The Black Rose

by Diana Sweeney

  “Orchid!” Edmund shouted as he entered his home, which was an old abandoned castle. The outside looked like it was falling apart, but on the inside; the castle looked magnificent, as if it had never once been a pile of rock. Edmund went to his room and began to undress. His room was rather dull. There was a wooden dresser and wardrobe on one side of the room and a bed on the other. There was a bathroom connected to his bedroom for convenience.

  “Orchid! Come here!” Edmund shouted again and a woman with long white hair appeared, “Hang this up,” He told her and she did as he said.

  “Lotus, draw me a bath,” Edmund directed this time to a young lady with wavy pink hair and pink eyes. Lotus was standing next to the bathroom door and at Edmund’s command, she disappeared into the bathroom.

  Edmund was frustrated with himself. He couldn’t love Wilhelmina, and yet the mere thought of her name made his heart pound. “What is wrong with me?” He thought as he tried to shake the feelings away. Lotus then reappeared and stood next to the bathroom door signaling the bath was ready. Edmund grabbed a towel and headed into the bathroom, a hot bath should help him relax and clear his mind.

  He sighed as he soaked his body in the hot water; at least one thing was going according to plan. Jerome was falling for Wilhelmina and soon he would no longer be able to resist her. This thought, however, did not please Edmund as he had hoped. He was still conflicted as to whether or not if this was what he truly wanted. On top of that he had fallen for Wilhelmina. He closed his eyes and tried to push his thoughts away.

  Days passed at the castle and as much as Wilhelmina tried, she could not persuade Milly to stop searching the palace library for records of men that might fit the mysterious man Wilhelmina had danced with at the ball. In the end Milly stopped bringing it up and did her own research based on what Wilhelmina had told her. She was determined to find this guy, despite what little information she had and Wilhelmina’s constant complaints.

  “Black hair, eyes the color of chocolate, tall, handsome,” Milly muttered as she turned page after page in the big book of birth records. “That could be anyone!” Milly was frustrated. For one she didn’t know the gentleman’s name. She also didn’t know where he was from, so he might not even be in Aridale. Milly knew he had to be a bit older than Wilhelmina judging by what she saw of him or at the very least the same age as Wilhelmina. However, that still left a lot of people and she didn’t have the time to go searching for each one to figure out who it was. Milly sighed as she closed the book. Maybe Wilhelmina was right, it was better off to wait till he decided to show himself again.

  “No you can’t give up!” Milly exclaimed and ran to look for more books. She was not one to quit.

  Meanwhile, Jerome and Edolie were spending more time together. Both wanted to get to know the other better. It seemed Jerome’s kiss had managed to catch Edolie’s attention and distract her from her wedding planning. Jerome had done his best to avoid Wilhelmina for the past few days until today when Edolie dumped him outside in the Queen’s garden. Edolie couldn’t completely stop planning for the wedding and she had plans with Delaney to go design the cake today. Unfortunately, Wilhelmina happened to be out in the gardens and it would be rude for him to leave since she had seen him.

  “Good morning,” Wilhelmina smiled giving him a curtsey.

  “Morning,” Jerome bowed and walked up to her, “What are you doing out on this fine morning?”

  “Well Milly’s…busy…,” Wilhelmina said carefully since Milly wasn’t really allowed in the king’s library, “So I decided to come out and get some fresh air and see the flowers.”

  “You’re in a cheerful mood,” Jerome said and then remembered last night. He felt a strange feeling in his chest. “You’re in love with Edolie,” He repeated the sentence a few times in his head, but the pang in his chest would not go away. Was this the curse’s doing? The man’s words echoed in his mind, ‘Anyone who gets close to her falls under her charm.’

  “Care to see the gardens? Unless you have already.”

  Wilhelmina’s voice brought Jerome back to reality. He wasn’t sure where the voice he had heard the night of the ball had come from and that made him uneasy as well. “If you don’t mind,” Jerome said offering his arm. He had to be polite and hoped this wouldn’t take too long.

