Under the Roses

121 - It Grows Better by Delay

ALICE

"She's getting engaged!"

Alice sat bolt upright in the armchair she'd been sinking into. It was a very soft, cushiony armchair, and she struggled a bit to pull herself out of the cushions. She stared at Vanessa as the older girl stormed into the parlor, cloak billowing behind her.

"Vanessa!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here!" She'd thought Vanessa had gone home already.

Vanessa paused. She looked at Alice, then said, "Why are you in here?" without answering Alice's question.

Alice shifted in the chair. "There's a fire." She gestured to it, seeing the realization dawn on Vanessa.

"Oh," Vanessa said, looking away awkwardly. "Oh."

Alice shrugged. "Did you say something about an engagement?"

Vanessa's eyes widened, and she threw herself into the chair opposite Alice. "Yeah, at the ball tonight."

"You went?" Alice said. "Sorry," she added when she realized she'd interrupted.

Vanessa didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, it's...a long story. Anyway, Rapunzel did the blood test thing, right? So now she's getting married to Prince Ivan—well, not married right away, but betrothed. After she's crowned and officially becomes Queen of Ailthe."

"'Queen of Ailthe'?" Alice echoed, frowning. This was what Rapunzel had planned—to get married to Ivan. But...She sat up. "Does that mean she's coming back to Ailthe?"

Vanessa shrugged. "I guess. But...I guess this is good. Rapunzel will get the Ring of Love when she gets betrothed to Ivan."

Alice had no idea how Vanessa was still thinking about the Artifacts when they had a much larger issue at hand. "But Rapunzel will be an awful queen!"

There was silence. Vanessa didn't seem to have thought of that, though Alice had assumed that would have been the first thing she would think of, what with her rivalry with Rapunzel and all.

"But she won't really be queen," Alice mused. "She'll just be Red's puppet."

"And that'll be even worse." Vanessa sat up too, a firm expression on her face. "We have to get Rapunzel on our side. Maybe if we can get Ivan, she'll turn too. Then—"

"No."

They both turned to find Whit standing in the doorway, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his coat.

"Sorry for interrupting," he said, walking over to where they were.

Vanessa was frowning. "What do you mean, no?"

Whit eased himself into a chair. He shoved his hair out of his eyes, then stripped off his gloves and draped them over the arm of the chair. "I mean no. Rapunzel's coronation will just be for legal issues. Ailthe is gone. There's no more kingdom to rule. Besides, she'll be marrying Ivan, which means she'll be queen consort to Eilyste, not Ailthe. She'll still rule Ailthe, just in name. And that's only if the coronation goes as planned."

"Well, why wouldn't it?" said Vanessa. "It's not like there's anyone out there who can dispute her claim to the throne. She's literally the only one left."

Whit shrugged. "Well, they may decide not to coronate her at all. There's no point, really. It's just a title, isn't it?"

Vanessa shook her head. "Rapunzel will not stand if she's not coronated," she said, and Alice had to agree. Rapunzel wouldn't let such an enormous opportunity slide.