Fae Rose Academy: Year Two (For The Purely Divine Book 2)

by Quinn Ashwood

  Moving her hands upward like two points were building up to one, she carried on.

  "One day after a fierce storm, the kings and queens of both kingdoms went to the highest points of the castle and begged Mother Universe for forgiveness. They realized what they had done was wrong and that they had ignored the values of Mother Universe. They had each lost ninety-five percent of their population and begged to protect the last five percent. They acknowledged their mistake and would do anything to apologize to the couple they banished. Mother Universe heard their plea, and that was when they could see the golden castle far, far away."

  Lowering her hands, she gave us a smug grin as she crossed her left leg to rest on her right. "They rushed to those lands, banding together to head to the great golden castle. They hoped that the king and queen of the land would be merciful to their suffering kingdoms and aid them in the long recovery. They had barely anything to give but a purple rose from the Kingdom of Darkness and a silver rose from the Kingdom of Light. They protected the roses under domes of glass so they would be shielded from the travel conditions. The journey was long, but they finally reached the massive golden walls of the kingdom."

  Roses in domes to shield them from the stormy weather.

  "Upon their arrival, the guards allowed them to enter and plead their case from the bottom step of the gold castle. The king came out first, wearing golden attire of the finest cloth while covering his face with a mask. He was bulky and powerful, which meant they had the proper food to survive, and it made the four individuals fall to their knees and beg for assistance. The king questioned why their kingdoms were suffering to begin with. What possible plague could they have triggered to cause them such loss? They didn't hesitate to explain their wrongs, and how they had banished a couple who were from opposite spectrums but were madly in love and wished to marry. They couldn't accept the idea of them being together, not because it wasn't allowed by the Universe, but they were frightened of change. They assumed that light would be fine without darkness, just as the darkness would be fine without light. Now, after a year of struggle and tremendous loss, they realized that assumption was false. They needed one another to remain strong, and that was why they banded together to come and give them the only precious items they had left. They presented the dome roses, the silver and purple roses full of life as they twinkled beneath the rays of the warm sun above. The king admitted that their story was sorrowful, but what if accepting the roses meant that the future royal children would come to fall in love differently?"

  Fall in love differently?

  "The royals were confused by his question, so he elaborated. He explained that instead of one merely falling in love with those in their kingdoms, Mother Universe would bestow a rose in a glass dome in a designated room in each castle. She would choose the woman who would fit right for the king, and he'd have to fight to keep her love alive by taking care of a rose. The woman could be from any of the three kingdoms, which would make the possibilities equal and couldn't be frowned upon by the family or people of the kingdom. If the chosen royal son took care of the flower properly, the two would begin to fall in love with one another and would eventually marry. It would be a privilege for those of royal blood and would become a tradition that would run through the fae culture for the rest of eternity. However, if the man did not take care of the woman properly by ensuring her happiness, the rose would begin to wilt until it perished. If the rose perished, the woman would then get to decide on who would be the bearer of her rose, and once chosen with her mind, heart, and soul, her rose would appear in the next man's kingdom’s chamber, which would give him the opportunity to love her. Both kings and queens agreed that it would be the best way of determining love between the royal children and eventually bring unity by encouraging the Universe to play her role so such events like banishment never happened again. They agreed, and that was when they heard the sound of a baby."

  A baby?

  Sera motioned her hands as if she were holding a bundle of joy in her arms.

  "Their agreement was followed with the sweet cries of a child, a sound that they hadn't heard for months, since the plague had caused most of their children to perish and the women to become infertile. The masked queen walked out of the castle, holding a beautiful baby girl. Her cries made the roses in the domes grow further, their petals being bathed in glitter like they had just been blessed by the very kingdom itself. The king removed his mask, as did the queen, and the four royals gasped as they realized the king and queen of the golden kingdom was the couple they banished. The revelation brought more apologies and begs for forgiveness, and with Mother Universe as their witness, they forgave them. The king and queen ordered their guards to travel back with food, water, and jugs of magic to help the kingdoms heal and rebuild themselves. Within another year, the kingdoms of light and dark were finally healed and thriving again. Together, they made a treaty of peace, that love would be left to the Universe to decide as their fae culture grew to accept all fae, so no one would ever be banished for love thanks to the dome rose privilege. That was many, many centuries ago."

