Black Rose

by Bone, K. L.

“Forbidden love,” he offered with a bitter smile, the slightest curve of the lips.

  “Forbidden love?”

  Garreth nodded. “It is forbidden, you see. What happened that night was the greatest tragedy this court has ever seen. And I am forbidden to even tell you her name. All you need to know, is that the girl in the room that night wasn’t Mara. You must forgive her for losing her temper. Edward and Mara are never together, and for good reason. Live a few hundred years and you will see. It is for the best.”

  Silence followed as Nolan rose to leave the room. When he reached the door, he stopped and turned back toward Garreth. “May I ask just one question, my Lord?”

  Garreth nodded slowly in consent.

  “Does he still love her?”

  “Edward?”

  “Yes. Does he still love her?”

  Garreth raised his head to stare up at Nolan from his seated position. “He will love her until he draws his last breath.”

  Nolan nodded and then left the room. As the door closed with a soft click behind him, Garreth whispered under his breath, “Liza…with his last breath.”

  Chapter XIV

  They plunged into darkness, sinking ever deeper into the ancient tunnels of black stone. The twin flashlights held by Regald and Sandra provided the only visible light. “I would have waited for daylight,” Regald explained, “but it would not have mattered. We are too far down for sunlight to filter through.”

  “Why did they build underground?”

  “For protection, mostly. The tunnels are too narrow to send an entire army inside. Geographically, the area is very stable as well.”

  Sandra stared ahead, but not even her imagination could form pictures in this darkness. “What happened here? Will you tell me?”

  “I cannot. It is forbidden to speak of such things. If you truly remember what happened here that night, I will take you to the one who can tell you. But if you do not remember,” he allowed several moments of silence to fill the encroaching darkness, “it is forbidden, my Lady.”

  “By whom?”

  “The Captain of the Black Rose.”

  “Black Rose,” she repeated. “The woman who came for Captain Edward?”

  “Yes.” Shadows danced across his face from the dim light of Sandra’s flashlight.

  “You are not part of her guard though.”

  “No, my Lady.”

  “Then how can she forbid?”

  “I served the Black Rose for many years. Centuries in fact. When I was released from her service, it was under the condition that certain vows would be kept intact. This, what you ask, is most assuredly one of them.” He drew a deep breath. “King Mathew also once served at Mara’s pleasure.”

  “The King was a member of the Black Rose?”

  “Yes. A Sub-Captain.”

  “Is it true what they say, about Mara?”

  “What do they say?”

  “That she is cold, ruthless and kills all those who would dare to challenge her?”

  Several moments of silence filled the air between them before Regald stated, “As a killer, the Captain of the Rose is most proficient.”

  “Tell me about her.”

  Regald shivered. “I will, my Lady, but not within the confines of these dark walls. This place…” He shifted his gaze down the hallway as though seeing figures beyond Sandra’s sight. “They were children here. Edward, Mara, Garreth, Mathew…they were happy once. But after that night, they would never know happiness again.” He shifted his gaze back to Sandra’s. “Ask me some night, far from these walls. Here lie the ghosts of still beating hearts.” He turned and walked forward toward the tunnels. Sandra followed in a confused silence.

  He led her down corridor after corridor, knowing the way even after all the centuries of abandonment. They finally found themselves standing before a large stone door covered in black roses on thick, green vines. Regald moved to push the door open, and cut his hand on the thorn of a wild rose bush. Sandra shined the flashlight up and down the door. The roses ran up and down the stones. He moved more carefully and managed to maneuver the door open enough to enter the room.

  The same roses ran across the walls of the large chambers and then trailed along the floor to reach the center of the room. A little more manipulation of the flashlights and Sandra managed to take several steps forward. In the center of the room was a large slab of black polished stone upon which lay not the black roses that had been upon the door, but roses the color of freshly spilt blood.

  A light appeared in the far corner of the room; a single flame in the darkness. She stepped towards it, being careful not to trip over the vines beneath her feet. As she watched, the flame split into two and then split again, slowly transforming into a roaring fire.

