White Roses Bloom

Chapter Sixteen

     Anna sat on the couch, staring blankly at the wall. Ever since Xavier had told her to be ready to leave at dawn, she couldn't rest. Her thoughts were running wild. The sound of footsteps filled the room, catching Anna’s attention. She looked up to see Vidro walk in the room. “Morning,” Anna called with a yawn. Vidro didn't let out a response. Anna frowned and looked down at the ground. She had no idea what she did to make Vidro not talk to her, but she couldn't help this sense of guilt eating away at her.
     Quite quickly Carvar and Analise joined the two orphans in the living room. They all sat in silence as no one spoke. Eventually Lydia and Xavier joined them. “Let us get moving. There's a long journey ahead of us and just barely enough hours of daylight to get there and back,” Xavier announced.
     The group all stood and followed Xavier back out of the small house. The group walked down the alley ways towards the front gates of the kingdom. Lydia began humming to herself quietly. “Fires burn and the sun comes out. Light up our whole world. Bring down the shadows with the brightening heart. Take away the darkness for the free,” Anna sang to the melody Lydia was humming. A smile crossed Lydia’s face and she started humming louder. Xavier glanced back at the two girls and raised an eyebrow. Carvar, Vidro, and Analise all stared curiously, not sure as how Anna would know a Risedo folk song. “If the shadows shall take me. I’ll plunge in the light. Burn the fires high in the sky. Light up our whole world. Take away the dark. Return the rising sun,” Anna continued. Lydia also raised an eyebrow now. She glanced over to her brother, who nodded at her if by some silent communication. She started humming even louder now. “Carry my feet strong into battle. Sword blessed with the light. We'll take back the world and give it back to you. Free it from the dark. If my light shall go out tonight, I return it to you,” Anna sang. Lydia giggled, snapping Anna out of her unconscious singing.
     Xavier led the group to the gates. At the gates, there were three knights leading three horses. Two of the horses were pure white, and one was jet black. As Carvar’s eyes fell upon the black horse, his eyes widened, filled with admiration and amazement. Before Carvar could go on a fanboy outburst, Xavier turned to the group. “We’ll make better time on horseback. Lydia and I will take Shadow. Analise and Vidro will take Pearl. Anna and Carvar will take Shooting Star. We need to hurry, I do not want us to get caught out there after sundown,” Xavier ordered. The group nodded and headed towards their horses.
     After a couple minutes of mounting and arguing over who was the better horseback rider, the group was ready to move out. They left the kingdom, their horses’ hooves pounding on the ground with a strength that nothing else could carry. The group made good time, travelling through forests and across rolling plains with ease. Xavier and Lydia couldn't stop themselves from looking back at the group. Anna frowned as she realized that Vidro was glaring at her.
     The group crossed the rest of their journey in silence and by around noon, they reached a large field. Across the field was a large, moldy wall. The wall was collapsing into rubble, the land around it overgrown. Behind the wall was a kingdom, degrading into nothing as time continued to wear it down. Anna stared and felt her heart sink, although she didn't know why. She reached her hands around Carvar’s waist and gripped the reins. As she flicked them, Shooting Star let out a neigh then broke out into a gallop towards the wall.
     Xavier turned to look at Lydia and smirked as if to say I told you so. The two sets of siblings quickly rode to catch up with Anna and Carvar. As Anna got to the gate, she slipped off of Shooting Star’s back. Carvar climbed down and watched Anna stumble to the gate. The bars of the gate were rusted, as there had been no one to take care of them. Anna pushed on the gate, and it creaked as it opened.
     As Anna stepped through the gate, tears filled her eyes but she couldn't tell why. There was skeletons propped up everywhere, their flesh long since rotted away. Most of the buildings were charred and collapsing. Debris littered the ground. Dried blood stained the debris, the ground, everything really. Everything was overgrown, plants and vegetation consuming a large portion of the buildings. The most prominent plant being white roses. Anna felt her heart tighten. She followed the path, seemingly unconscious to the calls of her friends behind her. Carvar, Vidro, and Analise followed, concern in their eyes.
     Lydia turned to Xavier and frowned. “Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I mean bringing her here, what if she sees something and just breaks?” Lydia asked, concern in her voice. Xavier glanced forward at Anna as she continued to walk onwards. “There's five of us here, one of us will be able to stop her. Anyways, do you not want her to remember us? It's been years, and we thought she was dead. Now she's alive and with us again, and she doesn't remember us. It hurts Lydia. She was like another little sister to both of us and you know it. You should be willing to do anything to get her back,” Xavier explained matter of factly. Lydia sighed and stared down at the ground in defeat. “You're right...goddamnit you're right,” she muttered. The two siblings rushed to go catch up with the rest of their group.
     Vidro looked around uneasily as he glanced across the ruins. Even he felt a sense of familiarity within the remains of this once thriving kingdom. Analise and Carvar were both put off by their surroundings, but not as heavily impacted as the two orphans. Anna lead the group up to the castle, moving as though someone was beckoning her to come. Anna ran ahead of the group even further, heading up the stairs and losing her group in the ground floor foyer. She followed a hall and felt her chest tighten. There was the sound of wind howling echoing down the hall. The hallway was also oddly colder than the rest of the castle.
     As Anna turned a corner, her heart sank. Laying on the grounds were the skeletal remains of a woman, the chest torn open. Near her was a pile of torn up rubble. Anna sank to her knees, the image of a queen with claws through her chest flashing into Anna's mind. Anna reached out hesitantly and grabbed the crown that laid on the ground. “Mother….” she whispered, slipping the crown gently upon her head. Tears began running down Anna’s cheeks. She reached to her mother’s skeleton and took a necklace from the neck. The necklace was a locket in the shape of a heart, with the kingdom’s crest engraved on the front. Anna slipped the necklace around her neck and began to cry harder.
     Vidro walked over to Anna and pulled her up from behind, a lot less calm and supportive than before. Anna whimpered as he pulled her away. As much as she wanted to get away from her mother’s corpse, her head was pounding with agony, and she didn't want to leave her mother’s side. Anna went limp in Vidro’s arms, and as more tears continued to run down her face, she drifted from consciousness.