DISCLAIMER: Hey, most of this IS mine, but you know what isn't. The quote is by Ambrose Redmoon.

Author's Note: Wow, I was surprised with the responses! I didn't think that chapter was very suspenseful but apparently you guys did! Yea! Keep reviewing! Only one more chapter after this one! I'm sorry this took so long to post...my computer crashed.

~~Chapter Fourteen~~

There was light everywhere. My body felt lighter than air as we flew through time and space. Settling at last atop a green hillside about a mile to the West of the castle of Eldron, Maximus let go of my necklace. Slightly breathless from the journey I took a moment to catch my breath and survey our surroundings.

The sky above was blue, but as I looked to the palace, I noticed that thunderclouds were gathering above the zenith of the castle towers.

"Ready Maximus?"

"I'm not going with you Rose."

"What?!" I gasped, "Why?"

"Because this is not my mission. You are the only one who can bring about the downfall of Sylvanna. You are the only one who can break the curse. I would only be a hindrance," Maximus said quietly.

"But I need you!"

"No, you don't. You are strong enough on your own. However, do not fear, I will not send you into battle unarmed." Maximus placed his hands on my shoulders. "I have three gifts to give you. One is strength."

He withdrew and fingered my pendant. "I can give you nothing of myself. But, I can give you the gifts Jason gave you. Fight with the strength he gave you when he taught you how to defend yourself, not just against a sword, but against fear and oppression." With that, a silvery, sapphire encrusted sword materialized in my hand.

"Two, knowledge. I give you your wits. Knowledge will always triumph over ignorance. This stone has more powers than you realize. If there is strength in the heart of the one who wears it, the stone will reflect that power.

"And third, I give you love. It is your love for Jason that will bring you victory." Maximus kissed me on the forehead and whispered, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." And with that, he clasped his pendant, and disappeared into oblivion. I held a hand out into the shimmery mist left behind and a tear began to trickle down my cheek. I had never felt so alone. I wanted to run. Run to someone who would hold me, and comfort me, and tell me that everything would be all right. But there was no one. I was alone. With the weapon in my hand, and resolution in my heart, I set off towards the castle.

~~****~~

The closer I drew to the gates, the colder and wetter it got. Rain began to fall, first at a drizzle, then into a full fledged thunderstorm. It blew in sideways, drenching me. As I was still wearing the silken gown given to me by the fairy Queen, the fabric clung to me and was making it difficult to move. My hair grew stringy and stuck to my face. The steel of the sword in my hands grew icy and cold and was freezing my poor, wounded palms. This was Hell. And it had frozen over.

At long last I reached the gates of the palace. I could barely see for the blinding rain, but shoved against the steel bars and hurtled inside the barrier...coming face to face with a forest of thorns. Long, sharp, thick thorns. The kind that made up the crown at the crucifixion.

I heard an echoing, cackle of laughter from over head and craned my head backwards to see the origin. The dark clouds above the castle rippled with the sound.

"Fate is not without a sense of irony is it?" the voice boomed. I recognized that voice. I had heard it only once before, in a trance. It was Sylvanna.

"You thought you'd outsmarted me. You were saved by the stab of a needle, and by the stab of thorns you shall die." More laughter, "Oh, but not just any thorns!" With that, the bushes in front of me seemed to explode with crimson bursts. Red roses were sprouting from the branches of thorns. Briar Roses.

"Fight through them if you dare, Briar Rose." She cackled again and the voice died.

I turned to the thorns. If I had been afraid before, it was nothing compared to now. The bushes towered nearly ten feet, and they were as dense as a solid wall. I wanted nothing more than to turn back, but knew I had no choice. I began to hack through the thorns.

It was slow work. The wind and rain still raged, causing the sword to slip from my grasp on more than one occasion. I was aware of the pain as thorns clawed at me, but it was not until I looked down at my gown and realized that it was splattered with blood that I realized the extent of my gashes. I was covered in a thin, red-tinted glaze, which I found to be blood mixed with rainwater. Each time I looked down at my wounds I winced again. Several times I wanted to just give up. But each time I recalled Jason's face. I remembered his kindness, his gentle touch, his sly sense of humor, and his love. I continued through.

