The Black Rose (6 page)

“I will marry Edolie,” Jerome answered, “But Wilhelmina will
b
e
my sister and I wish to know more about her.” Queen Isadora nodded her head in agreement.

“Nicholas, L
oretta
, you will not be needed,” Isadora spoke to her son and his wife. Both bowed to her before exiting the room. Once gone, the queen began to tell the st
ory of how Wilhelmina was born with a curse.

Jerome left the room in shock of what he had heard. King Baudouin wanted to go after his son, but his wife
prevented
him
from leaving
.

“Give him some time,” Isadora said gently and her husband returned to his seat.

“I hope you know what you are doing,” Baudouin sighed in defeat. Isadora smiled before leaving her husband to relax.

Jerome, on the other hand, could not relax. He had managed to make it back to his room, but was still in shock. Wilhelmina was cursed. She would never be allowed to marry for she could never fall in love. It didn’t seem fair for her not to know. Wilhelmina was right now probably thinking that she
would
soon be free to marry whomever she wants, but in reality, she
would
forever be locked away in that tower. Jerome understood that it was for her own safety, as well as the
kingdom
of Aridale
, but didn’t she deserve to know? He had promised his parents though and he knew telling her would crush her. Jerome wished he had never gotten involved. Curiosity killed the cat after all.

In the end, he knew that the right thing was to keep quiet for now. He made a promise and it would be wrong for him to break it, especially when he wasn’t even part of the council yet. His mother had faith in him and he did not wish to disappoint her. In the end, Wilhelmina will find out and he was sure it was better she did from her parents and not from him
.
The fact he cared about Wilhelmina so much also
annoyed
him. He was to marry Edolie, yet he kept coming back to Wilhelmina.

Jerome sighed, “You just have to get to know Edolie more and then you’ll realize that you love her and Wilhelmina means nothing to you.” He felt much better after saying it out loud.
He
hopped off his bed and made his way down to the palace entrance.

Jerome
had to admit
to himself that
he liked Wilhelmina, but it wasn’t fair for Edolie since he hadn’t spent as much time with her. She was always runn
ing around doing wedding stuff. He wanted
to
know more about her
and
the Masquerade Ball would be the perfect time for that. They’
ll be together all night
. By the end of tomorrow night
he would surely be in love
with her
and there would be nothing to worry about
.

Chapter 5

Everyone in the palace of Aridale was in a hurry to head to Vanica. The Masquerade Ball would be held
in the evening
and they had to leave now if they were to arrive on time. Everyone was waiting on Wilhelmina, who was being very reluctant to leave her room
.
Wilhelmina was causing everyone to be late, but Edolie demanded for her
sister
to come and so King W
ilhelm and Queen Henrietta had
to
prevent
the carriages from leaving till Wilhelmina was present.

“It’s not that bad Wilhelmina, come on out,” Milly shouted as she pounded on Wilhelmina’s door. Wilhelmina didn’t respond and so Milly kept pounding.

On the other side of the door, a very nervous Wilhelmina stood looking at herself in her mirror.
Milly had picked her dress again, but it was far worse than the red and gold ball gown she had worn to the Spring Ball.

She was
wearing a black and white ball gown
. The black part of the dress had small gold stars scattered all over it. The dress featured black off shoulder sleeves that hooked at her bust. The hook was covered by a gold star. The gown also came with a black shawl that had little gold stars all over it.
She looked like the night sky.

Wilhelmina knew it was a masquerade, but felt Milly had overdone it. She looked like a clown. Even her shoes matc
hed the dress. They were black,
and featured a gold star at the front. The mask she didn’t mind. It was black and had a
white feathers
coming
of
f
the left side.
It was
s
imple compared to the rest of the outfit
. Wilhelmina took a deep breath. It’s not like anyone would know it was her at the ball.

“Mina!” Milly’s voice sounded from behind the door. Wilhelmina knew she would get in trouble soon and opened the door.

“You look gorgeous!” Milly exclaimed, “Now let’s go, everyone has been waiting for you!” Milly grabbed Wilhelmina’s hand, and the two hurried outside toward the carriages.

Wilhelmina wished Milly wouldn’t put her in such outrageous dresses, especially when all Milly was wearing was a simple green ball gown.
Her
gown had long sleeves that had white ruffles at the end.  Her mask was green with a couple of white
feathers.

Once they arrived at the carriages, Wilhelmina felt better about her dress.
Her sister
was wearing a light blue sleeveless dress. Around her waist was a silver belt covered in crystals. There were gems scattered all over the bottom half the dress. Edolie
also
had a white shawl that was covered in
crystals
. Her mask was silver with gems on the top corners and had blue and white feathers. On top of her head sat a silver tiara, covered in diamonds.
Around her neck was a beautiful diamond necklace.
Wilhelmina felt Edolie had over done it and was a lot more comfortable in her starry dress.

“We are going to be late,” Delaney complained as Wilhelmina and Milly climbed into the white carriage
located
behind Edolie’s
carriage
. Thankfully Wilhelmina and Milly had their own carriage so they didn’t have to worry about all the gossip in Edolie’s.

