The Black Rose (16 page)

“It was kind of an
accident, well Orchid was….
” Wilhelmina said no longer feeling nervous. Her mood was lightened by Orchid and Lily’s laughter. She felt more confident, “
But
I want to ask you some things if you don’t mind.”

“Uh…” Edmund began debating if he would rather focus on Orchid and Lily or on Wilhelmina. He decided Wilhelmina was more important, “Yes, come in.” He let her into the study and closed the door. He would deal with Orchid and Lily later.

Edmund’s study was rather dull. There was a desk and a couple of chairs to one side of the room. On the other side there was a window and underneath the window were a green sofa and a brown coffee table. An arm cha
ir was located next to the sofa
and across from the armchair was a fireplace. The fireplace wasn’t in use since there was plenty of light coming through the window. There were some bookshelves scattered about, but other than that, there were no paintings or decorations of any sort
on the plain brown walls
.
The coffee table lacked décor as well.

Wilhelmina wandered around the room a bit before sitting down on the green sofa. Edmund followed suit and sat down in the arm chair. “Magnolia,” Edmund called and it was then Wilhelmina noticed that there was a girl standing
next to one of the bookshelves
. She had long wavy pink hair and fuchsia colored eyes. Her pink dress was similar to Orchid’s except it had shorter sleeves.
“Bring us some tea,” Edmund ordered and the girl left the study.

“Of all the dresses, you picked the plainest one,” Edmund noted as he stared at Wilhelmina.

Wilhelmina frowned and chose to ignore his comment, “Why
am I here
?” This was the one question that had bothered her since she arrived.

“I thought it would be obvious given what I told you,” Edmund sighed, “I really didn’t want to have to tell you myself, but if I hadn’t, you most likely would have been killed….” Wilhelmina was about to protest, but Edmund had put a hand up to stop her from talking so he could continue, “Your family might not have, but someone else surely would have. You are probably wondering why.” Edmund paused for a moment in preparation for the next part.

“There are only two ways to end the curse,
Rose
,” He said looking
straight at Wilhelmin
a. Wilhelmina wasn’t used to being
called Rose quite yet so it caught her off guard.
Edmund continued, “Either you must die or I must die.”

“But you created the curse, can’t you just get rid of it!” Wilhelmina exclaimed in shock. Death seemed extreme and if he was indeed a sorcerer then why couldn’t he just rid of it. Then
again,
maybe this is what he wanted, “Or is this what you want….”

“It’s…. complicated,” Edmund sighed.
Magnolia then entered the room with tea, interrupting their conversation. She set it down on the coffee table and then returned to her corner.

Edmund continued,
“As years passed, I no long
er became sure of what I wanted
.
I watched from afar, watched you grow. Then you were my creation and I wanted to know how you were doing.
I noticed Jerome was falling for you and I felt pleased, only until I started to…..” Edmund shook his head, “
that’s not important
.” There was a long period of silence. Edmund took a few sips of tea, but Wilhelmina sat staring at her cup. He wondered what she was thinking and then she turned to look at him.

“What’s going to happen to Aridale?” Wilhelmina asked breaking the silence. She was worried about her family and Milly.

“The same thing that happened to Celewyn,” Edmund said before taking another sip of tea. As the cup left his lips, Wilhelmina smacked the cup out of his hand. He was startled by her reaction
, but only for a second
. The cup lay shattered on the floor.

“Fix it!” Wilhelmina demanded as she stood before h
im
.

“I told you….”
Edmund stood.

“You’re a sorcerer, do something!” She screamed. It was then Edmund noticed the tears in her eyes.

“After the way your family treated you, you still care that much for them! Do you really think they’d keep you alive if they knew killing you would end this?” He retorted and regretted when he saw the look of pain on her face. He let her sob for a moment while he tried to figure out what to say, but there was nothing. What he had said was only the truth and Wilhelmina deserved to know that, didn’t she?

“Look
… I
f I could do something
I would
, b
ut I can’t
…
” Edmund said as he waved his hand to clean up the mess on the floor. The cup went back to looking new and the tea stain was gone. It looked as if there never
had been an
accident.

Wilhelmina left the room in tears. She needed to be alone for now. She knew Orchid
and Lily would probably be in her
room, so she ran down the stairs and out the castle door. It was the only place she
could think of.

Wilhelmina
hadn’t been outside the castle before and her sobs soon turned to sniffles as she looked around.
She
knew they were in Fantasme Forest now as she saw a sea of trees ahead of her. She had a feeling it might be dangerous for her to be out here, but at the moment she didn’t care. Wilhelmina wandered around, but never strayed far from the castle. She didn’t want to get lost. Eventually she made
her way around the castle and discovered
that there was
a garden
in the back
.
She
entered through the wooden gate and felt a tingling sensation in her heart. It was as if she had been here before.

She
closed her eyes to relax and then let her instincts take over. Eventually she came to
an
empty patch
located next to the stone path she was walking on
.
It was big enough that two people could sit on it. Around the patch grew various flowers, lilies, tulips, violets and many more.
Wilhelmina’s heart raced
as she looked at the empty patch
. This was where she had come from. Her mind flashed back to
when she had been a
rose
. The image of a kind young man appeared. “
Edmund,”
Wilhelmina thought and couldn’t help but smile as she remembered him watering her and watching her.