Twenty yards. I thought of him pelting me with straw. Thirty yards. I remembered his laughter. Forty yards. His gentle voice. At the fifty-yard mark the rain became to slippery and the sword flew out of my grasp and into the thorns beyond. I slipped on the wet ground beneath my feet and collapsed in a heap on the mud. I screamed as the dirt made contact with my open wounds and stung like the cuts of a thousand knives. I began to sob into the muck, my heart aching with despair. I would die here. Just yards from the palace doors I would freeze to death's privilege. Sylvanna had won. And my Jason, my sweet, brave, honorable Jason, who had given his life to save me...was dying. I would never see him again. Never gaze into his sparkling hazel eyes, or feel the warm security of his embrace. I had grown up with him. Shared everything with him. And I had never known that I loved him. Even when it should have been obvious I was oblivious. It was only the night that I had finally realized my love that I had lost him. Our love would kill us both.

As I wept, covered with tears, blood, rain, and mud, I felt a small jab against my breastbone. It was the fairies' stone. I raised it up to my face and remembered Maximus' words. In a last, desperate attempt, I rose from the ground and held the pendent above my head, whispering, "Please help me. Someone, anyone."

A warm sensation began to spread throughout my body. It started at my hands and flowed through me like a wave of water. The pendant began to vibrate and I had to clutch it with both hands to keep it from falling out of my grasp. Then, without warning, a pulse erupted from the stone causing me to stumble backwards. It was as if the thorns were repelling the warmth.

I rose and pushed the stone out in front of me, leaning as if against a wall. Then, slowly, and with great difficulty as though moving against a gale of wind, I stepped forward.

The thorns in front of me started to smoke. I took another step and as the nauseating smell of smoke reached my nostrils the thorns burst into flame. One dragging step at a time I forged my way through the remaining yards of thorn bushes. Burning my way through. Fighting ice with fire. The clouds above me began to tremble again in anger.

As I stumbled onto the steps of the palace doors I heard the echoing, "NO!" from the expanse of space and crawling to the wooden doors flung myself inside.

The darkness was consuming. Nothing was visible, as it seemed that even the torches had been extinguished by sleep. I wrenched open the doors to allow in the light from the blazing conflagration outside. I turned back around...and screamed. An elderly woman lay at my feet. She wore the uniform of a servant, and scattered about her were morsels of cheese and bits of beef that appeared to have lain on the silver tray just a few inches from her lax hands. She was asleep. I knelt down and prodded her arm. Her body rolled over, but she did not wake. It was like trying to rouse a corpse.

Shaken, I rose and surveyed the entrance hall. There were one or two more bodies but not many. I speculated that the majority would be in the Great Hall. I slowly made my way in that direction, being careful not to trod on any fingers.

When I entered the hall I nearly fainted. There were hundreds of bodies. A sea of corpses littered the floor. As I picked my way across I noticed Prince Godfrey slumped over a chair. Then I saw mother. She was lying across the threshold of a door near the royal platform. She must have run down to father the moment I had run off the previous night. I knelt down next to her and gently caressed her face with my hands. It struck me again how beautiful she was. Without the anxious look she usually wore, the one that seemed to suggest that someone was plotting murder, she lost nearly ten years from her appearance. It was then that I understood why mother had always been so paranoid. She loved me. She was frightened that she would lose me. What had occurred last night had been her worst nightmare since the day I was christened. I lifted her up into a sitting position and hugged her torso to my chest. Tears began to roll down my cheeks. She loves me, she loves me, she loves me! I couldn't stop saying to myself.

