The Black Rose

by Diana Sweeney

  “If I guess your age, will you tell me?” Wilhelmina teased and Edmund laughed.

  23 years ago

  “Oh my love how could you? You promised you would only ever love me,” Lenora thought as she watched her dear Edmund marry King Clovis Percival of Egantine’s youngest daughter. She had come to the wedding alone and had chosen to wear a lavender gown in order to blend in with the other guests.

  Tears filled Lenora’s eyes as she watched her love. He looked so much in love with the bride and Lenora felt her desire to live fading. Before the wedding was even over, she left. She ran through the streets of Egantine. She veered off the street and headed through an empty field till she reached a hill. Then she vanished in a puff of smoke to arrive at a little cottage located in a small forest, known as the Forest of Dreams.

  Her beloved son, Edmund, named after his father, was taking a nap on the couch in their small cottage. He was fifteen, young, but not too young. Lenora felt he was ready to work for a king and he would have to be for her heart was slowly fading.

  Aridale was lacking a sorcerer and she had heard wonderful things about King Wilhelm and Queen Henrietta. She believed her son would be safe with them. Soon, she would no longer be able to care for him. Her reason to live was for him and to watch over her love who worked for King Clovis, but now her love was gone. He had left her for another. He had stopped coming to see his son when little Edmund was almost three. Lenora had her doubts then and now knew that it was because he had fallen for someone else. Tears filled her eyes and she willed them away. She could not let her son see her like this.

  She quickly changed out of her gown and put on her traditional white enchantress robes. All enchantresses wore white, while sorcerers wore colors based on their strong suits. Edmund wore green robes since his strongest powers dealt with earth, just like his father. Lenora forced herself not to cry as she watched her son stir from his sleep. She had already shed enough tears these past twelve years.

  “Edmund, it is time,” Lenora said as her son sat up. He looked so much like his father and she had to turn away from him to prevent the tears she had been holding back to stream down her face.

  “Time for what mother?” He asked.

  “Time for you to work alone. We are going to Aridale.”

  “Right now?”

  “You are ready,” Lenora forced a smile. Edmund nodded. He may have been young, but his eyes held great wisdom. “There is one thing; you must not go by Edmund. Your new name will be Lord Endymion Melanthius. Understood?”

  “Yes mother,” Edmund replied. He had known that his name would change. His mother had told him that already. He was Edmund around her, Endymion in public, and now he would be Lord Endymion Melanthius, the sorcerer. Edmund knew the truth as to why his real name must remain a secret and planned to take that name to the grave.

  “Good, then let’s go,” Lenora took hold of her son and the two teleported to Aridale. It was late afternoon and the sun was at its highest point. Lenora walked up to the guards and they let her in. She had already sent a message to the king, so she was expected.

  “Enchantress Lenora, so this is the sorcerer you have brought to me,” King Wilhelm said looking at the boy, “He is quite young.”

  “He is much older than he looks,” Lenora smiled, “This is Lord Endymion Melanthius.” Edmund bowed to the king at the mention of his name.

  “Ah, I can see,” King Wilhelm said impressed, “We will take him in.”

  “Thank you,” Edmund bowed again.

  “I wish you well my student,” Lenora curtseyed and then she disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

  Back home Lenora lay down on her bed and closed her eyes. Her son was safe and now she could finally put her aching heart to rest. “My only love, how could you… How could you… ” She whispered as tears fell from her closed eyes. Her years of longing for a love that no longer existed were finally over. She was now able to rest.

  Chapter 13

  Milly had locked herself away in her room. She hadn’t eaten in two days and the maids were getting a little worried. “Milly! Come on, you have to eat!” One of the maids pounded on the door, but it was no use. She tried wiggling the knob, but the door would not open. “Curses,” The maid muttered under her breath.

  “It’s no use Flora, just leave the tray by the door, maybe she’ll eat later,” Another maid said. Flora sighed and set the tray down before hurrying off with the other maids. They had lots of work to do.

