{}Arcana{}
The wagon rocked from side to side as the horse continued to pull at the command of his master. The man had so graciously agreed to take them to 'market' where the mirror supposedly was. Rhoswen looked around at the others and tried to fight the laugh that was building up inside of her. She watched Tony, who held a self help book in his hands, as he flipped the page. He stopped, looked down at Prince beside him, rolled his eyes, turned the page back, and held it out for Prince to continue reading.
Rhoswen looked to Virginia, who sat on her right and was also reading a self help book. Her face changed every so often when she found something interesting or when she found something that directly correlated to herself. She'd mumble to herself and nod at things.
Rhoswen eyes landed on Wolf. He was reading the same book he had from the beginning of the journey; How To Marry The Girl Of Your Dreams. Rhoswen rolled her eyes and looked out around them. She had no idea where they were in the Fourth Kingdom. It was all open fields with no living soul around for miles. She looked back at the others and caught Wolf quickly hide his nose in his book again. She watched him carefully and spotted him look over the top of his book. He took a quick glance at Virginia and then hid behind his book again.
It still hurt to see him chasing after Virginia. Even after what she had done for him. It wasn't like she had planned that he would just fall at her feet or anything, mainly because she hadn't expected to be alive, but she definitely hadn't expected that he would pay her less attention then ever. Before, back in the beginning, they probably would have been talking the entire wagon rid. Now he barely even looked at her.
Rhoswen pulled her knees to her chest and laid her head on them, closing her eyes. She was thankful she was alive, but she was still as invisible as ever. Rhoswen let out a small yawn and let herself fall to sleep.
"I can't believe it." Rhoswen breathed out as her eyes grew big and a wide grin spread across her lips. She sat up on her knees and leaned on the side of the wagon, taking in the city they were in as the wagon continued on.
"Where the heck are we?" Tony suddenly asked as he looked around at all heart shaped balloons and confetti. The wagon stopped in the middle of the city where it was bustling with hundreds of couples, kissing, hugging, and holding hands.
"It's Kissing Town!" Rhoswen exclaimed and hopped out of the wagon. She bit her bottom lip and tried to contain herself, "My mother used to tell me stories about this place."
"Kissing Town?" Tony asked mockingly and then scoffed.
"This is where everyone falls in love." Wolf spoke up as he looked around the town. His eyes landed on Rhoswen, who grinned up at him and then turned around to look about the city again. He looked down at the wagon floor thoughtfully for a moment an and then let his eyes travel to Virginia, "Truly fate has brought us here."
Rhoswen looked back over her shoulder at him and then at Virginia. She knew that what she had done would bring them closer. That's what she had been hoping for when she was being tied to the stake and set on fire, seeing her life flash before her eyes. But now everything was so screwed up.
"Dream on..." Virginia scoffed and stepped down off the wagon. She walked up beside Rhoswen and gave her a wink, nudging her with her elbow. Rhoswen knitted her eyebrows together, confused by what Virginia was silently meaning. Virginia looked around the square as Tony, Wolf, and Prince walked up behind the girls.
"Hello," A young female cupid greeted with a bright smile as she skipped over to them. The golden wings on her back glittered and sparkled, "I've been looking for you all day. I can see love and fortune coming your way."
"Well, it's slice the root cake time again." Tony commented with a sarcastic smiled. Virginia smacked him in the chest and smiled down at the young girl.
"Aren't you cute." She spoke up as Rhoswen gave a small laugh and leaned closer to her.
"She's probably older then your father." Rhoswen spoke softly with another laugh building up in her chest. Virginia's smile faltered, but she quickly recovered and gave a small embarrassed laugh.
"Great romance. Great wealth. Before this very night is out." The little cupid spoke again, her smile never faltering, "Your aura is cloudy. Just give me a couple of coins."
Rhoswen reached to the pouch she had tied to the belt on her skirt and picked out several coins. She knelt down and handed them to the girl with a smile. She was upset, but she knew better then to let things like this pass by.