  They walked in silence for a bit before Jerome decided to start a conversation to distract himself from his feelings, “This is actually my second time out here. Both times with you.”

  “Oh! Right, I forgot about the Spring Ball,” Wilhelmina said as they walked along the path through the Queen’s garden. “Edolie’s not much of a nature lover, so I guess she wouldn’t have shown you the garden.”They both remained silent after that. Jerome couldn’t think of anything else to say and Wilhelmina felt awkward being with her sister’s fiancé’.

  Jerome tried to distract himself by looking at the various flowers and plants, but the tulips, daffodils, and roses could not distract him from Wilhelmina. Why was it so hard to resist her? It wasn’t this hard before. The words of the man echoed through his head again, ‘I can see it’s already taking affect.’ Was he under the power of the curse? Jerome hadn’t realized something was wrong with him until Wilhelmina asked, “Are you alright?”

  Jerome was sweating and his face seemed a little pale. Wilhelmina touched her hand to his forehead. It felt very warm. “I think you might be getting sick, you should go get some rest,” She said removing her hand.

  “Yes, I do feel rather light headed,” Jerome lied, if anything he felt a strong desire to take Wilhelmina into his arms. “I’m going to go lay down,” he said leaving her standing in the garden alone. He had managed to resist her this time, but he worried about the next time he saw her. Jerome felt his heart return to normal as he walked to his bedroom. He was staying in one of the castle’s guest rooms for the time being. The bedding was red and gold, just like Wilhelmina’s and the rest of the castle.

  Jerome lied down on his bed and took deep breaths to calm himself. The feelings he had felt around Wilhelmina were never this strong before and he was afraid the next time he ran into her, he wouldn’t be able to resist her. He had to be more careful and do a better job avoiding Wilhelmina. After all, if what the man had said was true, it would only continue to get worse the more he saw her. Jerome took one more deep breath before closing his eyes. He hoped a nap would help calm him.

  Back in the library, Milly was still going through as many books as she could. Since Edolie had decided to spend more time with Jerome, Milly had been allowed more spare time than usual and she didn’t want to waste it. She knew she would soon have to go back to working since the wedding date was getting closer and closer.

  Milly didn’t know how many books she had gone through and wasn’t really paying attention when she grabbed them. She just picked them from the same section, so all the books were about people, from royalty to prisoners. Milly was down to a couple more books when the next one caught her eye. It was a big black book and in gold lettering on the front it said, “Enchantresses and Sorcerers.” Under it in tiny gold print was written “A Reference Book”

  Milly only knew of one enchantress, Yolande. Yolande was one of the most powerful enchantresses. The idea that there were many never occurred to her till now when she saw how thick the book was. Her curiosity got the best of her and she grabbed the book and opened it to the first page.

  This reference book contains information on all the enchantresses and sorcerers known throughout the land since the beginning of time. In this section I will provide brief information on enchantresses and sorcerers.

  Enchantresses are always women and always travelers. They do not work for anyone, but help out the various kingdoms and people when they deem necessary. They claim their purpose is to keep peace throughout the land. However, not much is known about them since they live alone and have the ability to disguise themselves as commoners and even animals. Only their female children have the ability to become an enchantr
ess.

  Sorcerers are usually men that have been trained by a previous sorcerer and in some rare cases, enchantresses. Only those that are born gifted have the ability to become a sorcerer. Usually it is genetic, but in rare cases, a normal child is born with amazing abilities and in extremely rare cases, the child of a sorcerer might not have any magical abilities.

  Sorcerers usually work for a specific person or kingdom, but some choose to live like an enchantress and roam the land. Their powers are not as strong as Enchantresses and they tend to lean to one of the four elements, fire, water, air, and earth. The color of their robe depicts their element: red for fire, blue for water, purple for air, and green for earth.

  Milly turned to the next page to find a list of sorcerers and enchantresses. The list was quite long. The sorcerers and enchantresses were organized by date and by each of the sorcerers’ names it listed the kingdom or person they worked for. If they did not work for anyone, it was left blank like the enchantresses. Milly became intrigued when she saw King Wilhelm Frederic of Aridale listed in parenthesis next to Lord Endymion Melanthius.

