Cin d'Rella and the Golden Apple : Circle of the Rose Chronicles, Book 2

by S. J. West

  Henry looks back at Gretel. “Are your parents still alive?”

  “Yes, but we’re not on speaking terms,” she tells him. “They still blame me for my brother’s death.”

  “I didn’t realize Hans was dead,” Henry says, troubled by this news. “Did I miss anyone else’s death while I was away?”

  “I don’t think so, Dad,” Isabel tries to reassure him as she pats his hand.

  “Henry,” I say to regain his attention, “why do you think Gretel is the key to opening the portal in the park?”

  “Gretel, did your parents ever tell you about the night I came to them?”

  Gretel shakes her head. “I didn’t know they knew you. What was so special about that night?”

  “Please forgive me for having to tell you this,” he says. “I thought they would have told you by now, but apparently I was wrong.”

  “Tell me what?” Gretel asks on the verge of becoming upset.

  “I’m the one who gave you to them,” he says.

  It takes a second for what he said to register with all of us.

  “Are you saying that Gretel’s parents aren’t her real parents?” I ask him.

  “That can’t be right,” Gretel says. She sits down on the edge of the bed. “Hans and I were twins.”

  “No, you weren’t,” Henry tells her. “Hans was born a few days after I took you to your parents, or rather the people who agreed to raise you as their own.”

  “Then who are my real parents?” Gretel asks. “Where are they?”

  “I don’t know who they are,” he replies. “But I do know where they should be. It’s one of the reasons I tried so hard to get back there. I felt horrible for separating you from where you truly belonged.”

  “Are you saying I’m from this other world that you went to?” Gretel asks. It’s a good thing she’s sitting because she looks like she might faint.

  “Yes,” he replies. “I never would have taken you away from there, but I thought your life was in danger at the time.”

  “Why?” Gretel asks.

  “While I was roaming the forest I found there, I discovered you in the woods surrounded by seven baby dragons,” he tells us. “You were lying in a nest of leaves with newly cracked eggshells laying all around. To me, it looked like the mother of the dragons left you there as food for her young after they hatched. I couldn’t leave you, so I grabbed you out of the nest and ran until I saw the portal that led to Paisley Park. After I returned to Briardale, I kept on running until I finally got back to the Guild. When I got there, your parents were still working on their project, and I told them what happened.”

  “Wait,” Gretel says, “my parents worked at the Guild with you? They never mentioned that they worked there.”

  “They used to help organize food distribution, but after they agreed to raise you as their own child, they decided to quit because they were afraid too many people would start to ask questions. They kept you out of sight until your brother Hans was born, and then they told people that you were an unexpected surprise during the delivery. No one questioned them since your mother gave birth at home.”

  Gretel stands and takes a step back from the foot of Henry’s bed. She looks over at me before she dashes out of the room.

  “We’ll be right back,” I say as I follow Gretel’s footsteps. Once I make it to the hallway, I look down the corridor and spot her racing toward the exit. As fast as I can, I take off running after Gretel until I catch up with her in the rose garden where patients are encouraged to walk to hasten their recovery. She’s bent over at the waist and hyperventilating.

  I place a comforting hand on her back.

  “Try to slow your breathing,” I tell her calmly while rubbing her back.

  After a couple of minutes, Gretel is breathing normally again. When she stands up straight, tears stream from her eyes, but I get the feeling they’re not sad ones.

  “It all finally makes sense,” she says to me. “They hated me because they thought I was responsible for the death of their only child. I was never their daughter, Cin. That’s how they were able to completely turn their backs on me.”

  “It still doesn’t make what they did right, Gretel,” I say.

  “I know,” she agrees. “But at least I can understand their reaction now. You don’t know how much it hurt to believe my own parents hated me for something I had no control over. But they weren’t my parents. My real ones might actually be in this other world Isabel’s father went to.” Gretel clamps her hands onto my arms and her eyes burn into mine. “We have to find a way to get there. I have to know if my real parents are still alive.”

