Part 2

The summer was nearly over, but the thunderstorms persisted. They are always the last to go.

The air was hung heavily with moisture and heat. As Stefan and I rode up the king's road towards the gates of the city, the afternoon sun blazed down upon us mercilessly as the sky behind us was shaded with furious blackened clouds. Our clothes had dried from the earlier rain and what began as a cool, misty day had turned into a swelteringly humid one.

Finally I could see the city gates ahead of us, and behind it stretching tall into the clouds was King Peter's castle.

I remember the night of the ball, I thought to myself. And I remember running from the Necromancer. But I don't know what happened after I left… And I tried not to think even about that. Because if I did, I would think and think and think until I went mad.

Stefan's horse shimmied to a halt as one of his men rode back to us from the gates.

"The citizens wish to pay tribute," he said to Stefan.

Stefan seemed to be taken off guard, hesitating. "That's very kind of them," he conceded.

"Should we let them? It's a lengthy ride through the city."

"Of course," Stefan replied.

We rode forward, and the dusty king's road turned into a cobbled main street that wound its way up the hill and through the city to the castle. Inside the gates the village was buzzing, seemingly with excitement, and so when the prince's procession made its way up the main street the crowd parted and looked on with curiosity. And suddenly, out from the crowd stepped up a young girl. She was dressed in rags and her face was smudged with dirt, but nevertheless she boldly approached Stefan's horse and held out to us a single rose.

I stared at her in bewilderment, and she gazed right back.

I looked to Stefan and he nodded gently. Carefully I leaned forward and accepted the rose from the girl, who turned and darted back into the crowd. The procession continued on, and that's when I noticed the villagers laying roses upon the path we tread. There were hundreds, and hundreds more.

"What is this about?" I whispered.

"You," said the prince.

We were getting closer to the castle now and my heart began to thud nervously, especially while being watched by thousands of strangers.

Do any of them recognize me? I wondered. How could they? I'm no one.

Then why are they giving me roses?

The castle gates opened before us and the procession poured into the courtyard. As soon as our feet hit the ground a young page boy appeared.

"His Grace the king summons you to the throne room," the boy said, and then glanced at me, "both of you."

Stefan sighed heavily. "I knew this would happen. Tell him we're on our way." Then he turned to me. "I'm sorry for this ahead of time. My father wants to meet you."

I'm meeting the king, I realized with horror as Stefan led me into the castle.

The throne room was full and buzzing, just like the village had been. As the doors opened up and we stepped in, the crowd hushed and parted, revealing the straight path up to where both the king and queen sat upon their thrones.

Stefan held my hand in front of everyone as we walked up to the front. The king was silent and thin-lipped; the queen was mild and composed.

We stopped before them. I steadily curtsied.

"So you are the girl we've heard all about," said the queen. She was a fair-haired woman with a kind face.

"My name is Mary, your Grace."

"Mary," she echoed pleasantly. "We are thrilled to see that you are well."

The king's eyes were on his son. "And the Necromancer?"

Stefan shrugged. "No sign of him anywhere."

King Peter raised an eyebrow. "So where was the girl?"

The prince and I exchanged hesitant glances.

"Mary has been through an ordeal beyond our understanding," Stefan said firmly. "Now is not the time to question her about it."

The king shifted in his seat. "So the Necromancer is still out there somewhere, along with this Beast."

"And there are many out there searching for both of them," said Stefan. "I'm not concerned with it anymore."

"Not concerned with it?" the king scoffed incredulously. "After what happened to you?"

"Father," Stefan said sharply. "We'll talk about this later. You still haven't welcomed Mary into your home yet."

"She is most welcome," said the queen. "See that Mary is provided everything she needs."

Stefan nodded.

"And we'll prepare a dinner for your safe return," the queen added. "Since your cousins are visiting."

"Very good," said the prince. "Thank you, mother. With your leave I will help Mary get settled. We rode through storms to get here."

"Send for Tamsin," said the queen. "She'll take care of everything."

One of the queen's handmaidens brought me to a room in the guest wing of the castle—a space traditionally held for royal family members and honored guests, she told me.

"You are an impromptu guest," the girl explained, "but nonetheless honored. The prince himself has been searching for you for weeks. Everyone thinks it's a miracle you are alive."

"They do?" I asked, alarmed.

She opened the door to the room: it was a lavish space, even larger than my father's entire dining room. The walls were covered with rich and colorful tapestries, the floor was covered with thick, luxurious rugs and a giant bed was placed before an equally giant fireplace. I almost turned around and walked out.

