Disclaimer: I do not own the story of Sleeping Beauty but plot, pretty much all charactersare mine
Roses Red
Chapter II
Revelations
A beautiful woman stood at a table, her pale hands restign against the soft wood,gazing over where six other women lounged around, chatting amongst themselves, her mind turned inward. The women talked quietly amongst themselves, but their eyes flew to the doors every once in a while. Deena sighed, even these women were worried about the men in their lives catching them, even when they weren't doing anything wrong!
The women were all relations of the Lords of the Council. The Lords were chosen representatives from all the races who helped worked out problems in the Kingdoms that the Four Ladies and high Queen had no time for.
The beautiful woman at the table was an elf by the name of Deena, and her brother was one of the elven ambassadors. The other elf present, Fiona, talked with Morgane, a fay (faerie). Both were the daughters of a council member and were unhappy about that fate. They were allowed even less freedom than most womenandgirls.
Another fay sat at the end of the table, a book in her hands, and her dark, thick hair tied back in a burgundy, silk ribbon. Three women lounged in the area beside her, chatting loud and animatedly. The girl with the burgundy ribbon would look up every once in a while and shake her head at the three women, her annoyance evident. The woman's name was Grainee and the three beside her were Elaine (a mortal), Heleneand Laurena (both vampyres).
Deena tapped on her table loudly, coughing at the same time. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, there was a rap on the door, and another woman walked in, smiling a little cat-like grin.
"Thank you for being on time, Trista." Deena said annoyedly, looking at the vampyric, or troll, woman. She was tall, and solidly bauilt, like most trolls, with the lightly golden hair of all trolls and steel, cat-shaped eyes. Her tan skin had a slightly green undertone that went well with the hunter green gown she'd chosen to wear.
"Sorry, Deena, my husband…kept me." She said, brushing off the question with ease and moving to take a seat near Grainee.
"Fiona, it's their world dying, not mine." Morgane said to the elf beside her, continuing a conversation they'de been having before the beginning of the meeting. Deena shot a look at the girl, angry at her impudence, "Morgane! You are not a crucial part to these goings, and I trust that you will be more respectful to others from now on!" she swept a stray lock of white-blonde hair behind her ear in annoyance.
Fiona turned to Deena, who nodded, and gave sneered a little at Morgane, "Morgane, do you know nothing? If the mortal world fades, ours would, too. One world is a reflection of another. The Stones are proof of that. The Goddess has seen fit to interlace all our worlds." She said, turning back to deena.
"Queen Rhoswyn was the last chosen Queen of the Kingdoms. Without a high queen, the Stones lose power and there is chaos amongst all people. She alone possesses the power to prevent the races from attacking each other and outside people from attacking us. Now with all this new mess of things, it's changing the way the world works; our magic has even become weaker."
Laurena, the vampyre sitting to the right of Trista and Grainee, spoke, annoyed, "Why should our happiness depend on some High Queen of mortals? We vampyres have felt no weakness!"
Elaine looked over at the Deena, who gazed happily at how the meeting now progressed, the women thinking about more than their husbands worlds, "Deena, please."
"Laurena," Deena said, her eyes rolling, "You as a Priestessof the Goddess should know of the universe and such things of Powers. The High Queen Savior has been prophecised since the last High Queen, Rhoswyn, was betrayed many centuries ago and the Kingdoms first began to crumble. The Sea Kingdoms have long since been swept away so that not many even believe they existed. Who is to say we will not be next?
"Do you even know the prophecy? Most of the novices know of it." Deena gave her a pointed look, and Laurena blushed, frowning.
Elaine whispered it, her voice gaining volume as she recited the well-memorized poem-like prophecy:
"Only after the feuds of race are stopped
And women of the Earth, Air, Water, and Fire unite
Can the Chosen One of the Goddess
Be brought forth to her throne
And peace be once again brought to the land
"But not until these Decrees be followed
Can her destiny take place and the Kingdoms saved
She must pass The Test of Initiates,
known only to to the Great Priestesses and Priests,
"Her blood must be checked, tell-tale signs showing true,
That holy, vampyre, mortal, elven and fay blood have joined
A mark will show, on a swan's neck
Five-pointed star encircled to show the union
"Daughter of mine should take the throne
Blood spilled and bought from her,
And the battle won for freedom"
That was the end of the prophecy, but Elaine's voice continued in a new stanza, her voice taking on the power as the Sight came over her...
