Fabled (18 page)

“Hello, Julia,” I whispered to myself.
 

I closed one chapter of myself and reluctantly began another.

Chapter 17

When I approached the clearing and the tree where we spent the night before, I saw Chester sitting on the ground staring at my note. The storm didn’t reach here.
 

“Hey,” I said.

“Where have you been?” He jumped up and ran to embrace me. My feet hovered over the ground, and for a moment, I forgot about the crazy day I’d had. He sat me down and eyed my red dress.

“Stunning dress,” he said with a raised brow.
 

“Don’t ask,” I laughed nervously.

“Anything I should be concerned about?”

“No,” I lied. He looked at me skeptically, but he eventually decided not to press the issue.

“I saw your coat here, which troubled me. I didn’t think you’d go anywhere without me.”

“It was warmer today, and I didn’t have any reason to take it. I planned on coming back.”

I sat near the base of the tree and watched as Chester built a fire. The temperature dropped as night approached, so I slipped back into my coat.
 

“So where did you go?” I finally asked.

He looked as if he were nervous to tell me.

“I went to find Cale. When you said I didn’t know what I was getting myself into last night, it got me thinking. You were right.”
 

“I didn’t say that. Cale said that,” I interrupted.

“It’s true, so I decided I should see if Cale would help us. He seems like he cares about your well-being, and I have no reason to think that he’s on the royals’ side. He’s meeting us here tomorrow. It scared me that you weren’t here when I got back. I didn’t know what I’d tell him if I had lost you,” he said while kicking a rock at his feet.

“He’s probably pretty angry with me for running from him like that.” My heart ached at the thought. I felt like I had somehow betrayed him.

“He wasn’t happy, but is he ever?”

I got up and started to take a walk.

“Where are you going?” Chester asked.

“I’m going to search for something for us to eat,” I yelled back.

My mind was in overload. I felt guilty, sad, angry, and worried all at the same time. I was a “bundle of nerves” as my mom would say. Everything that happened earlier coupled with Cale and Chester combining forces made me feel sick to my stomach. It meant that we were really going to face the royals. The same royals who turned Julia into a bloodthirsty rose and now held my friend under a coma-like sleep. The more I learned about Mezzanine, the more terrifying it became. Even more frightening was the realization that I was becoming a part of this world. I now had one of the darkest figures in Mezzanine’s history hiding somewhere deep inside me.
 

I found a black berry bush not long into my hunt. I grabbed the bottom of my dress, held it up, and placed the berries in my makeshift basket. Darkness crept upon me, so I headed back to camp. On the way, I grabbed two peaches hanging deliciously from a branch.

The fire’s light guided me back. Chester sat near the fire watching its blaze.

“I found some berries and peaches,” I said forcing a smile.

We sat down to have our meal. Chester pulled out a piece of bread from his sack and broke it in half. It was a bit stale but helped in filling us up.
What I wouldn’t give for a cheeseburger right now!
I forced back the thought.
 

Chester lay out his jacket for us to lie on. I realized for the first time, in his arms, that I’d never slept next to a man before Chester. I had been with Dashielle for years, but I never knew what it felt like to share sleep with him. The mere idea was strange, but then again, what wasn’t in Mezz?
 

The next morning I awoke to Cale’s stare. He was in human form sitting next to the fire’s embers.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to him, not knowing what else to say. He just looked at me with cold eyes.

“I suppose I can’t blame you,” he finally said. “I would run from a beast too, if I were you.” His voice seemed sad, which broke my heart and enlarged my guilt.

I sat up and pulled myself gently out of Chester’s arms and moved next to him.

“You’re not a beast. You were gentle and kind to me. I should have never ran from you. I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. I just panicked. And I wanted desperately to be reunited with Chester.”

He nodded, and somehow I knew all was well between us.
 

When Chester woke up, they wasted no time in making plans for us to attack the palace and take Madeline back. While they talked, I remembered her. Her kindness and soft smile. Her gentle, comforting spirit. Her rose would have been blindingly white.
 

I wondered why she hadn’t told me about Cale, but then I realized that I hadn’t told her about Dashielle or Chester, for that matter. We rarely talked about life outside of the castle, now that I think of it. I guess it would have just been reminders of what we were missing.

They decided we should strike early in the morning, at dawn. We would first have to learn the guards’ rotations and plan to attack right before the night guards were relieved. They would be tired and fighting sleep and exhaustion by then and would be less capable of fighting off an attack. Cale also mentioned he had a pack of friends who would jump all over the idea of having a chance to dupe the royals.
 

Listening to them, I realized I hadn’t heard Cale speak as many words the entire time I stayed with him. And that realization only enforced the anxious feeling that was welling up inside me.
This is going to be dangerous
. The old, cautious Rowena started to reemerge.
 

“We will camp near the town’s entrance for a few nights and learn their routine. Humbert has arranged for us to stay with his caretaker for the week, if we need it. He lives right outside the royals’ gates,” Chester said.

“I don’t know. That may be too close. What if someone suspects something? The whole plan would be ruined, and there’s no telling what they would do to us.
To her
,” Cale whispered, but I heard.

“It’s the only bloody option!” Chester said, getting frustrated with not having a better plan. He calmed himself and spoke again, “I don’t know anyone else who lives in Royal Court.”

I could see both of their minds racing, but neither of them spoke for a long while.
 

“Make the arrangements. We’ll have to take our chances,” Cale finally said.

Chester nodded in agreement.
 

The plans were now ironed out, but there was a sudden wave of sadness and nervousness, which washed across us all. There wasn’t much talking that night. We were lying around the fire and chewing on stale bread when Humbert came. He landed right in front of me, as if happy to see me. I ran my fingers down his feathers in between his large, all-seeing eyes.
 

