Royal Flower

Chapter Three

"Are you alright, Rose?" Amber, the head maid, asked. Rose didn't respond, gazing at herself in the mirror as Amber brushed Rose's blonde waves. "Rose?" Amber prompted again.

Rose snapped out of her daze, meeting Amber's brown eyes in the mirror. "I'm fine," Rose replied tersely.

Amber didn't look convinced. "Lily told me that you didn't even flinch when you watched Raymond Henessey burn. It's only been a day."

Rose closed her eyes, sighing, "You can tell Lily to stop worrying. Raymond Henessey deserved to die. He was just a rebel who managed to kill my father."

"Rose," Amber said, setting the hairbrush down, "We've been friends for many years. I can tell you're troubled. Raymond is dead. Your father has been avenged. Cheer up! Tomorrow is a special day."

Rose smiled lightly, running her fingers through her hair as she stood up. "Really, Amber, I'm fine. I'll see you at dinner."

--

Queen Flora was the only person sitting in the dining room. The kitchen staff was working nonstop. Queen Flora recently started to want more food for dinner. Even though she executed Raymond Henessey, she still felt unsatisfied, and she always demanded food when she was unsatisfied.

Flora reached for her glass from the table, spinning it in her hands.

Basil was journeying to the Saffron Kingdom. If I wasn't so busy here, I could have stopped him from getting killed. If I had went with him, he would still be here. My poor children no longer have a father. If I had gone with him he would... he would still... no, if I had gone I might have died too. This wasn't my fault. Flora rested her forehead against the glass for a moment. These are moments when I wish Jeffrey were here.

Jeffrey was Basil's advisor, but in a way, he was also generally just the Azalea advisor. He was an elder, but he held a lot of wisdom and advice within him. If she had a problem, she could always speak her mind to Jeffrey. However, Jeffrey had to take a leave of absence due to a family emergency, leaving Flora to run the kingdom alone. She had Amaryllis and Marguerite, her two sister-in-laws, but there were times where she really valued Jeffrey's advice.

Flora glanced at the clock. The rest of her family would be here in about five minutes. She brought the glass to her lips and took a small sip of water.

She widened her eyes and slammed the glass down, causing some water to splash out onto her hand and the pure white table cloth.

The water... it's...

Flora then heard a dark laugh from her left. She sharply stood up to see the red curtains being pushed back to reveal a boy with brown hair wearing a tight black shirt and pants. She narrowed her eyes when she saw that a small black crow mask was fitted over the boy's face.

"Guards!" Flora called, shifting towards the door.

The boy was already in front of her when the words left her lips. She felt a hand close around her throat. "No one is coming to help you, Queen Flora."

Flora gritted her teeth. She couldn't use her fire. Her attacker made sure of that when he spiked the water with salt.

Flora narrowed her eyes. She said in a strained voice, "Who sent you? Who are you?"

A scoff from the boy, "My name is Crow. Indeed, I was sent by someone, but you put a target on your back when you killed my family."

No... it can't be. "Nissisa," Flora rasped out, still choking. Even though she couldn't use her fire, she knew her eyes held a fiery spark within them.