  She reached the flames and stared in awe, watching the fire dance across the cold air. Then, she heard a soft whisper, “No.” She turned around, facing away from the light. “No.”

  The stone was covered with piles of soft cushions and thick, dark blankets. Another fire burned on the opposite side of the room, flames pushing back the darkness. Edward stood beside the bed bared to the chest, his arms held fast by two men standing on either side of him. Standing beside him was the most beautiful woman Sandra had ever seen. She stood in a slender gown of dark fabric that clung to every curve of her thin frame. Her long black hair hung across her back in ringlets, every curl in its proper place. Her lips were a ruby red.

  Sandra started to walk forward, but was stopped by pressure on her right arm. She turned to find a tall man standing beside her with short brown hair dressed in black. The man shook his head and held Sandra’s arm firmly. He leaned forward, placing his face by the side of hers. “I’m sorry, my Lady. It will be worse if you fight.”

  “What is going on?” She heard a sharp gasp and turned her head back towards the bed. The woman held a large silver knife in her left hand. Blood was running from a shallow gash along Edward’s left side. “What are you doing?” She tried to move forward, but was again restrained by the man behind her.

  The woman raised her silver blade. Sandra watched in horror as she slid the side of the knife over Edward’s upper chest, cutting into the top layer of his skin. Blood swelled to the surface and began to run in thin rivulets down his chest. Sandra’s heart began to beat frantically. “Why are you doing this? What is going on?” Then something hard crashed into the back of her skull.

  “Liza!” She heard Edward’s voice in the background as she fell. Tears sprang to her eyes from the pain as her vision blurred from the force of the blow. Then the same guard leaned down and picked her up, planting her firmly back on her feet.

  “Please, Princess,” the guard whispered again. “I don’t want to be forced to harm you.”

  “I don’t understand,” Sandra said, her vision slowly clearing.

  “Liza!” Edward fought the hands that held him, but it was to no avail. “Please,” he said to the dark-headed woman holding the knife. “Just let her go.”

  “I don’t think so,” the woman replied, her voice singing through the room. “She will watch, and she will do so silently.” She took the knife, now painted red with Edward’s blood, and slipped the metal expertly between the layers of skin on his side, removing the flesh from his well-toned frame. He cried out, a sickening sound between a sharp hiss and a suppressed scream.

  “No!” Sandra screamed for him. The sadistic angel gave a nod. The guard hit her with brutal force, this time across her upper back. She fought to stand against the stinging pain, but was hit a second, then third time. She fell to the floor with a harsh thud, her body crashing against the cold stone floor.

  “I did this!” She heard Edward’s voice again, though it seemed distant to her ringing ears. “Punish me, my Lady. Not her. It was my doing.”

  “I wish I could believe that,” came the soft, feminine reply. “But it would simply not be true.”

  Sandra was pulled to her feet once again, but could not stand on her own. The guard pla
ced his arms around her, holding her upright. She fought not to vomit as she turned back to Edward. Unshed tears glistened in his eyes. “Liza.” He again called her by the unfamiliar name.

  “Edward,” another’s words poured from her lips. “Please, my Lady. Stop this. Let him go!” The words poured from her lips uncontrollably. “He is the most loyal of all your knights! The Captain of your Guard. Please, do not do this.”

  The woman stepped across the floor and walked toward where Sandra was being held upright by the guard behind her. When she finally reached them, the dark woman leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “The most loyal of knights you say. Well then, we must reward him for his loyalty, mustn’t we?”

  She nodded toward the guards and as Sandra watched, they began to remove the rest of Edward’s clothing. “What do you say to…an experience he will never forget?” Her voice put a chill in Sandra’s heart.

  The two men began to move Edward toward the large bed. He struggled in their grasp. The woman moved the silver blade to Sandra’s throat. “You will cooperate,” she instructed him, “or else.”

