“Sister?” Micah didn’t understand, until she looked at Jeremiah and saw a soft blush spread across his cheeks. Her heart buoyed with happiness for him.
“Jeremiah,” Queen Rose said, moving from Micah to go to her brother’s side.
“Rose,” he said, his eyes lighting in a way Micah had never seen before.
Rose took his hands and lowered her voice, so that only those closest to them could hear. “I’m afraid that I broke my promise to you. I promised to get you and Micah out and I asked to come with you. But it appears that instead of taking you to your freedom outside the palace, I’m asking you to find it here with me. Jeremiah, will you please stand by my side, not just as the Conductor of my willing army of voices, but as the Conductor of my heart?”
“Are you asking me to marry you?” The blush on Jeremiah’s cheeks deepened to purple now.
“Yes, my Prince.”
“Long live the Prince!” called someone from the front of the crowd. Laughter erupted, then cheering as people realized what’d happened and they whooped and whistled.
Micah doubted Jeremiah even heard them. He was too busy taking Queen Rose in his arms and placing the most tender kiss upon her lips.
Princess Micah. She turned the words over in her mind. How ironic that the one girl who never wanted to be a Princess was going to be exactly that. Although, her mother had told her she was better than a Princess. She supposed she was just going to have to reinvent the definition of Princess. Because if she was going to do this, she was going to do it her way.
ROSE
THE NOW
Rose stood over her father’s body, her mother on one side and her future husband on the other.
The King had been laid out on his bed and dressed in a white robe to symbolize purity in death. Was he pure in death? Perhaps everyone was. It wasn’t very easy to sin when you were no longer alive. Did the sins of your lifetime cling to your body or did they fly free with your soul?
Rose reached out and touched her father’s cold cheek. She didn’t recall ever laying a finger on him when he was alive, not even as a young child. He always kept his distance from her. What was the point in getting attached to something you knew you weren’t going to keep? She knew now that he’d never intended to let her live. He’d been planning her death since her birth, only somehow, she’d managed to kill him instead.
Had she killed him? Or had they killed him, for it was certainly a murder committed by many hands.
It was unclear if his death had been caused by his heart or his fall, but Rose didn’t see that it mattered. He was dead. How he died didn’t change that fact.
Her mother let out a sob and dabbed at her eyes with her fingertips.
“Are you sad, Mother?” asked Rose, a little surprised. Was there a small part of her that’d loved him just a little?
“No, my darling. I’ve never been happier.” She smiled at Rose through her tears. “I never dreamed this day was possible.”
“Do you think I’m like him at all?” Rose asked.
Her mother shook her head. “You know that you look like me. An exact copy of how I looked at your age.”
In truth, her mother didn’t look too many years older than she did. Rose suspected a Whispering had taken care of that at some stage.
“I didn’t mean looks,” said Rose, concerned about where her genetics had come from.
“Can I answer this one?” asked Jeremiah, leaning in closer to her.
“Of course,” said Rose.
“Your father was evil. You have only goodness in your heart. You’ve had a more positive impact on Forte Cadence in the one day you’ve been Queen than this man did in his whole lifetime.”
“It’s true,” said her mother. “I have so much hope for our future and the future of all the people in our kingdom. Your father’s genes are clearly as weak as he was.”
Rose looked back at her father with his thin frame and drawn face. How did one man manage to wreak so much havoc?
“I don’t know if I’m up for the job,” whispered Rose.
“Hush,” her mother said. “Don’t send those words to the universe. You’ll make a fine Queen, the best ruler Forte Cadence has ever seen. Gabrielle said it herself. And you won’t be alone. Your father thought he could rule the kingdom with his hand alone. You aren’t that foolish.”
“You’re right,” said Rose. “I didn’t bring about this change on my own. It was the work of many. When we work together as a team we can achieve so much more than when we choose to work alone. I’d like to set up a panel of advisors to help me. With both of you, of course. And Gabrielle and Micah. Also, Dorian if I can convince him to return. I owe him so much. And my sisters and baby brother of course, as soon as they’re old enough. Aunt Lily and Aunt Georgia too. I need a team to help me lead the way.”
Jeremiah and her mother nodded their agreement.
“My father wanted Forte Cadence to be the most powerful kingdom in all the world. But not me. I just want it to be the most peaceful. My panel of advisors will be like a symphony, each playing a beautiful tune of their own, yet when we come together, the result will be stronger and impossibly more beautiful than we could ever play alone.”
“The bad has turned to good,” said her mother. “Gabrielle promised me it would. And it has. It really has. And now I have someone I want you to meet.”
Rose’s mother smiled and left the room. Rose suspected she knew exactly who her mother was talking about.
“Let’s wait over here,” said Jeremiah, leading her away from the bed to the other side of the spacious room.
“That’s better,” said Rose, glad to not be able to see her father’s body anymore in this cavernous room.
“Rose,” said Jeremiah, taking her hands in his. “I feel dreadful that I wasn’t the one who asked you to marry me. I fear that you’ll spend your whole life wondering if I would have.”
