“You possess magic,” Veronica said, once again bringing up an already obvious bit of information. “I don’t, or I’d try to help you. But you do. Do you know any spells or rituals to heal yourself? Cure your new disease, Corinna. You can’t die.”
Cure. Cure the disease. Corinna smiled. It was almost like the thought of curing the curse. They were both so easy to hope for and also so easy to lose hope for. Still, Corinna had truly felt close to solving Alexander’s problem. They had been so close… so close.
“I can’t,” Corinna said, voice dry from her throat. “I… I’m just a farmer… who happens to know a few magic tricks.”
“But why can’t one of those tricks be to heal yourself?” Veronica whimpered, shaking her head rapidly, her hair snapping back and forth like a whip. “It just isn’t fair.”
“Maybe.” Corinna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “But there’s nothing either of us can do.”
“I wish I could do something,” Veronica murmured. “If I wasn’t this young and powerless… I wish I had magic. I would save you. You are the one… I most care about in the whole world.”
“Thank you, Veronica.” Corinna tried a weak smile. She feared it would make Veronica even more depressed, as such an expression had done to Belle, but Veronica saw it and smiled back, tears pricking the edges of her eyes and a blush dusting her cheeks like a noblewoman’s face powder. She shook her head and they both vanished.
“You’ll see, Corinna. Alexander will save you somehow. He’ll help you just as you have been helping him,” she said. She sounded so sure and determined. Corinna wondered if it was similar to how Alexander always said that Corinna sounded. She nodded then and her chest swelled with air. “Everything will be alright.”
“I hope so,” Corinna said and coughed gently.
“I’ll go help Isabelle with the cooking. Together we’ll come up with something special for you to eat,” Veronica said. She reached her hand out, unafraid of infection, and pat Corinna’s shoulder. Then she got up from her seat, moved it back away from the bed, and hurried out of the room.
Corinna listened for the following thuds of closing doors, but Veronica was so quiet about it that Corinna couldn’t hear a thing. Veronica probably thought she was doing Corinna a favor by being silent, but Corinna wished she’d slammed every door.
The silence scared her.
She was alone in her dizzy world, where the calming blue of her room did nothing to soothe her turbulent chest. She was alone with her thoughts, thoughts of her sickly mother and her despairing uncle. She thought about magic and how she couldn’t remember even the simplest spell she had learned now, when she needed it the most. She thought about Gavin out with the horses and Belle down in the kitchens and Alexander over in his room. She thought of everyone she knew and how none of them were with her, and how the silence of that truth seemed to creep up on her and whisper dark things in her ear.
She was dying. Suddenly and without mercy, she was going to die. It made her eyes sting more than the fever already did, and she wished someone… She wished Alexander was with her, telling her it was a stupid notion, that everything was fine and that Corinna would be around until after Alexander finally succumbed to his curse. She wanted a voice to chase away the silence and its murmurs.
Corinna slid her hand under her pillow and pulled out her mirror. It was heavier than normal, and it shook in Corinna’s grasp, but if she set it against her chest it didn’t quiver so much. Corinna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wanted to see and hear someone besides herself.
“My lord?” Belle’s voice protruded into her thoughts. Corinna opened her eyes and saw Belle walking into Alexander’s bedroom.
“Isabelle,” Alexander greeted. He looked dark, more beastly than usual. He stood to properly welcome Belle and then returned to organizing his desk. A piece of paper sat on the table, half of its clean surface covered in disorderly scrawl. An ink vial and a long and curly quill sat beside it. Cassius’s stack of letters stood in an ugly pile on the opposite side.
“I wanted to speak with you about Corinna,” Belle said.
“Is it an explanation for why she isn’t here in this room?” Alexander asked, sounding only slightly interested. His hands stopped shuffling the stack of letters around. Slowly, he lifted the quill and set it in the ink. The pace made Corinna’s eyes feel heavy. “Is she still mad at me?”
“I-I really wouldn’t know. She can hardly speak. She woke up this morning with some kind of illness. I don’t know where it came from. She was barely coughing and now… now this,” Belle said, a sob only half-concealed in her throat. Corinna took a deep breath to try and rouse herself. She felt so tired.
“You talk as if she’s dying, Belle. It can’t be that bad. She was fine when she left me last night. She’s just being stupid. Trust me,” Alexander said. He walked over to his friend and set his paw down on her shoulder. His claws definitely seemed more defined, more beastly, than they had last night. Alexander most certainly looked different than before. Corinna’s hand relaxed, and the mirror dropped lazily against her stomach, barely held in the girl’s hand. Corinna’s eyes slipped shut, and she fell into a dizzy doze. The mirror did not.
“Alexander, you don’t… Corinna has a raging fever. She’s deathly pale. She opens her mouth to thank you and ends up hacking. And…. And when she coughs so hard…. Alexander, she’s spitting up blood. It reminds me… of your mother’s coughing sickness,” Belle explained. In her daze, Corinna tensed.
