Rose's Faerie Tale

Leaving

Rose felt something hot suddenly. She woke. The heat was coming from her arm. Letting her eyes adjust to the pale light of the pit, she shivered, grabbing at the heat with her free hand. The Jewel had fallen from her robes, coming to rest on her arm.

It pulsed against her skin. One. Two. One. Two.

Rose counted the beats in her mind.

'It's like.. a heart-beat..' she thought, lifting it with two fingers in front of her. Rose suddenly realized that she was covered in snow. Shivering from that sudden knowledge, she grasped the jewel closely.

'I'm coming, Lady Rose.' came a sudden soft voice. It was faint, and weak, but it was there.

"Ventane?" Rose whispered back.

Nothing.

Nothing.

'I am very weak right now.. but I'm coming.. I'll be there, I promise. Wait for me.'

Rose stared at the jewel. 'That's right! It's a part of him!' she thought, grasping it tightly against her. She wanted to cry from joy, but she was still confused. 'I'm so sorry I doubted you.' she thought, 'But.. I'm still mortal.. I can only live for so long without food or water before things start to get bad.'

'His Highness had me bound to prevent my magiks from growing.'

Rose gasped softly. "You heard me?" she whispered.

There was a long time when there was nothing but silence.

'I can hear you, Lady Rose. I have always been able to hear you, when you've let me. The Jewel is a part of me.. and now it's a part of you as well.'

Rose nodded. She wanted to curl up and shift to a more comfortable position, but she was unable. She was half buried in snow. It weighted down on her limbs, tightly packed down like so much lead.

'I apologize, Lady Rose, however, it will take me at least another day before the magiks that will allow me to break my bonds can be given.'

Rose shivered. She tried not to think about things like freezing to death in the winter snow. She closed her eyes. 'Ventane?'

Silence.

'Ventane, I'm sorry I doubted you.' she thought sadly.

'I'm sorry I made you doubt me. I made a promise. I will keep it for you, Lady Rose.'

'I know.'

Nothing.

Rose fell back into a deep numb sleep. She could no longer feel her fingers. Her eyes were heavy. She knew the name of the condition that was settling in, but she could no longer remember what it was. Rose no longer cared. She was tired.

She just wanted to go to sleep and wake up in the arms of those who loved her, in the tiny village near the woods. The image she kept trying to grasp at was a tiny hut with Tilly and Ventane nearby.

As she touched her feet to the warm ground, Rose ran towards the image. Tilly and Ventane were waiting for her and she was ready to become a part of that...

*

'Lady Rose. Wake up, Lady Rose.' his voice was nectar to the starving, water to the thirsty. 'Lady Rose.. Wake up. I need your help.'

Rose opened her eyes drowsily. She was sitting in a place of white.. like the inside of an egg. Was she being born? She didn't know, but she wasn't nearly as cold as she had been before. The jewel was floating in front of her, glowing faintly.