And then a slim, cloaked figure walked just into view. She told herself it was simply Morgana, but the figure turned around, as if sensing her eyes, and it was an older woman with tight blonde curls. That was definitely not Morgana.
A thief? A witch? Our garden is in danger.
She gripped the doorknob, and no voice warned her to stop. As quietly as possible, she slipped out into the night and shut the door behind her. The mysterious blonde woman was already far down the garden path, nearing the fountain. There would be no way to follow her without being openly seen. If she turned out to be another witch, walking after her was like suicide, and Corinna had had just about enough of being in a witch’s line of view.
‘Hide,’ the voices urged in her ear, and, to her surprise, the rose bushes closest to the wall seemed to bend and create a crawl space for her to move through. For a moment, Corinna deliberated. Was it truly worth the risk of thorns and making too much noise to crawl under the bushes and follow this woman? The roses seemed to think so.
“Who’s there?” an unfamiliar voice called, and it came from the direction of the fountain. Corinna’s heart sped and she nearly dove into the opened space beneath the bushes. As soon as she was in, the roses reformed around the end, hiding her completely from view.
Wow. When she had first encountered the roses, she’d recognized them as magical, but not to this extent. Morgana’s magic had truly given these flora an amazing power. Beyond the roses, a figure moved and stopped not four feet from where Corinna sat. The blonde intruder looked about and stared intently at all the bushes in the garden. She was moving slowly, so slowly that Corinna could barely tell she was moving through the leaves and petals of her covering. Still, she could see the woman was only moments away from discovering her, magical flowers or not.
“Morgause?” Morgana’s voice drew both Corinna and the intruder’s attentions back toward the fountain. Morgause?! The witch who had cursed Alexander?
“Sister,” the blonde woman, Morgause, replied. She stepped up to Morgana and placed her hands upon Morgana’s shoulders. “Tell me, do you have any gnomes in your garden?”
“What? Of course not,” Morgana said, her tone one of incredulity. “How could you think I’d let something so problematic into the garden with Alexander’s tree?”
“Of course. Of course. Forgive me, Morgana. I must have been imagining things,” the woman cooed. She placed her hand upon Morgana’s cheek and stroked it with her thumb. “Tell me news, Sister.”
This was Morgana’s sibling? Corinna thought back to all the lessons she’d learned in school, but she couldn’t recall a single one that described a sister for Morgana. Were they truly related or did Morgause only refer to Morgana as ‘sister’ because they were both witches? Was Morgana honestly related to the deceiving witch who entered Paesaggia’s castle and cast the creature spell on the prince? Corinna shifted to get a better view of them through the thicket.
“Alexander’s roses have begun to taint,” Morgana stated, almost with glee. “He believes it is just the edges of a few of the leaves, but in truth the rotting has begun to infect the branches and the roots. When these roses fall off and die, it will all be over for Alexander.”
“Perfect,” Morgause purred. She moved beyond her sister and straight for the fountain. Morgana was close behind, but Corinna had to crawl carefully so as not to make noise. Luckily for her, this Morgause was in no hurry for speech. When she finally got as close as she could manage, Morgause was just pulling her fingers from the water and standing up straight.
“Morgause, there is something I must tell you,” Morgana spoke, voice softer, heavier than before. Morgause flicked the water from her fingers onto the tree and then turned to face her sister.
“What is it, Sister? What is worrying you? Everything is going according to plan,” Morgause said. “Soon, Alexander’s curse will be completed and all of Paesaggia will be ours for the taking, for we both know that while Alexander’s heart was dark enough to become a beast, what he values most in this life is not himself but his kingdom and its people. Soon, Morgana, we will have no trouble at all in taking over this beautiful land for magic once again and removing from power that hateful man they call king.”
“Yes, of course, but there may be a problem,” Morgana said. She turned and paced slowly around the fountain as she spoke. “You remember the vision I foretold about the girl coming to live here in the castle. I saw the servants happier than I had in some time, so I had no quarrel with the idea… But there is an issue.”
“What? What has she done?” Morgause asked, stepping up to meet Morgana as she came back around the fountain. Now they were even closer to Corinna.
“As of yet, I can detect nothing she’s done,” Morgana began. She looked up at Corinna’s windows, which were bright and incandescent. “But I fear she has learned how to break the curse and is trying to help Alexander realize it too.”
“What?” Morgause spat like venom. She too threw her gaze up at Corinna’s windows. Then her gaze snapped back to Morgana, like the quick movement of a snake strike. “Sister, are you sure?”
“She mentioned to me some time ago that she knew love to be the only thing in legends that could break such a powerful curse,” Morgana said.
“That means nothing. It’s just a school yard idea,” Morgause excused, her voice soft and harsh – somewhere between anger and fear.
“That is not all.” Morgana lowered her head as if ashamed of her next piece of evidence. Corinna’s heart raced. She felt herself sliding into unspeakable danger. Two angry, plotting witches were discussing her and how she had unknowingly stepped into the path of their plans.