  She quickly turned to the page that was listed next to the sorcerer’s name. The name was near the end of the book and it was then she understood why the names were organized by date rather than name. It was because a new page was added each time a new sorcerer or enchantress became known. Milly wondered who wrote the book since it had to be magic holding the book together. Otherwise they would have to make a new book every time they wanted to update a page or add a new page.

  Out of curiosity, she quickly flipped to the last page of the book and discovered that the book was magically updated by enchantresses around the world, so when a new one was born, they were added. Milly thought that was cool and then returned to the page that had Lord Endymion Melanthius in gold print at the top. Underneath, in smaller print, was written “Lord Endymion Melanthius was a sorcerer that worked for King Wilhelm Frederic of Aridale since Wilhelm ascended the throne after his father King Frederic William of Aridale.” Milly eagerly began to read.

  Lord Endymion Melanthius was taken in at the young age of fifteen, but despite his young age his powers were strong. Lord Melanthius’s power is earth and he came as a recommendation from the enchantress, Lenora. Since Lenora was a trusted enchantress by many of the kingdoms, King Wilhelm took on the young sorcerer.

  Though the young sorcerer’s powers were strong in the beginning, they continued to grow as he worked for King Wilhelm. Lord Melanthius used his powers to help the kingdom, making it rain in time of droughts and mixing herbs to heal the weak. He also used his powers to care for Queen Henrietta Anne’s garden. Queen Henrietta, who lacked children at the time, was fond of the boy and treated him like he was her own son.

  Lord Melanthius was infamous for being able to enter and exit Fantasme Forest without harm. He often brought back exotic plants for the queen, including her favorite, the blue rose, and the mysterious lumaira, a flower that glows at night.

  When Lord Melanthius reached the age of eighteen, he began to practice dark magic, a form of magic that is forbidden in the kingdom of Aridale. There was only one book in King Wilhelm’s library that even mentioned dark magic: “Celewyn’s Dark Demise.” The book held the history of Celewyn and its practice of the dark magic. To prevent the same situation from happening again, King Wilhelm had the book burned.

  Milly was very interested now. She didn’t know the king and queen used to have a sorcerer. She remembered the stories of Celewyn though. Celewyn was a kingdom that had existed to the north of Aridale. The kingdom had been replaced by a forest, which was now known as Fantasme Forest.

  Fantasme Forest was said to be a magical forest full of strange plants and creatures. Milly remembered stories of how people would enter the forest, but never return. At first, she thought it was a just a scary story parents told their children. However one day she noticed a group of kids daring one another to enter the forest. One of the adults quickly came running and scolded the children. She never saw such fear in a mother’s eye. It was then she realized it might not be a story and that there was a real fear of the forest.

  Fantasme Forest is rumored to be a result of the Black Demise. The Black Demise is the name the people of Aridale had given to the day Celewyn disappeared. It is said that they had created some kind of weapon and had planned to use it to take over the other kingdoms and rule the land. However, the plan backfired and instead it destroyed them. None of the people survived. It was a very haunting story and sometimes Milly wondered if it was a story or if it was the truth. Milly sighed and continued reading.

  Lord Melanthius was discovered using dark magic by the palace maids. They claimed he had taken a rose from Queen Henrietta’s garden and turned it into a beautiful maiden. Practicing dark magic was a crime and the punishment was exile.

  King Wilhelm was worried though that the young sorcerer might try to attack. He called upon the great Enchantress, Yolande, in order to help him banish Lord Melanthius. Yolande was willing to destroy Lord Melanthius if need be, but she hoped it would not come to that. The sorcerer did not put up a fight and disappeared into Fantasme Forest for he had nowhere else to go.

  Milly was extremely excited and desperately wanted to know more, but there was nothing else written. She had to share this book with Wilhelmina. It was a part of the kingdom’s history that both of them did not know. Why wasn’t the kingdom worried about Lord Melanthius? If he lives in Fantasme Forest, isn’t that close to Aridale? Wouldn’t they worry he might use dark magic to destroy the kingdom? Why didn’t the king and queen ever get a new sorcerer?

