The Rose Chateau

by Rebecca Monaco

  Here Alvar paused to affectionately tap Corinna’s cheek. He smiled, but the sadness was there, infecting everything. Corinna smiled too but turned her gaze away to the floor.

  “The roses aren’t special, Uncle. They’re just normal roses,” she said, glancing her gaze up to her mother. Helen smiled and shook her head at her daughter as though it had been a silly comment.

  “Hogwash!” Alastar said. “Best in the province!”

  “Precisely,” Alvar agreed. “So I felt I simply had to go round the side of the house to investigate, and there it was – A garden so long it spanned the entire side of the house. Roses everywhere! All colors you could imagine a rose to be. Bigger and brighter and more vibrant than any I’ve seen in my years!” To prove his point, he reached down into his bag and presented a glistening rose. “You see? It’s not even damaged from the ride home.”

  “Oh, it’s lovely. Quite a hearty flower, isn’t it?” Helen breathed, getting up from her chair to get closer for a better look. It was almost glowing.

  “You brought one home?” Corinna asked. Her fingers twitched forward, moving ever closer to touching it. Alvar ripped it away from them both.

  “Yes,” he said. “And damned am I for ever touching it. It is the symbol of my folly!” He stood, clutching the rose carefully in his fist, and began to pace the room. Once, it seemed he would throw the flower into the fireplace, sitting and waiting to be lit.

  “But it’s just one flower, just one from a whole garden,” Helen said, eyes trying to glimpse the magical flora.

  “It is not just a flower. See, even now you can’t draw your eyes away from it,” Alvar said. He frowned deeply, the lines in his already aged face becoming more defined, like marks cut into an old willow tree. “It is a curse. The moment my fingers broke it from its bush, I cursed us all. The prince saw me do it.”

  “Did he hurt you?” Corinna inched closer to her uncle. If someone had hurt Uncle Alvar, she would rush into the forest right away and show that prince what he gets for picking on an old man. It was just a flower!

  “No,” Alvar said, shaking his head. “I’m pretty sure I hurt him. He let out a painful cry as he bounded toward me. My God, it is not an illness that prince has. It is a magical affliction. He is a beast of a man. I’m not entirely sure he’s still human at all. I was certain I was about to die at the hands of a monster. He hoisted me several feet off the ground, like I was a puppy in his hands. I have never felt so weak.”

  “But you escaped him. Are you afraid he’ll track you here?” Corinna asked.

  “I’ll fight ‘im off for you,” Alastar offered, his eyebrows knit close together, his posture rigid, his mouth in a thin and serious line. “No one’s gunna hurt this family while I have a say in the matter.”

  “No, no. He has no need to track me. He already knows where I live… and you couldn’t fight him off, not in the state he’s in. He’s as large as a bear, as strong as an ox, and angrier than a bull. I have never seen a man such as this… He threatened to kill me, but a woman hurried over and calmed him down. He called her Morgana,” Alvar said, stressing the name.

  “I thought she was a myth as well!” Alastar sighed out.

  “Sired by a nobleman and a fairy, the daughter of lustful loneliness… Morgana La Fey,” Corinna quoted from her childhood stories. She felt her heart beat in a surprisingly calm pattern, imaging the dark enchantress standing before her uncle with the power to kill him at will. “She’s there? With the prince?”

  “Apparently so. She told the prince to keep me as a house guest, someone for the servants to enjoy company with… but the prince… the beast said I was too old. I was useless and wouldn’t be able to keep up with everyone. And then…. And then Morgana told me to bring someone younger to take my place. Her eyes went crystal white and she said she could see our house, you making dinner and Corinna in the garden,” Alvar spoke, looking at Helen. He no longer looked at the other two. It was as if they had vanished, and it was just the two siblings in the room.