  “Then let’s go back inside and listen to what else Henry can tell us,” I say. “He thinks you’re the key to opening the portal. Let’s figure out how.”

  When we reenter the room, Gretel is much calmer and ready to hear the rest of what Henry has to tell us.

  “Why do you think Gretel is the key to reopening the portal?” I ask him.

  “It seems to open when it senses a presence that belongs on the other side,” he replies. “Since I didn’t belong in the world I discovered, it opened to let me out. I believe if Gretel goes back to the spot where I emerged, it will open up for her because she doesn’t actually belong in our world. Of course, this is only a theory. You have to go there to see if I’m right or wrong.”

  “And if that doesn’t work?” I ask. “Is there another way to open the portal?”

  “Not one that I’ve been able to think of after all these years,” he tells me regretfully.

  “If the portal does open for her,” I say, “what should we expect to find over there?”

  “Unfortunately, I didn’t get to explore the area for very long before I found Gretel crying,” he tells us. “All I really saw was a vast, overgrown forest. If there was a town of some kind there, I never reached it, but I would definitely take weapons with you. Those baby dragons didn’t magically come into existence. They have parents. I was simply lucky enough not to run into them.”

  “Gus went to the Guild to find your old journal,” I tell him. “Is there anything in there that might help us?”

  “I did start to draw a map of the area as I went,” he says. “It might be of use to you so you can navigate the terrain I encountered. On the map, you should see how to get to a dirt path I came across, but I wasn’t able to go down it very far. If you’re looking for people, I would advise following it to see where it leads. Maybe you can find this person you’re looking for.”

  “Thank you, Henry,” I say. “You’ve been a lot of help.”

  “Cin,” Isabel says to me, “would it be all right if I stayed here with my dad? I don’t want to leave him here all alone.”

  “Of course,” I tell her. “We’ve got this, Isabel, and when we get back, we’ll fill you in on everything. Anwen, would you please stay with Isabel and her father to keep them company?”

  “Sure thing, Cin!” Anwen replies as she switches from Scarlet’s to Isabel’s shoulder.

  “Thanks,” I tell her gratefully. “I hope you feel better soon, Henry.”

  “I already feel better since I finally get to spend some time with my daughter after all these years,” he tells me.

  My heart sinks at the sight of them so happy together because what Gretel and I discovered in Shadowspire might very well tear them apart again.

  “What’s wrong, Cin?” Scarlet asks me as we walk down the hallway. “You don’t look as happy as you should for Isabel.”

  “I wish I could be happier for her,” I say, truly meaning it.

  “Are you going to fill me in on what’s got you two acting so weird?” Scarlet asks.

  “We should wait until we’re somewhere private,” Gretel says. “You never know who might be listening.”

  “Where’s Kalder?” I ask Scarlet. “Didn’t he come here with you?”

  “After Henry woke up, he said he needed some coffee. I think he wanted to give Isabel and her dad some time to
talk without a complete stranger being in the room.”

  “Scarlet, give me your car keys,” I say. “You can ride over to the house with Gretel. I want to go check on Maximus, and I’ll bring Kalder home with me afterward.”

  “I went up there earlier,” Scarlet tells me. “There isn’t any change in his condition.”

  “I should let Marlene know that Gus will be away for a little while longer,” I reply.

  Scarlet tosses me her keys. “We’ll start getting some supplies together in case this ends up being more than a day trip.”

  “Good idea,” I say. “You might want to call Gus too and ask him to bring some weapons from the Guild. Maybe he has access to something that can take down a dragon if it comes to that.”

  While Gretel and Scarlet exit the building, I ride up the elevator to the fifth floor to reach Maximus. When I get there, I see Thorn Grace is on duty and exchange pleasantries with her before entering my godfather’s room. Scarlet was right. Maximus’s condition hasn’t changed, but his body is now on its side instead of on its back. One of the nurses must have moved him to prevent bed sores.

