Under the Roses

86 - When the Day Lengthens

VANESSA

Cerieve was...beautiful. There was really no other word for it. Vanessa had seen more of the world in the past few days than in the last fifteen years of her life, but she knew that Cerieve was something different.

She, Alice, and Whit had managed to hitch a ride on a wagon going from the countryside out to the city, with relatively few questions asked, even about Wolf. The friendly farmer who'd picked them up had said a few words to Alice and was now at the front of the wagon, whistling jauntily as he drove. The three of them were nestled in the back of the carriage among bales of hay. It reminded Vanessa of going to North Auvyn. Only...nicer.

The sun was out in Cerieve, and Vanessa pointed her face to the sky. It was so beautifully blue in Cerieve, a piercing color. Fluffy white clouds floated aimlessly through the sky. There was the smell of earth and grass. The grass was impossibly green here, and the dirt road wove through cherry and pine orchards. It reminded her a little of Virane.

"Thank Fates, there's no mob here," Vanessa muttered, mostly to herself. She glanced over at Alice, who was sitting on a bale of hay, facing out towards the earth. Alice didn't seem to have heard her. Wolf snored at Vanessa's feet.

Vanessa glanced over at Whit. He had his face turned away, the wind tossing his hair out of his eyes. She thought about what he'd said to her that morning.

Alice was cursed as well.

Not the same kind of curse as Vanessa. Vanessa had gotten her curse from her grandmother. Alice had gotten her curse from...well, they weren't quite sure where Alice had gotten it. But she was cursed.

She was cursed to turn to ice.

Vanessa knew it was already happening—how cold Alice was. Whit said that he'd seen the ice do its work before, that it started on the outside and moved in... into her heart. Vanessa didn't want to ask where he'd seen it before.

She wondered if Red had seen it before.

Now they really had to get the Artifacts.

The farmer's whistling stopped, and he called out something in his distinctly Cerieven twang. He had a very different accent from Alice, which Vanessa knew was because Alice came from an influential family. A rich family.

Alice turned her head slightly. She had one hand on her hair to keep her headband from flying away. "He said there's the city."

Vanessa looked ahead. There it was. Ausra, the blossoming capital of Cerieve. She could see the tiny figures of people looking like dolls as they walked the streets. The buildings weren't tall like in Virane; they were small and quiet.

They rode into the city, the wagon jerking as it transitioned from the dirt road onto the cobblestone streets. The wheels made a rickety clacking sound.

The farmer stopped the wagon, turning around and saying something.

"He said we can get off now," Alice said, climbing off the hay and out of the wagon. Vanessa nudged Wolf awake, and they and Whit followed her.

They thanked the farmer, or rather, Alice did. Vanessa just smiled, and he tipped his hat at them before riding off.

"The palace is this way," Alice said, pointing before heading off. She seemed to be in a better mood now, and there was a bounce in her step as she walked.

Wolf clung close to Vanessa's side. She wondered how people in Cerieve would react to him. "Alice?" she said, and the other girl looked at her inquisitively. "Do you see a lot of..." She gestured to herself and Wolf. "Like, shifters here? Or witches?"