance.

  Though the thunder would cover her footsteps, Milly still had to be careful leaving the library. Not only did she not have permission to be in the library, she wasn’t supposed to be up this late. With extreme caution, she closed the library door so it didn’t make a sound and then began her journey back to her room.

  She walked cautiously down the long hallway on the main floor, also known as the portrait hall. The library was the dead end of the portrait hall, and on the way out there was only one other room to the left, which was the King’s study. The hall was mainly for looking at past portraits of the past king and queen’s.

  Milly’s room was located in the maid’s corridors which were to the right at the end of the portrait hall. She was just about to pass the King’s study when she heard voices. Milly quietly hurried past the door and crouched down to listen. It wasn’t very often that the King held meetings in his study and when he did, they were very important. Milly had a habit of spying on the king and queen, so this was not her first time.

  “How are you feeling?” King Wilhelm asked as Jerome and Edolie entered his study.

  “Much better sir,” Jerome answered after he bowed.

  “Please sit,” Queen Henrietta gestured to the red couch opposite of hers. Jerome and Edolie took their seats by the fire and waited to hear what this meeting was about.

  King Wilhelm directed his attention to Jerome, “I have heard from King Baudouin that you already know about Wilhelmina’s situation.”

  “Yes,” Jerome answered while a puzzled look formed on Edolie’s face. She looked to her mother, who gave her a stern look and Edolie knew she would have to wait before asking questions.

  “Given that you will be the next queen, Edolie, it is your turn to hear the truth since your sister will become your responsibility in the future,” King Wilhelm said, directing his attention to his younger daughter. He felt bad for her to have to carry such a burden.

  “Yes father,” Edolie answered. Though she was bursting with questions, she remained quiet and forced herself to listen.

  Milly’s eyes widened and she pushed her ear as close to the door as she could. Was she about to find out the secret as to why Edolie was to be queen and not Wilhelmina? Her heart pounded against her chest and she begged it to calm. She didn’t want to risk being heard, though hearing another person’s heart at such a range was highly unlikely.

  King Wilhelm told the same story to Edolie that Jerome’s father had told him. Jerome watched Edolie’s expression change from confusion to shock. Her eyes looked as if they would pop out at any moment. Her once radiant skin had turned pale. Jerome gave Edolie’s hand a gentle squeeze to calm her. He knew it was a lot to take in. It’s not every day you find out you have a cursed sister that you will eventually have to be responsible for.

  “Does…does…she…” Edolie stammered when her father finished talking.

  Queen Henrietta shook her head and this time she spoke, “No, we don’t have the heart to tell her right now. We wanted her to live a normal life, but now that you will be married, we have no choice.” There were tears in her eyes. She loved Wilhelmina dearly, but there was nothing she could do to protect her child anymore from the truth.

  King Wilhelm placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder to support her, “After the wedding is over, we will tell her. You two must be
present as well. It’ll be best if she hears it from all four of us.”

  “It’s not fair,” Edolie sobbed and Jerome held her. Being queen would be hard enough for his spoiled princess, but adding this responsibility would make it even harder. They would be in charge of keeping Wilhelmina locked up in the palace until the day she dies. It wasn’t a responsibility anyone wanted.

  However, Jerome knew that what Edolie was feeling now would never measure up to how Wilhelmina would feel once she found out she was destined to die alone in the palace. It was unfair and Jerome bit his lip. He couldn’t feel pity for her, he had to avoid her. It was going to be difficult for all of them.

  Milly’s heart raced as she hurried to her room, not caring if anyone heard her. It was raining hard now and the roar of thunder covered the sound of her footsteps as she ran. She opened her bedroom door and closed it quickly. Milly leaned against the back of the closed door in order to catch her breath. All this information was too much for her. Once her breathing had calmed, she slowly made her way to a wooden chest that sat in the far corner of her bedroom. It had been a gift from Queen Henrietta. It was given to her so she could have some privacy. She began to look through it in order to calm herself.

