White Roses Bloom

Chapter Three

     The party travelled with their heads held down, their eyes trailing on the ground. In a kingdom of almost thirty thousand people, they found only one survivor. A farmer carried the young girl in his arms. She was tiny and gravely wounded, although there was not much that the group could do at this point. None of them were trained in healing, medicine, or magic. There was nothing that they could do to help the girl.
     The princess drifted in and out of consciousness as she was carried further and further from her home. Although, the princess’ rests grew more and more fitful as nightmares took over. The same memories repeated over and over in her mind, like a song stuck on repeat. Hundreds of people dead. All her friends, her servants, her parents, everyone she knew lay on the ground in drying pools of blood, decaying, waiting just to become dust in the wind. Just a part of the person that they once were. Grief was overpowering the child, and it left her broken.
     “Sir Xavier, once we've got her to a doctor, what are we going to do with her?” one of the men asked. The knight turned his head to face the man. His eyes lingered on the man for a moment. What was there to do with a grieving, broken, orphaned child? Would she want another family? Would she feel safe among these people that she didn't even know? The knight sighed. “I shall take her to the king. I am sure he would care for the child as if it was his own” Xavier mumbled, his usually steady voice shaken with conflict. The trip to Idris had almost broken the lively knight’s spirit and had left him second guessing his usually confident judgement. Even though there was nothing the knight could do, he still felt responsible for the mass loss of life and suffering that had happened within Idris.
     The group walked dejectedly up to the gates of Risedo, the kingdom in which they had originated from. A few guards recognized Xavier almost at an instant and opened the gates to let his party enter. They watched as the group entered Risedo, their faces somber as they continued to relive what they had seen in Idris over and over in their minds. Most of the party split apart at this moment. Many people left, to return to their homes, that they had left behind to go on this mission to Idris. They had not expected to find something so gruesome, and the brutal slaughter that they had witnessed the aftermath of, had left them with a burning desire to see their families once again. The quick separation left only the knight, the farmer, and the princess unconscious in the farmer’s arms, at the gates of Risedo.
    The two men glanced at each other and nodded in a silent communication. Together they walked, neither daring to speak a word. People looked up from their mundane, daily tasks to watch the knight and farmer walk by. Many of them began to whisper to each other as they recognized the princess that lay limp in the farmer’s arms. The two men ducked down an alleyway, relieved to escape the watchful eyes of their neighbours.
     As they walked down the alleyway, an orphan boy going through a crate full of garbage stared up at the two men, nervously pulling his hands out of the garbage. The knight, feeling a tug on his heart, reached to the pouch at his waist and pulled out two gold coins. Xavier knew he should punish the boy for going through the garbage, which for some stupid reason, was considered robbery, but Xavier saw himself in the boy’s sad eyes and could not let the child suffer any longer. He slipped the two cold coins into the boy’s hands and waved for the boy to move on. The boy hesitated for a moment, then wrapped his arms around the knight’s leg. Xavier tensed for a second before smiling and loosening up. The knight tousled the boy’s hair. “Thank you mister,” the boy whispered sweetly before running down the alley. The farmer looked up at the knight in surprise. “Perhaps I misjudged you, Xavier?” the farmer chuckled. Xavier rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, feeling the scabs of the cuts on the palms of his hands tickle the back of his neck.
    They continued in silence again, until they reached a door hidden in the alleyway. Xavier knocked on the door anxiously. The door creaked open upon its own will. The farmer stared in horror. “Witchcraft,” he whispered. Xavier rolled his eyes and waved for the farmer to follow him inside. The farmer hesitated for a moment, questioning the sanity of the knight he had volunteered to follow. In the end, the farmer followed Xavier into the darkened house and hurried to catch up with the knight. The door slammed closed behind the farmer, making him jump. There was a strong smell of herbs and spices within the house. A torch lit up on the wall just in front of the two men. Xavier waved for the farmer to follow. The farmer stepped forward, feeling as though he was possibly trusting the knight too much. A few seconds later, another torch lit just a little ways away from the first.