  "Why do we have only two kingdoms then?" Camilla inquired. "I mean there's this golden kingdom that we just found out is called Rosadette, where your royal family resides, and then there's the Rose kingdom, where Alicia resides. Basically, what I'm trying to figure out is which kingdom is missing?"

  King Emmanuel nodded and rose up to continue.

  "This kingdom is still called Rosadette, and that is why within the walls of this kingdom and the next, we never refer to our surnames. Not because we are not proud of this kingdom and grateful for its kind offerings of life, but because it's not ours to humbly claim."

  "Not yours?" I questioned. "I'm not following."

  Rainer looked between his parents and his father nodded.

  "None of you were born at the time of this incident, and it's not something easily found in history books on our culture," he announced. "When the three kingdoms still prospered, the next Rosadette daughter was up next to have her rose be given to one of the royals. The Prince of Light had just become King of Light, and the Prince of Dark had also just become the King of Dark. The King of Light had dreams of being with the Queen of Rosadette. He fantasized and obsessed about their union to the point it was almost unhealthy. As king, very few could speak ill of him or even advise him because he was lost in a sort of fantasy he'd lived in for many years prior to him rising to the throne. His parents didn't deem it as a big deal, and they had no choice but to step down, seeing as they were now old and ready to live a peaceful life until death took them. Granted, there is always a royal couple that backs up each kingdom, but the King of Light wouldn't listen to them either. His mind was set that he would be granted the rose of Rosadette's kingdom. However, it didn't go as planned."

  I squeezed Rainer's hand as we prepared to listen to the tale.

  "The rose had appeared in the chamber of the King of Darkness. The King of Light hadn't known at first. It was only when the King of Darkness announced his marriage to the Queen of Rosadette that he found out," he revealed. "The King of Light was furious, astonished that Mother Universe could possibly forsake him and allow such a treacherous thing to happen when he was devoted to making the Queen of Rosadette happy. He thought it was a joke, and merely mocked the King of Darkness, saying that he wouldn't be able to keep her happy for long. So he decided to wait. He waited and waited, expecting them to fall out of love and her rose to wilt away. To him, it only made sense because the King of Darkness wasn't very powerful or as attractive as him. The queen deserved perfection, and there was no way the King of Darkness could deliver that to her."

  That way of thinking sounded far too familiar, leaving a lump in my throat while I fought not to shiver. Rainer squeezed my hand to remind me he was there, and Camilla put her hand on my right knee once more, the three of us still focused on King Emmanuel.

  "However, time went on and it seemed as though their love was growing stronger. Th
eir kingdoms rejoiced because it was clear that it wouldn't be long before they brought children to the world, and the news angered the King of Light. He hadn't had a rose show up in any royal lands and the thought of being alone in the castle walls drove him insane. He decided if he couldn't be happy, no one could be happy. He sought a strong Fae Wizard to invoke a spell upon him and the King of Darkness. That spell, however, required death."

  I swallowed the lump in my throat as butterflies fluttered in the pit of my stomach.

  "There was a night when an intense blizzard came out of nowhere and hit the kingdoms, which was the night the King of Light declared he'd come to visit the Kingdom of Dark. The Queen of Rosadette was visiting the kingdom and was trapped by the storm, like many others. The King of Light had fought through the storm to arrive, and they encouraged him to take refuge in the castle for the night. That was the night the King of Light murdered the King of Darkness."

