The Black Rose (18 page)

“So then your father’s name…”

“Is my name,
yes.
I never met him.”

“What happened to…
”

“She died shortly after leaving me in the
hands of King Wilhelm.
”

“How?”

Edmund shrugged his shoulders, he honestly had no idea, “If I had to guess, a broken heart.”

“Is that really possible?”

“We, magical beings, have the ability to choose when to end our lives, but I like to think it was because of my father….”

“I’m sorry,” Wilhelmina said taking hold of Edmund’s hand. She never expected him to have such a sad past, “So does that mean you have more magic then…”

Edmund shook his head, “I don’t know. If I had to guess, I would be if not even, less powerful than Yolande.
Sorcerers are normally weaker than enchantresses. Encha
ntresses are only female though…
If I had to give a title, maybe male enchantress or
I guess enchanter would be an appropriate term.
”

“Sounds confusing,” said
Wilhelmina
. She still
had
a few more questions
, but for now, it was probably best to save them for later. She had already asked
a couple
of
really personal one
s
.

Edmund didn’t seem like a bad guy. He was just lonely and that loneliness had made him bitter.
She sympathized with him. After all, she spent many lonely years in her tower. On the other hand, she had Milly. All Edmund had had were a bunch of lifeless maids.

“If it’s any consolation, I t
hink you were unfairly punished…”

Edmund turned to look at her. Their eyes locked and he knew she was telling the truth. He kissed her. He had thought all hope was lost, that she could never love him after knowing the truth, but here she was in his arms, “Thank you.”

“If I guess your age, will you tell me?” Wilhelmina teased and Edmund laughed.

23
years ago
  

“
Oh my love how could you?
Y
ou promised
you
would only ever love me
,”
Lenora thought as she watched her dear Edmund marry
King Clovis Percival of Egantine’s youngest daughter
. She had come to the wedding alone
and had chosen to wear
a lavender gown in order to blend in with the other guests.

Tears filled
Lenora’s
eyes as she watched her love. He looked
so much in love with the bride and
Lenora felt her
desire to live fading
.
Before the wedding was even over, she left. She ran through the streets of Egantine. She veered off the street and headed through an empty field
till she reached a hill. Then she vanished in a puff of smoke to arrive at a little cottage located in a small forest, known as the Forest of Dreams.

Her belo
ved son, Edmund, named after his
father, was taking a nap on the couch
in their small cottage. He was fifteen
,
young, but not
too young
. Lenora
felt he was ready to work for a king
and he would have to be for her heart was slowly
fading
.

Aridale was lacking a sorcerer and she had
heard
wonderful things about King Wilhelm and Queen Henrietta. She believed her son would be safe with them.
Soon, she would no longer be able to care for him. Her reason to live was for him and to watch over her love who worked for King Clovis, but now her love was gone. He had left her for another. He had stopped coming to see his son when little Edmund was almost
three
. Lenora had her doubts then and now knew that it was because he had fallen for someone else. Tears filled her eyes and she willed them away. She could not let her son see her like this.

She
quickly changed out of her gown and put on her traditional white enchantress robes. All enchantresses wore white, while sorcerers wore colors based on their strong suits. Edmund wore green robes since his strongest powers dealt with earth, just like his father. Lenora forced herself not to cry as she watched her son stir from his sleep.
She had already shed enough tears
these past twelve years
.

“Edmund, it is time,” Lenora said as her son sat up.
He looked so much like his father and she had to turn away from him to prevent the tears she had been holding back to stream down her face.

“Time for what mother?”
He asked.

“Time for you
to work alone
.
W
e are going
to Aridale.”

“Right now?”

“You are ready,” Lenora
forced a smile
.
Edmund nodded. He may have been young, but his eyes held great wisdom. “There is one thing; you must not go by Edmund. Your new name will be Lord Endymion Melanthius. Understood?”

“Yes mother,” Edmund replied. He had known that his name would change. His mother had told him that already.
He was Edmund around her, Endymion in public, and now he would be Lord Endymion Melanthius, the sorcerer. Edmund
knew the truth
as to why his real name must remain a secret
and
planned to
take that name to the grave.

“Good, then let’s go,” Lenora took hold of her son and the two teleported to Aridale. It was late afternoon and the sun was at its highest point. Lenora walked up to the guards and they let her in. She had already sent a message to the king, so she was expected.

“Enchantress Lenora, so this is the sorcerer you have brought to me,” King Wilhelm said looking at the boy, “He is quite young.”

“He is much older than he looks,” Lenora smiled, “This is Lord Endymion Melanthius.” Edmund bowed to the king at the mention of his name.

“Ah, I can see,” King Wilhelm said impressed, “We will take him in.”

“Thank you,” Edmund bowed again.

“I wish you well my student,” Lenora curtseyed and then she disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

Back home
Lenora
lay
down on her bed and closed her eyes.
Her son was safe and now she could finally put her aching heart to rest.
“
My only love, how could you
…
How could you… ” She whispered as tears fell from her closed ey
es. H
er years of longing for a love that
no longer existed
were
finally over
.
She was now able to rest.