Once Wilhelmina and Milly were seated, the carriages took off and were followed by the palace guards. The palace guards wore red and gold, which were the colors of the kingdom of Aridale, and rode on black stallions
in order
to differentiate from
the white horses that pulled the carriages.
The guards came along as a safety precaution.

In Vanica, Jerome was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Edoli
e, but at the same time was dreading her arrival
because Wilhelmina would be with her. He had decided
not to
mention anything to Wilhelmina, but to be on the safe side, he was determined to avoid her tonight.
Jerome was not sure if that would be possible and hoped that Edolie would want him by her side a
ll night. He took a deep breath in order to relax. If
he was going to be a kin
g, he needed to be stronger and not worry about such things.
Everyone else seemed to be able to keep it a secret from Wilhelmina,
and so
he would have to
as well
.

Jerome was determined to make tonight all about Edolie and put aside any feelings he had for Wilhelmina. She was cursed and he could not allow himself to fall for
her. T
hat
was all there was to it.

“But there’s more to the curse than that,” A man’s voice echoed in Jerome’s ear, “Anyone who gets close to her falls under her charm.”

“Who’s there?” Jerome asked but when he turned around, there was no one.

“I can see that it’s already affecting you,”
The man chuckled as Jerome
continued to look around to find the source of the voice
. Jerome shook his head, he must have been hearing things, but what the voice said echoed in his mind. Could his attracti
o
n to Wilhelmina be because of the curse?

Jerome didn’t have much time to dwell on the possibility because t
he trumpets
sounded
letting the palace of Vanica know that the guests of Aridale h
ad
a
rrived. He made his way out towards the carriages
to escort his lovely bride to be. He offered her his hand and smiled whe
n he saw how lovely she looked. Even
with a mask on
, Edolie
was as radiant as the sun
.

Once out of the carr
iage, Edolie smiled at Jerome. He
was wearing
the same
dark blue and gold
uniform he had
worn
to the Spring Ball
. The only thing he added was a dark blue mask that was outlined in gold and had a gold feather
sticking out on the right side
. He was handsome as ever and she could not wait to spend more time with him.

“This way my lady,” Jerome bowed and offered Edolie his arm. She
entwined her arm with his
and he escorted her into the palace. The other girls were escorted by Vanica’s palace guards. Since it was a Masquerade Ball, no formal introductions were held. After all, the point of a masquerade is
to
keep one’s identity a secret
.

Wilhelmina and Milly headed to the back of the ball room to watch, while the other girls quickly looke
d for dance partners.
Wilhelmina, who had originally
thought she would have more fun at this ball than the Spring
Ball
,
quickly
discovered
that
she was wrong
. She
felt very nervous since she
had never danced before and didn’t want to embarrass herself
despite the fact that no one would know who she was with the mask on
.

“No one will know it’s you,” Milly said trying to encourage Wilhelmina to go out and find a dance partner, “What better way to practice?”

“I can’t,” Wilhelmina said, “I would just be too nervous, but you can dance if you want.” She didn’t want her inability to dance to affect Milly. Wilhelmina wanted Milly to
be happy and
to have fun. M
aybe
she would meet
her
prince charming here
.

“And leave you alone?” Milly
look at her
in shock, “I wouldn’t feel right.”

While Wilhelmina and Milly had been talking, a man wearing a black suit and a black mask with
white
feathers had walked up to them.

“Excuse me ladies,” The man bowed causing Wilhelmina and Milly to face him. He had black hair like Wilhelmina, but his eyes were the color of chocolate. Wilhelmina felt her heart skip a beat as he
returned to his normal posture
.
He must be a gentleman from the way he dressed and spoke.
“Would you mind honoring me with a dance?” He offered his hand to Wilhelmina.

“Me?” Wilhelmina asked startled.

“Who else?”
The
gentleman
smiled.

“But I…” Wilhelmina started but Milly gave her a little nudge and she reluctantly took the man’s hand. His hand was warm
and Wilhelmina felt a strange sensation throughout her body
. She looked at him startled.
“
Could he be the one?
”
Wilhelmina looked back at Milly, only to discover
that her friend
had vanished. Milly probably had gone off to find her own dance partner now that Wilhelmina was taken.

“Put your hand on my shoulder,”
t
he
gentleman
said
sweetly
as he took
Wilhelmina’s hand and rest
ed
it on h
is
shoulder.

“How did you…” Wilhelmina began as her face turned pink.

“Usually when a girl is reluctant to dance, it’s because she can’t,”
h
e
grinned
.

“Oh,” Wilhelmina said looking down at her feet.
She was very nervous and had wished that she agreed to practice dancing with Milly the other day when she had asked her.

“It’s alright
,”
he
smiled, lifting her chin, “You can practice as much as you want with me.” He put his hand on her waist, “
Ladies
have it easy. You just have to follow the
gentleman’s
lead.” With that said, he began to teach Wilhelmina to waltz. She was very nervous and stepped on his toes a couple of times,
but after a
few
waltzes
, she had
the steps down
and was feeling more confident.