Chapter 10
The ride to her old home was slow and leisurely, as the horse trotted along. Alana had to force herself to keep going, and not turn back to the castle. That part of her life was over. The air, to Alana's great surprise, was getting warmer and the road less icy as she moved farther away from the castle. As the trees thinned, and she could see the sky, she noticed that the gray clouds that had covered the castle had disappeared, replaced by a serene blue sky. She was puzzled about this, but shrugged it off.
She reached the edge of the forest by midday, and was amazed to see that no snow whatsoever covered the ground. The air, although cold, was much calmer and not as biting. She looked out into the distance with a somewhat heavy heart, and saw the palace rising up over the hill. She sighed, but nudged the horse to go a little faster.
In a half hour she reached the palace. Smiling, she left her horse with a stunned stable boy, and went around to the kitchen entrance.
"Alana?" an astonished voice said. Alana saw Zora leave the stove to hurry over to her, enveloping her in a tight hug.
"Zora!" she said, returning the hug.
"Alana, whatever are you doing here? How are you? What was it? Was it nice?"
Alana laughed. "One question at a time. 'It' was a he, and he was very nice. I am fine, and I am here for my sister's wedding of course."
Zora looked as though she was trying desperately to decide which question to ask first. "You came back for your sister?"
Alana sighed. "Yes. As much as I did not like this place, I wouldn't want to miss the biggest day of her life."
Zora smiled. "Must you go back?"
Alana shook her head sadly.
"You look sad! You liked it there?" Zora asked incredulously.
"I was actually very happy there," Alana said.
Zora furrowed her brow. "Really?"
"Yes, really," Alana said with a smile. "But he said I could go, that I shouldn't return."
"But what was it? He, I mean."
Alana took a breath. She wasn't sure how Zora would handle the truth. "Promise me you will understand, and listen to all that I have to say before you say anything."
"I promise," Zora said, sitting down on stool.
Alana sat down as well. "He's a beast. No, no," she said when Zora opened her mouth to say something, "let me finish. He's really a man, but a horrible enchantress turned him into a beast for something he did ages ago."
"And was he nice?" Zora asked, skeptical.
"He was wonderful! We talked about everything together; books, music, anything." She smiled, more to herself than to Zora. "I really do love him."
"Love him?"
Too late, Alana realized what she had said. She froze. Had she said she loved him? She thought for a moment: it sounded natural, it felt natural… did she love Thomas?
Zora was beside herself. "Wait a moment. You love him? This man, beast, whatever, who has kept you captive against your will?"
Alana didn't answer. Someone called Zora to come back to the stove.
"I have to go, but we are talking about this later," Zora said pointedly at Alana, who still sat frozen to her stool.
"Right," she murmured. She sat there for a few moments, mulling it over. She had been the happiest she had ever been with Thomas. She panicked; had she just left the best thing that would ever happen to her? What was she going to do, now that she was gone? She suddenly missed Thomas terribly, and it hadn't even been one day. A crash sounded behind her, bringing her to her senses. She snapped out of her musings, and stood up. Realizing Zora had long left her, she left the kitchen in search of her mother and sister.
She went up the stairs to the grand hall, which was full of scurrying servants, bringing fabric, candles, and chairs into the ballroom for the wedding. Unnoticed, she tried to stay out of everyone's way as she cut across to the grand staircase. Hurrying up, she decided, just for memory's sake, to go back to her room. Snaking the familiar hallways, she reached her door.
She was about to go in when she heard something strange. It sounded like someone crying, inside her bedroom. Puzzled, she softly and slowly opened the door with one hand, peering inside.
To her great shock, Davina, her sister, was lying on her bed, sobbing into the pillows. The rest of the room looked exactly as it had when she left, but the fact that her sister was bawling on her bed held Alana's attention.
"Davina?" she said softly.
Davina, who was lying on her stomach with her chestnut hair sprawled out around her, made a hiccupping noise.
"Now I even hear her," she moaned, beginning to cry even harder.
All thoughts of Thomas leaving her, Alana slowly walked over to her bed, and sat down gently.
"Davina, what in heaven's name is wrong?" she said, pushing her sister's hair away from her face. The sobbing girl looked up, her eyes completely red and her cheeks tearstained.
"Alana?!?" she screeched. Then, without any warning, she sat up and threw her arms around her sister. Alana, bewildered, tentatively placed her arms around Davina.