“Tell me, Morgana,” Morgause urged, placing her hands softly on her sister’s shoulders. “I will not hold it against you.”
“The spell book has vanished from the second floor library,” Morgana half choked out. Morgause snapped away from her sister and stared intently up at the glow of Corinna’s windows. No wonder the roses had warned her to leave the candles lit. Corinna pressed herself back as far as the house would let her, and waited for Morgause’s intensity to literally lift her into the air. She half expected Morgause to fly up to her windows to check for her, but the blonde remained firmly attached to the ground. Corinna wasn’t sure which would make her feel safer.
“Perhaps you took it out and misplaced it,” Morgause suggested. Now she truly did sound afraid, and Corinna couldn’t begin to understand why. “Only someone of magic can remove the book from its shelf.”
“I know. I realized this too,” Morgana said. She moved to stand perpendicular to the fountain and dipped down to ghost her fingers over the surface of the water. “I thought perhaps it was a fluke. She’s wearing one of my bracelets, after all, but then I remembered other things she’s done since arriving here.”
She took her fingers from the water and pressed the first two against her forehead, directly between her eyes. At once, her eyes became cloudy and bright like morning dew. She was using her vision, Corinna could sense it.
“She speaks to the flowers as though she can hear them whispering in return,” Morgana said. Her eyes were moving indiscriminate amounts, a bit as if she were watching a play that only she was privy to. “Her way with the plants is undeniable. They grow brighter at her very touch. And even if that is all circumstantial… She touched the water of the fountain and did not flinch. And immediately after, she laid eyes on the tree of roses.”
“You think she has magic?” Morgause asked, voice barely above a whisper, but in the quiet night Corinna could hear it clearly. Her heart felt as though it had frozen in her chest at the accusing words, and she was having difficulty melting it. Morgana’s eyes returned from their foggy state.
“I see no other explanation. It may be weak, but she is definitely of our kind,” she said, nodding and seeming possibly more shaken than her sister. “I’ve felt a power growing in my visions. I fear it may be Corinna. What am I supposed to do? If she continues to eat
her meals here, she’ll surely grow stronger by the day.”
“Calm yourself, Sister,” Morgause urged, placing her hand on Morgana’s shoulder. “We shouldn’t worry about her. Eating our food may be what has triggered her magic to surface, but there is nothing to fear. So long as she does not realize what the changes around her mean, she will be of no threat to us or our plans.”
“But she knows how to break the curse!” Morgana seemed to whine, and it was odd to hear such a thing come from her.
“Just keep an eye on her, Morgana. Should she begin to get too close to the breaking point, you will think of something to remove her as an obstacle. Now… I must return to the capital,” Morgause said, turning and walking a few feet down the pathway.
“Morgause,” Morgana called out to stop her. “Why do you stay in Paesaggia and not here with me? And why must I stay here while you are out in the city?”
“Simple, dear one. I stay to watch the kingdom rot, just as you stay to watch the roses. We must be certain the young prince’s deepest desire is still his father’s kingdom. Now, don’t worry. I shall return in a month’s time unless you call on me sooner.”
And then, without moving an inch from her position, Morgause vanished. She almost seemed to shiver out of existence, right through the outer wall of the garden and into the air. Corinna stayed pinned against the wall, watching Morgana carefully. If she became a threat, Morgana was to remove her as an obstacle. She didn’t want to give her any excuses right now.
The dark haired sorceress turned to the tree and flicked her fingers at it. Speckles of water flew from her fingertips as if she has just pulled them from the fountain. She frowned and lowered her hand back under her cloak.
“Is it fate that has brought you here… or was it me?” she asked the tree, but Corinna felt the words directed more toward her. Then Morgana stepped off to the side, as though to walk right through where Corinna was crouching, and shimmered away like her sister.
Corinna, the newly discovered sorceress, stayed stock still where she sat, breathing deep and quiet. Her heart hammered against her breast, and she felt light headed. For some time, she stayed there, worried that one of the sisters would return. As time dragged on, however, she realized she was most certainly alone in the garden. She crawled her way back to the other end of the bushes, not chancing walking in direct view of anything, and pulled herself up to a standing position at the end.
She swore she heard the flowers cooing at her, and she waved at them as she pushed through the door. The clock must have recently struck midnight, because Corinna could hear Alexander’s piano drifting in from the ballroom. Corinna leaned against one of the stair’s columns for support. Would it be better to ignore the flowers or continue to indulge them? She felt herself going crazy already. She was a sorcerer? Her? But she had always been just a poor farmer’s daughter, the local garden girl. If she had been born with powers, her family definitely would have been better off.
‘Well it’s perfectly fine for a person with magic to eat magically grown food. It makes them stronger in their skills because the food is infused with magic.’ She could hear Isabelle in her memory from their picnic.
She had been eating magical food. No wonder the apple wasn’t too addicting to stop. Corinna lifted her arm up to stare at the sleeping bracelet Morgana had given her. She tugged at it and tried to slide it off, but to no avail. It was too small to get over her hand and there was no visible way to unclasp it. She was stuck with it. Corinna groaned and wished she truly did have magic. Then she could just use some type of spell to get it off.
