“You certainly are sure of yourself,” Alexander commented lightly. He let a small smirk grace his features, which seemed gentler than Corinna’s first account of him. Perhaps it was the way the light was hitting him or that Corinna’s own perception had changed, but Alexander definitely didn’t look as menacing as usual.
“I’m certainly sure of you,” Corinna said.
Alexander stopped smirking and just looked at Corinna, and Corinna stared right back at him. In the span of a moment, they spent a lifetime gazing into one another’s souls, registering what infinite possible ideas could be running through the other’s mind and wondering which to comment on. Corinna blinked, and it felt like it took much too long. In her mind, she thought of the growing night outside, even though the sun had only just descended into evening. It was still orange out the windows. Still, Corinna thought of the dark and the large door that kept her from the music and the ballroom.
“Alexander,” she said, breaking the magic and startling the prince out of whatever daydream he’d been experiencing while gazing into Corinna’s eyes. “You play music in the ballroom at night.”
“What?” Alexander snapped, eyes growing dark with concern.
“I heard it, and Morgana told me about the break at midnight,” Corinna explained. Alexander’s fur seemed to shift, to stand stiffer if that were possible. “It’s really beautiful music. You should feel proud. Um… but I was just wondering if maybe I could listen inside the doors for once. I’m always stuck on the outside.”
“No.” Alexander’s answer was swift, no sign of hesitation, and he stood up as he spoke. He moved around the couch and strode quickly to the window. He stood beside it like a foreboding statue, like one of the gargoyles on the fence.
“Why not? I bet it sounds even better inside the ballroom. Plus, Belle gets to be in there, and I think it would be interesting to see you as yourself for once,” Corinna tried again, but stopped abruptly when Alexander’s fist collided with the window, causing it to shatter out in the shape of a large hole.
“No! I don’t want you in there!” he shouted. Corinna jumped and flattened herself against the back of the couch.
“Why?” Corinna asked, voice firm. She slowly rose from her chair and clenched her fists. She was about to tread on a sensitive subject. “Because it’s too personal and I don’t belong…. Or because you’re afraid I’ll see what you look like and realize you’re the son of the king of Paesaggia?”
Alexander turned on his heel and gave a hard look at Corinna. He stepped over to the couch and rested his clawed hands on the back to support himself.
“Careful, Corinna. The more you open your big mouth, the more you make it harder to believe you’re not some conniving sorcerer. Now who told you I was the son of a king?” he asked, voice steady and challenging.
“My uncle, the doctor. And he was told by the court physician of Paesaggia… who was told by your father,” Corinna said. There was a long breath of silence. “The king’s son is a curse of a man who was sent to live in the forest until his father could find a cure for his illness. That was the story my uncle brought home, trembling in his soul.”
“Well your uncle was misinformed,” Alexander mused. He smiled sourly, a warning for Corinna to drop it.
“I also found the pictures in the second floor room. I saw the pictures of you and your family. Even if I didn’t already know you were a prince, that room proves this house is owned by the royal family. It’s a timeline of their reign. Not even the noblest of nobles would have that in their home,” Corinna continued anyway.
“Well maybe his royal highness loaned it to me. Or maybe I commandeered it with Morgana’s help,” Alexander tried again, his smile becoming a testy scowl.
“Is your lineage a taboo in this house?” Corinna asked, exasperation evident in her voice. She raised her arms up in defeat and then dropped them back to her sides. “You come from a great and noble background. What is so wrong with that?”
“There is nothing left that is noble of that bloodline,” Alexander hissed, lowering his accompanying glare to the seat of the couch.
“Just because your father lost sight of what was important,” Corinna began, lowering her voice to a delicate sound, “doesn’t mean your family has lost its nobility. You can still be the king your kingdom desires, the king it needs to right all the wrongs of your father and prove that valor and truth are still prevalent in your bloodline.”
Alexander sighed. “That’s funny. I’ve only ever heard that nonsense from Gavin at dinner… Where did you hear that peasant dream?”
“From a great man of noble birth,” Corinna revealed. Alexander raised his gaze up to watch Corinna once again. He looked sad, like he wished he could believe what Corinna was saying but couldn’t find it within himself to do so. Corinna let out a small whisper of a laugh and replaced herself on the couch. There was only one way to prove she was telling the truth. She looked down at her hands as she drew memories of her home to the forefront of her mind.
“He was the son of a nobleman, but he grew to hate what some nobles, like his father, stood for… and he came to my town to start a new life, somewhere where no one would recognize him. He got a job on one of the farms, but he had a terrible work ethic and he preferred to drink at night rather than sleep… Still, he was a good man and could always be counted on to be there when you needed him. He always knew what to say and never flinched at getting revenge for a friend who’d been wronged.” Corinna closed her hands slowly, watching the way they moved. Alexander watched too. “He distracted me from work all the time, but he always got me to smile. We had a good time.”
“Sounds like he was important to you,” Alexander murmured, his gruff tone making it sound sympathetic and also slightly annoyed.