  Milly wanted to read more about Lenora and Yolande, but feared that she would be caught with the book. She didn’t actually have permission to be looking through books in the king’s library. Also, it was obvious the king and queen did not want her to know about Lord Melanthius or else they would have told her the story a long time ago. Queen Henrietta used to tell Wilhelmina, Milly, and Edolie bedtime stories when they were little about the kingdom of Aridale. This one was never told. Milly didn’t think it was accidental. She grabbed the book and hurried to Wilhelmina’s room.

  Wilhelmina hoped Jerome would be alright. She went to find her sister to let her know that Jerome wasn’t feeling well. Maybe Edolie’s presence would cheer him up and help him recover faster. However, Edolie’s reaction to the news made Wilhelmina worry about her decision. Her younger sister had panicked at the news and ran off to Jerome’s room.

  “Nice work,” Delaney joked as the other girls giggled.

  “I just thought she should know,” Wilhelmina said innocently before leaving to check on Edolie and Jerome. She didn’t really fit in with Edolie’s group. As much as she loved Milly, she couldn’t help but wish she had more friends. Especially since lately Milly only seemed to care about finding the gentleman that Wilhelmina had danced with. She wondered why Milly cared so much and sighed. She already knew the answer. Milly was her best friend, so of course she cared. She just had a habit of taking things to the extreme. Wilhelmina giggled. Overall, Milly was a good friend and Wilhelmina was glad to have her.

  Edolie had sprinted to Jerome’s room, which was a miracle since she was wearing gold high heeled shoes and a white dress. When she arrived, she discovered he was still sleeping so she sat down on the edge of his bed. Edolie put her hand on his forehead. He didn’t appear to have a fever. Jerome began to move and she quickly stood up; she hadn’t meant to wake him.

  “I’m sorry,” Edolie stuttered as Jerome sat up.

  “Edolie,” Jerome said startled and then smiled.

  “I heard you were sick, I was worried,” Edolie mumbled feeling embarrassed, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “It’s alright, I feel much better now,” Jerome said resting his hand on Edolie’s cheek, “now that you’re here.” Edolie looked cute when she blushed and Jerome couldn’t resist kissing her. Her lips were soft and sweet. He wrapped his other arm around her waist as she rested her hand
s on his shoulders.

  Jerome was glad Edolie had come to check on him. She was the only thing that could save him from his feelings toward Wilhelmina. Every time he kissed her, he fell more in love with her. Jerome knew that he had to avoid Wilhelmina at all costs and keep his feelings for Edolie strong if he wanted to avoid the powers of the curse.

  Walking back to her room, Wilhelmina noticed Jerome’s door was open and looked in to see how things were going, only to quickly walk away. Her face turned bright red from seeing such a scene and her mind quickly rewound to when she kissed her mystery man at the Masquerade Ball. She blushed and hurried back to her room. She secretly hoped Milly had given up searching for her mysterious man. A good distraction was what she needed.

  Chapter 7

  When Wilhelmina arrived to her room, she found a very excited Milly. Her words ran together and Wilhelmina had no idea what she was talking about. Milly was walking around Wilhelmina’s room, sitting down on her bed, standing up, opening her dresser drawers, looking at her clothes, and even walking in and out of Wilhelmina’s bathroom. Milly must have found something interesting to cause this much excitement. The last time she went this crazy was when she found out Wilhelmina wasn’t to be the next queen. That, however, was angry crazy, this was definitely excitement.

  “Milly!” Wilhelmina shouted to quiet her friend. If she wanted to know what was going on, she’d need Milly to calm down. Silence fell upon the room and Milly turned to face Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina sighed, “Slow down, now who is this Lord Melanthius?”

  “Sorry,” Milly said realizing she had been rambling. She then sat down on Wilhelmina’s bed, which was where she had placed the book she found in the library. Milly picked up the book, “I found this book in the library.” She held up the book so Wilhelmina could see.