Chapter 21
Maria's pov
It had been nearly two months since I had last seen Robin. Two rather agonizingly, lengthy months since he had sneaked into my bedchambers in the night to tell me that he was to leave on a long journey with his father. And I had long since become lonesome. I felt as if a part of me were missing. And I longed to be in Robin's arms again.
I had grown bored and in need of an adventure. So I decided to venture out into the forest and return to the first Moon Princess's hollow under the tree. I hoped perhaps I would find Robin there for surely he would be back by now. Or perhaps there were a note there. Whichever it might be, it would be better than being here at Moonacre Manor with my Uncle and Loveday pining after eachother. And Miss Heliotrope and Digweed flirting and giggling at eachother like school children. Perhaps I was jealous but some fresh air and time alone was aptly due. I slipped away unnoticed and made my way to the forest.
I reached the hollow and dashed inside. I thought about what Robin had told me the night before he left, that the forest wasn't safe. I knew it was De Noir territory and I knew there was a division in the clan and the Villagers-those who sided with the De Noirs. But I had yet to encounter any dangers in the forests since the time such dangers had pertained to Robin himself and of Robin's father. And surely his father wasn't still consumed by hatred for the Merryweathers for he attended his own daughter's marriage and gave her away willingly to my uncle.
I glanced around the quaint space and smiled as memories played in my mind of time spent here with Robin. We hadn't been back since that day we spent on the bluff. Coeur De Noir has been keeping Robin rather busy. I looked to the table hoping to find a note from Robin telling me he was back and to meet him again. But there was no note. I sat at the edge of bed and stared down at my feet. I never thought how difficult it would be to try to contact Robin whilst remaining in secret. Perhaps he hadn't returned yet, I concluded.
I turned my attention to that of the trunk at the foot of the bed and I recalled how I had only glanced through it quickly the second time Robin and I had been here. I decided to rummage through it once more. I kneeled before the ancient rectangular box and lifted the heavy lid with both hands. Once inside I removed the old linens that I had previously placed atop the other items and I reached in and pulled out the first Moon Princess's wedding gown. I held it up to me and ran my hand across the beading on the bodice and sleeves, admiring it before setting it down neatly onto the bed.
I reached back into the trunk and my hand bumped against something hard. I strained my eyes in the dim lights of the hollow and clasped my hand around the object. Excitement bubbled in my chest as I brought it closer to me and could see what it was.
"The first Moon Princess's diary!" I gasped to myself in awe. I placed my hand over the cover of the small book. It was sacred to me. I no longer had a care for what else may have been in the trunk and I stood and flopped down onto the bed. I planned to read it immediately. I opened the cover of the diary but then I stopped myself and wagered in my mind if I had a right at all to read the pourings-out of one's heart onto the pages of a book. A book where the words written, were written even though they were never to be read.
As the last Moon Princess of Moonacre Valley, I decided it was befitting that I be the only one besides it's orignal owner to read it. Ever so carefully I began to turn the pages and skim over the entries. I read page after page. I read of joy and pain and of love and mourning and of struggles and successes. I read for what felt as hours. And I kept reading even though the light from the sun had begun to evade me.
I came across an entry in the diary that alerted me. It read:
"The mystical white horse appeared to me today for the first time since the curse had been cast upon the valley. I followed him and he led me to a tranquil pool of water in the middle of the forest.
I looked into the relflective, placid surface only to see myself. I turned to the creature confused as to what he was trying to show me. He beckoned me to look once more by nodding in the direction of the pool and stomping at the ground. Slowing I peered back into the smooth silvery water and I saw a vision:
I saw the moon threatening the valley. I saw a girl standing on the edge of a bluff and I watched as she lept into the sea. I saw a great light break through the valley and the moon returned to it's rightful place. And I thought all was well. A girl of a pure heart will one day succeed and break the curse! Yet the vision continued and I watched as a union took place and I saw a darkness return and fall on the valley once more. There was still pride and hatred secretly harboured amoungst hearts. I turned then to the mystical creature and he spoke and a prophecy he foretold:
"There will be a day when a De Noir will be taken as a Merryweather leaving pride and hatred hidden in the hearts of many. But it is an act of disloyalty that will leave one heart betrayed and the curse will THEN return. Therefore, the balance must be restored..."