The Royal Rose

Darkness

Lost in the middle of nowhere, Rose started walking along the road. Every single vibration made her heart scared, and tears started falling from her eyes.

Alice took her jewels away and left her on the road in the middle of night.

Rose started walking slowly.

Suddenly, she heard the horse hooves again. The voice was approaching fast behind her. It wasn't long before the horse appeared right behind her.

"Miss?"

Rose covered her face with her scarf.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

Rose stared at him, but couldn't see his face. She spoke," I need to go to the Palace."

"I'm heading that way. I can take you there."

The awkwardness in her tone was enough for the man to realize her unease. He got down from the horse, and offered her to ride it.

"I'll walk beside you, Miss."

"Who're you?" Rose managed to utter.

"Eliot Marsden, Ma'am."

Her heart started pumping so fast. He was here, the only person she wanted to see tonight.

"I'm Rose Mary." She took advantage of the dark.

Eliot helped her climb up, and started walking beside the horse. They started talking from the general things, and ended up discussing family matters. Rose told him about her father, and her step mother. She even told him about the Palace and whatever that happened there excluding the "princess Anne wardrobe" scene. She explained how a trustworthy friend betrayed her, and she ended up in the middle of a forest at 9pm.

"You live at the Palace then?" Eliot spoke.

"Yes, I do. But I don't know, what would happen when I'll tell this all to Alice's mother."

Rose was sharing her personal life with a stranger but she had to take out all the stored anger and sorrow. It wasn't long before the lights of the Palace appeared in the view. Rose covered her face with the scarf as they reached at the Palace Gate.

There was something different about the Palace. The gates were empty, and there were no guards anywhere. The queer silence of the Palace was unusual, especially on night like this. Eliot walked the horse inside the Palace grounds. Rose rode off, and spoke without turning around towards him. "Thank you so much." She started walking, but Eliot held her arm.

"Wait, Rose."

"Yeah?"

"Isn't it strange?" Eliot ran across the grounds, looking around for guards. But there was no one there, not even a single person. "Anyone there?"

Rose held the scarf up to her face, and turned around to look at Eliot. His brown hair were disheveled and his brown eyes were full of anxiety. But he was still looking as handsome as anyone could ever be.

Eliot held her arm and spoke, "Something's not right. Be very close to me."

He looked into her eyes, and her scarf fell off her face. Eliot left her arm, and bowed.

"Princess Anne, I'm really sorry."

There was a look of betrayal on Eliot's face. He was thinking that Rose had told him fake stories, and she was actually a Princess in disguise. Eliot bent down and picked her scarf up.

"I'm no Princess. We were wandering around the Palace that night, and ended up in the Royal Wardrobe."

Rose knew, that this would make Eliot dislike her. But Eliot wasn't even bothered.

His lips stretched into a smile, "It's alright, Rose." His eyes moved from her eyes to her lips. He couldn't help praising her beauty. "You're beautiful."

"Thank you." Rose smiled.

Suddenly, Eliot recalled that he was still at the Palace ground. He moved his eyes from her face to the Grand door. "The Palace could never be this quiet. I'm afraid that something bad had happened."

Eliot started walking up the stairs, and Rose followed him. There was something in the air that made Rose shiver. She felt cold fingers fondling her back, that made her jump. But there was no one there.

She held Eliot's arm softly, and started walking close to him. When Eliot opened the Grand door, he was shocked to see the interior of the Ball Room. The golden lights were gone, and the chandeliers were broken. The empty Ball room was dark as night, and the only light that reached inside was from the Grand door.

"What happened here?" Rose spoke.

"I don't know." Eliot walked inside the Ball room. There was not a single person around. The coldness of the room gave him Goosebumps. Rose stayed behind at the door, and spoke.

"Eliot, Let's check other places."

Suddenly, someone held Rose's arm that made her scream loudly.

"ROSE!" Eliot rushed towards her. "What happened?"

But Rose was frozen at her place staring at something next to her. Eliot rushed out of the ball room, and saw an old woman standing next to Rose. She was almost 90 years old, wearing a yellow dress with diamond necklace around her neck. Eliot placed his arm around Rose, and spoke.

"It's alright. It was just...."

The old woman brushed back her silver hair slowly and spoke," Alice."

Rose looked at Eliot and nodded. "S.. She's Alice. This was the necklace, we took from my step mother's house."

"I'm sorry, Rose. I was greedy, and I wanted everything for myself."

Rose ignored her, and kept looing at Eliot with a shocked face.

Eliot frowned, "Isn't she too old?"'

"Don't you understand, Eliot. She was 18 earlier, and now she's almost 90."

The old woman took a deep breath," The Palace is under a spell."

"What spell?"

"Hers." The old woman pointed at someone behind Eliot and Rose. They turned around to face the stranger standing right behind them.

"So, we met again."

Standing at the door was her Step mother. She walked towards the old woman, and pulled the diamond necklace off her neck.

"Don't you ever try to steal a thing from me."

She turned the old woman into a toad, and it hopped away.

"You're a Witch?" Rose looked at her in disbelief.

She laughed," I knew, I would see you again little devil. And I always wanted to meet Prince Luke."

Rose turned around to look at Eliot and he nodded.

"Prince Luke?"

"Yes, Rose." Eliot tightened his grip around her shoulder.

"What do you want?"

"You'll know that very soon." The Witch took them inside the Ball room again.