“Hush,” she said, pressing her fingers to his lips.
“Let me finish.” He kissed her fingertips and moved them away. “I want you to know that the day I told you my name, I was binding myself to you. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved and the only woman I ever will love. Not because you were a Princess, but because you were Rose.”
“I know,” she said, drinking in his words, despite not needing to hear them. She knew exactly how he felt. She’d known it for the longest time. He’d spoken to her with his eyes long before he’d trusted her with his words. “And do you know what I used to call you before I knew your name?”
He shook his head.
“My Prince. You were always my Prince. And now you will be, for real. You’re my dream come true.” She brought her lips to his and kissed him.
“I love you,” he said. “And I can’t wait for you to be my wife.”
“Shh.” She kissed him harder, with more passion, and his words fell silent as she felt him lose himself in her. As much as she hated to steal his words from him, she didn’t think she would ever get sick of doing this.
They broke away at the sound of a baby crying and Rose turned her head to see her mother holding her newborn brother in her arms.
It was the first time Rose had seen him and she rushed over, keen to look into his face and see the child who’d brought about such a revolution.
“May I hold him?” she asked her mother.
“Of course.” Her mother placed him gently in her arms and he stopped crying, looking up at her in such a way it made her wonder how much this baby could see.
“Look at the way he’s watching me.” She laughed, drawing a line with her fingertip down his nose and resting it on his lips.
“He knows his Queen,” said Jeremiah, coming over to meet him.
“I’m his sister first, and Queen second,” she said. “Oh, Mother, he’s beautiful.”
“He really is,” said Jeremiah. “I almost had a baby brother once.”
Rose looked up at him, surprised. He hadn’t told her much about his childhood before.
He hadn’t really had the chance. She’d never considered the possibility of him having a sibling apart from Micah.
“What happened?” asked her mother, saving her the question.
“My mother was pregnant when I… left for here. Micah tells me that she died before the baby was born.”
“And you knew it was a boy?” asked Rose, wondering how this was possible.
Jeremiah shook his head. “Just a hunch.”
“And your father?” her mother asked. “Is he still alive?”
Jeremiah shook his head once more. “Just me and Micah now.”
“And me,” said Rose.
“And me,” her mother added. “And Eliza and Tash and Cara.”
“And Virtus!” said Rose, jiggling her brother in her arms.
“Enver,” said her mother, firmly. “His name is Enver.”
“Since when?” asked Rose, surprised.
“Since right now. Let’s not make this poor child share his father’s name.”
“Enver is a much nicer name,” said Rose, laughing. “It’s perfect. It reminds me of the words ever and never. And never, ever again will our kingdom go back to how it was. Enver’s arrival has marked a new beginning.”
“I have just one question,” said Jeremiah, his face stern.
“What’s that?” asked Rose, curious.
Jeremiah reached out and ran his fingertips through Enver’s dark hair. “Does he have orange hair?”
Rose laughed. “No, Jeremiah. It’s as black as night.”
“Don’t laugh,” he said, breaking out in a smile of his own. “I only just found out that my sister is a redhead. I never knew!”
“Well from this day forward, I promise to point out to you every orange thing I ever see.”
“Maybe we can add that to our wedding vows,” said Jeremiah.
“Hand me Enver,” her mother said, reaching out her arms. “It seems you two have a lot to talk about. I’m going to see if there’s any word about your sisters.”
Rose handed over her baby brother, giving him a quick kiss on his forehead before her mother left. They were lucky to have been blessed with such a healthy baby to love. How different his life could have turned out. However it turned out now, she’d make sure he was happy. She owed him that much and more.
“My family is your family now,” said Rose, slipping her arms around Jeremiah. “And your family is mine. I’d like to go with you to the Valley of the Blessed and see where you grew up. Perhaps we can find where your parents were buried?”
He pulled her closer to him, enclosing her in his arms.
“I’d really like that.”
“Me too.”
It was strange, building a life with someone in the palace when she’d only ever imagined running far away. But just like the girl in the tower had restored the Prince’s sight with her tears, it seemed her tears had restored her Prince’s voice. And with it came more love and more happiness than she’d ever dared possible. It was her duty to each and every person who lived in Forte Cadence to make sure that this happiness spread to their hearts too. It didn’t feel right to keep it all to herself. Besides, happiness was in infinite supply. All you had to do was release it.
JEREMIAH
THE NOW
Jeremiah walked beside Rose on their way to the Valley of the Blessed. She refused to be taken by carriage, insisting that after being locked inside the palace for so long, her legs were desperate to walk.
The steep slope from the palace down to the valley wasn’t easy to navigate and several times Rose stopped, claiming to be admiring the view, and Jeremiah pretended to believe her. She wasn’t used to walking such distances. And there were no slopes, or rocky paths inside the palace.
His heart burst with love for Rose. To think he wasted all those years that she’d been talking to him without talking back. Although they weren’t a complete waste, for with every word she’d spoken, she’d won a small piece of his heart. Eventually, she’d won enough of it that there was barely room left in it for anyone else.