Alexander frowned and let his hand drop from Belle’s shoulder. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“I’m almost positive, my lord. I’m heading down to the kitchens now to make her some soup I’m hoping will help with the coughing… but I think you should go see her. I’m not comfortable leaving her alone and Veronica will probably have gone by now,” she said. “I know the two of you have had a fight but –”
“No. You’re right. I’ll go stay with her until you get back,” Alexander said. He gave his best friend a reassuring smile, something soft and yet determined.
He walked her out into the hall, but she went down the stairs while he passed straight across into Corinna’s room. Alexander nudged each door open with his knuckles and glanced around for life, but Corinna had yet to make the rooms look inhabited. Alexander scrunched up his nose and entered Corinna bedroom. What he found was Corinna, asleep on the bed. She was holding the magic mirror, but as Alexander watched, the mirror slipped and dropped from Corinna’s grip. It padded softly onto the mattress and lay still, reflective side up.
Alexander stepped up to the bed and wrinkled his forehead. Corinna was certainly pale, like a cloud. As Alexander watched, Corinna took in several shuddered breaths and then coughed cruelly in her sleep. Alexander flinched forward but caught himself. He looked to the side table and saw the bowl of water. Alexander gingerly took the rag from its place half off Corinna’s head and dipped it in the still water. He squeezed it tightly and folded it haphazardly back into a rectangle shape. Then he set it back on Corinna’s forehead and rubbed his knuckle against the side of Corinna’s mouth. Now he had blood on his hand, but he didn’t seem to care. Alexander lifted the mirror off the comforter and gave a disapproving look into its depths.
In the mirror appeared Morgana, meandering her way through the rose garden. Alexander frowned curiously and glanced down at Corinna. The younger one coughed again and seemed to almost choke as she did so. Alexander’s eyebrows knit together, and he grunted.
“Stay well for a moment, Corinna. I’ll be right back after I figure out why someone would want to hurt you,” he said. He set the mirror on Corinna’s chest, reflective side down, and pulled the sheets up to Corinna’s shoulders. The sorceress groaned in her sleep and then fell silent. The uneven rising and falling of her chest was the only indication that Corinna was still breathing, but it was a much better clue than the rasping breaths of before.
The prince ran the back of his finger down the side of his
sleeping resident’s face, pushing stuck hair back and off Corinna’s cheek. Corinna seemed to stir, but then let out a heavy sigh and kept on sleeping. Alexander nodded and took his leave from the room.
Down the stairs and out into the garden, he managed not to see anyone or to thunder his footfalls. When he stepped into the garden, even Morgana seemed shocked to see him standing there.
“Alexander,” she greeted, pressing her hand into her chest and smiling in awe. “You startled me. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Corinna’s sick, and I think you know why,” Alexander grunted. He leisurely made his way through the garden and closer to the fountain. Morgana watched closely as he passed by her and frowned.
“Well it’s nothing I’ve done, if that’s what you’re inferring. She got sick because of her own meddling,” Morgana said. “I told her not to mess with curses.”
“Corinna is cursed?” Alexander asked, turning so quickly that his foot actually dug into the earth beneath it.
“All of us in this house are cursed,” Morgana murmured. “You, cursed to be a beast. The servants, cursed to remain here and watch you slowly perish from the world. Myself, cursed to help you survive even if I wanted to leave. Corinna, cursed to never see another day.”
“What?” Alexander growled. “Are you telling me she’s dying?”
Morgana frowned and the sky seemed to grow darker, the sun hidden behind a cloud. “Yes. I’m afraid at this rate poor Corinna won’t live to see tomorrow’s dawn.”
“Well if you didn’t cause the illness, perhaps you can cure it?” Alexander asked, stepping close to her. “Can you stop the coughing sickness?”
“No. And even if I could, I wouldn’t,” Morgana snapped. She folded her arms about her chest and watched as her prince became a beast. He grit his teeth, baring all fangs, and clenched his fists, the size of kickballs. His fur bristled and he stepped so close to her that he blocked out the sun.
“Why not?” he roared. “Corinna has only been trying to help! Why should she suffer? What have you done?”
He reached out and snatched up Morgana’s wrist, a child’s wrist in comparison to his hand, and made to pull at her threateningly, but the moment his fingers gripped her skin he was sent flying away from her. Alexander, the size of a bear, sent flying with ease. Alexander grunted as he collided with the fountain, but the fallible stone did not break under his weight. Morgana’s eyes were white with magic and a rush of air whipped up around her.
“I have done nothing, Lord Knight, but try to help you,” Morgana hissed. “And we may be old friends, but I will not let you manhandle me like a traitor.”
Alexander pushed himself up, holding onto the fountain, and glared at the witch. “Then tell me why this is happening,” he ordered. He moved to push himself to his feet, and his hand slid into the magical water of the fountain. With a howl of pain, he shoved away from the whole thing. His hand shone a brilliant red, like a healing burn, and he shook it in the air to cool it down. His eyes continued to glare at Morgana, as though this entire experience was forcing him to distrust her.
“That,” Morgana said, “is magical water meant to help wildlife grow and to protect your tree from outsiders. Only those with magic can touch that sacred water and come out unscathed. You may be cursed, but the water knows better. Corinna, on the other hand, has felt its cool rush and come out unscathed. If you should be treating anyone like a traitor, it would be her.”