“Yes. He was my truest and only friend, and I was his,” Corinna revealed. She smiled up at Alexander, but it was infected with the same sadness that had covered everything about her uncle the night he told them about his adventure. “But I’ve been here for a full season already. By now he has taken my advice and returned to live with his father… and I shall probably never see him again.”
Wet. Corinna’s eyes squinted, and she let out a grunt of displeasure. She grit her teeth and took a deep breath, but it was for nothing. Sh could still feel the slow drops moving down her cheeks. Corinna hid her eyes in her elbow, rubbing uselessly at them. It may have helped, but the more she thought of Alastar, the more she realized how true that statement probably was. She’d told Alastar to repair his relationship with his father. It was almost like Corinna’s final wish. Alastar would have definitely tried by now. He was almost certainly back in the capital. Peasants could rarely request audiences with the nobility. Corinna would truly never see her friend again even if she managed to get out of this place.
There was a hand on Corinna’s shoulder that she ignored. She could feel the blunt tips of the claws on her back as they slowly, hesitantly moved down and around her. Then, as Corinna moved her arm down to make room for her fingers to try and push the tears away, she felt the soft fur rub against the backs of her hands and wherever it could brush her face. She tried not to, but she sniffled then, and the fur tickled her nose. Corinna raised her watery eyes from her hands and looked up at Alexander as much as she could.
Alexander was hugging her, held close to the furry chest. Corinna wanted to complain, to refuse comfort from the one she should probably be blaming for her life here in the first place, but she couldn’t. Alexander was soft and warm, more comforting in his awkward, nervous hold than in any human embrace Corinna had yet felt. The young sorceress leaned her body against Alexander’s and felt, more than heard, the beast suck in a tentative breath. She understood. It was off for her as well. She had never been so emotional before… not since her father died.
“I’m sorry,” Alexander offered, though he sounded unsure of whether that was what Corinna wanted to hear. Corinna shrugged and let out a sigh.
“I-I know,” she murmured
. “But you couldn’t change it anymore even if you wanted to.”
“I’m trapped here until my curse is broken or until I die. And I have no power to see another noble until that day. So when you own up to your ideals and break the curse, you shall see your friend again. I promise,” Alexander said. This odd shivering motion ran through the prince’s chest, and only his chest, and then Corinna was left alone on her couch. Alexander cleared his throat and moved back to his couch and his many books.
“Thank you,” Corinna answered.
-----------------------------------------------
After night had fallen and dinner had been taken, Corinna grabbed her gardening book and took a seat beside the locked ballroom doors. Maybe if she could catch Alexander as he went in, the prince would actually let her come. Corinna was here every night anyway. She was showing dedication. But the day was against her. She was halfway done with her book, somewhere between pruning and water portioning, when the clock struck eleven and her eyes slipped shut. Her book slid down and onto the polished floor, clattering softly but not waking Corinna from her slumber.
It was a pleasant sleep, induced by Morgana’s bracelet, which she had been as of yet unsuccessful in removing. She saw herself dancing with her mother in the yard, collecting herbs with her uncle that she didn’t understand, and trying to jump the river with Alastar until they both ended up wet and swept away twenty feet downstream. Alastar was laughing, but it was a musical sound that sounded more and more like keystrokes on the music room piano.
Corinna snapped her eyes open and gasped, sitting up straight. How long had she been sleeping? Or remembering?
Alexander’s music played out from inside the ballroom, filling the space outside the doors with sound even louder than normal. Setting neatly on Corinna’s lap was her rose book, closed and placed on her upper thighs. The dark haired girl turned curious eyes on it, rubbing her hand over the cover and then holding it tightly on the spine. The chances of her book falling shut perfectly centered on her thighs when she fell asleep holding it up were slim to none. Someone must have picked it up and put it there while she was under. The options were Belle and Alexander, and to be honest Corinna didn’t know which she would prefer.
Corinna turned her head to the side, to gaze at the small space between the door and the floor, but a figure caught her attention and she looked up to the far windows that lead to the garden. Morgana was staring at her, and she seemed just as shocked about Corinna as Corinna was about her – almost like Corinna had been staring first and caught Morgana in an awkward situation. Then, before Corinna could calm her heart enough to react, Morgana flinched into a calmer demeanor and hurriedly walked out of view.
The idea that she’d possibly been asleep while Morgana watched made her shiver. The conniving witch’s electric eyes had shocked her, and she could feel their power singeing through her veins. Corinna pushed herself to her feet and shook her arms out, book in hand. Then, blood pumping, she walked stock-like to the front door of the manor. Her brain told her nothing would be waiting for her out here, but her gut told her to try anyway… and under the recent circumstances, she was finding her gut harder to ignore.
The yard was bare of people and animals, but the bushes seemed tamer and the walk was mostly leaf free. Corinna stepped out into the midst of the yard, still on the thin stone path, and frowned. No one greeted her.
“Niviene,” she called into the night. “I know you can hear me. I don’t really have time for your witchy games right now. Show yourself.”