  “She said if the replacement did not arrive by tomorrow night, a wave of her magic would descend upon the farm, killing the plants, poisoning the soil until nothing could be made of it. It would last for a day. If I still didn’t send a replacement, the magic would poison us… She promised to kill us all, one by one, unless the demand was met… a price for stealing one of her roses from the prince’s garden. But… But she promised to take care of whomever I sent. She promised they would be safe living there,” and he sounded distraught, trying to convince himself as well as his sister. He took her hands in his, letting the rose fall to the floor. His older hands squeezed hers tightly. “I beg of you to forgive me.”

  “But-!” Alastar stood up. “Jus’ move away. Run! You can make a new life somewhere else!”

  “Alastar, she’s magic. Running won’t do any good,” Corinna said. She took her uncle’s hand and forced it to release her mother’s. She held it in her own, calling Alvar’s eyes to look at her. “Uncle, who did she want you to bring? Just anyone?”

  But she felt like she already knew the answer. She could see it in the way her uncle moved and tried to only speak to her mother, like he was asking for her forgiveness… the same way he’d asked Corinna to forgive him before his long story. Looking into Alvar’ eyes now, Corinna saw her stone uncle begin to form tears. The old man placed his free hand on Corinna’s cheek. His voice was still strong, though regretful.

  “Dear girl, I feared for my life when I was there… I fear for us all out here. Please forgive me. I have been a fool, and have tempted a witch. I’m sorry; there was nothing I could do about it. I tried,” he said.

  Corinna closed her eyes and lowered her head. “It’s alright.”

  “What? What happened? Who did she ask for?” Helen asked, standing. Her voice was higher, fearful. She pressed her hands into her chest and stepped forward, the rose’s stem cracking under her shoe.

  “She wants me, Mother,” Corinna said, looking up at her. “I’m to go live in the forest.”

  Chapter 3 – The Rose Chateau

  “Cori, listen to yerself! This is crazy!” Alastar followed Corinna as the shorter girl walked through the house and gathered supplies for herself – clothes and personal effects. Ever since the sun rose over the hills, Alastar had been hounding her, trying to convince her not to go.

  After Alvar’ admittance last night, Helen had cried. She’d crumpled to the floor like her legs were suddenly missing and begged Alvar to tell her it wasn’t true. Alvar hugged her and apologized a thousand times over, but no amount of apologies could stop her fears. She’d hugged Corinna for what felt like forever, but it had only been an hour according to the clock. Corinna held her tight, knowing that if she went through with the deal and lived in the manor… she may never see her mother again.

  She’d cried a little too, wetting her mother’s shoulder and praying she didn’t notice. She didn’t want to add to her mother’s pain with her own. She didn’t want to go at all but… the farm gone, each one of them dying of an unknown plague… She couldn’t let it happen, not to her mother and not to Alvar. Not to anyone.

  Helen was led to bed by Alvar, and he moved the rocking chair into her room to sleep by her so he could quell her if she woke again. Alastar and Corinna stayed in the living room. Alastar handed Corinna a rag to wipe her damp cheeks. In silence, they had sat for a long time just staring at the walls. The few family pictures and the children’s artwork, the mirrors and the animal hides Corinna’s father had collected, the wooden figurines carved by the men in the family going back generations… it was all there, decorating the den like a family tree. Corinna sat there to take it all in – something she may never see again. Alastar had patted her on the shoulder and left his hand there for a long time, a comforting weight. After a time, they’d both fallen asleep sitting on the couch. They woke up in a jumbled fallen heap though, tangled up in each other.

  Now Alastar followed Corinna, distress written on his face and in
the nervous way he paced back and forth while Corinna grabbed belongings. He rubbed his hands over his face for what must have been the fiftieth time and growled out a sigh in his rough Irish tones.

  “You’ll be killed! It’s a house with a beast an’ a crazy witch lady. Cori, you don’ have to do this! We’ll find another way! I’ll find another way. Would ya stop packin’ already?” Alastar grabbed Corinna’s wrist to halt what the other was doing. Corinna looked up at him, frowning and feeling her chest contract. Alastar looked so pleading.