I can't sleep here, I thought. I don't deserve this. Any of this. I'm a servant to my step-mother and sisters. I am no one.

"Yes," the handmaiden replied. "That's why the king has called for a beast hunt. I've been hearing the most terrible stories about it."

"What beast?" I asked desperately. "I don't know of any beast."

She took notice of my distress and promptly wrapped her skinny arms around me. "There, there, dear Lady Mary. The prince will take care of everything. I know he will."

"Yoo-hoo!" came a voice from the doorway.

I looked up to see a girl around my age, though a little taller and heavy-set, dressed in the finest clothes I had ever seen. Her fair hair was wrapped up into a tiara on her head. She shuffled into the room.

"Mary, isn't it?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm Tamsin. My aunt the queen notified me that you are in need of some things?"

I didn't know what to say. The queen's handmaiden was still clinging to my arm.

Tamsin looked me up and down. "Well I can see already that you would never fit into my clothes, so my seamstress will have to make something new with the leftover fabric. What size shoe are you?"

"Size six," I said, surprised at my own memory. I wasn't sure what I could remember at this point.

Tamsin laughed vociferously. "Size six? Your feet are so small!"

"It's okay," I said quickly. "I have shoes." Though I don't know where they came from.

"Oh no," she said. "You need more than one pair of shoes while staying here. Have you ever been to court before?"

"No."

"Well," she said, after a confused moment, "where have you been?"

I shook my head. "I don't know anymore." And then the tears betrayed my composure and I was reduced to a puddle on the floor in seconds.

Tamsin said something to the handmaiden and she left, closing the door behind her. Then she sat down on the floor beside me in her immaculate, elegant dress.

"So it's true then," she said quietly. "What everyone is saying."

"What is everyone saying?" I asked with a sniff. "And who is 'everyone'?"

"Everyone is everyone," said Tamsin. "And they're saying you were kidnapped by a Necromancer who tried to feed you to this monstrous beast in the wild forest and you don't even remember it. But how would you forget something like that?"

"I don't know," I said. "I wish I could remember."

Tamsin shuddered. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get mixed up with a necromancer anyway?"

"It was my step-mother, Lorna. She made a deal with him that I would be his bride and property if he paid off her debts and got her daughters into the ball."

"What?" Tamsin exclaimed. "That's horrible! And illegal! Horribly illegal!"

I closed my eyes and tried to shake off the anxiety overcoming me. I felt like I was in the center of a tornado, hanging on by one hand and ready to fly off at any moment, to never come back. I took a deep breath.

"The prince is very kind for helping like this," I said evenly.

"Stefan has a bleeding heart," says Tamsin, "it's the only way I can describe him. He is my favorite cousin though. I only have two—you don't want to meet the other one. But you will tonight, at dinner. Oh! And that reminds me—you will need a dress to wear. I'll look around for one that can be seamed up for you in just a couple of hours. The shoes will have to wait, though."

I was taken aback by her generosity. She didn't even know me, and she was willing to give me her clothes. I opened my mouth to thank her but she was already up, shimmying towards the door.

"See you at dinner then, Lady Mary," she said.

Finally I was alone. So I locked the bedroom door and I sat down at the foot of the bed and cried, because for some reason my heart was breaking.

And I didn't know why.

Stefan closed his bedroom door tightly behind him and let out a long sigh. He had done nothing but ride for the past couple of days, and the serum Marius had given him to temporarily restore his health was still just kicking in, but at least it meant his strength was slowly coming back to him.

Don't forget, Marius had said, you aren't really cured.

The prince undressed and examined his wound in the mirror. Once the arrow had been removed, the royal physicians had gone through all sorts of processes trying to extract the poison, but to little avail. And now the wound had closed and transformed into a light red mark that covered the skin on part of his shoulder. He would not be able to forget that he was not cured. And eventually the pain would return.

Just then, a soft and secretive knock sounded from behind one of the tapestries hanging on the prince's bedroom wall.

Speak of the devil, he thought. Marius slipped in, his face wrought and somber.

"So you found her," he said, setting his medical bag down on the floor and plopping onto one of the cushy chairs in front of the fireplace.

"Yes," Stefan conceded wearily.

Marius raised his eyebrows. "And?"

The prince shrugged, the weight of the last couple of weeks still hanging down upon him. "She doesn't remember what happened. But it's obvious something happened to her."

"Something did happen to her," said Marius, standing. "I saw it myself. You had fallen, and I told her to come with us but she refused. Maybe she was under some kind of spell—or whatever Necromancer's do?"

