Royal Flower

Chapter Twenty Four

Lily calmly walked through the hallways, her hands clasped in front of her. She was passing by the Azalea library when all of a sudden she heard a thud on the ground, then a small groan.

Lily peeked her head in to see Rose picking a fallen book off from the ground. Rose was wearing a short sleeved pink dress.

"Rose?" Lily called.

Rose looked up, smiling when she saw Lily. "Hi, Lily."

"What are you doing?" Lily asked, strolling in and resting her hand on one of the bookcases. Rose was about to reply, but Lily's eyes noticed the cover. She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why are you reading about assassins?" Lily took another glance at the bookshelf to make sure, and sure enough, the row Rose was looking at contained books about assassins.

Rose exhaled softly. She finally said, "I've been doing some thinking." Lily put one hand on her waist, a little interested. Rose continued. "Crow has been fairly quiet. Reese Henessey implied that he has decided to stop killing us. I... I feel like I know why."

Lily frowned. "What?" She asked curiously.

Rose turned her gaze to look at one of the shelved books. "Can... can you keep a secret, Lily?"

Lily's eyes bulged wide. Why is Rose acting so weird? This is so unlike her. Lily then realized that Rose was waiting for her answer, and finally replied, "It depends on what the secret is."

Rose shifted uncomfortably, clenching the book she was holding a little tighter. "I don't really want Violet to know, and Ivy and Acacia are definitely too young to hear this."

Lily sighed. Finally, she said, "Okay, I will listen."

Rose rubbed her thumb against the book spine, as though trying to stall time. She finally took a deep breath and said frankly, "Mother and Aunt Amaryllis killed the Nissisa family, except Crow." She said it a little bit quickly and softly, finally admitting the truth.

Lily didn't think she could widen her eyes any further, but she was too surprised to care. "What?" Lily squeaked. "No, that can't be true."

Rose shook her head. "The Nissisa family died in a fire, didn't they?"

"Yes, but... I don't think Mother and Aunt Amaryllis would sink so low as to kill a family of assassins..." Lily trailed off worriedly. Everyone at this point knew that both Flora and Amaryllis were impulsive women, but Lily just had a hard time picturing her mother ruthlessly killing a bunch of assassins.

Rose replied, her voice confident. "Well, they did." Rose finally felt a little relieved, as though telling Lily this had lifted a bit of weight off her shoulders.

"How can you be so sure?" Lily asked stubbornly.

Rose raised her voice slightly, clearly frustrated that Lily wasn't seeing the truth. "Because Mother asked me to help her, Lily. She asked me to help her and Aunt Amaryllis kill a family of assassins."

Lily gasped, covering her mouth in horror. She was starting to feel sick. It was like most of what she knew about her mother was all a lie.

"Why did they want to kill the Nissisa family?" Lily whispered.

"I don't know. I never asked. I was too angry at the fact that Mother wanted me to use my fire to kill someone at the time," Rose clenched the book tighter.

"You said no, then?" Lily asked after a tense silence.

"Of course I said no," Rose brought her right hand to her forehead. "I just... all I'm saying is that Crow has a right to want vengeance. We killed his family..."