by Bone, K. L.
“Mara?” Edward asked in a voice hoarse from screaming.
She walked across the room languidly, her steps the only sound in the silent chamber. Edward started to rise. Mara shook her head and knelt down, placing herself at his horizontal height. “You came for me. I thought it was a dream.”
“Thought,” she asked softly. “Or hoped?”
He leaned forward, closing the distance between them. “Mara.” His gaze searched her violet eyes as a look of pain crossed his features. Mara shifted her gaze to the floor, ripping her eyes from his view.
The sound of laughter slid into the room. It was the sweetest sound that Mara had ever known. She shook her head and reached for Edward’s arm, gently pulling it towards her. She placed her cheek against the backside of his hand and dug her thumb into his wrist, letting the strong beat of his heart drown out the echoing laughter. Edward reached forward with his other hand, placing it upon the side of Mara’s neck, his own fingers finding her heartbeat.
The laughter rose in volume. Edward pulled Mara towards him, placing her head against his chest. She crawled onto the large bed, driving the memories back with the steady rhythm of his breathing and the strong beat of his heart. Edward kept one hand firmly on the side of her neck while gently stroking her hair with the other. “Edward,” Mara whispered under her breath.
“I’m here,” he answered. Jake remained silent as the two Captains laid upon the bed, drowning out the laughter in the synchronized beat of their hearts.
Yet even as the sound faded, a vision of the young girl appeared. Dressed in a gown of blue satin, she stood upon the stone steps, Edward’s hands holding hers. Soft music filled the room as the two bodies swayed slowly across the stone floor. Edward twirled the girl around the room to the beat of his heart.
Mara lifted her head and glanced down at Edward. His chest was covered with blood. She jumped, violently jerking her body away from his. She wiped her eyes, struggling to clear the vision. “Mara?”
She glanced down in a daze. She tried to smile, but could not bring herself to form the lie upon her lips.
“Mara.”
“I am glad you are safe, Edward.”
“Mara,” he said again as he looked towards her, but his gaze faltered when it grazed her violet eyes.
“Still…” The single, bitter word spoke volumes. He did not look up. “Forgive me, my Lord. I must go.” She walked towards the door.
“Mara!” he again called her name.
She stopped walking, but did not turn to face him. “I will always come for you, Edward, mi amor. But I just…can’t.” She waited several moments. When no reply came, she continued forward and walked out the large doors.
Jake, who had been standing against the wall throughout the exchange, ran forward, exiting right behind her. “Captain!” His voice rebounded against the grey stone. “Mara!” He switched to her first name. “It was centuries ago. It was…”
“Did you hear her laughter?” She turned to face the Sub-Captain, who gave her solemn eyes. “Edward did.”
Chapter VI
“And you just let him go?” King Mathew asked from his silver throne in the center of the brightly lit chambers, the large windows filtering sunlight from every direction. He was less physically imposing than many of the men who stood by his side. Though tall, he was rather slender. His eyes were pale grey and matched his long-sleeved shirt which was closed with silver buttons and cufflinks. His hair was a blond more silver than gold.
Captain Regald knelt on one knee before him. “I am sorry, my King. He was taken while I was away.”
“And the guards just let him leave? I want every man who stood between the gate and the dungeon punished.”
“For what, your Majesty? It was the Captain of the Black Rose Guard. No one questions her.”
“Mara?”
“Yes, my King.”
“Mara came herself?”
Regald nodded.
“The Black Rose hasn’t played a hand in centuries.”
“Well, I would say that they did so today.” He paused for breath. “Forgive my bluntness, your Majesty. What did you think was going to happen? You had to know Mara would come for him.”
“Did I?”
Regald eyed the King carefully. “You and I both know that this had nothing to do with the Black Rose. Harming Edward? You knew that she would come.”
“After six hundred years?”
Regald considered remarking further, then wisely decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Instead, he simply stated, “It doesn’t matter why she came, your Majesty. Only that she did and that it would be unjust to punish those who observed her authority, considering it is exactly what we teach them to do.”
“I suppose you are correct. However, I want to see the guard responsible for actually allowing them to leave.”
“Forgive me, but Nolan left with Captain Mara. I imagine he intends to take the Oath of the Rose.”
A stiffness entered the King’s features. A scowl crossed his lips. Several moments of silence passed before he finally said, “I suppose there is little that I could devise which would result in a punishment as cruel as that.” The King shook his head. “Attend to your duties, Captain.”
Regald stood from his kneeling position on the white marble floor and walked quickly from the room. As he passed down the various halls, another guard called his name.
“Captain Regald, Lady Sandra is asking for you.”
“I will go to her chambers,” he replied. He turned to his left and headed down a different corridor. The walls were painted bright blue, lined with the golden-framed portraits of elegant men and ladies of past eras. When he came to Sandra’s large wooden door, he knocked gently. Moments later the door opened and he entered the chambers beyond.
The room was large with walls painted in the same royal blue that filled the hallways. Lady Sandra sat before a huge fire on the far side of the room in a gown of deep green velvet. A leather-bound book sat in Sandra’s lap, which she closed at his entrance. “My Lady,” the Captain said to the future Princess. “You asked to see me?”