  Aridale was still in a period of darkness. The sun hadn’t risen since the wedding day fiasco. Snow continued to fall and the ground had become covered in white. Many of the villagers had fallen ill, just like Edolie. There had even been a couple of deaths.

  Everyone was in a constant state of panic. The ground would shake from time to time. It also appeared as if Fantasme Forest was getting close and closer to the boarder of the kingdom, as if Aridale would be engulfed by it. Those that could, began leaving Aridale and heading to various other kingdoms. Vanica, Bralinor, and Egantine had allowed citizens of Aridale to join their kingdom if they wished too. Other kingdoms didn’t wish to spread whatever illness was going around in Aridale, and instead closed their borders.

  King Wilhelm was doing all he could to calm his people. Many of the villagers were upset and constantly shouting that they should have killed Wilhelmina long ago. Their words hurt Queen Henrietta. Her sorrow eventually became too much for her and she had been bed ridden. King Wilhelm couldn’t afford to lose both daughters and his wife.

  Yolande declared that they would attack tomorrow. Time was running out for Edolie and so plans had to be rushed. It wasn’t what they had hoped for, but they had no choice and they also knew there was a chance they’d have to attack early.

  Jerome spent every minute he had practicing using the sword Yolande had given him. One strike through the heart and all of this will end. He promised Queen Henrietta that he would bring Wilhelmina back unharmed, but if he had to, he would break that promise.

  Yolande and King Wilhelm had told him Wilhelmina would be an easier target. However, they also believed, for that reason, the sorcerer would protect her in order to keep the curse alive, though neither one was positive. If it came down to it, King Wilhelm told him that he should kill Wilhelmina. He was sure in time his wife would understand and they would both still have Edolie. Jerome kept the secret to himself and hoped it would not come to that for he would hate to hurt Queen Henrietta.

  Milly lay on her bed, she had run out of tears to cry. Her eyes were red and swollen. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it. All of this was her fault. She could have prevented it if she had just told Wilhelmina what she had heard, but no, she was such a coward. Milly stared at the chest. In there was a locket, a picture of her parents, and an old brown dress.

  She was nine when she arrived at Aridale’s castle door. It had been raining and her brown dress was soaked. Her hair was also longer then. Milly had no memory of what happened or how she arrived at the door. It was if she had lost all her memories, except her name.

  Queen Henrietta found her and took her in. They gave her a bath and then introduced her to Wilhelmina, who was just a toddler then. Milly acted as a baby sitter. She spent all her time playing with Wilhelmina and taking care of her. As she got older, they bonded as friends. Milly never wanted to be seen as older and in charge. She knew that Wilhelmina only really wanted a friend.

  There had to be something Milly could do now to save her. She stood up and walked over to the trunk. She wasn’t sure why, but something told her that knowing who she was would help her in some way.

  Milly pulled out the brown dress and the gold locket. She opened it for the first time in many years to stare at a man and woman whom she did not know. Her mother had fiery red hair and green eyes, just like Milly, but she had her father’s nose.

  “Who am I?” She asked staring at the pictures. She was nine at the time, yet she had no memory. Milly grabbed the brown dress and dug in the pocket
s, hoping to find something, a picture, a letter, anything, but nothing. She was about to give up when she noticed that on the inside of the dress there was a pocket that had been sewn shut. Milly used her nail to cut the thread and the pocket opened. Inside it was a piece of paper and on it was written, “Lady Millicent Lucia.” Milly’s eyes widened. It was her name, her real name. She grabbed the locket and took out the pictures, just as she hoped, on the back of each pictures was written her parents’ names, “Lord Edmund Lucero” and “Lady Ninette Arabelle.” She was part of some royal family line. It was then she had a flashback of when she was younger, “No way….”