Chapter 13

Milly had locked herself away in her room. She hadn’t eaten in two days and the maids were getting a little worried. “Milly! Come on, you have to eat!” One of the maids pounded on the door, but it was no use. She tried wiggling the knob, but the door would not open. “Curses,” The maid muttered under her breath.

“It’s no use Flora, just leave the tray by the door, maybe she’ll eat later,” Another maid said. Flora sighed and set the tray down before hurrying off with the other maids. They had lots of work to do.

Aridale was still in a period of darkness. The sun hadn’t risen since the wedding day
fiasco
. Snow continued to fall and the ground had become covered in
white
.
Many of the villagers had fallen ill, just like Edolie. There
had
even
been
a couple of deaths. 

E
veryone was in a constant state of panic. The ground would shake from time to time. It also appeared as if Fantasme Forest was getting close and closer to the boarder of the kingdom, as if Aridale would be engulfed by it. Those that could, began leaving Aridale and heading to various other kingdoms. Vanica
, Bralinor, and Egantine
had allowed citizens of Aridale to join their kingdom
if they wished too. Other kingdoms didn’t wish to spread whatever illness was going around in Arid
ale, and instead closed their borders
.

King Wilhelm was
doing all he could to calm his people.
Many of the villagers were upset and constantly
shouting
that they should have killed Wilhelmina long ago. The
ir
words hurt Queen Henrietta.
Her
sorrow
eventually became too
much for her and she had been bed ridden. King Wilhelm couldn’t afford to lose both daughters
and his wife.

Yolande declared that they
would attack
tomorrow
.
Time was running out for Edolie and so plans had to be rushed.
It wasn’t what they had hoped for, but they had no choice and they also knew there was a chance they’d have to attack early.

Jerome spent every minute he had
practicing using the sword Yolande had given him. One strike through the heart and all of this will end. He promised
Queen Henrietta that
he would bring
Wilhelmina back unharmed
, but if he had to, he would break that promise.

Yolande and King
Wilhelm
had told him
Wilhelmina
would be an easier target.
However, t
hey
also
believed
,
for that reason,
the sorcerer would protect her
in order
to keep the curse
alive, though neither one was positive
. If it came down to it, King Wilhelm told him that he should kill Wilhelmina.
He was sure in time his wife would understand and they would both still have
Edolie. Jerome kept the secret to himself and hoped it would not come to that
for he would hate to hurt Queen Henrietta
.

Milly
lay
on her bed, she had run out of tears to cry. Her eyes were red and swollen. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it. All of this was her fault. She could have prevented it if she had just told Wilhelmina what she had heard, but no, she was such a coward. Milly stared at the chest. In there was a locket, a picture of her parents
, and an old brown dress
.

She was
nine
when she arrived at Aridale’s
castle door. It had been
raining
and her brown dress was soaked. Her hair was
also
longer then.
Milly had no memory of what happened or how she arrived at the door. It was if she had lost all her memories, except her name.

Queen Henrietta found her and took her in. They gave her a bath and then introduced her to Wilhelmina
, who was just a toddler then
.
Milly acted as a baby sitter. She spent all her time playing with Wilhelmina and taking care of her. As she got older, they bonded as friends. Milly
never wanted to be seen as older and in charge. She knew that Wilhelmina only really wanted a friend.

There had to be something Milly could do now to save her. She
stood up and walked over to the trunk. She wasn’t sure why, but something told her that knowing who she was would
help her in some way.

Milly pulled out the brown dress and the gold locket. She opened it for the first time in many years to stare at a man and woman whom she did not know. Her mother had fiery red hair and green eyes, just like Milly, but she had her father’s nose.

“Who am I?” She asked staring at the pictures. She was
nine
at the time, yet she had no memory. Milly grabbed the brown dress and dug in the pockets, hoping to find something, a picture, a letter, anything, but nothing. She was about to give up when she noticed that on the inside of the dress there was a pocket that had been sewn shut. Milly used her nail to cut the thread and the pocket opened. Inside it was a piece of paper and on it was written, “
Lady Millicent Lucia
.” Milly’s eyes widened. It was her name, her real name.
She grabbed the locket and took out the pictures, just as she hoped, on the back of each pictures was written her parents’ names, “
Lord
Edmund Lucero
” and “
Lady Ninette
Arabelle
.
”
She
was
part of some royal family line. It was then she had a flashback of when she was younger, “
No way….
”

Milly
burst out
of
her room
and
sprinted
to Wilhelmina’s room. The “
Enchantresses and Sorcerers
” book was still lying on the bed. Milly grabbed it and quickly skimmed the index, “Edmund Lucero, Edmund Lucero, Edmund Lucero…..” She repeated over and over again and till her finger landed on the name. Milly froze. Her father was a sorcerer.
She
ha
d
suspected it, which is
why she looked up his name, but it wasn’t till
s
he saw his name that it impacted her.
Nervously Milly
turned to
the
page about him
. Sh
e
discovered that her mother was
King Clovis
Percival
of Egantine
’s youngest daughter
. She chose to marry beneath her rank and went from princess to lady.