Stefan stood before his window, gazing pensively out over the kingdom growing shadows in the setting sun. "I need to ask a favor."

Marius snickered. "Don't ask me to find a cure for her memory," he said. "Because I already know it's completely beyond my abilities."

"Two favors, actually," Stefan said softly, his eyes glued to the horizon. "The first one is to find my father's map. You know the one."

"I do?"

"Yes. The one we planned to steal years ago. The map he hides from the world because it's a secret passage to another world. He plans to take it and leave soon. I want you to find it as soon as possible and bring it to me."

Marius sighed heavily. "I'll do what I can. But why do you want it?"

Stefan glanced somberly at his best friend. "I think you know why."

A heavy moment of silence passed.

"Okay. What's the second favor?"

"Don't tell Mary I'm dying. Don't let anyone tell her. From now on, as far as anyone besides you and I are concerned: I'm healed."

"But you're not," Marius insisted furiously.

"It doesn't matter," Stefan calmly replied. "Now promise me."

Marius stared defiantly at the prince, his lips pressed together with indecision. "Everything you ask me to do goes against what I believe in. Why are you doing this?"

Stefan turned to face his friend, his eyes set with frustration. "You told me yourself that I am dying and nothing can change that. Mary doesn't need to know. Trust me to take care of things in the way I see fit!"

"You want me to steal your father's precious, secret map so you can disappear off the face of the earth. Am I understanding this correctly?"

"I haven't made up my mind yet," said Stefan, this time more softly. "But you're the only person in the world I can trust with this. I know you'll help me."

"I'll help you; I'll do whatever you want," Marius said impatiently, "but I don't understand why you're hiding the truth. What if there is still a chance for you out there? Lying to everyone and making them believe you are alright… it's just…"

"It's my choice," Stefan said calmly. "And if somehow there is still a chance out there for me, then it will come to me. I have to believe it."

There was nothing left to say. With a nod and a slight bow, Marius exited through the secret passageway from which he came. And so Stefan dressed for dinner, his mind traveling far, far away… to a place he didn't even know whether was real or just a dream of his father's.

If it is real, then the map can take me there, he thought.

Soon.

The castle's dining room was lit with hundreds of candles shimmering from the hanging chandeliers; the painted walls stretching high into the arched ceiling above. The marble floors were almost shiny enough to see one's own reflection, and so I couldn't help but notice my own as Tamsin escorted me inside. I was dressed in a dark blue gown of silk and satin with a gold trim, as if I were a princess. Her handmaiden brushed my hair a thousand strokes before plating it elegantly down my shoulder. It took me back to the last night I could remember: the night of the ball, where the fairy had dressed me up as a person I could not recognize and so I felt like an imposter.

I will never be a princess. I am a servant. Nothing has changed.

The dining room had many tables; but the longest was at the head of the room, where the king and queen sat, already eating as more guests entered and took their various seats.

What strangeness, I thought as Tamsin led me through the crowd and to a table near the king and queen's. I only just came here for the first time the night of the ball, and now here I am as Stefan's guest.

But these thoughts only served to remind me of what was missing in my head, and feelings of anxiety were striking me with increasing frequency—that is, until the prince approached.

He was cleaned up the same as I and dressed more casually than he had the night of the ball. He was handsome, no doubt—a boy any girl would be lucky to have—but there was something about him that made me feel as if I had known him for some time, and well. But I didn't really know him at all.

His eyes, though. I knew his eyes.

"You look beautiful," Stefan said as he stepped up through the crowd. "Are you feeling well?"

"I'm okay," I said lamely, but followed it up with a reassuring smile. Something inside of me wanted to please the prince, to meet him with the same interest and intrigue that he met me. In a way, he was the only person I felt I could trust.

"You must be starving," he said, and we took our seats at a table with Tamsin when a boy that I immediately recognized joined us. The boy with the fair, curly hair and wide smile.

"I'm Marius," he said to me, politely bowing his head. "I am glad to see that you are okay."

"You," I gasped. "At the ball—I thought you were the prince!"

Tamsin peered at us in confusion as the boys erupted into laughter.

Marius shook his head. "I don't have a royal drop of blood in me, but nonetheless Stefan sees fit for me to stand in for him during crucial moments so he can sneak off. I apologize for the confusion."

There was still an empty seat at the table as the wait-staff came around and loaded our plates with meat pies and roasted vegetables, pouring wine in our goblets with particular enthusiasm.

