She may struggle with having to be on the same property as Xavier and the aftermath of recovering from the traumatic experience he orchestrated, but he'd be a nervous wreck around her - which would be the perfect revenge to add to his suffering.
Alicia had explained that she'd work on ensuring that we didn't have classes with Xavier. At least I was Rosadette's confirmed partner for Year Two and there was nothing Xavier could do about it.
I was a little excited for the school year. Not only to work on me, but to see Rosadette grow even more. She'd already seemed to mature just a little bit, but that also could have been because her sight had awakened.
Which allowed me to see this gorgeous body all the time.
The awakened sight was tricky like that. You could only see a fae's true form if their fae sight was awakened or about to sprout to life. If you concentrated hard enough, you could get a glimpse of it, but the after-effects normally included a headache for days.
I'd sacrifice suffering for a few days just to see Rosadette's fae self. Now I could see it whenever I wished, and she could as well. It felt like a little reward for my patience.
I expected our relationship to run on a slower path, but since her sight awakened and we knew her rose was now in my possession, the connection between us was unbelievably strong. Never could I have imagined being connected to anyone like this, and yet it felt so natural.
So damn priceless that words couldn't express how thankful I was.
I might as well be a broken record because I couldn't stop thanking the Universe for partnering me with Ella. I wouldn't have been on that platform to speak up for Rosadette otherwise.
Now that my parents had met Rosadette and she understood that this kingdom was hers, I wondered how things would roll from here on out. My parents both liked her, which was a relief. I knew my mother would love her, but Dad was always harder to read.
He expressed his approval of her, stating that she potentially carried more power than her mother, which was indeed a compliment when Rosadette hadn't even harnessed her full potential yet.
My imagination couldn't piece together an example of how great she'd be by the end of the remaining school years at Fae Rose, but I knew there may be challenges along the way.
It wouldn't be long before people began to realize that we'd gotten closer. That she could potentially become the next queen of her very own kingdom. The truth of the golden castle was only known to a few individuals.
Sadly, one of those individuals lived on the outskirts of the fae lands and was the negative influence getting anxious because of Rosadette's admission to Fae Rose Academy.
There was nothing they could do now, but this year would prove just how powerful Rosadette could become. It was yet another one of many reasons why, after our little expedition to the human lands, we'd have to train her long and hard.
Not only would we continue our sword training and elemental magic, but I'd start to train her on hard-core self-defense. She'd learn how to disable someone triple her size, and to counter any spell with her own magic so Xavier or anyone else wouldn't be able to threaten her by being more powerful and skilled.
She'd prove them completely wrong by showing them that she was not a weak human from the lower lands.
She stirred in my arms then, and I couldn't fight the need to kiss her temple. Her eyes opened just slightly, their light lavender color still thick with sleep as those silver rings grew with her dilated eyes.
She was half asleep, but I wondered if she could recognize me. She blinked a few times before her eyes closed again as if she wanted to make sure I was present before drifting back into a deep slumber.
I waited for her to say something, but her breathing returned to its slow motion, which made me grin in satisfaction.
Sweet Rose needs lots of rest.
After kissing her forehead and tucking her further into my side, I stared at the ceiling of my room and allowed my mind to calm.
Today I'll get to see with my own eyes the lands where Rosadette grew up.
Maybe we'd find some sort of clue about where her mother went. I wished to find her, not for only Rosadette's sake, but to get confirmation on something.
Closing my eyes, I said a quiet prayer that we'd find a clue about Rosadette's mother on our trip.
I could only hope for that slim possibility.
"Where'd Camilla go?"
I stopped scanning the bare surroundings of what was apparently a village to look over my shoulder to see Rosadette approaching me.
My eyes took in her lovely features as she wore dark blue jeans and an orange crop top. It was hot today, not like it bothered either of us much, but it gave me the chance to see her in such clothes.
The lines of her abs were poking through while her long blonde locks were up in a ponytail. Adding her slightly blushed cheeks and red lipstick, she looked so good. I wasn't used to seeing her in casual attire like this, especially in our fae forms, but it made it feel almost special to enjoy a glimpse.
"She said she wanted to check out the house she stayed in. Don't know if her parents ended up keeping it or sold it now that they don't need to stay here anymore," I answered as she reached my side.
My arm immediately hooked around her waist, pulling her against my side as we quickly kissed. Since our pleasurable night, we'd been far too touchy, but neither of us was bothered by it. I'd been fighting the urge to have my hands all over her since she'd waltzed into my room weeks ago, but at least now our relationship was different.
The urge was still there, but it didn't press on every nerve ending in my body like I was about to lose our chance with Rosadette forever.
There was a time and place for everything now, and this afternoon, I was spending it seeing where Rosadette grew up.
"Makes sense, I guess. One year has passed and you said a good fifty years went by here?" she questioned as she took in the view.
"Just about." I was really estimating because the time difference was such a tricky thing to follow when it came to the lower lands. A day in the fae lands could be a week in the human realms, which was why they sucked with trying to make contracts with us.