“Yes. I want to know more about the man who was being punished. Who is he?”
“He is the Captain of the Ciar Royal Guard.”
“Yes, but…I want to know more.”
Regald moved toward a large couch which stood across from her and took a seat upon the cream colored cushions. “Edward has served as Captain to the Ciar Queen, Clarissa, for roughly twelve hundred years. He has trained more members of both the Arum and Ciar Guard than anyone. He also trained several members of the Black Rose.”
“Including Mara?”
Captain Regald tilted his head and leaned slightly forward. “You know Mara?”
Sandra tensed and moved to cradle her head in the palm of her left hand. The vision of a tall woman with long black hair and violet eyes flashed before her. Then just as quickly, it vanished. “She is the Captain of the Black Rose Guard, is she not?”
“Yes, my Lady.”
“I…” She wracked her brain, but the image refused to return. “No. I suppose I do not.”
“Well, her identity and position is far from a secret.”
“Sometimes I know things and I am not sure why.”
“It is to be expected. We know that your memories are scattered at best. Remember, my Lady, I am the Guard who found you.”
Sandra remembered little before waking up in the wings of the Arum Court healers. She had been found severely injured, wandering through the forest. She had almost no memories of her past.
“I saw him,” Sandra confessed to the man who had spent the past two hundred years watching her from afar, as though finding her had somehow made him responsible for her safety. She had been grateful for the watchful eye, and upon becoming engaged to the Crown Prince, had shyly asked the King if he could oversee her protection detail. The King had consented and Regald had spent the past few months splitting his time between and the King and future Pri
ncess.
So it was to Regald, and not her fiancé, that she offered her confession. “I saw him. Edward, I mean. I saw him, or at least…I think I did.”
“Saw him?” Regald questioned. “Do you mean…you remembered him?”
“Yes. No. I’m not sure. It was like a dream. Only it was more like a nightmare. What she did to him was…it was so awful.”
“She?”
Sandra turned her gaze back towards the bright yellow flames. “There was a woman in a rose garden.” She shook her head. “No, there was a rose garden, and then there was a woman in a room of stone the color of obsidian. She was hurting him.”
“A rose garden?”
“Yes, full of red and violet roses.”
“Red and violet? Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“The Court roses have not bloomed in those colors for centuries.”
Sandra closed her eyes and searched her memories. She found only darkness.
“I need to see him.”
“My Lady.” Regald cleared his throat. “Captain Edward is no longer here. He has been returned to his court.”
“The Black Rose came for him, didn’t she?”
Regald’s eyes widened. “How did you know that?”
Sandra shook her head and turned her deep blue eyes on the Captain’s. “I don’t know.”
Chapter VII
Nolan knocked on the door to Mara’s borrowed room, down a few hallways from the Captain’s chambers. “Come in,” Mara called from behind the silver stone. The door opened with a soft click and Nolan quickly entered the room. Mara was seated in front of a large mahogany desk, reading over a small stack of papers scattered in front of her. An unmarked bottle of a clear spirits sat on the edge of the desk, half empty from the looks of it.
She read to the end of her page, before raising her head and glancing towards her visitor. “What can I do for you, Nolan?”
“Captain Mara,” he began. “I have watched you over the years, and tales of your Guard are legendary.” He knelt down in front of her. “I humbly ask to join the ranks of your service, my Lady. I would like to join the Black Rose.”
Mara stared at him from her seated position by the desk. “Tell me, Nolan. How old are you?”
“Forty-seven, my Lady.”
Mara nodded in thought. “That makes you, what, eight hundred years younger than I have been Captain of the Rose?”
“Yes, but you were younger than I when you were named a Sub-Captain.”
“Tell me, have you ever been in love? I am not talking about a one night stand or a generic girlfriend, but rather, a real, true once in a lifetime love?”
“I thought I was once or twice. But it wasn’t with the right girl.”
Mara eyed him critically. “If you join the Black Rose, you will never find her.” She turned to her drink and took a long, deep sip.
“I don’t need to fall in love, Captain. I would rather serve the realm.”
“Serve the realm?” Mara said sarcastically. “What do you know of service? You, who have lived in the realm of peace bought by the blood of Roses?” Her speech slurred as she stared into the eyes of the younger man.
“I am brave. And I very much want to join your ranks.”
Mara glanced down at the silver rose embroidered on her black shirt. “I suppose,” she said slowly, “that we seem majestic to you? The feared Order of the mighty Black Rose. The slayer of daemons, procurers of Kings? Is that how you see us, young Lord? Are we glamorous, mystical, majestic as the Knights of old?”
He drew a deep breath before answering. “I see you as the protectors of the realm, my Lady.”