  The three of us were silent as he closed his eyes for a moment while shaking his head. “The scream that left the queen's mouth still haunts us," he admitted and even shivered. "The agony, heartbreak, and shock that her husband was now dead before her only worsened the storm as Mother Universe watched her precious son perish at the hands of another. The King of Light then evoked the spell, stating that her rose would be forced to appear in the Kingdom of Light first and that he'd gain the opportunity to love her better than the King of Darkness, who was obviously dead. He laughed and spread the dust of the spell, but he didn't listen to everything the wizard had stated."

  Alicia and Sera shook their heads, as King Emmanuel continued, "After completing the spell, he was ready to take the queen as his, until he heard a baby's cry. A female child, her upset cries bouncing off the walls of the castle. He looked to the Queen of Rosadette, only to realize one shocking thing. She had been pregnant with the child of the King of Darkness, which meant that the child carried both the blood of the shadowed and the light that the Queen of Rosadette possessed. His dream for perfection was suddenly tainted, and even if he took the queen as his own, he could never raise an abomination. Out of anger, he screamed and cast a freeze spell on the queen, but she slowed it down and rushed to remove her child from the castle. That made the King of Light angrier, and he screamed and let his elements seek to destroy everything. The Queen of Rosadette encouraged everyone to evacuate, and with the royal couple in tow, she encouraged them to seek refuge in the kingdom of Rosadette and make it their new home until the heir of Rosadette returned to their lands. She showed them the babe and informed them that the couple of Rosadette also knew of the babe's existence. She would take the babe somewhere she hoped she'd be safe from the hands of the King of Light, and return. None of them knew of the ticking curse that was placed upon her."

  "The couples," Camilla quietly whispered. "Was that..."

  "Myself, Seraphine, Alicia, and her husband," he revealed. "The Queen of Rosadette rushed to the lower lands, all while the King of Light destroyed the dark lands by freezing the kingdom into ice. He was going to go after the queen, but the remaining part of the spell activated."

  "What happened?" I asked.

  "The spell needed blood. Little did the king know that it needed the blood of two royals. He was supposed to kill the King of Dark and Queen of Rosadette within similar time frames to shed their blood. Obviously, that would defeat the purpose of what he'd asked the wizard but that was the point. The Fae Wizard wasn't allowed to interfere directly, but he knew the King of Light wouldn't kill the queen. Therefore, the spell triggered the death of the King of Light. The underlying purpose of the spell was to force both slain kings to be reborn again. Though the King of Light wouldn't receive his true love, the spell would give him the chance to be given the rose first between him and the reincarnated child of darkness," he declared.

  I was speechless, just like Rainer and Camilla, who had their jaws open in pure shock.

  "Mother Universe was upset by the circumstances, and that was the day that the kingdom was completely destroyed by various forces of nature. That brought the kingdoms down to two. With the Kingdom of Light not having a ruler, it was determined that the royal couple of the darkness would move to the Kingdom of Light. No one but the royals knew that the queen was of the light element and the husband was of darkness, which ended up favoring them because the queen was compatible with the lands and could aid in their survival. The royal couple of the Rosadette family decided to rise to the throne and aid the kingdom in rebuilding from the loss of their queen after she never returned. The kingdom never stopped searching for her or the babe, and after centuries of searching, they found a field of roses where a block of frozen ice laid intact. Instead of the solider returning to get aid with the new discovery, he fought hard to thaw out the ice. He'd almost gotten through it all when he ran out of magic. He had no choice but to return to the lands and inform us about his discovery, but when we arrived, the woman who held a babe in her arms was gone."

  "So...so you're saying the woman survived centuries of being frozen?" Camilla confirmed.

  King Emmanuel nodded. "The spell wasn't made to kill her. It was to freeze her in time until he could return her to his lands and force her into marriage. However, since he had perished, and she'd vanished down on the lower lands, no one could break the spell. Thawing the ice did exactly that, but that left us with the understanding that she'd taken the babe. The sole heir of the Rosadette kingdom."

  "Who she named after the kingdom," Rainer concluded and looked my way. "That's why Rosadette was on the lower lands."

  I looked back at the three of them as they nodded.

  "Doesn't that mean...my mom is alive?"