  “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?” Sandra looked uncomprehendingly into Edward’s dark eyes. They were so full of fear she could almost taste it.

  The woman stepped away from Sandra and walked toward the bed. “Remember,” she whispered, “fight me, and I will personally slice her to bits.”

  The woman leaned down towards the bed and slid her blade down the center of Edward’s chest. She sliced deeply into the muscle under his skin before proceeding to thrust the blade between the bones of his ribcage. “No!” Sandra screamed as she opened her eyes.

  She was lying on the ground, her head cradled in Regald’s arms. “Sandra!” he said breathlessly.

  Sandra screamed scrambling to her feet away from Regald. Tears plastered her cheeks and her hands shook uncontrollably. “Edward!” she called out as she struggled to her feet. Where moments ago Edward’s body had lain, there now stood only a cluster of blood red roses.

  “You fell,” Regald informed her. “You tripped over the rose vines.”

  She looked down at her arms and saw they were covered with scratches from the thorns on the rose bushes she had fallen upon. They didn’t hurt, but Sandra assumed that they would later on. She took several slow breaths, her eyes readjusting to the darkness.

  “Whose chambers are these?”

  “The Queen’s, my Lady.”

  “The Queen’s?” He nodded. “She tortured him.” Sandra maneuvered around the vines until she reached the red roses. “She tortured him, sliced into him with a silver blade. His own Queen. And she forced the woman he loved to watch her do it.”

  Regald’s voice took on as serious a tone as Sandra had ever heard. “And do you know the name of that woman?”

  Sandra nodded slowly then turned to meet Regald’s gaze. “Liza.”

  Regald’s expression went slack and they stared at each other, his eyes revealing nothing. Then he turned away from her back toward the stone door to the chamber and realized that the roses lining it were no longer black—they were violet. “By the Gods,” he whispered turning back to stare at the young woman by his side. “I will take you to Edward.”

  Chapter XV

  The first time Mara had met Edward, she was five years old. He had come to visit her father, a high-ranking lord among the Dark Court. Mara’s mother, Princess Mellissa, had been alive then, a tall pale-skinned woman with long dark hair and violet eyes. Mara remembered her as a soft spoken woman with a kind, gentle touch. However, there was little else she could recall of her mother. Both of her parents had died when she was still a child, even by mortal standards.

  It was at this young age when Mara declared bravely to the already famous Sub-Captain that someday, she too would be one of his knights. Her father had responded to hush her, calling for her mother to escort her from the room. Yet when her mother approached, Edward had knelt down beside the young girl.

  “Tell me your name, child,” the Knight had said to her.

  “Mara,” she had replied shyly.

  “Well, Lady Mara. Do you know the first rule of being a Knight?”

  She shook her head, and Edward offered her the full weight of his dark eyes. “A knight must honor the realm and above all else, always keep their word. Do you think you could do that, my Lady?”

  Mara stared up into his eyes and gave a slow nod. “Well then,” the Knight said and smiled, “I would say that you may one day make a great knight indeed. I shall look for you, when you come of age. If knighthood is still the path you desire, I will teach you more.”

  A cold gust of wind filtered into the room of the tower Mara had called home for centuries, pulling her from the recesses of her memories. She slowly slipped the sheets from her thin frame and grabbed a black satin robe that hung on the back of the closet door. Donning the robe, she moved to the dresser on the far side of the room. A tall silver mirror sat atop the dresser. Mara sat in the chair in front of the mirror and picked up a small white brush and began to run it through the stands of her long hair.

  It took several minutes for her to completely comb through her tangled locks, still slightly damp from the night before. When her hair reached a point of manageability, Mara pulled the locks behind her and fastened them with a thick black band. Then she proceeded to walk towards the closet, lined with a dozen pair of identical dark jeans, slacks, and long-sleeved in varying degrees of thickness, each marked with the silver symbol of the rose. She selected a thin, long-sleeved shirt and a comfortable pair of dark slacks.