Come back in a few weeks and we'll review the contract. Oh, you mean in ten years? Cool.
"This place seems abandoned," I added.
"Hmm." She slipped out of my hold and took a few steps before she closed her eyes and took a long inhale. She let it out and turned her head to her right.
"Nah. There are people around. I can smell the dry, nasty alcohol they drink on the regular. They must have moved the bar since it used to be around here," Rosadette declared.
She looked back at me with pride, like she'd discovered something fascinating before she walked back to me and took my hand. "Let's look around?"
All I could do was nod, attempting to hide my anger. How could a woman as beautiful, kind, and loving as Rosadette be left to live here?
We began to make our way through the desolate land that was apparently liveable, my hand in hers the whole way through. I could sense her nervousness, but I fought to ignore whatever thoughts tried to drift into my mind.
I hadn't taught her how to shield her mind with her fae magic, one of the many tasks I'd do once we started our training for Year Two.
With how this place appeared, we could have easily attempted to do something in terms of bringing some life to these lands. It felt as though the village lands were cursed from how the magic within the land below my feet seemed trapped.
I could feel the energy recognize my presence and press against the ground, but that's all it could do. It could only push against an invisible wall versus our lands, where magic pulsated through all the lands, trees, rocks, and waters.
Magic was everywhere, and we were the guests able to use its divine powers to bring peace.
We reached a broken-down shack with a CLOSED sign on its door. The place was barely worthy of being called a shack. It was basically a bunch of broken wood shaped in an odd rectangle t
hat someone added hedges to.
No matter that they were closed, the scent of alcohol was atrocious, like someone had drunk a case of expired, hot beer.
"Aww boo. They're closed," Rosadette declared. "They must have stayed up super late into the night to be closed at two in the afternoon. It's still early though. By four, it's already crowded since everyone finishes their morning shift work by three-thirty."
"Define crowded?" I asked.
"Hmm, about fifteen people? The place is pretty small so it's not like they can fit the entire village. At least from when I grew up here."
"It's basically a shack," I dryly commented.
"Yup!" She didn't even seem offended by the term as she bobbed her head. "The alcoholic shack. You know, whenever Camilla and I came here, they would give us the nicest set of barstools they had because Camilla was a complete neat freak. The first time I brought her here, she actually vomited from the scent alone. It was pretty funny." She giggled and tugged me along as we moved past the wooden spot.
We kept walking for a while. Rosadette commented on little things she recalled from when she was a kid. Like a little chimney house where she said sometimes the family would let her spend the night so she could sleep next to the fireplace during the crazy winter nights.
There was a broken-down old ice cream truck, where she said a man would come once a year and give all the kids free ice cream. The outside obviously looked wretched, but the inside machine still worked! He'd bring whatever frozen materials he needed from his fancy ice cream truck that he reserved for rich people.
The explanation bothered me so much. It was obvious that this village was poor, but did the rich people that lived merely inches from this place not care? Were they so lost in their own world of riches and perfections that they couldn't spare even a few dollars each to strive together and build a place that was reasonable to live in?
This place wasn't close to poverty.
It was essentially homelessness.
We passed by these massive fields, which Rosadette stopped to view. She grinned happily as she noticed a few kids look our way. One girl was bold enough to skip over to us, her bright blue eyes the most vibrant part about her.
Her dirty blonde hair was matted, and her pearl white dress was so dirty that I doubted water, soap, or even bleach could fix it back to its original white form. Her face was covered in dirt, and her teeth were yellow, but she was still smiling from ear to ear at our arrival.
"A princess!" she cheered as she looked at Rosadette. She looked at her hands and fought her hardest to clean them on the very dirty dress she wore as if she wanted to do her best to make her hands worthy of shaking Rosadette’s.
"Hello!" She bowed and lifted her hand up to Rosadette. "You're new here!"
Rosadette laughed and took the little girl's hand without worry before she crouched down to be at the child's height. "We're not necessarily new. At least, I'm not. I used to live in these lands."
The little girl gasped.
"You used to live here?!" The little girl spun around to emphasize the fields. "Did you work in the fields?"
"Yes, I actually did," Rosadette admitted. "I would work from early, early in the morning. Sometimes at five or six depending on my shift and finish up by three-thirty. We'd water the fields, take what was ripe, or gather the sticks that blew from the harsh winds during the spring and fall seasons. What are you guys doing today?"
"We're gathering the strawberries! They're ready. Would you like one?"
"I'd love one," Rosadette admitted. "As long as you won't get in trouble."
The little girl giggled and skipped right over to her basket to retrieve two strawberries. She returned with the same friendliness as she offered Rosadette a strawberry and then came over to me to offer one.
"Here you go!" she said to me.
"Thank you," I quietly replied, impressed that she wasn't shy at all before she returned to Rosadette's spot and stared up at her.
"Is he your prince?" She tried to whisper the question, but it was pretty loud to me.
Rosadette giggled and quickly nodded her head.