  Milly burst out of her room and sprinted to Wilhelmina’s room. The “Enchantresses and Sorcerers” book was still lying on the bed. Milly grabbed it and quickly skimmed the index, “Edmund Lucero, Edmund Lucero, Edmund Lucero…..” She repeated over and over again and till her finger landed on the name. Milly froze. Her father was a sorcerer. She had suspected it, which is why she looked up his name, but it wasn’t till she saw his name that it impacted her. Nervously Milly turned to the page about him. She discovered that her mother was King Clovis Percival of Egantine’s youngest daughter. She chose to marry beneath her rank and went from princess to lady.

  Memories flashed before Milly’s eyes and she closed them in order to take it all in. She remembered now what happened. Her mother had died of a severe illness. The King was not happy and blamed her father, Lord Edmund Lucero. Her father, in fear for his daughter’s life, took her to Aridale. He had heard Aridale had a kind king and queen, but there was another reason and Milly couldn’t remember anymore from that point.

  Her father had erased her memories so she could start over and have a happy life, one without fighting between her mother and grandfather. King Clovis obviously wouldn’t have treated Milly well since he did not approve of her mother marrying the sorcerer. Milly felt tears fill her eyes. Where was her father now? Had he died? She looked back down at the book for more information and in the last paragraph was her answer:

  ……..Lord Edmund Lucero passed away on the same night his daughter, Lady Millicent Lucia, disappeared. It is said he had died of a broken heart from losing his beloved wife and his dearest daughter.

  Just when Milly thought she could cry no more, more tears managed to fall. Her father had left her. She was truly alone and all she had were fragments of memories. Milly shook her head and forced herself to stop crying. There was another reason her father had picked Aridale and she needed to focus and figure out why. However, she kept getting distracted because another small part of her wondered if she had magical abilities. Milly knew it was something you were born with, no one knew why. It also wasn’t necessarily genetic, but it often was.

  “Focus Milly, Focus….” Milly said to herself and closed her eyes. She began to feel a strange feeling in her heart, “Was this magic?” She focused on the feeling until it dissolved and then she opened her eyes. She remembered.

  Wilhelmina woke up to sun shining through her bedroom window. Another day had passed. Lily was still sleeping beside her. Lily was adamant about sleeping with Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina wasn’t sure why since all the other girls continued to sleep in the maid quarters, but she had a feeling Lily just didn’t like being alone. Maybe she could share a room with Marigold. Both girls seemed to hit it off.

  Wilhelmina got dressed and left her room quietly. She didn’t want to wake Lily. Edmund’s room was across the hall, but she was sure he was probably up by now and headed to his study. On her way there she ran into one of maids, Hibiscus. Hibiscus had long yellow hair and pink eyes. She was wearing a pink dress that had butterfly sleeves. Around her waist was a yellow sash. She looked very tropical.

  “If you’re looking for Lord Edmund, he’s in his study,” Hibiscus curtsied.

  “Thank you,” Wilhelmina smiled and watched as the girl made her way down the stairs. She was probably off to the kitchen for breakfast or to fetch tea. Once the girl was out of site she continued her way down the east wing. Edmund’s door was open and so she entered.

  “Morning.”

  “Morning,” Edmund smiled. He stood up and closed the door. He then kissed her on the cheek. Wilhelmina blushed as she followed him to the couch.

  “I still have one more question for you,” Wilhelmina said regaining her composure.

  “What is it?”

  “Why did you create them, us?”

  “I don’t know,” Edmund said, “To be honest, it was more out of curiosity and then when I was exiled here, it was more out of convenience…”

  “The king…”

  “Dark magic isn’t allowed in Aridale, but there really is no such thing as good and bad magic,” Edmund interrupted, “The reason it’s considered dark is because people are afraid of it. Bringing plants to life isn’t normal and maybe it is a crime, but those girls….”

  “They’re happy,” Wilhelmina smiled, “I don’t think they would want to be flowers again. They have hearts now, like mine.” She placed a hand over her chest.

  “Yes,” Edmund smiled, “And that was two, not one.”

  Wilhelmina smiled, “Yes well, that was the last one, for now…. But I do have a request.”

  “Oh?”

  “Could you call me Mina instead?”