Wilhelmina jumped as she realized how weird a memory that was. She had been a flower, no, she was still a flower. She hadn’t focused much on the idea. Lily and
Orchid made it seem so normal. It wasn’t till now that
Wilhelmina comprehend
ed
how strange it really was.
She
felt
a new wave of tears coming on. Wilhelmina
knelt on the empty patch of grass
and buried her face in her hands.
How could she be a flower? She had to eat and sleep like a human. She could speak and had her own mind.
“
Why
me
?
”
She sobbed.

Chapter 12

Edmund sighed as he sat down on the green sofa in his study. That had not gone has he had hoped. He leaned back and rubbed his forehead. This whole situation was giving him a headache. It was not even lunch time and he was already exhausted.

Suddenly his door burst open. Startled, he stood up to find Lily storming towards him. Her nostrils were flaring and her face was red. Edmund began to wish she had never learned to feel or talk.

“What did you
do!
” Lily demanded as she jabbed her finger into Edmund’s chest.

“Lily!” Orchid exclaimed in horror. She grabbed the girl and pulled her back, “Sorry Lord Edmund, she’s just a little upset.”

“It’s alright,” Edmund sighed, “Let her go.”

“What did you do?” Lily asked once she was free from Orchid’s grasp.

“I told her the truth.”

“You had to have said something
else!
Rose
is in the garden crying her eyes out,” Lily huffed. She looked like a little dragon.

“Sometimes the truth hurts.”

Lily was about to yell at him again, but Orchid covered the girl’s mouth. It was her turn to speak. “For now, I think we should let Rose have some time to
herself
. She’ll come back inside when she’s ready. She’s just a little confused. Why don’t we start lunch?” Orchid
offered
uncovering Lily’s mouth.

“
Sure
,”
Edmund nodded
. Orchid
smiled before leaving.

Lily followed after her solemnly. She didn’t like the fact Rose was sad. Before leaving the room, she turned to face Edmund. He looked lonely as usual.
She felt bad for yelling at him. In her anger, she had forgotten that Edmund also had feelings. He just didn’t show them. It probably hurt him to see Wilhelmina upset, probably more than it hurt Lily.

“I’m sorry,” Lily said quietly before leaving the room.

Edmund was a little startled by Lily’s apology and realized
it was because
she felt sorry for him. He looked down at his desk. He wondered if all his maids did. The poor sorcerer who hadn’t done anything wrong, abandoned, banished, bitter, lonely…. Edmund formed his hand into a fist and slammed it hard on his desk.

Wilhelmina cried until her tears ran dry.
She knew c
rying wasn’t going to solve anything and Edmund was probably right. Would her family care for her if th
ey knew killing her would end the curse
? In her heart she knew her mother wouldn’
t. S
he remembered the fear in her mother’s face and her scream as
Wilhelmina
was taken
away from the church by Edmund
. Her mother loved her, but her father… well her father was more of a practical person. He probably would have had her killed.

Wilhelmina stared at the castle. She didn’t have to stay here. She could leave, but the truth was she didn’t want to.
It scared her how much she wanted to stay here
since
her mind was screaming for her to leave
, but her heart told her she was safe.

The wind blew and Wilhelmina stood
with her arms wide open,
welcoming the cool breeze. She turned toward the forest. The leaves were changing colors, autumn was coming. It was nice out and the sun was up in the sky, it was no longer morning. She looked at the castle again. It was strange; it was as if it called to her, like she belonged here.
She wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that she grew her.

It was still weird to her that she had been a rose. She wondered if she had any other memories of being a flower. She tried to think, but none came to mind. It had been such a long time ago after all. However, this place strangely felt like home.

Wilhelmina headed toward the castle and stopped in front of the door. What was she going to say to Edmund? Would she say anything at all?
S
he still had questions for him and despite what he said; she still had feelings for him. She knew he was just telling her the truth. It was just too much for her to handle.

Wilhelmina’s
feelings for him grew at that moment. Unlike her parents, he told her the truth. He didn’t lie. A trait like that was admirable. However, she wondered h
ow much more he would tell her and t
here was only one way to find out.
She
took a deep breath and opened the door.

She had come in the back entrance this time, so she wasn’t surprised to find herself in the ballroom. What caught her attention was the smell of food. Her stomach growled
reminding her that she had not eaten yet
.
“
It must be close to lunch time
,” She thought and headed
towards the smell. Where
there was
food, there was a dining room and a kitchen.
She knew her palace well and though this one was
designed a
little differently, it wasn’t too hard for her to find the dining area.

The dining room consisted of a long oak table and a magnificent chandelier hung over it. The walls were painted green
and had
bronze flower accents. Wilhelmina began to wonder if green and bronze were the colors of Celewyn and then shook her head. She remembered from an old story that Celewyn’s colors were red and black. Green must have been Edmund’s
color of choice
.

This room, like the others, lacked any décor. Wilhelmina wondered if Edmund preferred things to be simple and plain. Though Wilhelmina was no Edolie, she had to admit that
the room looked rather boring. She
would have liked some sort of centerpiece
on
the table
, even if it was just a vase full of flowers,
and maybe a couple of paintings on the wall.
She
sighed;
it was
n’t
her castle
to decorate
.