     As the two men moved further down the corridor, more and more torches lit up the dark room. The further they moved, the stronger the smells got. Soon, the farmer could distinguish two of the scents as mint and cinnamon. The sounds of bubbles popping in a boiling liquid echoed from behind one of the doors. That is when realization flooded over the farmer. Xavier had led them straight into a witch’s house. A beaded curtain separated the corridor from the room that his behind it. The two men gently pulled back the curtains and entered the room. The room was adorned with row after row of bookshelves. In the center of the room, a pink liquid boiled in a cauldron over the fire. On the table, piles of crushed up herbs and spices blended together to make a mess of leftover supplies. A woman, cloaked in blue, with a hood covering her face, emerged from the shadows. The woman studied the men. “You are the two my vision told me about, aren't you? You need healing potions for the princess, do you not?” the witch asked. Xavier hesitated then nodded. The woman gestured to a table. The farmer laid the princess down on the table, biting his tongue to keep his protests trapped inside.
    The witch turned to her cauldron, stirring the pink liquid. “Lydia, come here!” the woman called. Down the stairs came a girl that was all too familiar to Xavier. Her hair was a silvery blonde, her eyes an icy blue. The girl's skin was pale and clear. The girl stared up at Xavier, then sprinted to him. Xavier knelt down, holding his arms open for the girl to run into them. The girl threw her arms around Xavier’s neck. “Big brother! You came back!” the girl squealed, tears running down her cheeks. The farmer’s eyes widened. He had been completely clueless as to Xavier’s past and lacked the knowledge that the knight had a sister. Although one question arose in the farmer’s mind, why was the knight’s sister locked away in a witch’s house, completely hidden from the rest of the kingdom. Was the girl herself also a witch? Was that something the farmer could judge the girl upon?
     Xavier’s eyes darted to the farmer. “Before we lived here, we lived in the kingdom of Orday. That kingdom was destroyed, much like Idris. I was sixteen, and that was the first time I picked up a sword. My sister was just five years old. I had to protect her. I just had to. So I fought and I killed. My sister and I were the only two survivors. We lost everything that day...our home...our friends...our family...everything. We bounced from kingdom to kingdom, desperately trying to find work. I took to slaying those creatures. That's when things started to happen. My sister could conjure things out of thin air. She could make fire and water appear as desired. She was losing control of those powers. People caught on. They wanted to burn her at the stake. I couldn't let that happen. We went on the run, never to be seen or heard of again. After about a year and a half, it was winter. We had not eaten for weeks, we were swallowing snow for water. Our only warmth was the fires my sister conjured. We were dying. That's when we heard the scream. I ran to it in an instant, carrying my sword with me. I found a woman being attacked by those creatures. I slaughtered them all, but not before having one stab into my chest. I collapsed to the ground, injured but thankfully not poisoned. My sister caught up and panicked when I collapsed. She completely lost control of all her powers. A bubble of shadows surrounded her and she was hyperventilating at its core. The woman spoke her through her panic. Calmed her down. She then pulled a potion out of her bag and poured it into the wound in my chest. It almost instantly healed. That's when we knew she was a witch too. She offered us to come home with her. So we did. She led us into Risedo, to her home. She fed us, cared for us, taught me to master my sword, taught my sister how to control her powers, offered us protection. My sister was hidden here as panic causes her to lose control. One night, I found one of those creatures in the streets,attacking a young boy in extravagant clothing. So I killed the creature. The knights were going to arrest me for breaking the curfew, but that's when the boy ordered them to not arrest me on word of the prince. He demanded I came to the castle, so I followed him. He told his father about me, and before I really knew what was happening, I became captain of the Royal Guard. It's been this way ever since, 4 years now, and I couldn't be any more grateful” Xavier explained. The farmer felt a tug on his heartstrings. He didn't realize how unfortunate the knight had been. He hung his head, having felt guilty for the cruelty he pushed upon the knight.
     The witch, who had been treating the unconscious princess this whole time, looked up from the table. “Xavier, I have done the best I can my child. I would take her to the king, he can provide her with a home suitable for who she is,” she murmured. Xavier nodded gratefully, then gave his sister one last hug. The farmer gently scooped the princess up from the table. Together, the two men head out into the kingdom, hurrying to reach the castle to approach the king.