“Corinna isn’t magical. She’s just wearing a charm you gave her,” Alexander grunted, blowing gently on his fingers.
“Do you honestly believe that old magic can be hoodwinked by a simple sleeping charm? Besides, Corinna touched the water before I ever met her. She is of magic, and she has undoubtedly used some within the house. I have felt it vaguely, and staying here has only made her more powerful. Your suitor is a magician, my dear prince.” And as she spoke, Morgana stepped up beside Alexander and gently touched his hand. Her words seemed sincere, almost apologetic despite their bite. She ran her fingers over Alexander’s hand and it cooled back to its original color instantly.
“Suitor?” Alexander asked, stepping away from Morgana as soon as her magic was complete. “Corinna is no suitor. She is just helping me. She’s the one who told me the truth of my curse.”
“And what is the truth of your curse, Alexander?” Morgana asked, pulling her arms in until they were hidden beneath her cloak as usual.
“That if I lose hope and my roses die, the thing I most desire will die.” Alexander rubbed his hand even though there was no pain in it.
“Then look, Alexander Knight,” Morgana said, stepping to the side of the rose tree and letting the façade of it fall. The roses grew ugly brown veins and most petals shriveled before Alexander’s eyes. The prince’s mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. He clenched his fists.
“This can’t be,” he said. “They were healthy just now.”
“No. The roses have been dying, Alexander, but I didn’t want you to see it. However, times are precious, and I don’t wish for Corinna to die anymore than you do… so it is time you knew the truth. It is necessary that you know the state of the roses so that you understand it is you who is killing Corinna,” Morgana said.
“Me? I would never harm Corinna like this. This must be another witch trick,” Alexander said, shaking his head as though it would return everything to the way he knew it to be, where his flowers weren’t wilting and Corinna wasn’t dying.
“Another witch trick,” Morgana laughed. “You still say that even knowing Corinna is a witch as well. Let me make this clear. The truth of your curse, Alexander, is that the ultimate end will bring about the death of that which you most desire. What is it that you most desire, dear Alexander?”
“My old life,” Alexander grunted, eyes still glued to the roses and their dilapidated state.
“Wrong. You are not like others under this curse, Alexander. You miss your good looks and want them back, but it is not what is in your heart. Until a week ago, I was certain your deepest desire was for your kingdom and its people. You always had such a large heart for the troubles of your subjects… but then Corinna began to grow ill. No doubt you have also noticed her increasing cough.”
“No. I mean yes, but…”
“It is suspiciously like the virus that took your mother, isn’t it? I tried to warn her the other day. I could tell the sickness was growing, but she doesn’t trust me anymore and apparently either ignored my warning or didn’t care about what was happening to her. And then today… young Corinna woke up with a case of death. Alexander, what changed your emotions so violently last night? What has caused you to become even more beast-like? What could have possibly made you so hopeless when you have the one you love so securely kept here in your home?”
Morgana placed her hand softly on Alexander’s shoulder and fingered the hair there. Alexander frowned and let out a heavy breath. He tore his eyes from the roses and looked down at Morgana. The sun had come out from its hiding place and shown down on Morgana like an angel instead of a witch.
“She asked me to let her leave, and I told her no. We both got angry, and I’m certain now that I have lost her forever,” Alexander admitted. “I do not have her securely kept here.”
“I’m sorry, Alexander. I’m sorry, but there are only two ways to cure Corinna of this sickness,” Morgana said. Alexander’s ears twitched curiously, but his expression did not change. “Either you quickly regain your hope in attaining Corinna’s affections, or you stop caring about Corinna. Cast her out of your heart and return your desires to your kingdom. Corinna will return to full strength… and then you should let her leave back to her home.”
“Let… her leave?” Alexander asked. A whimper escaped the prince’s throat, like a pup instead of the wolf he usually was. Morgana nodded.
“If you keep her here, your affections will blind you. You’ll once again dismiss your kingdom and put the sole receipt of the curse back onto Corinna’s
shoulders,” she said. She rested her forehead against Alexander’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
“But if I focus on the kingdom… won’t the kingdom die?” Alexander asked.
“Yes. You will have to choose, and I don’t envy your predicament. I wish you didn’t have to decide who lived and who died…. I never wanted you to be hurt at all,” Morgana said, voice soft.
“It was never your fault, Morgana. Morgause is the one who did this to me. You have always been here to help me,” Alexander said. He pat her back softly and pulled away. “I’m sorry for attacking you like I did. You’ve always been so good to me. Don’t worry. I’m sure this curse will get me soon, and you can return to your home just like everyone else.”
“Y-Yes. Of course,” Morgana agreed. She frowned. “But Alexander… You can’t be giving up hope, can you?”
“That’s the funny thing about giving something up,” Alexander said, and a wry smile appeared on his face. “You have to have something in the first place.”
The prince turned then and rushed away from the garden. Morgana bit her lower lip and wrapped her arms tightly around herself as though the cold of the snow had finally seeped into the garden. The door to the house opened and slammed shut again.
The Rose Chateau Page 28