With each day, Morgana swore Corinna grew stronger. Perhaps she regretted giving this band to her now. If Corinna wasn’t so frightened of confronting her right now, she’d go look for Morgana and ask her to take the band off. And then her eyes landed on the symbol carved into the gold, the old language she couldn’t understand. And yet, it suddenly made sense to her. In place of an unfamiliar character of the old language on her wrist, she clearly read and understood the word ‘slumber’.
Oh, by the heavens, Corinna was a sorcerer.
Chapter 15 – Nobility of the Blood
“Hey,” Corinna began, lying on the floor of Alexander’s room. She was on her stomach, picking out the intricacies of Alexander’s hand sewn rug, which were hidden between the reds and golds. “Alexander, you wouldn’t happen to have anyone you cared about, would you? And I mean like… really cared about. Here or back in Paesaggia. Or anywhere really… Do you?”
She crossed her ankles and raised her eyes up to the crackling fireplace. Behind her, Alexander shifted his place on the right side couch and cleared his throat. Corinna turned and looked over her shoulder. The prince was reading about his heritage today. Corinna didn’t care so much for that, though, so she busied herself with other things.
“Perhaps,” the blonde creature grunted. He shrugged his great shoulders and lowered his face closer to the pages of his book, as though that ended the conversation.
“Perhaps?” Corinna prodded, rolling over to get a better vantage point.
“What do you think?” Alexander asked, lowering his book and looking over at his house guest. “I don’t exactly get the chance to meet a lot of people, do I?”
“I don’t know,” Corinna said, shrugging and sitting up. “You met me.”
“And I’m supposed to instantly care about you and your wellbeing?”
“That would be nice,” Corinna said and nodded. Then she stopped and frowned. She held her hands up in front of her, between herself and a rather stunned looking Alexander. “Not to say that you should really like me. I was just thinking back to our conversations on empathy.”
“Right,” Alexander said at length. He set his book down and crossed his arms loosely. “Well I think you’ll agree I’ve made quite a lot of progress with that.”
“Yes. You can even guess when people grow nervous around you because of things you say… like at dinner last night.” Corinna moved to sit across from Alexander on the opposite couch. She was feeling a bit too hot from the fire.
“It didn’t take a genius to realize Belle was offended when I called her brother a hooligan,” Alexander contested.
“No, but it is proof that you’re becoming a better person. You can deny it, but I think you honestly felt bad about your comment after you said it,” Corinna said, smiling over at the prince. It was slow at first, but Alexander genuinely seemed to understand the effect of his harsh comments these days. He didn’t talk much around the other servants, but when he did, he was usually crass and rude. Last night had been a huge show of his improvement.
“Of course I did. Isabelle is… probably my best friend,” Alexander replied, rolling his shoulders and looking away from Corinna. How cute. Alexander was embarrassed.
“That’s proof you’re getting better as well. A servant is your best friend, and you aren’t ashamed to admit it.” Corinna nodded and sat up straight on the couch. “You may yet make it out of this curse alive.”
“I’m sorry? Alive?”
“You can’t tell me you didn’t know,” Corinna said, frowning. Sure, Corinna had only learned it by reading the book, but you’d think someone would have told Alexander by now. Morgause could’ve done it when she cursed him. Morgana could have told him in these last seven years. Heck, Niviene sounded as if she came and went as she pleased. She could have told him. She seemed to know everything else. No one had explained the end of the curse to Alexander?
“My curse is to live for the rest of my life, alone and ugly. No one said anything about dying,” Alexander said, sounding both angry at the suggestion and worried of its validity.
“According to the magic book, when the curse is completed and the roses on your tree are dead, someone is going to die along with them.” Corinna shifted her weight back and forth, uncomfortable under the impeding gaze of Alexander. “I thought you knew.”
“No. I just thought that if they bloomed more beautifully, I would be released from
the curse. But thank you. Now I have an even larger problem to worry about.” Alexander’s words were sarcastic, but his body claimed anxiety. He seemed tense, twitchy. He rubbed his foot into the rug and let out a harsh grunt.
“No, no.” Corinna puts her hands up and waved them hurriedly to draw the prince’s attention back to her. “No, you don’t have to worry about it. See, you’re becoming a better person, Alexander. If you honestly try for it, you’ll succeed. This curse won’t have any power over you. Your roses will bloom brightly again and you will be released from it. No one is going to die.”
Corinna put her hands on her knees and held them tight. Alexander’s mouth was thin line, and his eyes were a piercing azure. They shifted minutely, scanning the details of Corinna’s posture, her expression, her tone. Then he opened his mouth just a hair and took a deep breath.
“How can you be so sure all of the time?” he asked as though the very concept made him tired.
“Because I’m here,” Corinna replied, smiling confidently and nodding. “I’m not going to stay here forever. And neither is anyone else.”
The Rose Chateau Page 17