"What a softie." Tony commented, earning a look from Rhoswen. He had a mischievous smile on his face as he shook his head at her, "So soft."
"Very, very soft." Wolf spoke up, causing all three of them to look a him. He looked between them and then cleared his throat, "I was talking about her heart."
"Uh-huh." Tony didn't believe him for a second. Rhoswen gave a small laugh and looked back down at the girl standing before them.
"If you look over there, you might just find what you're looking for." The little cupid pointed to her left and everyone's eyes followed.
"Wait look. That's the pig wagon. The one the mirror was on." Tony spoke up and pointed at the wagon that sat in front of a butcher store. Rhoswen's lips curled into a smirk as she shook her head.
"How did you know that?" Virginia asked and looked down at the girl.
"She's a cupid, Virginia. Magic." Rhoswen laughed. The girl gave a small giggle and looked to Rhoswen, staring up at her for a long moment, "Is there something-"
"They fell under a spell and now they sleep. Now you believe your secrets you must keep." The girl started as Rhoswen's smile fell from her lips.
"What is she talking about now? What secrets?" Tony asked and looked to Virginia. Virginia gave a shrug and looked to Wolf. Wolf continued to stare at Rhoswen, mouth shut tight. Rhoswen's eyes narrowed as the cupid girl took a step towards her.
"Friends you have found, but a loved one lost." The cupid girl leaned closer, "You're brother's on a path that you have just crossed."
"What?" Rhoswen breathed out as her eyes grew wide. The others looked from the little girl to her. Rhoswen swallowed hard and then blinked, waking herself for a momentary lapse, "Fawkes was here? W-when? Why? Did he find what he was looking for? Did he find it?"
The cupid girl shook her head.
"He came and he searched. Then he left for home. But the path he has taken, you must not roam. Great danger and great struggle is what he does best. While you, angelic daughter, on the other hand are blessed." The little girl shook her head of red curls as they others looked to Rhoswen.
"Angelic daughter?" Tony scoffed and looked down at Rhoswen, who shook her head and gave a small scoff of her own.
"I'm not blessed." Rhoswen replied with a sour face and looked to the cupid girl again, "I'm cursed like the rest of my people. Maybe more so."
"To be what your are and what you will be. A magnificent ruler, I do foresee." The cupid girl continued as though no one had said anything. Tony looked to the others and mouthed 'magnificent ruler' to them in question. They shook their heads and gave a shrug. The little cupid girl outstretched a hand and placed it over Rhoswen's heart, "You're in despair and your heart it is broken, but even still you are soft spoken."
"What is it with the rhymes in this place?" Tony asked quietly and looked away from a moment, crossing his arms over his chest, "Can't you people ever just say what you mean?"
Rhoswen looked back at Tony for a moment and shook her head at him. The little cupid girl cupped Rhoswen's cheeks in her hands and forced her to look back at her.
"You must wish upon a dream and follow your broken heart because other wise then you were both doomed from the start. Before Fawkes left, he came to me. He handed me this; a small treasure of the sea." The little cupid girl dropped Rhoswen's cheeks and pulled out a silvery chain that had at the bottom a gem stone. Rhoswen reached out slowly for it, having only ever seen it once before.
"It's beautiful." Virginia commented as Rhoswen took it and held it as though she may break it.
"He told me to give you this and tell you not to worry. Said for you to come home at the first snow flurry. Now I must be off. I have things to do and if I remember correct," The little cupid girl started and pointed back towards the wagon, "you do too."
She then skipped off as Rhoswen slowly rose to her feet. She stared down at the necklace in her hand and gently touched the cool gem stone. The stone was a little bigger them a marble and rounded. The outside was an extremely light sheen of blue that almost looked silver. The middle was devoted to a pale blue and on one end there was a small triangle of an amber color.