He glanced at Micah and realized that wasn’t true. He loved his sister, too.
They were accompanied on their journey by a large group of Whisperers and palace workers, who pushed carts loaded with fruit, vegetables and freshly-baked loaves of bread. Other carts were loaded with more luxury items like sweets, soaps, and brightly colored fabrics. They were all covered over with canvas, ready to be opened and handed out when they got to the town square.
Rose had overheard Jeremiah and Micah talking about Giving Day, with Micah explaining that in the five years since Jeremiah had left the Valley of the Blessed, the celebrations had dwindled even more. Rose decided it was time the people had a Giving Day they’d always remember. Life was a miracle worth celebrating. She didn’t want them to lose hope like that.
She’d set about gathering gifts, stripping the palace pantry and storage rooms almost bare. It didn’t feel right for them to have so much when the people had so little.
As Giving Day approached, the journey was planned and volunteers were called for, to help Rose with the carts. She tried to insist on pushing a cart herself, but Jeremiah wouldn’t hear of it. She needed her strength to win over the people in the valley. Her gifts weren’t a one-off. Their lives were about to change for the better. Permanently. Rose would need to work hard. Winning respect is so much more difficult than losing it.
He squeezed Rose’s hand as they continued down Mount Allegro.
“I hope the people like my gifts,” she said.
“They’ll love them. Especially the surprise announcement.”
She smiled. “There’s no reason a female shouldn’t be able to own property. Especially now that we have a female monarch. That law should’ve been changed years ago.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said.
Rose let go of Jeremiah’s hand and frowned.
“It should never have been a law in the first place.” He grinned.
Rose clutched her chest and let out a laugh. “You had me worried for a moment there.”
Eliza and Tash came skipping past them, flapping their arms, pretending they were butterflies. They reminded Jeremiah of Micah when she’d been that age, with more energy than such a small body knew what to do with. The girls had insisted on coming with them, keen to see more of the world than what was contained within the Palace walls.
Rose’s mother and baby Enver had stayed behind at the palace with Gabrielle, who didn’t have the strength yet for such a journey, despite growing stronger every day. Cara was with them too, having returned home with Eliza and Tash, in the arms of their doting Aunt Lily, who’d barely let go of them since setting foot in the palace. They’d developed a wonderful bond that Jeremiah had no doubt would continue well into the future. Lily had been invited to join the Symphony that Rose was putting together to help govern Forte Cadence. That was another word Rose had introduced. Govern. She insisted it sounded so much better than rule. She had no desire to rule over anybody, only to ensure that peace and harmony were maintained within the kingdom.
Rose’s Aunt Georgia had arrived too, at the news of her twin brother’s death. Rose had invited her to join her Symphony, asking her if she ever wished she were born first and had the chance to be Queen. Georgia had tipped back her head and laughed, saying that the last thing in the world she ever wanted was to be Queen. She was more than happy to serve as one of Rose’s advisors.
Jeremiah glanced across at Micah again. She was being unusually quiet. Where had all the energy she’d had as a child gone? Had the palace sucked it out of her or had she just grown up? She’d turned into a beautiful young woman and his heart ached whenever he looked at her, to think of all she’d lost. Everything that King Virtus had stolen from her. Was it possible for her to get it back? Not all of it, that much was certain. There was no bringing back their parents or their baby sibling. But maybe some of her joy would return one day.
Returning to the valley wouldn’t be easy
for any of them, especially Micah. It was a place of memories of death and desperation. It was bad enough for him to return there knowing there’d be faces that were familiar and others that would’ve changed almost as much as he knew his own must have.
It’d been a shock to see himself in the mirror after so long. His face was thin and drawn and although his hair was growing back in tight curls, long gone was the mop he used to have to untangle before he left his house. His eyes were different too, as if the sorrow in his heart was leaching out of them. This was a common trait amongst the Whisperers. Just another way they all looked the same. Although, as their hair had begun to grow and their robes were replaced with ordinary clothes, their individuality was being restored. He’d made a point of learning all their names, replacing them in his mind with the names he’d previously given them. He kept those names to himself, of course, not sure what some of them would think of them. Dancing Feet may not be unhappy with hers, but Long Nose probably wouldn’t be overly impressed.
They passed various people on their way to the valley, many of whom joined them on their walk, their numbers growing with each step they took. The people were curious, not only about what was loaded in the carts, but about their new Queen.
They approached a heartbreakingly familiar copse of trees. The very ones that Jeremiah had run to after his test for the Whisperers. The day he failed to receive an orange and instead received what was very nearly a death sentence.
There was a familiar figure standing under the largest of the trees, his arms dangling by his side, his tall, lanky frame reminding Jeremiah of his childhood. In the time that Micah called the Before.
Jeremiah squeezed Rose’s hand, then let it go. “There’s someone I need to say hello to.”
“Who is it?” She followed his gaze to the trees.
“My friend,” he said, quickening his pace, until he found himself running toward the figure, his arms open and a tear fighting its way from his eyes. He hadn’t thought he had the capacity to cry anymore.
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 21