"Ya. I decided to bring him down here to see where I came from," she whispered.
The little girl squealed before she leaned in and tried to whisper, "He got lucky with you!"
"Yup!" Rosadette said with pride and I smirked at the comment as the little girl laughed.
"I'm going to be a princess just like you and leave this place to find my prince!" the little girl vowed. "I have to go now. Bye, bye!" She waved to both of us and skipped back to the fields where her friends awaited her.
They looked at us in unison and quickly waved before they picked up their baskets to move to the next set of fields. I returned to standing next to Rosadette's side, watching her smile fall as she stared at the lands as if she were remembering the times she had done the same work as these poor children.
I looked at the strawberry in my hand, imagining how little these children would be paid for the service that would feed the rich next door.
"C'mon," Rosadette's soft voice cut through my thoughts. "If nothing has changed in these parts, the water fountain should be just down the path and to the left.”
I followed her lead until we were there, and after a quick wash of the strawberries, we enjoyed their fresh taste.
"They're flavorful," I commented.
"Fresh strawberries are always better than the artificial stuff they charge rich people ridiculous amounts for. Why would I pay twenty dollars for a pack of strawberries that you could pick yourself for two," she brought up before shaking her head. "I remember that I saved so much money to get a pretty dress from the rich lands, but the money I'd saved all season couldn't even reach one-fourth of the price."
My heart dropped at her comment as she looked to me with those gorgeous lavender jewels.
"I cried so hard," she said with a beaming smile. "All day and night in the fields and I couldn't save for the dress I wanted. They were going to change with the seasons, so I knew I wouldn't get the dress the following year. This was when I was around ten and met Camilla. She always dressed so pretty in gorgeous dresses, so I wanted to save for one nice dress. At least I could visit her without feeling so ashamed. In the end, Camilla bought it for me. I always made her keep the gifts she got me at her place because I didn't want to ruin them.”
She plopped the remaining bit of her strawberry into her mouth and scanned the area once more.
"I wonder if my makeshift house is still there."
"Makeshift house?" I asked for clarification. She gave me a look like we were about to discover a hidden treehouse of some sort before she took my hand and led me to another path.
It didn't take us long as the places that seemed to be people's homes were farther away as we entered a forest part. Soon enough, we were in a little clearing that led to a small patched spot with what looked like a failed attempt at making a house.
At least it was some sort of structure, but from the eaten-up wood to the chipped pieces all around the ground like animals clawed at the poor thing, I was truly impressed that it was still up.
"Wow! Fifty years and it somehow survived! I must have been possessed when I made this bad boy!" she declared and walked over to the flimsy door. I followed without comment, taking in the place that was just about my height.
I snapped my fingers, my magic swirling around me until I was in my human form. Rosadette looked back to blink at me, but I shrugged. "I'm too tall in that form. Don't want to knock into anything," I concluded.
"Awww. That's so considerate of you," she genuinely stated. From the look in her eyes, she truly treasured this place like it was worth millions. I noticed her slight nervousness as she looked around.
"What's wrong?"
"Well..." She paused and turned away so her back was facing me. "Aren't you embarrassed?"
"Of?" I poked for an elaboration.
"Your Sweet Rose used to live here," she declared and spun around. "S
ee, that part over there was where I slept on the floor. It was hard to adjust to at first, but you get used to it. Just a pain during the winter, but I'd stocked up on some blankets.” She walked over to what could have been a hand-me-down dresser that was barely keeping itself together. "This was basically where I put my few work clothes and underwear and stuff. It was also where I kept that precious book of mine that I got from an older lady in this village. She passed away long before I was brought to the fae lands, but she was one of the few who showed me a lot of kindness without too much complaining. You know how people are. They love doing a kind deed here and there, but never want it to be a habit."
She walked around the tiny space and spun around to meet my blank stare.
"I'm not embarrassed by you living here," I pointed out.
"Xavier was," she whispered, and I could tell she was trying not to be emotional about it. She lowered her head as she put her hands behind her back as if she were trying to hide her fidgeting.
"You know, when I brought him down here to gather my things, I felt so proud of this place. I valued what it had done for me all those years. Even those times where the rich kids came and broke it down. Again, and again. I knew he was mocking me in his head, not like he fought hard not to show his annoyance for valuing a dump like this."
She looked up to the ceiling before her eyes returned to the place she apparently slept.
"It's weird to say it, but I feel embarrassed showing you this place. I shouldn't be, because this place was built on the need to survive. It was my shelter through the harshest nights. Even if it wasn't the most comfortable, it was far better than being literally outside. A safe haven from all the spooky monsters and drunk men who occasionally walked this way to get to their homes. I know it's a shed in comparison to a home, but when you're drunk, it looks like a house and they walked right in."
Her sad smile was too much for me to bear as I walked two long strides to be in front of her. "I'm not embarrassed." I said the three words firmly as I took her hands in mine.
"You don't seem very happy about this place," she quietly commented.
Fae Rose Academy: Year Two (For The Purely Divine Book 2) Page 13