  Gus’s wife, Marlene, is sitting in the chair by his bed reading a book. People used to watch something called television before the curse, but the founding elders decided that it would be a waste of magic to keep the towers for such a service operational. Books and live performances are the only forms of entertainment now.

  Marlene looks up from her book and smiles at me.

  “Hey, Cin,” she says as she stands from her seat to walk over to me. Marlene is a petite blonde with one of the tiniest figures I’ve ever seen. After she gives me a hug, she says, “Have you seen Isabel’s father yet?”

  “Yeah, I just came from his room. While I was here, I wanted to make sure you didn’t need anything, and I also wanted to leave these letters for Maximus with you for safekeeping.”

  Marlene takes the stack of letters that Gordan gave to me before saying, “I’m fine here. You shouldn’t worry about me. How is that husband of mine doing? Is he keeping himself out of trouble?”

  “As far as I know he is. He’s checking on something for us at the Guild right now, and then he’ll be helping us with a mission.”

  “I’m sure he’s loving that,” Marlene says. “He’s always wanted to be a Thorn. If he’d been born a girl, I think he might have made a good one too.”

  “No doubt,” I say, unable to hide a smile at the thought of Gus dressed up like a Thorn. I can’t get the funny picture out of my head, and it keeps me smiling.

  “Just make sure you take care of him,” she says with a worried frown. “In his mind he might be a Thorn in the making, but in reality, he’s a middle-aged man with a little too much around the waist.”

  “I’ll make sure he comes back to you,” I promise. “I also came up here to ask you for a favor, Marlene. I’m not planning to tell Commander Ford where we’re going.”

  “Why is that?” she asks, looking puzzled by my decision.

  “I have my reasons,” I say. “I can’t tell you much, but on the off chance that she asks you where we are, tell her that I’ve left a note at my house on the kitchen table explaining everything. But only tell that to Commander Ford.”

  “All right, Cin,” she says. She studies me carefully. “Are you sure this mission is safe enough for Gus to go on?”

  “He’ll be perfectly fine,” I reassure her. “I would never let anything happen to him.”

  “He loves you girls like you’re his own, you know,” Marlene says with a wistful smile.

  “We love him too.”

  Marlene nods her head as if to say that she knows we do.

  “When you get back, I would like to have you all come over to our house for supper one evening,” she says. “Gus tells me that you and Coltan Prince are quickly becoming an item.”

  Marlene’s blunt assertion makes me feel awkward. I don’t need a mirror to know that my cheeks are red because I can feel the heat of them quite acutely.

  “We’re getting to know one another.” I clear my throat before continuing. “I really need to go meet the others back at my house. When we return, we can arrange a night for supper.”

  “That sounds perfect, Cin,” she says with a smile. It seems as if she finds my sudden discomfiture amusing. “I’ll see you when you get back, and ask that husband of mine to call me here before he goes gallivanting off on this adventure with you girls. I want to make sure he doesn’t take any unnecessary risks.”

  “I’ll do that,” I promise before making a hasty exit out of the room.

  As I head for the elevator, I say a quick goodbye to Thorn Grace and feel relieved when the doors of the elevator close.

  I’m not sure why what Marlene said embarrassed me so much. It could be because I’m such a private person and now it seems like everyone knows about my love life. No one, except for Coltan and I, seems to care that we haven’t actually gone on an official date yet. They’ve already paired us off as a couple, which isn’t all that shocking I suppose. But the more I think about it, the more embarrassed I get about my embarrassment, which is simply embarrassing!

  When the doors of the elevator open, I step out of it in a rush and run smack-dab into Kalder.

  “Woah there, Cin,” he says, gently grabbing me by the forearms before I topple over. “Where’s the fire?”

  “There isn’t one,” I say as he lets me go and I straighten my jacket nervously. “I was coming to find you. We need to get back to my house and meet the others.”