“Good to see you too,” I whispered with a smile. He flew to Chester, who secured a note to his foot, and he left.
 

Seeing him again somehow strengthened my resolve to help Madeline. No matter what happened, I knew I was doing the right thing in helping her.
 

Our journey to Royal Court began the next day, so our minds fought rest that night.
 

Get up and leave! We don’t need their help.
I heard a voice whisper in a soft, child-like tone.

It was
her
voice. I just knew it.

Julia?

No answer.

What are you trying to do? Get us killed? We definitely cannot do this alone.

I suddenly felt betrayed by her presence. She was violating me by simply being there in my mind.
 

Get out of my head!
 

She didn’t say anything, but I could feel her lingering in the depths of my mind.
 

The next morning, we all prepared for our short journey. We were closer to the royals than I had realized. For good luck, I put the comb in my hair that I found my first day in the Tresels’ castle, packed my leather jacket in my satchel, and visited the creek one last time to give my face a good wash. I smoothed the wrinkles on my red dress, and knew this was a beginning that could very well be my last.
 

We started our walk. It felt like spring. The forests’ humidity had caused beads of sweat to pop up on my face, and it made me smile. Spring had always been my favorite time of year. I daydreamed of last spring. Dashielle had taken me on a date at the park. He packed a picnic with sandwiches he made himself. We were broke as usual, so a restaurant was out of the possibility then. But that date was possibly the most perfect day of my entire life. We never needed money to enjoy time with one another.
 

Sometimes it’s the small things that make the biggest memories.

Impressions of that memory made me look at Chester. I had feelings for him because he had been there for me, because he cared for me, but nothing about him evoked the kind of longing I had for Dashielle. My heart began to ache again. I hoped no one noticed the tears.

Chapter 18

Dashielle

We rode with the top down in my old but new-to-me VW Cabrio. Her blonde hair flew in the wind freely and unreserved. A memory of Rowena twisting her curls to one side and holding them securely so she could see the road and me flashed through my mind. I pushed them away. Her away.

“So, Lil, where do you want to go?” I asked.

“I don’t care as long as I’m with you,” she said and placed her hand on my thigh.
 

My heart, or maybe something else, jumped in response to her touch. There was something wild and careless about her, and a part of me, a growing part of me, wanted to be the same way.

“How about a picnic? It’s a nice day out,” I suggested. She giggled.

“How about Italian,” she said and gave me a quick, you-should-know-better smile.

“Sure.”
 

Lil was a restaurant girl. A borderline high-maintenance girl. A quintessential piece of eye and arm candy. Everyone down at the station loved her. She was the life of every party, and the guy’s kept telling me how they wished they could be me. She was young but looked older. She inspired me with her carelessness.

Rowena and I … Rowena, especially, are introverts and conscientious of everything. She never wanted to be around lots of people. Parties were usually out. She wouldn’t have been able to help me accomplish the notoriety at work like Lil had. Lil helped push me out of my shell, and filled in the gaps during my lack of conversation.

I still missed Rowena, though.
 

We sat down at the table and proceeded to order. Lil wanted one of the most expensive items on the menu, and I settled for my usual — spaghetti with tap water.
 

“OMG, I have been holding it in the whole way here. Guess what I found out this morning?” she exclaimed.

“What?”

“I’m adopted!” Her eyes widened and her mouth opened, as if to mimic the face that I should make after learning the news. No such luck, even though I was genuinely surprised. Though Lil and Rowena looked different, they resembled enough to pass as real sisters.
 

“Wow,” I said flatly. “How do you know?”

“I heard Mom and Dad talking in the living room this morning. Mom’s having another one of her annoying oh-no-Rowena’s-gone kind of days. That’s when I heard her say it. ‘She was our blood. She was our only
real
child.’ I was shocked to say the least, but it’s kind of not surprising. I’ve always been different than them. They and their traditional values, conservative views, and quiet selves.”

“That’s crazy. Rowena never mentioned it.”

“She wouldn’t. Even if she knew, you could never crack that egg.” She rolled her eyes.

“I think she would have mentioned it to me, if she knew.”

She shrugged.

We both ate our meals, and I listened to Lil go on about how she was planning on confronting her parents and hopefully getting a guilt gift — maybe a car — out of the situation. I mostly ignored her when she went on like this. I wanted to move forward with my life, so I let some unpleasantries slip without thought. No one’s perfect, and no one will ever be Rowena.

Afterward, Lil insisted that we stop and listen to the brothers’ podcast. We parked near the water tower, watched the sun go down over the city, and listened to the guys tell us about “an alternate world,” which was beyond ridiculous but still somewhat entertaining.

“Sleeping beauty still has not awakened. Her body lays in a glass casket in front of the evil one’s castle. It’s been months since the only person who can save her has been summoned. It’s rumored that she will not come. Fears mount as the evil one becomes inpatient. There is no knowing what he may do to the people in retaliation for not bringing the chosen one to him...”
 

“No news then,” Lil said with a downcast face. I laughed at her seriousness.

“It’s just fiction, Lil. Cheer up,” I said and put her hair behind her pearled ear. She smiled and leaned into me. Her lips caressed mine passionately. Her teeth lightly tugged at my bottom lip. My heart pounded in my head. We went on, attached like this, for minutes. Before I knew it, she was straddling me, occasionally pressing the horn with her back. Her black dress rose, revealing her perfect thighs. I ran my hands up them until my fingers graced lace panties. Suddenly, I stopped and saw Rowena staring back at me.