  “Yes,” Edmund smiled, “Mina.” Their lips were about to touch when Lobelia opened the door.

  “Sorry, Lord Edmund, I didn’t mean…” Lobelia began.

  “It’s fine, what is it?”

  “Breakfast is ready,” Lobelia said shyly.

  “We’ll be right down,” said Edmund and Lobelia left the room, “Well shall we?” He offered his hand to Wilhelmina. She smiled and allowed him to lead her down to the dining room.

  Milly spent the rest of the day in Wilhelmina’s room in shock. Why hadn’t she cared so much before? Why hadn’t she checked the pockets of her dress before? Her mind raced as she tried to piece it all together. First she rejected the idea and felt it was impossible, that she was remembering wrong. However, it was all she had. She even reread the story on Lord Melanthius. Though there were no clues, it fit together. She checked the dates to check if it was improbable, but found it to be quite possible.

  Anger replaced sorrow and Milly knew what she had to do. She wanted to see him. She would do whatever it took to make sure she would go with Jerome and Yolande tomorrow. Milly knew they planned to kill Lord Endymion Melanthius, but she just had to see him with her own eyes. It was the only way she could rid of what little doubt she had. He probably didn’t even know she existed and Milly intended to take this secret to the grave. No one would ever know that Endymion was her brother.

  11 Years Ago

  “Dad! Dad!” A little girl with long red hair cried as her father pulled her along, “Where are we going? What happened? What about mom!” It was the middle of the night and her father had woken her, made her get dressed, and was now leading her out of the palace.

  “Quiet Millicent,” The girl’s father snapped. Her father had used her full name, meaning he was serious, and so Milly remained silent. He placed her on a horse and then sat behind her.

  “We’re going to Aridale,” Her father said as they began their journey.

  “Why?”

  “Your mother is no longer with us Milly.”

  “What do you mean? What happened?” Milly was near tears.

  “Your mother has been sick for a long time, you know that dearest, and she wasn’t able to get better….”

  “Why are we leaving Egantine?”

  “King Clovis won’t be kind to you and I believe you’ll have a happier childhood in Aridale. Now quiet.” Her father said and they remained silent for the rest of the journey.

  It had started to rain midway through and by the time they arrived at the castle, Milly was soaked. Her father helped her off the horse. It was still dark out and he worried about leaving his daughter alone out here, but knew someone would find her in the morning, which wouldn’t be too long from
now.

  Milly’s father crouched down in order to be face to face with his daughter. He wished he didn’t have to leave her, but he knew he would never be able to give her a happy life without her mother.

  His heart also ached. It had ached for many years. Though he loved Ninette, he also never stopped loving Lenora. Now that he had lost both, and would soon lose his daughter, he was losing his will to live.

  “Milly, you know I love you, I love you more than anything. I love you so much that I have no choice but to leave you here. You’ll be safe here, King Clovis won’t be kind to you, but King Wilhelm and Queen Henrietta will. I promise.” He did his best to hold off tears. He had to appear strong for his daughter.

  “What do you mean?” Milly felt tears filling her eyes, “You’re not leaving me are you?”

  “I’ll always be with you Milly, in here,” He pointed at her heart, “And you’ll be safe here. The king and queen will be kind to you and you have a brother nearby.”

  “Don’t, don’t leave me!” Milly cried hugging her father, “You can’t leave! I want mom! Take me back! Take me home!”

  “I’m sorry, but it’s for your own good, I will soon join your mother,” Her father said solemnly. He hadn’t expected to cause his daughter this much pain and knew it was probably best to use what little power he had left to erase her memories.

  Erasing her memories was his last resort since he would like for her to remember him and to know that she had a brother, but she was scared and confused. He feared she wouldn’t be able to lie and protect herself from King Clovis and King Wilhelm. In the end, erasing her memories was for the best.

  “Milly, I’m going to erase your memories, you’ll be happier this way, I’m sorry,” He said and placed his hand on her forehead before she could protest. A blue light glowed from his hand and then faded. The only memory he left her was that she was called Milly.