"Oh, my sister, I missed you so much!" Davina exclaimed, breaking the hug and holding her sister's shoulders.
"Why?" Alana asked, hoping it didn't sound as harsh as she thought.
Davina smiled. "You don't know what you have until it's gone, I suppose."
Alana thought this sounded reasonable, but she was still completely floored.
"I am so happy you could escape for my wedding! I was so worried, I thought maybe you weren't alive or you were being held in the dungeons, but you found a way to escape, didn't you?" Davina said, her tears coming back now in the form of happiness.
"I didn't escape, he let me come," Alana said.
Davina laughed. "Don't be modest, Alana."
"I'm serious," she said, the confused thoughts of Thomas returning. "He let me go," she said softly, more to herself than to her sister.
"Well, however you got here, you are back and I couldn't be happier! Let's go find Mother," Davina said, pulling Alana off the bed and holding her hand, hopping down the hall to their mother's study.
"Mother! Look who it is!" Davina exclaimed when they came into the room.
The queen's jaw dropped, and her hand went up to cover her mouth. "Oh my," she said, before crossing the room and wrapping Alana in a hug similar to Davina's.
"Oh my darling daughter, you escaped! Oh forgive me, my darling, forgive me! I have laid awake at night cursing myself for handing you to that monster, or whatever it was! But you are safe, you found a way out, my clever daughter!"
"I didn't escape, he let me go," Alana repeated to her mother. The woman just smiled.
"Now that you are here, we must make you a dress for the wedding!" her mother said.
And that was how Alana spent the rest of her day, confused and stuck with pins. She was confused about Thomas, about her mother, about her sister… what was going on? Was it really possible that all she had to do was leave before her family appreciated her? They looked so happy, simpering over the beautiful pink gown being made for Alana. They kept saying how happy they were that she was home now, for good.
But she didn't want to stay home… she wanted to go back to the castle, but Thomas had said she couldn't. Her anxiety returned; would she never see him again? But if what she had said was true… what if she loved him? Did she? It felt right, it felt comforting, and yet it felt terrifying. What if her theory had been right, and Thomas was dying?
She had to stop her thoughts when they moved on to discussing the wedding. They asked Alana's opinion on everything, from flowers to cake to tablecloths.
"This is awfully fast, isn't it?" Alana said at one point, when they had to choose the cake that could be made the quickest.
"Well, yes, but I always wanted to be married on Evemass, and I didn't want to wait until next year," Davina said.
"Who is he?"
"Prince Orivo of Medina. He's - " Davina gasped suddenly. "He's here! Orivo!" She got up and ran to a man standing in the doorway. He picked her up and whirled her around a few times before setting her down.
"Orivo," Davina began.
"What, another go?" he said, before picking her up again and twirling her. Alana laughed as her sister was set down. The prince was tall and handsome, with swarthy skin and jet-black hair.
"Orivo, I want you to meet my sister," Davina said, leading the prince over to Alana. Alana stood up and curtsied as he kissed the air above her hand.
"Alana, I have wanted to meet you for so long now," he said. She smiled.
"It is a pleasure to meet you."
"So, what are you fine ladies doing? Planning our wedding in top speed, I assume?"
"Yes, and unless you are going to help, dear, you may want to leave," the queen said, bringing in a fresh choice of flowers. He laughed.
"No, I'll leave that to you, as I cannot even tell a daisy from a daffodil." He placed a light kiss on Davina's cheek before striding out of the room.
They stayed busy the rest of the day, and it wasn't until the clock struck ten that they decided everything was in order.
"Good night, my darling," the queen said, kissing Alana on the cheek.
"Good night."
"Good night, sister," Davina said, hugging Alana. "I am truly happy you are home."
Alana smiled. "Good night. Sleep well, you have a busy day tomorrow." Davina returned her smile, and then Alana left for her own room; she was worn out.
"Finally," Alana said, plopping herself onto her bed. Her things had been brought up, and she gasped to see her rose lying gently on top.
She picked it up, and her heart skipped a beat when she noticed that the edges of the petals were turning black, and the rose itself was beginning to wilt. Was this what Thomas had meant about holding on to the rose? That she could see how he was doing by the rose? She almost took her things and headed out the door, but then was sharply reminded of how happy her sister had been to have her home. Torn, she decided it could wait until tomorrow, and then crawled under the covers and went to sleep.