Mara gave a harsh laugh. “The Black Rose does not defend, Sub-Captain Nolan. We are not saviors - we are killers. We do not protect; we destroy. We are glorified assassins and the best at what we do. Look at you with your pretty, idealistic eyes. Almost thirty years of living and still as optimistic as a child.” She poured more of the clear liquid into a thin glass and drained it dry. “The Black Rose destroys the soul of all it touches. It betrays every moral, standard, value, and person you have ever held dear. I have done things, Nolan. Things you can’t even imagine. And for that, my soul burns in the fires of Hell, while my body still breathes.”
Mara refilled her glass and took a long, slow draft before turning her violet gaze back upon the younger man. “You want to serve the realm? Then marry a kind woman and teach your children to dream of a world where the Black Rose is no longer needed. A world where I am condemned for my crimes, not honored for them. A better world, Nolan. One where someone like me will never again see the light of day.”
Without knowing how to respond, Nolan rose from the floor and walked towards the silver door. As he stepped out into the hallway, Mara’s voice cut through the space between them. “Nolan.” He turned back towards her. “Tell Captain Edward you want to serve under him. I will use my authority to sever your vows to Regald. Serve him well. Then we will see if you still desire to become a member of the famous Black Rose.”
Chapter VIII
Mara walked along the crystal sand of the fabled beach, the waves crashing softly in the gentle ocean breeze. The water was the deepest blue Mara had ever seen. The sky was clear, not a single cloud in the pale sky. She inhaled deeply, tasting the salt on the tip of her tongue. Her white cotton gown swirled around her body, and her long hair blew behind her brushed back by the soft ocean wind. Mara knelt down, running her hand through the warm, golden sand and then looked up, gazing out into the blue sea where the water broke in white waves along the edge of the beach.
“Hello,” whispered a small voice. She turned her head to face the young boy who had walked up beside her. His bronze skin was kissed lightly by the sun, and his short blond hair blew in the wind. He wore a pair of leather pants and a white shirt that buttoned up the front with small, sapphire buttons. Her gaze traveled up to view the boy’s young face, and she found herself staring into a pair of blue eyes; eyes the color of the sea, with a touch of white running through them as though the waves of the ocean moved gently within his azure gaze.
“How old are you, child?”
The boy held up four bronzed fingers.
“What are you doing out here on the beach?”
“Mommy told me to come here,” the boy told her.
Mara forced a soft smile upon her full lips. “And who is your mommy?” she asked, knowing the answer.
“Sophia. Please, can you help me? Mommy is really scared. She sent me here.” There were tears running down the child’s rosy, wind-blown cheeks.
Mara held out her arms to the young boy, who trustingly came into her embrace. “What is your name?”
“Dorian,” the child answered quietly.
“Well, Prince Dorian, there is nothing to be scared of anymore. I will take you to your mother.”
“You can?”
She pulled back slightly. “Yes, child. In fact, I have a secret to tell you. Do you think you can keep a secret?”
The child stopped crying and nodded his head. “This, my Prince, is just a bad dream, that’s all.” She fought to maintain her smile. “Just a bad dream, and dreams are nothing to be afraid of.”
He looked at her quizzically for a moment before returning her smile. “Can I wake up now?” Mara’s heart lurched in her chest as she stared into his trusting blue eyes.
“Yes, child. I am going to make the bad dream end. All you have to do is close your eyes. Do you think you can do that for me, little prince?”
The young boy nodded happily as Mara placed a hand upon the hilt of her long, silver blade. Then the child closed what Mara knew, would be the last eyes to ever hold the sea.
Chapter IX
Mara awoke to find Garreth sitting beside her. A former Sub-Captain of the Black Rose, Garreth had spent a lifetime attempting to avoid any position of command within the courts he had devoted his life to. He sat beside Mara dressed in a dark pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt. His blond
hair was shaggy with bangs that were just beginning to obstruct the view to his pale green eyes. “You need a haircut,” Mara said groggily, a persistent pounding against her left temple.
“Hello, Mara,” he said to his former Captain. “I would say that I was surprised to see you here. However, after seeing Edward, I would honestly expect to find you nowhere else.”
“Go away,” Mara told him. “Or at least kill the lights.”
Garreth glanced toward the desk at the empty bottle, and then he glanced back towards her. “Are you drunk?”
Mara gave a deep groan. “Not anymore.”
“Mara? You don’t drink alcohol.”
“No,” she replied. “The Captain of the Black Rose does not drink alcohol. I, on the other hand, drink just fine.”
He sat in silence for several moments and then said, “Mara, are you okay?”
“Aren’t I always?”
Garreth shook his head. “I spoke with Nolan when I arrived. Glorified assassins?”
Mara closed her eyes as the previous night slowly returned. “Please go away.”
“Destroyers, not protectors?”
“Well, aren’t we? You should know, you were one of us.”
Garreth shook his head, his long blond bangs swishing along his brow. “I haven’t seen you like this since the night Phillip died.”
“A lot of people died that night.”
“But you only cared about one. I came as soon as I heard. It must have been hard for you to see—”
“Him that way,” she finished for him.
“Mara, are you okay?”
Her head continued to pound insistently and anger slipped into her usually calm tone. “Stop asking me questions to which you already know the answer! Do you think standing over me like this helps anything? Do you think I want to see you any more than him?”