“Pushy, aren’t we?” Niviene’s voice replied. Corinna spun on her heel and stopped when she was facing the house again. Niviene sat on the second to last stair, a displeased frown on her face. “Haven’t you learned to tell time, cousin? It’s late.”
“Aha! See? I knew you knew,” Corinna exclaimed, pointing accusingly at the dark haired woman as she stepped closer. Niviene seemed unaffected. “You called me ‘cousin’. You knew I had magic, didn’t you?”
“Even the smallest magic can be felt by certain people. It was weaker then, but yes… I felt the magic in your veins. What is your point?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Would it have honestly made any difference to you?” she asked, lifting herself to her feet without the use of her hands. It was such a seamless move that it may as well have been the product of the air itself.
“Of course. I’ve lived almost nineteen years of my life as a normal human. Knowing that eating the food here would eventually bring out a slight magical ability would have been a wonderful warning.” Corinna grunted and placed her hands on her hips. She matched Niviene in height, but Niviene was standing on the last stair and it made her quite a bit taller.
“Would you have believed me? As far as my knowledge records it, I don’t believe you had even heard of the food’s magical properties. You certainly are expecting a lot to come from me. Do you honestly believe that you would have trusted my word so far?” she asked. Her playfully cat-like grin was back in place on her perfect, paper skin.
“So far, I see no reason not to. You’re the most trustworthy witch I have yet to meet,” Corinna admitted. Her hands slid from her hips and hung loosely at her side. Niviene dropped her smile as well and adopted a simply curious expression.
“You should have met me a decade ago. Trust me. You would not think so highly of me then,” she said.
“A lot changes in ten years,” Corinna replied. “You obviously calmed down, and I became a wizard.”
Niviene smiled at that, and there was something almost achingly familiar about it, though Corinna couldn’t begin to imagine where she knew the image from. Niviene reached out and ran her fingers through Corinna’s short locks before she focused on her eyes and got back on subject
“What is it you wanted of me, Corinna? I don’t think you’d wake a lady at midnight just to talk about your new, inherent abilities,” she said and moved around the younger woman to stare out the gate.
“No. You’re right. I came out here because I need your help. Morgana and Morgause know I possess magic,” Corinna said. “And they are prepared to kill me if I try to break the curse.”
Niviene grew rigid, her shoulders tensing, her back becoming far too straight to be comfortable. She turned as though on a pedestal and scrutinized Corinna carefully.
“Morgause has entered the castle’s gate?” she asked. “I thought she was holed up in Paesaggia.”
“No. She came to visit Morgana a few nights ago. She told Morgana to remove me as a problem if I got too close to breaking the curse. But you said I wouldn’t be harmed. You said trying to break the curse wouldn’t put me in danger. I don’t know about you, but I would definitely classify this as danger. It’s Morgause for heaven’s sake! She’s the one who cursed Alexander to begin with. And Morgana – she’s recorded as being the offspring of lust and loneliness, one of the most powerful witches ever to live. How do you expect me to fight that?”
“Shut your mouth,” Niviene hissed, and all sound left Corinna’s throat the second her lips met again. She frowned and tried to speak, but only air escaped. Niviene stepped up close to her and held the back of her neck. “You fear them both so much because of the evil they have done and the rumors they themselves spread throughout the world, and yet you say you fear nothing of me. Me, who so easily snuck up on you and who gave you a purpose in this house and who has now taken away your voice without so much as a spell. I could kill you without a moment’s thought, or I could bind you to this house for the rest of eternity and extend your life by decades so you could watch your loved ones die long before you without ever getting to speak to them again. You fear the known irrationally more than you fear the unknown. Tell me, Corinna, do you fear them more than me?”
Corinna narrowed her eyes at the witch, who grinned almost sadistically back. Her long fingers played piano on Corinna’s neck and the first two lightly toyed with the bottom of her hair, as though threatening to pull it. Corinna still coul
dn’t speak, but she could feel. Niviene was toying with her just like she was with her hair. The older witch’s power radiated in Corinna and created a warm ball in her throat where her voice should spring from. She had rendered Corinna speechless with an order and not a spell. She truly was showing more power than Morgana had so far revealed.
But it was warm.
Corinna stared directly into Niviene’s eyes and reached up to grab the hand on the back of her neck. She closed her fingers around Niviene’s wrist and the woman’s fingers stopped moving. When her attention was solely on Corinna’s face, Corinna pressed her lips together and nodded in strict, quick movements. Niviene frowned curiously and took a step back from her. She pulled her arm from Corinna’s grip as she did and trailed her fingers over her collarbone as she moved away.
“You’re silly, Corinna,” she said. “I’m in your face and threatening you, and yet you still trust me over those petty siblings and their aromatic buds.”
“Absolutely,” Corinna answered, not at all shocked her voice had returned. The warmth from her neck had begun to dissipate as soon as the fingers left her collar. “I need you to help me. If you want me to help Alexander, I need some protection from them… some guarantee I’ll at least have a bit of warning before they decide to attack me.”
The Rose Chateau Page 18
