Corinna decided it was best not to mention how Morgana was merely masking the true state of the roses. She still didn’t understand Morgana’s purpose here. Why was she only letting Morgause see the true decay? What was her plan? Corinna shook her head and moved over to Alexander. She put her hand on the bare, blonde shoulder.
“You have more friends than you realize, Alexander Knight,” she said, her fingers gently stroking the fur beneath them. “And I shall always be one of them.”
“Thanks, Corinna,” Alexander said and turned his head toward his friend. “And for the record, I am sorry for the way things worked out for you, but I could not have asked for a better visitor.”
“And I could have definitely asked for a better jailer, but you’re doing pretty well,” Corinna teased. Alexander smiled and dropped his head down between his arms. Corinna leaned her head on Alexander’s shoulder.
And the prince cried.
Chapter 20 – Winter Worries
Corinna felt something dusty, cold and wet splatter across her cheek and flake down into her collar. She shivered and cried out in her shock. Isabelle was giggling, but Alexander was the one who looked innocently criminal. Corinna pursed her lips and bent down to the ground. Cupping her hands, she scooped up a pile of snowflakes and mashed them together into a wobbly sphere. Then, while Alexander pretended to be guiltless, Corinna pulled back her arm and launched her ball of white fluff directly at the back of Alexander’s head.
The prince let out a beastly growl and grabbed at his now wet scalp. He turned and glared at Corinna, but the farm girl just shrugged and grabbed her shovel. Belle was shaking her head and shoveling snow off the front path as was the plan for this morning.
Corinna was bundled up in borrowed clothes that used to belong to Alexander. She wore her normal clothing underneath, but the decadent, embroidered cloak draped about her shoulders was definitely made for a prince. It was long and deep violet with the traditional Paesaggia red threaded around the edges and tying it shut. Corinna thanked her height for once, because the cloak was made for a growing Alexander and would have dragged along the ground had Corinna been any shorter.
Alexander was wearing a contemporary Paesaggian cloak, red with a golden knight threaded in the center of his back, but he wore it open and didn’t seem too affected by the cold of the season around them. Belle was bundled up in an old yellow robe she claimed was left to her by her mother. They had assembled on this frozen morning to salvage the path that led to the front gate. No one usually came or went, they knew, but Sir Ellis’s patterns were unusual these days, and they were expected to keep the house presentable at all times regardless.
The yard was a solid white, almost like an ocean of snow. Corinna was tempted to throw herself into it, but she knew she would simply squish it away under her weight and drench herself in melting particles. So while the idea was extremely tempting, she did her best to resist it. Instead, she stuck by Belle and scraped the front walk clear of snow until all that was left was the brown dirt – what was left of the beautiful green summer ground.
Belle checked her every other moment or so, never fully satisfied that she was alright outside in the cold. Alexander was checking her too, but in his own way. The cloak Corinna wore was Alexander’s way of taking care of Corinna. It wasn’t as though Corinna was dying or anything, but the two of them had begun to worry this morning.
Corinna paused in her sweeping to cough harshly into her hand. She shook her head to clear it in the cold air and swallowed the tightness in her throat.
“Corinna, are you sure you’re well enough to be out in the snow?” Belle asked, stepping up close and pulling her fingers from their gloves. She pressed the palm of her right hand to her own forehead and the palm of her left to Corinna’s.
“I’m fine. Honestly, I don’t feel ill at all. I don’t even know I’m about to cough until I do,” Corinna said.
Belle pressed her thick lips together and then dropped her hands. “I suppose it might just be an irritated throat. You feel even healthier than I do,” she said. “But slow down if you start to feel dizzy, Corinna. I don’t want you to catch a bad cold. We won’t have access to a doctor until Sir Ellis returns, and then he would need to return to Paesaggia to fetch one. I’m not fluent in medicine, so please don’t get sick.”
“I won’t. I promise,” Corinna said and lit up with a bright smile as though to prove it. Alexander looked away from the scene and grunted, shoveling more snow off the path. Corinna understood the action to mean that Alexander didn’t believe a word of it, but he was going to accept it anyway.
As Belle turned back to the path, the sound of crunching snow caught their attentions. The front door was opening and pushing against its own white outline. Gavin stuck his head out first and lit up with delight as he saw the rest of them standing there. After him, Veronica slipped out through the opening like a nervous mouse and then quickly shut the door to keep the cold air outside.
Gavin stopped on the top step and rubbed his gloved hands together. He was dark, a dark gray blur against the white earth and sky. He wore a rugged robe and an old scarf about his body, covering any open skin below his poor but handsome tanned face. He nodded to Corinna, but his eyes were on Isabelle.
“I see we have a front path again,” he said. “Lunch is almost upon us, and Veronica and I had a wonderful idea.”
“Oh dear,” Alexander grumbled. He sounded irate and worried, but there was a smile hiding within all of his fur. “What would that be?”
“It has been quite awhile since we were all friendly enough to truly enjoy a fresh winter’s snow, and we thought it would be fun to… well,” Gavin began and then stumbled for his words. His cheeks were coloring as though he had already been exposed to the elements too long.
