The Rugged Edge

Chapter 25: The Garden that Lived

I see flowers, quite alive;
the first time in my life.
They seem to spread
the life they tread -
on every face they gaze.

. . . . .

Mauve was a very good tour guide. She knew each corner of the mansion as well as she knew the tip of her finger. Her bright red hair flipped around behind her as she skipped in front of us, showing us each cubby hole in the summer home. She reminded me of myself. Way before I was her age, I'd learned Rokenfort like the palm of my hand. But her innocent cheeriness could in no way remind me of myself.

"This is the Great Hall," she told us as her very first introduction.

It was the wide hall with the staircase to the second floor. It was lined with long and luminescent windows, and paintings every few intervals. They were beautiful paintings, and they hadn't been put in any cellar. They weren't portraits; they revealed beautiful Rokenmeine scenery from long ago, and the touch they added to Vereniva was perfect.

At one end of the hall was the gaping entrance to the ball and dining room, and at the other end was where I knew the servants lived. Mauve led us that way.

"Would you like to see the servants' room, Miss?" she asked. "Or isn't that for princesses?" She looked nervous, as if she didn't know whether she was doing everything right. She wasn't used to princesses.

"Of course I do," I said. "That's the best part."

"Why?" asked the girl.

"Because it's the part that's lived in all year round," I said. "And where all the hard-working people live; not where the rich and lazy ones visit."

Geraint laughed and Mauve grinned.

"Alright, then," she said.

At the end of the Great Hall was the servants' staircase, an access to the second floor. Mauve told us that there was a storage space at the top. To the left was a long, narrow corridor that led off through many closed doors. Mauve introduced the servant's rooms and where the guards were sleeping while they were here. She led us into the stables, and we said hello to Arlie. She also led us into the kitchen on the way back through the corridor.

It was made of smooth stone, like the rest of the house, and had one window to the gardens. It was like a wave of greenery and bright light as the sun shone through it. It made the whole kitchen look so bright and inviting, not to mention the enticing scent of fresh pastry. There was a door leading out to the gardens and another one to the left which I supposed was a storage room.

There were two people in the kitchen. They were both young women. One was short and thin, with sandy blond hair that had a hint of red in the sunlight drafting through the window, and the other one was brunette, tall and thin with distinctly grey eyes. They both curtsied as we entered. Or rather, as I entered.

"Your Highness!" they said. "Welcome. What brings you here?"

"Mauve is giving us a tour. A very pleasant one, I might add."

Both women beamed. While the brunette one served us jelly pastries, the blond one said, "I am Corinne, the cook, and this is Ebony, the kitchen maid."

I smiled. They both seemed nervous, and I desperately wanted to be friendly. "This is a lovely kitchen," I said. "It's so bright."

"There's barely a place in Rokenfort where light enters," added Geraint, who was munching on his snack. "It's very dark there. And somewhat gloomy."

"Do you like it here, Miss?" asked Ebony.

"Very much," I said. "It's so... green." It was the best word for it. Everything was bright, and green, and beautiful.