  Once dressed, Mara moved from her private quarters to a large office used by most members of the Black Rose. Two of her fellow guardsmen were seated inside the office, staring at computers on the left side of the room. Both stood at their Captain’s entrance. Mara waved them back down. She walked toward the opposite side of the room and entered a second door to her private office, closing the door behind her. Several stacks of folders containing the daily reports lined the dark desk.

  Mara ignored the folders and took a seat. She picked up the phone by her desk and dialed the number for the Arum Court. She asked for Captain Regald. “I’m sorry,” came the response, “Captain Regald is out of town for the next few days.”

  “Okay,” she replied. “Then would you please transfer me to the King’s office?”

  A series of beeps come over the phone and a few minutes later, a feminine voice answered. “King Mathew’s office. How may I help you?”

  “This is Captain Mara Sethian of the Black Rose Guard. I would like to speak to the King.”

  “Hold, please.”

  Mara again heard a series of beeps and then proceeded to wait for several minutes. This time, it was a masculine voice that came over the line. “Hello, Mara,” the Arum King said. “It has been a long time.”

  “Greetings, your Majesty. Yes it has.”

  “To what do I owe the sound of your voice, Captain?”

  “Edward.”

  “Ah, still sending you to make his threats, is he? Good to see some things never change.”

  Mara’s voice grew constricted. “With all due respect, your Majesty, you cannot and shall not harm the Captain of another court’s guard. You know that better than anyone.”

  “Don’t you want to know why I did it, Mara? Or are you ready to jump to his defense no matter what.”

  “I don’t give a shit what you think he did or did not do. You will not harm him again. Do you understand me?”

  A moment of silence filled the line before the King replied. “Still in love with him after all these years, Mara?” She did not answer. “You know he cannot love you, right? He is incapable of doing so. Or is it Liza for whom you are doing this? Do you think if you protect Edward, you can finally be forgiven for what happened? It doesn’t work that way, Mara. You know it doesn’t.”

  “Your Majesty,” her words were slow, tight in her throat, “I will make this very clear. If you or anyone on your g
uard raises so much as a finger against Edward again, it will be the last mistake they ever make.”

  “Are you truly threatening a King, Captain?”

  “Why not? I’m the only one who can.”

  “Mara.” The King’s voice softened unexpectedly. “Have you ever thought about putting down the sword, moving into the modern world? You could do it you know, come have a place at court. Pass the mantle on to someone else for a while. Come, Mara, we were friends once.”

  “Thank you for the concern, your Majesty. Did you really think I would not come for him?”

  Mara heard the king draw a deep breath on the other end of the line. “I guess in a way, I wanted to know.”

  “Well, now you do. Don’t touch him again, your Majesty. You’ll regret it.”

  “Fearless as ever.” He paused. “Mara, if you threaten me, then you are challenging the entire Arum Court. Do you really want to do that?”

  “Ask the Muir Court,” she replied coldly.

  The line went quiet. Mara listened for several heartbeats, then the King said, “Thank you for the call, Captain of the Black Rose.”

  “Goodbye, your Majesty.”

  The line went dead.

  Chapter XVI

  Mathew walked towards the door of his private office. He entered the corridor beyond and walked slowly down the hallway, ignoring the occasional guard who stood before various doorways along the hall. He had not spoken to Mara in centuries, instead opting to deal with the Black Rose through intermediaries—usually through Captain Regald. In fact, the last time he had spoken to Mara directly, she had refused his proposal of marriage. It had been just over five-hundred years ago. The Ciar Court had split in half and the Arum Court was formed. His uncle had lead the rebellion which had threatened civil war within the Ciar Court. An agreement was reached at the last moment, neither side eager to engage in the loss of more immortal life.

  However, his uncle’s antics had been less than popular among powerful members of his newly formed court and even less so with the Court he had rebelled against. Facing mistrust on all sides, he had turned to his nephew. A Sub-Captain in the Black Rose Guard, Mathew was hailed a hero by both courts and an ideal candidate to take over his uncle’s troubled throne.