Bows, Apples, & Roses

~ 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚛 ~

Ariaellis woke up slowly, stretching each limb and drifting out of bed.

That was before it hit her what had happened the night before.

After falling in the fountain with Jacks and having to walk to her room sopping wet (maids and servants looking at her like she was crazed) she had taken a long warm bath. It was a failed attempt at getting the cool feeling of Jacks off of her. She loved the chill he sent throughout her body and how he smelled like the apples he always ate. His bored eyes but greedy grin left her curious to see his next move, no matter how dangerous he is.

After that train of thought she promptly screamed into the bubble-ey water in frustration of even thinking of him when she was meant not to.

So when she went to bed, hoping to sleep peacefully, she had still dreamed of The Prince of Hearts, her own mind betraying her.

He is the enemy. All he wants is power and he's a Fate, same as me. Whatever i'm feeling is just obsession, not a good thing.

So after slipping into the deep green dress, it's stringy ribbons tied into bows went down her bodice and split into two rows at the split seam in the front, it fell around her tall boots and made it easy to move. She realzied that she wasn't ever able to get any of the clue papers fluttering down from the cage the night before. A sigh of exasperation and a sarcastic thank you to Jacks left her lips as she decided to leave her tower and hopefully get the clue somewhere else.

Leaving her room she noticed the dark, ebony wood door right beside her own was ajar. Aria hadn't really noticed it before but a soft glow of light, in the otherwise dark room, was leaking out from it. Now, it wasn't her business to look inside and she had a clue to find- but, as always, her curiosity took over and she peeked into the dim room.

From the small gap she saw a ginormous and luxurious bed. It was swallowed in blankets and sheets of deep red shades. It looked as if someone woke up from it after tossing and turning all night.

The room was perfectly still, yet Aria felt a looming presence from the inside, so she pushed the door open slightly more and moved into the room cautiously. There were jewels of all shapes and sizes dangling from every surface; tables, sofas, lounges, curtains, even the bed posts. If there was any light in the room it would've looked spectacular, but instead they all sat silently as if they too were being careful to not make a sound.

Arias eyes scanned the room for anything else unusual when suddenly a low chuckle came from one of the dark corners. She grabbed one of the ribbons on her dress.

"This isn't a garden, but somehow you found me."

Aria swivels to see a dark figure hunched over in one of the shadowy corners sitting in a large chair, also dangling with jewels.

She squints and carefully steps forward.

"Danté...?" Her eyes finally adjust and he grins lopsided at her. "Why are you in this room?"

"I think i'm allowed to be in my own room." He starts to chuckle then winces, coughing slightly.

Aria steps across the room stepping over upturned tables and broken glass towards him. "What happened?"

"Ms. Sage, do you only ask questions?" And that's when he slumped over, going unconscious.

Ariaellis didn't have time for this, so instead of doing the right thing and helping Danté, she called in a nearby maid and asked for assistance. The small lady scurried off to get the palace physician and Aria decided the least she could do was stay with him until the physician came. She studyed his dark features, the hard set of his brow, even in sleep, and his sharp cheekbones. Her eyes trailed down his neck to the wound on his side, and Aria could've sworn that there were flecks of something shiny or something bright in the blood that was staining his shirt. She brought a lantern closer and gasped- he had started bleeding again and his blood had flecks of gold in it. Only Fates or people with magical blood in their veins had that-