"Cousin Gaspard is late again," Tamsin murmured as she bit into her food. "I think I last saw him scaling the moat, as a matter of fact. He thinks he can maneuver his way into the castle with sheer strength and skill. I was like—'Dear cousin, if you fall in you will smell like the sewer for days. Why not just come in through the gate, like everyone else?' And you know what he said?"

"—I think I said something about how I scaled the two hundred foot rock wall that fortifies my parent's castle over the cliffs with nothing but my bare hands and a good pair of boots," said a tall, bulking boy who promptly took a seat at our table. "And this castle is nothing compared to that."

Stefan cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Er—this is my cousin Gaspard," he said to me. "He and Tamsin sometimes visit for the summer."

"Aren't you leaving in a few days?" Marius asked with a hint of hope.

Gaspard lowered his heavy brow over his strong brown eyes. "Not anymore. I signed up for the Beast tourney. How could I miss it?"

Tamsin scoffed as Stefan and Marius exchanged glances.

"That's right," Gaspard continued, grabbing a whole chicken breast off his plate and biting into it hungrily. "I'm going to win the tournament and lead the hunt for the Beast. I've got nine days of training ahead of me and nothing's going keep me from the glory of winning the tournament and then bringing back the monster's head for all the kingdom to see."

There it was again: the mysterious beast.

And then I realized that Stefan and his friend were looking at me with hesitation.

"What's this beast?" I asked.

Gaspard set his food down and flashed a smarmy smile. "Aren't you the girl who was attacked by it?"

"She can't remember anything," Stefan said sharply.

Gaspard sat back and shrugged his shoulders. "Well anyway, the winner gets gold and glory. Plus I have at least ten comrades signed up to come with me. We're having special crossbows made in town."

"A crossbow won't kill it," said Marius. "I saw that thing myself. It's massive, it's fast, and it's furious."

"And I am three times all of that," said Gaspard with a cheeky wink. And then he set his gaze upon me. "I'll kill it and I'll bring its head straight to you so you can see what all the fuss is about."

"That's disgusting," Tamsin snapped.

"Excuse me," I said abruptly, standing. A horrible wave of anxiety had washed over me and my hands had immediately gone clammy. I hardly knew where I was going but I didn't stop until I found myself out upon the garden terrace in the cool evening air. In the distance I could heard a bird crowing. I sighed and looked up at the moon.

"I'm sorry about him," said the prince as he stepped out to join me. "I didn't bring you here to make things worse for you, I swear it."

A few silent moments passed as I struggled to gather my words.

"I'm—thankful, Stefan," I said carefully. "If you hadn't come looking for me then I would probably be dead by now, between the Necromancer and this beast everyone is talking about."

"You don't have to thank me," said the prince. "I am at your service—whatever it takes. I know things are horrible for you right now but they won't always be. We can make things right."

His words cooled the pain in my heart. I looked up into his tantalizingly familiar eyes and all the words I could have said simply fell away, and the wrong ones replaced them.

"May I ask—why are you doing all of this for me?"

He seemed surprised, but not offended. Gently he took my hand. "Because I want the things I do in this world to count. I want to make every second count, and when I met you, I realized how. Is that… okay?"

"That's beautiful," I said. "I don't know what to say."

"I don't either," said Stefan. "Everything in my life changed the night I met you. Maybe it was fate, or maybe it was an accident. Lately I just don't care about what makes sense anymore."

So there I was with the prince—what would my mother and father think, if they could see me? He was everything I could've dreamed of: gallant, brave, handsome, and strangely familiar. Stefan was the perfect guy, the perfect prince.

So why did my heart ache when I looked at him? Why? Why?

"I think I need to sleep," I admitted wearily. "Please thank your mother and father for having me."

"Of course," said the prince. "After you've rested—come find me tomorrow. I won't be far."

I was nearly dreaming when there was a startling tap on my window. I bolted awake, my heart pounding in fear.

Eclipsed by the moonlight I could see a large blackbird tapping its beak repeatedly against the glass, its wings flapping urgently. I hurried over to the window and opened it.

"Shoo!" I hissed at the bird. "Leave me alone!" And then I latched the window shut again and drew the curtains. The bird flew off.

I laid back down in the bed with a deep sigh when the strange silver necklace around my neck glinted in the moonlight, catching my attention. I fell asleep gazing at the pendant rose, wondering beyond hope if I would ever know where it came from.

Maybe I should take it off, I thought as I drifted towards sleep. And then the night swallowed me whole and I slept like the dead.