"Mother, wake up! Please wake up mother!" I cried into her silky black hair. She did not stir. "Oh God, please!" I whispered and began to sob. I lay there for the longest time, holding my mother in my arms and crying. I had never told her. I had never told her that I loved her. I had only expressed my hatred. But now, when I finally realized the truth, it was too late. She was dying. They were all dying, and it was all my fault. This curse wasn't meant for them. It was supposed to kill me. Why did Jason have to come after me? If I had just reached out a moment sooner to touch the spindle...if only.

I knew that each moment I remained here the more life slipped from their bodies. Already, mother's breathing was lighter and shallower. Wiping the tears from my bloody, bruised, cut face, I rose and laid mother back down on the floor. With one last look at her sleeping beauty I left the hall to find the tower.

~~****~~

No sooner had I reached the spiraling stone steps than the palace began to shake. I took a step backwards and the vibrations ceased. I stretched a hand out to the doorway, and the instant my fingers crossed the threshold the walls began to shiver. I paused for a moment, weighting my odds. This tower was old. It was falling apart. If it continued to shake in such a violent fashion it would surely collapse. I would have only a few minutes before it collapsed and killed both Jason and myself. I peered up into the black abyss. Well, I had come this far. I would have to take that chance. I jumped lightly onto the stone steps and began to race upwards.

The walls shook with anger, as if trying to throw me from the stairs. The ceiling began to crumble as I climbed higher and higher. Once or twice a sizable chunk of stone grazed my brow as it fell and I praised God that I had not been half and inch farther forwards as it would have killed me. The rumblings as if from the throat of a dragon were growing louder and more violent. As I neared the zenith the steps at my feet began to crumble and fall away. I threw open the oak door to the tower room and was nearly blinded by a crimson light.

Sylvanna was standing in the middle of the room, her arms and staff raised high above her head as she screamed, "YOU MAY HAVE COME THIS FAR BUT YOU WILL NEVER LIVE TO TELL THE TALE!" She thrust her staff at me and a jet of red light soared through the air at my heart. I grabbed my necklace in fright, just a split-second before the curse could make contact with my body. The light burst into a thousand flickering embers just an inch from my chest.

"No!" Sylvanna shrieked! "Where did you get that?!" She rushed at me! I dodged to the left and desperately glanced around the room for Jason. He lay on the bed, sleeping. She knocked me to the ground. Shards of glass from the shattered ceiling cut my flesh.

"It is too late Rose! Only a few more seconds and Jason will be dead!" She raised her staff again, but this time I grabbed the end of it and turned the staff on her. The jet of red burst forth and struck her in the chest. She shrieked and as her body fell to the ground a tremor erupted from the floor and I scrambled to my feet, dodging falling rock as I desperately made my way towards Jason.

I flung myself on top of him and pressed my mouth to his. A golden light seemed to burst forth from the room. I closed my eyes tightly and desperately clung to him as the sun seemed to explode and I could not hear my own screams for the tremendous sound.

At long last everything was quiet. I rose up and glanced around. The walls were intact, the floor whole, the magnificent glass ceiling towered over us again, and from it, I watched as the thunderclouds parted and sunlight poured into the room.

I felt my face and my body. No longer was I laden with cuts and bruises, but was whole, clean, and dressed in a gown of the finest white silk. My hair was unsoiled and lay loosely upon my shoulders.

I felt a movement beside me and glanced down to find Jason's eyes fluttering open. He was alive. Jason sat up and stared around him, taking in the golden room. At last his eyes found mine and he spoke.

"Rose...what happened?" Jason asked, taking my hand.

"It's a rather long story. Maximus and I will tell you later," I replied with a smile. He was alive. I gazed at him as though seeing him for the first time. Every freckle, every curve of his face revealing it's self for the first time. I marveled at him, relishing in beauty. Loving every inch of him.

Jason hesitated, "Is she...is she dead?"

"Yes." I took his hand, "Jason? I love you."

He beautiful hazel eyes found mine as he whispered, "I love you too," and raised a hand to caress my cheek. He drew my face nearer to his...and kissed me.