The Black Rose (2 page)

“Honestly, I don’t really want to rule,” Wilhelmina confided as she put the brush down and sat down on the bed next to Milly, “So it doesn’t really bother me. But I guess I sometimes do wonder why, but whenever I ask, they switch the conversation to something else. I feel like there is something wrong with me and they aren’t telling me.”

“Hmmm…” Milly tilted her head in thought, “I’ve known
you
for almost my whole life and I never noticed anything wrong with you. I just think they love Edolie more because she looks like Queen Henrietta.”

“What are you saying?” Wilhelmina asked not sure if she liked where this conversation is going.

“Well,” Milly leaned in and whispered in Wilhelmina’s
ears, “I have heard rumors that you might not be Queen Henrietta’s daughter.”

“What?”

“Well think about it, you have green eyes like your father, but your black hair doesn’t match up.”

“I would think if that were true, my mother wouldn’t be as much in love with my father as he is….” Wilhelmina countered.

Milly shrugged, “It was just a theory. I didn’t come up with it.
Anyway, I should get back down to the kitchen.
”

“See you later?”

“Maybe at the ball, I don’t think I
will
get a break since everything has to be
perfect
for
Princess
Edolie,” Milly said before exiting Wilhelmina’s room.

Wilhelmina sighed as she fell back on her bed. She had spent most of this week alone since Milly
was working nonstop for Edolie’s ball
. The Spring Ball usually only took Milly away for a couple of days, but because it was
Princess
Edolie’s ball, all the
palace
workers had to work extra hard
to make it
perfect.

Wilhelmina spent mo
st of her time in her room
to a
void listening to her younger sister complain if something was not quite right.
It was times like these when she began to agree
with Milly that Edolie probably wasn’t ready to rule a kingdom.
Edolie
was too spoiled
and
too young, but over time Wilhelmina believed she would matu
re. Once Edolie i
s married, then she will have to undergo training
to become
queen. Wilhelmina was sure that by the time her mother was done with her,
her sister
would be a fine queen.

She
stared at her ceiling and her mind drifted to what Milly had said earlier. She had thought about it before. Her mother was blonde and her father was a brunette. How did she end up with black hair? Her parents had told her that someone in the family must have had black hair at some point. However, Wilhelmina checked out the portrait hall herself.

The portrait hall was a hallway in the palace where on the walls
hung a painting of each ruler of
Aridale. None of the rulers in the paintings had black hair.
At the time s
he thought that
maybe someone might have been missed and didn’t worry about it too much, but now she was beginning to think Milly might be on to something. The only thing that didn’t make sense is why her mother and father appeared to be so much in love? If he had cheated, wouldn’t their relationship have suffered somewhat?

“What’s wrong with me?” Wilhelmina asked aloud in frustration as she turned onto her stomach and slammed her face in
to
one of
her
big red
pillow
s
. It wouldn’t be so frustrating
if someone would just tell her why she was not allowed to be next in line
for the throne
. However, this also
added to her frustration
because she didn’t really want to rule a kingdom
. Thus,
it should not
even bother her
that she
wasn’t
going
to be a queen
, but it did. It had bothered her for eighteen years. What was so special about Edolie? Was it really because she looked like Queen Henrietta? Wilhelmina sighed.
In her heart, s
he knew that couldn’t be it.
Her parents loved
each other
too much.

So Wilhelmina went on thinking about other things that made her sister more special than her. Maybe she was just not fit to be queen, she wasn’t as elegant and graceful as Edolie, nor was she as pretty. Wilhelmina was quite plain compared to her sister, then again she wondered if that was just because of how she dressed. Her parents did tend to put Edolie in more elegant, beautiful ball gowns while she was often
dressed
in plain
,
boring
dresses.

Sometimes Wilhelmina wondered if she was cursed, but quickly realized that was silly since she had never had a run in with a sorcerer.
Also,
if she was cursed, she was sure her parents would know.
However
, there was that black rose marking she had on her back. Her parents had told her it was a birthmark and it just happened to look like a rose. She had believed them then, but now she wasn’t so sure. Wilhelmina sighed. She was being ridiculous. There was no way she was cursed.

Her mind continued to wonder as she stared at a picture on her nightstand. It was a picture of her as an infant in her mother’s arms. Her father was standing behind them. Everyone was smiling and seemed so happy.