  “Alastar, you heard what Alvar said. There is no other way,” Corinna said, shoving her father’s gloves into her bag and pulling from Alastar’s grip in the same movement. “Morgana will kill us if I don’t go.”

  “Well- Well then I’ll come with ya,” the scruffy man said, rubbing his head as though that would help him think. “I’ll come with ya, and we’ll kill this Morgana woman. Then you can come home.”

  “Have you been drinking again?” Corinna asked. She smiled endearingly at her friend. “Neither of us has ever killed anyone. You talk like it’s easy. May I remind you, she’s a powerful sorceress? No… Stay here, Alastar. Help my mum through this. I know it’s asking a lot, but maybe give them a hand on the farm once in awhile?”

  Alastar nodded in jerky movements, his face one of deep discontent. Corinna looked away from him, unable to stand the expression. She stepped to move into a different room, but Alastar grabbed her from behind, embracing her and laying his forehead on Corinna’s shoulder. Corinna stiffened and furrowed her eyebrows.

  “Ya can’t go,” Alastar said. “You’re all I’ve got.”

  Corinna let out a long sigh and relaxed in Alastar’s grip. Alastar was warm and tense and begging her to stay. They’d been best friends for four years, and even better when Corinna discovered Alastar’s secret family title only three months after the taller man’s arrival.

  “You remember when we were sixteen and you convinced me it was a great idea to sneak into Vivianne’s house and steal her knickers to use against her after she embarrassed me in front of the whole village?” she asked.

  “Yeah… You told me no, cause ya didn’ want to do the same thing ta her that she did to you,” Alastar murmured, voice softer because of how it hid in Corinna’s sleeve.

  “But you did it anyway without letting me know. You did it to get revenge for me, and you swore you’d do it again for me even though you got in serious trouble for it.”

  “I’d do anythin’ for ya, Corinna. You’re my only friend.” Alastar’s grip tightened, but his arms relaxed a bit.

  “But that’s the point. You’d do anything for me, and I’d do anything for you and my family too. My family is being threatened, and I can stop that. I have to go.”

  “Yer leavin me here all alone,” Alastar half growled, raising his forehead a bit and then tapping it back onto Corinna’s shoulder. The raven haired youth sighed.

  “You’re a duke’s son, Alastar. I think you should go check on your father. You never know when he just won’t be there anymore,” she said. She was solemn. She didn’t want to leave anymore than Alastar wanted her to.

  “Forget me dad,” Alastar spat. “You’re the one checkin’ out right now.”

  “I’ll come back,” Corinna said. She turned around, pulling out of Alastar’s arms but not pulling away. She tried to smile as easy as possible, to reassure her friend. “As soon as possible, alright? Just keep this place running for me.”

  Alastar’s eyes had never looked so dark. The usually shady, brown caramel of his eyes was now a deep, bitter cocoa. It was an intense shadow that covered Alastar, filled with determination and sadness. He put a hand on Corinna’s shoulder and squeezed.

  “Come back safe… Come back soon, or I’ll come lookin for ya,” he said.

  “Of course.” Corinna smiled jokingly and pat Alastar’s arm. “I’d expect nothing less.”

  Alastar couldn’t help a small smile and a half-hearted chuckle. He shook his head and turned serious yet again. He nodded once.

  “Good luck. I’m gettin’ outta here before I start turnin’ into yer mother. Plus, I don’ wanna have to watch you leave, an’ all. Gimme a shout when yer back, and not a moment sooner,” he said. He pat Corinna’s shoulder, gave her a one armed hugged, and then brushed passed her to the front door.

  “Alastar,” Corinna called out just as the taller male’s hand grabbed the door handle. “Stay safe here. You’re my only friend too.”