  "Maybe," Alicia answered. "I've been searching whenever I can venture down to the human lands, and that was how I met you. You remember our first encounter, yes?"

  "Yes," I replied with a firm nod. "Why couldn't I come back?"

  "We didn't want to interfere," Sera spoke up. "If your mother had left you in that specific village, there was a reason for it. She could have left you on the richer side of those realms, but she didn't. The decision wasn't made out of haste. It was made with guidance from the Universe, and that's why we couldn't easily interfere. Instead, we decided to send someone down to guide you who would be of similar age and who could be a knight to protect you."

  "That's exactly why Camilla and her family were sent down to the lower lands," Alicia declared.

  I looked at Camilla as she seemed to understand her role now. "No wonder why I was told to protect her," she commented. "Wow. That's complicated."

  "Wait. Xavier had said it differently," I voiced. "He said 'No wonder your mother hid you away. She didn't want you to be in the same predicament as her. The heartbreak almost killed her, but she couldn't move on after the light king killed the dark king. Her beloved was gone and she would have no choice but to marry the light king, but lo and behold, she was pregnant. A woman of light and a man of darkness, a forbidden love that led to his demise. She ran far away to escape her marriage, freezing herself and allowing centuries to pass until the Universe awakened her from slumber. If only time could heal a broken heart.' Does that mean she wasn't pregnant? She already had me and ran on her own accord verses him saying she wanted to escape the marriage with the King of Light?"

  The news seemed new to them, and Alicia spoke up, "I told the tale differently to him," she revealed.

  "Why?" the three of us asked as Alicia looked to Sera and King Emmanuel. They nodded in encouragement.

  "Because we came to the conclusion that Xavier could potentially be the reincarnation of the King of Light," she revealed.

  That had me and Camilla gasping before Sera added, "And that would mean the potential reincarnation of the King of Darkness would be Rainer."

  He was completely still as the news struck us.

  King Emmanuel nodded, as he looked at the three of us. "It only made sense. Xavier was found in a forbidden area of ice by the King and Queen of Light. Just as my wife
found Rainer in the forbidden place of darkness. They were found in the same year, with no connection to their birth parents, who probably perished from depositing their children in those forbidden places. It's not a coincidence that Xavier was placed in the Kingdom of Light and Rainer in the Kingdom of Rosadette, which we've covered up with the Kingdom of Darkness. They have always been somewhat rivals, and it made even more sense when Rosadette's rose formed in Xavier's possession first when they didn't seem compatible."

  Sera bobbed her head in agreement.

  "Like the spell had enforced, the reincarnation of the King of Light would be given the opportunity to love the destined Rosadette, which was truly Rosadette, the 'human' from the lower lands. His opportunity to love was here and now, and he proved what Mother Universe already knew was a wrong choice. He didn't take care of his rose. He didn’t listen to Rosadette’s need to be acknowledged as a lover and not as competition for perfection. His old ways from his first life had been brought over to this one, and the sight of the fallen petals must have triggered bits of his memory and assumptions he'd made before his death, centuries ago."

  "Now that he's lost the rose," Camilla began, "won't he try to make history repeat itself?"

  "That's what we're fighting against, but it’s the reason why we can't kick him from Fae Rose Academy," Alicia answered. "We can't give him a reason to have an outburst. We believe from the current assessment that this side of his was triggered by the sight of the dying rose as its last petal fell. Since the incident, we decided to wipe the memory regarding the rose."

  "What?" we questioned.

  "He doesn't remember Rosadette?" Rainer inquired.

  "He remembers her, but not the fact he had her rose," Alicia declared. "By getting rid of his memories of his possession of her rose, he won't have any association with her and may even be confused as to why he even tried to hurt her. It would be deemed out of character for him to attack his Year One partner, which we have emphasized could have been due to the stress of him wanting to do well at school. He's receiving punishment because he knows attempting to kill another, especially one of royal blood, is against the law, so he's more 'grateful' than anything to be alive versus crucified for his actions."