  The chest, overall, didn’t hold anything important. A lot of the things in it were presents that Wilhelmina had given her, mostly stuffed animals and books. At the bottom sat the clothes she had worn when she arrived at the palace and a locket that held a picture of her mom and dad. Milly didn’t remember much about her past, but for some reason she couldn’t throw those items away. She had a strange feeling that they were important, but she didn’t know why. They also had a strange way of soothing her, which is why she only looked at the items when she was anxious or afraid.

  Milly sighed as she leaned against the chest, how was she supposed to tell Wilhelmina what she learned. It would break her heart and she couldn’t do that. Wilhelmina was her best friend and she loved her too much.

  “Oh why do I have to know everything,” Milly sobbed as she buried her head between her knees. As much as she had wanted to know the truth, she had never expected something as huge as this. The worst she had expected was that Wilhelmina wasn’t the queen and king’s daughter, but never this.

  As Milly’s tears began to run dry, anger again entered her heart. How could the king and queen keep this a secret from Wilhelmina? How could they let her believe she could fall in love after Edolie was married? Milly was enraged, “How dare they do this to her?” However, Milly knew that being angry wouldn’t change the situation. In the end there was nothing she could do and more tears began to form in her eyes.

  Despite her tears, she crawled into her bed and buried herself beneath her gold sheets. She was conflicted between telling Wilhelmina and keeping what she had learned to herself. She didn’t want to be the one to break her best friend’s heart and for now decided to let Edolie and Jerome tell her, which was the king and queen’s plan.

  “Oh Mina,” Milly sobbed into her pillow. She desperately wished that there was something she could do to fix this, but unfortunately she wasn’t gifted with magic.

  Chapter 8

  Wilhelmina had a strange feeling Jerome was ignoring her. He hadn’t talked to her since the garden incident. She thought it was just because Edolie was spending all her time with him, but it wasn’t till earlier today when she ran into him on her way down for breakfast that she noticed he seemed to be trying to avoid her.

  Jerome acted as if he hadn’t seen her and walked right past her. Wilhelmina didn’t know what was going on and it bothered her. Did she do something wrong? She tried to think of what she could have done to make Jerome dislike her, but the last time she had talked to him was in the garden.

  “Was it something I said?” Wilhelmina tried to replay the day in her mind, but nothing jumped out at her. Maybe it was something Edolie told him. She shook her head knowing it was wrong to make assumptions, for now she should just let it be. It was no use worrying over something when you didn’t have enough information.

  Milly also hadn’t talked to Wilhelmina in a while. The last time she had talked to Milly was when they were in her room talking about Lord Melanthius, which was almost three weeks ago. Since then her friend had been busy helping prepare for Edolie’s wedding.

  Wilhelmina also had the feeling that Milly was trying to avoid her because every time they ran into each other, Milly would say “Sorry, but I got to go,” before running off and disappearing. Normally she would make some complaint and they would chat for a little bit, but lately she seemed to be in a hurry to get away from Wilhelmina, or maybe she was just really busy and Wilhelmina was over thinking things. It was odd behavior, but then again, the palace workers have never been under the stress of planning a wedding.

  “It’s no use dwelling on something you don’t have answers to,” She sighed in frustration as she sat down in a patch of lumairas in the Queen’s Garden. After reading that book, Wilhelmina discovered a fondness for lumairas. They resembled a mix between lilies and orchids, and were a beautiful fuchsia color, which made Wilhelmina think of Delaney and her love of bright pink. She giggled.

  The sun was setting and Wilhelmina waited anxiously for the flowers to glow. Lately she had been out here every night just to watch them glow. It strangely soothed her, something she needed right now. She has been spending most of her time agonizing over Jerome and Milly. The flowers provided a temporary solution to her frustration, but even among the flowers she found herself wondering about those two.