  “Yeah,” Alastar grunted and nodded. He pushed his hair back with one hand and opened the door with the other. Corinna heard him clear his throat before he got out the door. She understood. She didn’t like goodbyes either.

  “Corinna?” Her mother walked into the room, holding onto the fireplace mantel for support. “Are you leaving already?”

  “I-,” Corinna tried and had to swallow the lump in her throat. “I wanted to have breakfast with everyone first… Um…Alastar just left.”

  With the last comment, she felt her throat grow tight and her eyes begin to water. The idea of going, the act of getting ready – none of it seemed real until Alastar walked out that door. Corinna was really leaving, really leaving her family and going to live in the forest of children’s nightmares. The last thing she may ever have seen Alastar do was walk out the front door, holding back emotion. Well, at least he’d smiled beforehand, right? She could hold onto that. No one else was going to be smiling when she left.

  “Oh, Corinna,” Helen chided gently. She hurried over to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her. Corinna didn’t make any noise or even shudder with the effort, but she felt the tears on her cheeks, and this time her mother knew about them. “I’ll make you the best breakfast you’ve ever had.”

  And so Helen cooked while Corinna cleaned up, doing all the chores she’d been putting off till later. She didn’t want to leave and have a lot of work to do. Heaven knew Alastar wouldn’t get to it. She swept the den and kitchen out. She washed some of the dishes. She picked up her clothes from her room and put them in the basket in the corner for her mother to have later… if she chose to wash clothes that wouldn’t be worn. It was only one outfit. The rest were packed up in Corinna’s bag.

  She sat on her bed for a long while, looking at her room and remembering how large it used to seem. It was smaller now, if only because she was bigger. Only now did she realize how little she had in this room. There were a few toys she’d had since she was small, a wooden dragon her father had carved for her, and some shelves that used to contain books but were now empty because the books were in Corinna’s bag, but other than that there was little in the room. Corinna dragged her hand along the headboard, which her father had carved shapes into as well, and let out a sigh. After breakfast, she just had to saddle up her horse and go. No use putting it off until nightfall. She didn’t want to get lost in an already dark wood and have her family’s farm end up in ruin. No, that just wouldn’t do. Besides, why drag out the goodbyes?

  With a great deep breath, she lifted herself to her feet and went to wash the windows in the kitchen while her mother finished cooking. She’d only finished three of six when her mother scolded her and told her to come in and eat. It was a good breakfast. There were eggs and strips of bacon and pancakes they usually didn’t make unless it was a special occasion. Corinna ate it gratefully and thanked her mother endlessly. Helen did her best not to cry.

  Alvar lightened the mood by telling stories of Paesaggia, which lapsed into them telling stories about each other, but mostly about Corinna. Stories about how she used to kill her roses instead of make them beautiful, about how strong she was despite her lithe appearance, about when she was little and when she was a new teen and about when she was grown, and about her friends. Corinna was friends with Alastar, alright, but everybody liked him. They talked about Will Dempsie and about Vivianne Shinedale and Sir Rune and his wife. Even the worst of people seemed to like Corinna, like when she took some strawberries up to old Ms. Dempsie and t
he woman actually smiled and thanked her for them. She’d only been thirteen at the time. They were happy stories, but Helen was in tears again by the end.

  Corinna helped clean up after breakfast and threw the scraps of pancake to the chickens, which she’d always thought was partially cannibalism since her mother put eggs in them. Afterward, she headed out to the stable and up to a dark brown Clydesdale with bright yellow pools for eyes and starlight hair. She ran her hands up and down the steed’s sides and rubbed its cheeks. Then she laid her forehead against the horse’s long face and nuzzled it.

  “We’re going to be going away for a while, Archie. You won’t have to do farm work for a bit, but don’t let that make you weak. I need you to be strong. You have to be strong and make it through this just the same as how you go into it. It won’t do to let this trip get to you… okay?” she said. The horse snorted and Corinna smiled. “That’s right. It’ll be simple.”