Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles

Chapter Six: Change Calls for Blood

"No citizen can bestow upon a Slave any rights specified in the Law of Noelle to be the rights of a Person, and no citizen shall attempt to do so."

That same morning, Polaris and Drake were back out in the cemetery with Wendell observing the Rose Tree to see if anything new had transpired. Its twisted trunk leaned further away from the palace as if to aid its drooping pearl branches in their growing effort to touch the ground. Polaris expected that the black leaves would brush the dirt before the end of the next month.

"Nothing new has happened since we smelled the soap and farm animals, Your Honor," Wendell informed.

"Well, I suppose no news is good news," Drake said.

"Not necessarily," Polaris replied. "The more information we obtain, the more evidence we have for Their Majesties. Not to mention the closer we get to a solid answer."

"I suppose I can't argue with that," said Drake. "But since there is nothing new, I suggest that we inform His Majesty about what we have so far and see what he has to say about our results."

Polaris sighed. "I think I'll wait for more evidence."

"Why? The sooner we convince the king about our theory, the sooner we find Nadia and prevent a war."

Polaris faced Drake to be sure that his words were clear.

"Yes, but only if we convince him. I don't believe that's possible with what we have. You forget, Drake, that I have yet to convince myself about this half-brained theory. If I can't convince myself, how do you expect me to convince someone else? There will be no second chance for us. If I can't persuade Their Majesties the first time I bring the theory to their attention, their minds will be forever closed off to the idea entirely."

Suddenly, they heard a noise that resembled the sound of bark being torn off the trunk of a tree.

"What was that?" asked Drake.

Another rip.

"It's coming from behind the tree," said Wendell.

Everyone present lightly stepped around the tree just as the sound came a third time. That's when they discovered three long, crimson lashes stretched across the trunk at diagonal angles. They watched as another, and another, and another appeared with blood dripping from the gashes.

"She's being whipped," Drake confirmed.

"She's too young for that," said Polaris solemnly.

"I never noticed those other markings before!" Wendell pointed.

They all saw them. They were the same tell-tale mermaid spots that Nadia had claimed were the mixed markings of a dryad and napaeae.

"What do those mean?" Drake asked.

"I'm not sure," Polaris answered deep in thought. "But I'm going to find out. This could be the evidence I've been looking for all along."

He scribbled notes into his journal and included a sketch of the exact manner in which the spots appeared on the tree, with a separate sketch of how the lashes appeared over them. Then he stood up from his crouch, breathed a heavy sigh, and took one last look at the lashes.

"I was hoping to find her before this happened."

Polaris and Drake rushed back into the library where Polaris searched around the maple bookshelves and grabbed all the books about the species he knew bore birthmarks on their backs – primarily books on seapeople. He flipped through the pages and studied the pictures until he found one that was the closest match he could find to the ones on the Rose Tree.