“We want to play in the snow,” Veronica piped up, her eyes solely on Corinna. Belle sounded intrigued, and Veronica’s eyes darted to her but then dropped to the icy walk and back up to Corinna’s gaze. “That is if you’re all finished.”
“I think we could spare the time,” Corinna assured and cast a grin over at Alexander. “What say you, my lord? Do you want to play?”
“What? I mean, of course. Let’s… play,” Alexander said and motioned vaguely around his area. Gavin clapped his hands together, and Veronica may have bounced a bit more as she descended the steps.
“Come, Isabelle,” Gavin said. “We can make a snowman.”
Belle was the first to step into the snow, her foot sinking into the four inch deep frost with a satisfying crunch. Then it was another foot into the snow, and she and Gavin dashed off to begin their creating. Veronica put a hand on Corinna’s arm as she passed by. She seemed exuberant in the cold outdoors, bundled up in all of her reds and oranges that cloaked her and made her appear older. She let out a silent laugh as she smiled at Corinna, evident in the jet of steam that appeared before her mouth. Then she released Corinna and skittered into the snow after the other two.
Corinna set down her shovel on the exposed sand and stepped carefully over to Alexander. The prince was watching the others, one ear standing upright and the other lying half sideways. He followed each of his servants with his little blue eyes and just stood there with his shovel. Corinna smiled and pat Alexander’s arm, drawing his attention.
“Have you never played in the snow before, sire?” she asked. Alexander’s gaze snapped down to Corinna and then to his own hands.
“Of course I have. And please don’t call me that. You sound stupid. Just call me by my name,” he said. “But snow back at the palace… well it was never this perfect. Knights and horses and peasants usually mussed it up before I ever arrived outside.”
“Okay, so you’ve seen snow, but have you ever truly played in it?” Corinna asked. She slipped her hand down onto Alexander’s wrist and made him drop his shovel, then she slipped her hand into Alexander’s. “I bet no maid nor knight ever taught you how to have a proper snowball fight.”
“That’s the game wher
e the people hurl compacted snow at each other, right?” Alexander asked, as though he hadn’t just thrown one at Corinna, and his lips tugged upward. Corinna laughed.
“Yes, Alex. That is the game where we throw snow. You know, that game you have absolutely no experience with,” she said. Alexander’s fingers closed around Corinna’s hand, and the visitor led the master off the path into the wild and perfect unknown. It was a warm feeling, holding Alexander’s hand, and Corinna realized she liked it very much. She could definitely grow accustomed to interlacing her fingers with the prince’s and being this close to him. It was a heated feeling amongst all of the snow and ice.
Corinna and Veronica taught Alexander how to scoop up snow into a ball and compact it so it wouldn’t fall to pieces. Alexander ruined his first one by pressing too hard and smashing it with pure force. After he had successfully made a snowball, Gavin took over to show Alexander how to roll that small ball into a larger ball, and then how to lift it up to be the head of the new citizen of the front yard. Alexander set his wonky ball atop Gavin and Isabelle’s already partially made man, and Veronica came behind him and placed snow about the base of it to solidify its hold.
Belle found some small stones by the fence to be used for the eyes and nose. Gavin snapped two thin branches off one of the leafless trees and stuck them in the sides for arms. Alexander surprised them all by being the one to figure out a mouth. He went to the wilted barberry bushes near the house and plucked a few bright red berries from them. He had five in all, which he placed on the snowman in a smile form.
“Oh that’s lovely, my lord,” Belle complimented. “We should make another one.”
“Another one?” Alexander asked. Gavin was already bending down to gather his snow.
“Of course,” Belle said. “Otherwise it will be all alone out here in the yard.”
“Oh… of course,” Alexander agreed and stepped forward to begin making another ball.
Corinna smiled and squatted down in the snow. She pat the snow together and began to build herself a small pile of balls. Even if the others had no intentions for a snowball fight, she would create some. Corinna could remember being in Lagra during the winter. Going outside became automatic agreement to be a member of a village wide snowball fight. Working outside in the fields or going to the store did not exclude you. Corinna had once been hit in the back of the neck while clearing the fields of snow so the ground wouldn’t harden, and she had caught William Dempsie in the stomach one year as the poor sod had been leaving work. Everything was within the rules so long as no one got hurt, and Corinna was prepared to start a snow war in this yard if she had to in order to achieve even a small degree of the excitement she felt every year back home.
A shiver. It ran from Corinna’s wrist, all the way up her arm and then down her spine. Corinna clamped her hand down on her bangle, hidden beneath her clothes, and stood up. In front of her, everyone was joking and rolling snow. Corinna turned and looked over her shoulder, and then she turned her whole body to face that direction.
Standing in the midst of the only remaining green, Morgana watched. The whole garden was snow free, which Corinna was pleased for and also dismayed about. Being able to grow flowers all year was wonderful, but wasn’t the course of nature meant to go through cycles of wilting and dying and growing new again in the spring? But the important part was Morgana. She stood just outside of the garden, where that odd door sometimes appeared. She was completely hidden beneath her sun-worn, blue cloak and her hood was up. Only her face was visible to recognize her by. She looked displeased, as though the very idea of the scene she saw made her ill.