"The girl with face of a vampyre
Hair of the Majestic in the Heavens above
Body of fay and mortal of the Earthcombined
With eyes of the elvish queens in their forests
"Bravery, courage, and great magic she holds in a white hand
She will become the next Queen,Mistress of Dark and Lady of Light
Obey, and behold, for all will come as it was told!"
The women were all staring over at Elaine, who was shaking her dark head, blue eyes blinking. The women around her stared, some disbelievingly and others with furrowed brows.
The quiet Grainee spoke first, her deep voice lilting, "What do we do, Deena?"
"Find her."
Aurelia opened her eyes, squinting at the room filled with golden rays. She sat up, stretching her mouth in a huge yawn, rubbing her sand-filled eyes. She pulled herself up, resting against the pillow and thinking over things she'd probably need to do today.
She needed to pack for summer, go to her horseback lessons, school lessons, and meet with Matthew for the annual weekly meeting. Matthew was one her mother's most trusted advisors. The odd part, was that most of the court considered him to be the least trustworthy. He was from…some country or other; Aurelia never felt she should have to remember it.
She got up, humming a little something that popped into her head. Walking to her wardrobe, she grabbed her grey work dress, gazing into the full length mirror that was nailed into the door.
She looked at herself, hoping for a change that maybe would help her blend in a little more, but sadly there was none; the sametoo shortheight, long red and white hair (sticking upoddly and mushed on one side), her eyes puffy and her skin pale from sleep.
Her eyes watched as she poured water into the basin,dropping a washrag into it. She gazed at the mirror and took off her nightgown, grabbing the now sopping rag and rubbing vigorously on her face and body until she turned quite pink.
The grey dress was thrown on, buttoned and the waist tied, and her teeth chattered in the coldness of the air. "Done!" Aurelia murmured, looking back at the dreaded mirror to make sure the tie was tied straight. Aurelia had not had a servant since she was twelve.
Her lady-in-waiting, Clorese, had made Aurelia feel completely horrible about the trouble sticking a corset on her chubby body (she had lost most of the weight) and had requested that Clorese be sent to her beautiful sister, and no other women to replace her.
Sitting on her vanity stool, she began to comb her hair. 'One, two, three…' she counted the strokes until she reached fifty. As she reached up to tie a black ribbon to keep back her hair, her hand accidently ran over her Mark; she gave an involuntary shudder at the feel of the puckered skin under her ear.
She began to sing a ballad, her hands working on stuffing the tied hair into a net.
The Sunshine, oh how it sings
But me, I feel the pain
That it bears and hides
Softly on its rays
I know the secrets it hides
"The moon, hidden in shadow
Wreathed in silence
Is where my soul lies
Oh, my heart, it cries in pain
For the love
Love of a man
Of a man now lost now lost to me"
Princess Aurelia Tsarina Denise Du Voir,
King Henri Flacour hath requested thoust hand in marriage, and I, on thoust's behalf and that of ye mother, have accepted yonder offer. Thout art to wed him on the 7th of the winter month. Thy wedding dress is being prepared immediately, and will be sent to thy's room in half a fortnight. Prepare yourself accordingly.
Sir Matthew Jarrod Lewis Geaux, trusted advisor of Queen Isabella Denise DuVoir, Queen of Dyrria
"Henri Flacour! Matthew is making you marry Henri!" Yvonna exclaimed, their sibling rivalries momentarily fogotten at the sight of Aurelia's plight.
"Yes!" Aurelia wailed, bursting into another set of tears.
"But, he can't make you marry without your consent! You're not even sixteen! Rose should be married first, according to propriety."
"The Queen gave her permission and she has more power than me. How my mother could hate me this much is- is just lost to me." Aurelia looked up at Yvonna, confusion written in her tear-filled eyes.
Henri Flacour was an old king with great wealth and power whose ten children had all died at ages ranging from 2 months to 24. He had been married five times previously, and with the death of his son Ricardo, was looking for another wife to give him an heir.
The problem for Henri was not that he lacked wealth, power, or looks, no, it was the fact that all his wives died within five years of being married to him…and none from childbirth or sickness.
"Darling, mother's been away for a year! She-"
There was a knock at the door, " Your majesty, Yvonna. Have you seen- oh,Princess,there you are."
It was Matthew.