  Wilhelmina didn’t know why Milly was avoiding her, but had a strong feeling that she must have found out something in the library. Did the story of Lord Melanthius have something to do with her? Wilhelmina pondered the idea that maybe the sorcerer story related to her in some way, but she couldn’t figure out what the connection was. It also didn’t seem very logical, since he was banished from the kingdom before she was born. He also didn’t appear to be a threat since no one seemed to worry about him. If they were worried, his name would have likely come up sooner.

  It was no use. Wilhelmina had nothing to go off besides that book, and that book did not give her much information. She fell back among the lumairas and it was then she realized they were glowing. She watched their soft pink glow and after awhile found it hard to keep her eyes open. She sat up and yawned, “Well I guess I should go to bed.” Wilhelmina stood up and headed back into the palace.

  Jerome and Edolie’s wedding was just a few days away. She sighed, Milly was probably really busy and she was over thinking it, but she knew for sure she wasn’t exaggerating the Jerome situation. He definitely was avoiding her. No one just walks past you in a hall without some form of a greeting. Then again, maybe he had a lot on his mind? Wilhelmina shook her head; she needed to stop worrying about Jerome.

  She froze as she spotted Jerome standing on the second floor balcony. The balcony was located at the end of the hall and over looked the castle entrance. He was still dressed in his uniform, so he must not have gotten ready for bed yet. He was also alone.

  “And I was just thinking about him,” Wilhelmina thought to herself. Irony wasn’t her friend.

  She debated as to whether or not to go up to her room, or to talk to him. The flight of stairs leading to her room was just straight ahead, so she could easily go up them without being noticed. However, she wasn’t going to be able to find out if or why Jerome was avoiding her until she confronted him. Wilhelmina took a deep breath to calm her nerves. If she wanted to know what was going on, now was her chance to corner him and talk to him.

  Jerome didn’t even turn around when she stepped onto the balcony next to him. He was staring intensely at the night sky. His face looked as if he was deep in thought and Wilhelmina wondered what he was thinking so hard about. She stood there for a little while to see if he would notice her, but when he didn’t say anything, she decided to interrupt his thoughts.

  “What are you looking at?” Wilhelmina asked causing Jerome to jum
p. She giggled. He really hadn’t noticed her at all.

  “Wh-What are you doing up?” Jerome stuttered.

  “I went to see the lumairas,” Wilhelmina smiled innocently at him, “You?”

  “I-I was…” Jerome stammered. He still hadn’t recovered from shock and the strange pang in his chest was back, “just getting some fresh air.”

  He had a bad feeling about this and because Wilhelmina had sneaked up on him, he had no time to prepare himself. It was hard enough to avoid looking at her when he spotted her in the palace. Why did the curse affect him so much? Jerome forced himself to think and then realized that the curse probably had the same affect on any man that met her, like the guy she had danced with. Wilhelmina wasn’t allowed out so it never happened before, but because he was in the palace and spent time with her, he was greatly affected by the curse placed upon her.

  “Are you alright?” Wilhelmina asked noticing Jerome was a little pale.

  “I’m fine, but I should probably go to bed,” He said beginning to walk away from Wilhelmina.

  “Wait,” Wilhelmina said grabbing his hand, “Are you avoiding me?”

  Jerome froze. “So she has noticed,” He thought to himself and turned slowly to face her, “I-I…have my reasons.” It was as honest of an answer as he could come up with without telling her the truth. He made a promise to King Wilhelm and Queen Henrietta.

  “So you are avoiding me,” Wilhelmina repeated. Saying it again proved that she had been right and her heart sank. What had she done to make him not like her?

  “I-I have no choice,” Jerome stammered. He could feel his heart pounding. The more he looked at her, the more his desire for her grew, “I should go.” He tried to think of Edolie, but that didn’t work, and then he tried to tell himself it was the curse, but that didn’t help either. He felt trapped in his desire for Wilhelmina. It was as if his heart had been taken over and his brain couldn’t reason with such emotion.