Though she knew it was wrong, Wilhelmina couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like if Edolie was never born.
She would
then
be the future queen and that thought made her stomach cringe. Wilhelmina didn’t feel that she was fit to be queen, nor di
d she want such responsibility. However, she wasn’t sure if Edolie was either.
Edolie was young and naïve and probably didn’t realize all the tasks a queen would have to take on. She was more interested in marrying prince charming
and having her own fairy tale
ending
. Wilhelmina sighed. Edolie did however have a kind heart even though she was spoiled and
probably
would eventuall
y make a good queen. Wilhelmina
couldn’t deny that.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a couple of maids bursting into her room.
She
had been so
consumed by her thoughts
that she lost
track of the time and the
Spring B
all
was going to start
soon. Wilhelmina normally wasn’t allowed to go to the ball in fear she would attract a
man
before Edolie was old enough to marry
, but tonight she was required to go.

Wilhelmina
hadn’t really
want
ed
to go
to the ball
since she
had
never danced before
. She also wouldn’t
know anyone
. However, when her mother told her Milly was allowed to go
, she didn’t
bother to
fight her way out
it
. If anything, she at least would have Milly to talk to.

The maids forced her into a hot bath while they worked on getting her dress ready. Wilhelmina wasn’t even sure what kind of gown she was wearing since she had allowed Milly to pick it out.
She had no experience with going to balls and had no idea what she should wear. Milly, on the other hand, often helped out at the ball, and so she knew what would be appropriate.
It was then Wilhelmina remembered that Milly was always trying to get her to wear
more elegant outfits. She
hadn’t worried about it before, but as she finished up her bath, she realized that maybe allowing Milly to choose wasn’t the best idea and braced
herself
for the
wors
t
.

Chapter 2

Wilhelmina
could hear names being called and knew it would soon be her turn to enter the ball room. She stare
d at
her reflection
in
the full length
mirror
located
on the wall
outside the ball room entrance
.
Wilhelmina
was wearing the
ruby
red
ball gown that Milly had picked
out
for her. The
red
gown was covered in gold accents and Wilhelmina felt like she was a piece of furniture that had been taken from her bedroom.
She
sighed; she should not have
allowed
Milly
to
pick
out
the gown.
It was defi
nitely
something more suited for Edolie. Wilhelmina’s
straight, black
hair had also been curled and done up for the first time
in her life
, making her look even less like herself.

In the ballroom,
Princess
Edolie Marcelle of Aridale and
Prince
Jerome Alexander of Vanica
had just made their entrance
.
The guests bowed as their future queen and king walked down the extravagant marble staircase.
Edolie was wearing a beautiful sky bl
ue ball gown with white lacing. On the top of her head sat a silver tiara
and around her neck she wore a strand of pearls
.
Jerome
was dressed in his
dark blue and gold uniform
, which were the colors of his kingdom
.
When they had reached the bottom of the stairs, b
oth
joined in with the other guests.
Edolie motioned to Jerome
to look at the
top of the
stair
case
to watch her
sister enter
.
She
was curious as to what Wilhelmina had chosen to wear and secretly hoped
her older sister
didn’t
look better than
her.
 

Wilhelmina felt something tap her shoulder an
d turned to see one of the maid
s.
The maid pointed at the entry to the ballroom staircase and Wilhelmina then
realized that it wa
s
her turn to make her entrance. She
took a deep breath and nervously entered the room.
At the top of the stairs was a servant who was reading names
off to the guests below
. When she turned to face the ballroom below her, his voice rang, “Princess Wilhelmina Diamante of Aridale
.
”
Everyone’s eyes were upon her and she noticed guests whispering to one another as she walked down the steps
. She kept one ha
n
d on the gold railing,
careful not to trip since she was not used to such a large gown.
It also didn’t help that she was wearing gold high heeled shoes.

Prince Jerome
’s eyes widened in surprise as Wilhelmina entered the room.
S
he was beautiful. Their eyes met for a moment and
a
strange feeling entered his heart.
Jerome
hadn’t realized how intensely he was watching Wilhelmina until
Edolie began talking to him
.
He turned to face Edolie and did his best to listen to what she had t
o say, but was too distracted
thinking about Wilhelmina. When he turned to see her again, she
was gone.
He sighed and turne
d his attention back to Edolie. S
he was his
fiancée
and he was to marry her. It was probably best that he forget about Princess Wilhelmina.

Wilhelmina felt nervous and even more so when she locked eyes with Prince Jerome. He had looked at her so intently, she worried that he had been attracted to her. However, once down the stairs, she noticed he was talking to Edolie and sighed in relief.

“You look gorgeous,” Milly whispered excitedly as she
hurried over
to Wilhelmina. Milly was just a servant so she didn’t get a grand entrance
like the lords and ladies
.
Instead, she was already on the floor along with the other maids.
Both headed to the back of the ball room
in order to watch the guests start to dance
.
Wilhelmina had been the last to enter and it would be awhile before the king and queen made their entrance.

“He’s perfect for her,” Milly mumbled as they watched Edolie and Jerome dance.