"What the Hell was that about?" Tony asked in a long breath and looked to Rhoswen for an explanation, but Rhoswen didn't reply. She only stared down at the necklace a moment longer and then pulled it over her head. She turned around and face them all, smiling.
"Let's go get that mirror." She announced and walked off towards the butcher store. Tony watched her a moment and then looked back at the others.
"Am I going crazy? Didn't I ask her a question?" He asked irked by being ignored. Virginia patted his on the arm and shook her head, before walking after Rhoswen. Tony looked to Wolf, his expression demanding an explanation. Wolf stood there silently and then ran off towards the girls, who were looking over the wagon.
"The ring!" Prince spoke up suddenly and got Tony's attention. Tony looked down at him and shook his head, giving a shrug.
"Ring? What ring?" He asked and flailed his arms.
"The one I saw her playing with on the boat! I knew I had seen it before!" Prince barked and then ran after Rhoswen.
"Where's our mirror?" Virginia asked as the man, John, walked around the side of the wagon.
"I didn't know it was yours when I sold it." He replied and shook his head. He stopped at the back of the mirror and closed the back of the wagon up, "I don't know where it is."
"How can you not know where it is?" Rhoswen asked and shook her clenched hands that were in front of her, "You just said you sold it."
"A man carrying a barrow of bricky-brack came to me earlier and gave me five coppers for it this mornin'." He explained and then walked to the front of the wagon. He hopped up and then looked back at everyone, "I think he works for the antique shop."
He turned forward again and ordered his horse off, riding away. Rhoswen shook her head and looked at the others while Prince trotted up to her side. He jumped up and pulled the leather pouch from her belt and tried to open it.
"Prince! Bad dog! No!" Rhoswen scolded and took the pouch back before he could get inside.
"The ring!" Prince barked and looked yo Tony, "Antony, I need to see the ring!"
"No." Tony answered and looked back at Rhoswen, who had attached the pouch to her belt again. She looked down at Prince again and shook her head at him.
"Now what?" Virginia asked and flailed her arms exasperated. Wolf picked a piece of hay out of Rhoswen's hair, which was still burned and singed, and tossed it to the ground. Rhoswen watched the hay hit the ground and then looked up at Wolf with a blank stare.
"It was buggin' me alright?" He replied to her unasked question. She shook her head and looked back at the others.
"We have to split up and find this guy carrying around whatever the Hell bricky-brack is." Rhoswen replied and ran a hand through her hair. She stopped suddenly and stared out at nothing, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Rosie?" Wolf asked and stared down at her. She kept quiet, but grit her teeth and grounded them as she moved her jaw left to right.
"How bad is my hair burned?" She asked lowly and kept staring off at nothing with a hand in her hair. No one answered. She looked to Tony and then to Virginia, stopping at Wolf last. She clenched her jaw and nodded her head, letting her hand fall from her hair, "That bad huh?"
"Not at all..."
"No..."
"Of course not..." All three of them said at once. Rhoswen swallowed hard and looked down at Prince. He put a paw over his face and whined, telling her the truth. Rhoswen nodded her head again and then looked to her left down the street.
"I can't win." She spoke softly and then shook her head. She raised both her hands to her face and rubbed her temples, "Let's just find this mirror so I can get my hair cut...and buy some new clothes...and get a bath...and eat."
She groaned softly and began walking down the street to her left, leaving the others to head in their own direction. She walked further down the street and searched, having no idea what she was really searching for. She halted when she spotted a bright pink sign and then looked around, trying to see if one of the others were around.
"I deserve this." She said to herself and then walked into the spa. It was painted bright pink inside and smelled very sweet. She walked up to the counter and smiled at the girl, "Please, help me."
"Hm," The girl looked her over and tapped a finger to her lips before she smiled, "A bath, a cut, some...nicer clothes and then a little something extra should do the trick."
"Thank God. Lead the way." Rhoswen breathed out and gestured her to lead her to the promised land. The girl walked around the counter and linked her arms with Rhoswen's leading her to the back where the baths were.