She spotted Corinna watching her, but she did not turn and leave as she had the last time Corinna had caught her spying almost a month ago. What did she hope to notice with her sparse observations? She never came indoors, so how was she to know how often Corinna was with Alexander and helping him out? Why did she stand there like a distant threat when she had no way of knowing how deep things were becoming?
Morgana pulled one of her arms free of her cloak and produced a glistening red rose within her fingers. Corinna could see it even from across the yard. Morgana held Corinna’s gaze for a moment and then lowered her eyes to the flower. Corinna looked too and watched as it quickly died in her grasp, mutating into a sickly brown and wilting until all the petals were blown away in a frozen gust. Corinna raised her eyes back to Morgana’s, and the witch dropped the stem of the once-was rose. Morgana took her slim fingers and pressed them lightly to her throat as though trying to say she had lost her voice.
Corinna knit her eyebrows together curiously. What was Morgana trying to convey? Before Corinna could figure it out, Morgana pulled her hand back into her cloak and made her way back inside her garden.
And then Corinna sucked in a deep breath of air and dropped to her knees. She coughed harshly at first and then devolved into halfhearted heaves, one hand pressed to her lips and the other down in the snow to keep her upright. When she pulled her hand from her mouth, she noticed a thin line of red, the dark red of blood, on her glove, and she froze like the land around her.
“Corinna, are you alright?” Veronica’s voice cut through the crisp air and startled Corinna awake. She wiped her lips and then smeared her hand onto her shirt where it would be hidden by the cloak. It was nothing, and no one would have to see it.
“I’m fine,” Corinna said, voice rough. The others were around her like chickens to the morning feed, and there was no lie to disguise the horrible coughing she had let out.
“Liar,” Alexander grunted and hooked his arms around and under Corinna’s arms. He lifted Corinna to her feet in a surprisingly gentle manner, and looked the young woman over. “You may not have a fever, but I don’t think you need to be out in the cold.”
“I agree. That sounded awful,” Gavin said. “You best go inside and rest before you catch your death.”
“I could go make you a broth,” Belle said, a smile lighting up her face. Corinna smiled too but shook her head. Alexander’s hands were still resting on her sides, just under the arms, and they felt like small, comforting heaters.
“No need, Belle. Thank you. I was hoping to start a snowball fight, but I’m starting to feel a bit light headed. I think I will go lie down,” Corinna lied. “You all should stay out here and play though. Someone promise to use my snowballs.” And she motioned toward the small pile she had generated.
“I promise to use them with the worst of intentions,” Gavin teased. Corinna laughed.
“Good. Come get me for dinner later if I’m not up yet,” she said.
“Do you want me to walk you to your room?” Alexander asked. “I mean, it is three floors up. We wouldn’t want you to get dizzy and die stupidly by falling down the stairs.”
Gavin rolled his eyes and let out a short sigh. Veronica’s eyes were anxious, her eyebrows close together and her forehead crinkled. She was biting her lower lip and looking Corinna over as though she had x-ray vision and could look straight into her body for the cause of her coughing.
“No. I’ll be fine. But you can come get me for dinner if you don’t want me falling,” Corinna said. She pushed Alexander’s arms away and instantly missed the heat, but she would be inside soon and have all the fire she needed. “Have fun without me. I’ll see you later.”
Alexander grunted but nodded his consent. Then, with the promise of special herbal soup later from Isabelle, Corinna left and reentered the manor. Had Morgana been the cause of her coughing? She had been experiencing it for a week or so now, but this was the first time… Was Morgana the reason for the blood?
Corinna diverted her path when she got to the second floor and let herself into the library. Heading straight to the medical section, she scanned the shelves for any indication that the books could explain coughing sicknesses. Magical or not, someone would have recorded it. Oh, but Corinna was no doctor. Most of the titles meant nothing to her and the closest she found otherwise was entitled ‘Common Colds and Aff
lictions’. While this did seem to be an affliction, Corinna highly doubted it was common. With a disgruntled sigh, she left the library and retreated to her room.
She would simply need to avoid Morgana if the witch had the power to make her cough blood. Corinna drew some apples from her new stash within her satchel and ate three of them as her lunch. She felt worn, like someone had punched her in the gut and rubbed her chest repeatedly until it burned. Maybe resting truly was the best thing for her right now.
Corinna slipped under her blankets and pulled her mirror out. Maybe she could check on her family in this free time. However, the mirror did not seem to agree. Instead of showing Alvar or Alastar, it displayed the scene down in the yard. A snowball fight that would make any in Lagra proud had erupted between the three servants and their master. Alexander was dusted with white like frosting on a cake, and Gavin was doing his utmost to catch or deflect any being thrown toward Belle. It was fun to watch, but Corinna really wished she felt secure enough to be down there with them. Right now, she had no idea what was going on with her body, and that little trickle of blood had her heart racing with worry.
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