  “Does that mean you learned what you needed to from Isabel’s father?” he asks as he follows me down the hallway toward the exit.

  “I’ll fill you in on what’s going on in the car. Maybe you can help me make a decision about something too.”

  “That sounds ominous,” he replies. “Is anything wrong?”

  “I’ll tell you once we’re in the car,” I reply, not wanting to discuss what Gretel and I discovered about the death of Isabel’s mother out in the open. I need to talk about it with someone I trust, and apparently I trust Kalder more than I thought I did. He shared one of his darkest moments with me last night, and I don’t believe he would have done that if he didn’t trust me with the knowledge. I’ll never tell anyone about what happened to his sister and her family. That’s his story to tell, not mine.

  Once we’re in the car, I tell Kalder what we learned at Shadowspire concerning the circumstances surrounding Isabel’s mother’s death and also what Henry told us about Gretel and the portal.

  “Wow,” he says, laying his head back on the headrest as he thinks over everything that I’ve said. “Is your life always this complicated?”

  “Not usually,” I reply. “Do you think I’ve made the right decision to not tell Isabel what I learned about her mother’s death?”

  “Yes,” he says. “You should let Henry tell her what happened. It’s not your place.”

  “Thanks,” I tell him, feeling a sense of relief from having someone validate my logic. “Gretel was making me feel guilty about wanting to keep it a secret.”

  “Gretel’s nature is to be extremely blunt with people,” he says. “She says what’s on her mind, and sometimes she doesn’t think about the consequences until it’s too late. Give her some time. She’ll see that you made the right call. Speaking of her, how did she handle finding out that the people she thought were her parents actually aren’t?”

  “I think she was relieved. I just wish she could have found out the truth sooner. It was horrible watching her grieve the loss of their love. I understand that she wasn’t their daughter by blood, but how could they completely cut her out of their life? They had to have cared about her some to agree to raise her as their own.”

  “It was probably easier for them to focus all of their pain on her because she survived and Hans didn’t,” Kalder says. “Losing a child has to be one of the worst things a person can endure. I’m not sure I would be strong enough to keep going if I did.”

/>   “Still,” I say as I think back to the few times I saw Gretel with the people we assumed were her parents, “I don’t think I would have blamed her the way they did. It was cold and selfish because she mourned her brother exactly as much as they did.”

  “I’m not disagreeing with you, but you should also remember they’re human, Cin.”

  I realize Kalder’s right. I should have more empathy for the people who took Gretel in and raised her until she went to the academy, but Gretel is my best friend. For me, she’ll always take priority.

  “What in the world were you thinking about when you walked out of the elevator?” Kalder asks. “It’s not like you to be so preoccupied and not notice your surroundings.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I grumble.

  “Oh, I see,” he says as if he’s a wise sage who knows all without having to be told. I wait for him to expound his thought, but he doesn’t.

  “You see what?” I ask, hoping I don’t regret asking.

  “I assume you’re grouchy over a Prince problem,” he says. “Most girls your age have boy trouble, and he’s the only one in your life that I’m aware of.”

  “He’s not a problem,” I say to clear up his wrong assumption. “He’s actually kind of perfect.”

  Kalder chuckles.

  “What’s so funny?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at him.

  “Doesn’t Gretel call him Prince Perfect? It’s funny that you’ve come to agree with her in your own reluctant way. If he’s so perfect, why don’t you look happier?”

  “Everyone seems to know about us when there isn’t officially an ‘us’ to know about,” I complain. “I feel like people are rushing me to be with him, and I don’t like feeling pushed into things.”

  “People don’t mean anything by it, Cin. They’re merely happy to see you act like a normal girl.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask.

  “I haven’t known you that long, but even I can tell you’re more concerned about doing your duty as a Thorn than you are forging relationships outside your own squad.”

  “That’s not true. I have healthy relationships with Maximus and Gus too.”