"Hello, Matthew." Yvonna said icily, her eyes looking at him cooly. Matthew looked at Yvonna disdainfully.
"Hush Princess, I wasn't talking to you," Yvonna pursed her lips and moved closer to Aurelia. Hating Matthew was another thing the two girls had in common.
"Aurelia, I came to make sure my note was received, " he said toYvonna, and she murmured something along the lines of as though I care! Matthew ignored her,"Aurelia you got my note about your upcoming marriage? It truly will be a wonderful time for you!" Aurelia just looked at him and burst into tears, imagining her bruised and mangled body in the hands of that-that beast, and ran out of the room.
Yvonna stalked to Matthew, giving him a resounding slap in the face, " That was a wicked, cruel thing to do, and I hope the Goddess strikes you down for it!" and Yvonna left as well, though more sedately and without the tears.
It had been two weeks since the Letter, and Aurelia was leaving. What had caused her to leave was not her own safety, but the safety of her unborn child. Well, the child that could be... after leaving Matthew, she had left and went to her room where she had suddenly recieved great pain in her head; spasms had shook her body and black stole into her vision leaving her with the imprint of another scene very different from her quiet bedroom.
It showed an older Aurelia, bruises all over her face hiding in a corner crying. The body of a four year-old child lay in her arms, the chest not moving. Without knowing how she knew, she knew this little body was the shell of what had been, and what could be, her child with Henri. She also knew that he had been the cause of her death. Aurelia could endanger her own life, but a child not even five summers? No, Aurelia thought resolutely, No one deserves that.
Aurelia stood outside the castle, moving slowly towards the forest, her odd colored hair braided and shoved into a handkercheif. A small cloth bag hung by her side, and as Aurelia enetered the forest surrounding the Palace, she hugged it to her chest to keep it from snagging.
She listened to see if the sound of footsteps were others besides herself. A creek laughed softly, crickets chirped their songs, and as Aurelia headed deeper into the forest, she felt the feeling growing again. After the vision, Aurelia had begun to feel a sort of power growing inside her, and sometimes it would almost envelope her. Aurelia knew by her intuition, though, that the power musn't be opened, at least for now.
The creek was becoming closer to her, a wind stirring between her hair and the heat from the trees surrounded her. She felt the earth heaving around her, the trees winding down, air swirling, water rushing, heat burning…burning, so furiously-
"Gotcha!"
Aurelia never knew how long she stood entranced by the world she began to see for the first time, but she did know it was the reason she was found. She turned slowly, looking in shock at a man filthy with twigs sticking out.
"Matthew!" Aurelia exclaimed, he must have been looking for her since she had ran yesterday!
"This marriage will occur!" he hissed, his salt-and-peppered hair shaking. Aurelia felt an anger that was indescribable and a sudden unexplainable feeling that Matthew was responsible for the marriage to that beast and death of that little innocent child. How dare he!
Her eyes widened, then grew small as her mouth pursed in anger. Her skin felt hotter, and her ears began to hear a rushing sound, she looked up at the tall man, her eyes dilated with an effort to keep back the power she could feel seeping from her.
Matthew looked back at her, his eyes growing large.
"Get your hands off of me, fool. I am Princess Aurelia Tsarina Denise Du Voir, and if you do not remove them now I will do it for you!" she hissed.
He took his hands off, looking down at his red hands dazedly, " Yes, your majesty…" and he walked away. She didn't realize it then, but he walked away a little to quietly.
This, my pretties, was freaking huge! Longer by far than anything...wow is all I have to say. But it's up to you guys whether this was as good in quality as it was quantity...By the way, Aurelia was fourteen in chapter 2! I typed fifteen, she's fifteen now! I'll go back and fix it, but I don't have time right now.I know...lazy lazy lazy
Glaze: Well she wouldn't actually kill Aurelia...she's very spoiled and used to getting her way. She's like the older sister who will whine and lie to get money or whatever. I updated...coughcough...
Amber Stag: Well, I tried to make it longer and still have some nice quality...did I succeed?
Well, I have updated and can go back to trying to work on The Color of Black. Have I mentioned how much I just love reviews! and songs! I'm going to sing a song and you do the actions...
If your happy and you know it write a review
If your happy and you know it write a review
If your happy and you know it your review will surely show it, so if your happy and you know it, write a review!
hahaha, I love you guys
§DG§