The Sword and the Rose (2/?)

(AN: An anon prompt request. Mulan and Aurora return to the ancient castle in the sands, eager to search for answers regarding Phillip's soul …but memories often cleave to broken stones, and dark secrets still lie in wait. AU Enchanted Forest; set just after 2x09. Sleeping Warrior with a teensy touch of Philora.)

Summary: Aurora finally returns to the place she once called home.

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They strode, side by side, into the palace throne room she had once called home.

The soft swish of silks over marble coupled with the heavy thud of booted footfalls eked out a strange, eerie tempo as the pair entered the high hall of King Stephen and his Queen, Briar Rose. The domed ceilings yawned, open and wide, cupping every whispered sound and magnifying it back tenfold. Even the softest shuffled step sounded like the rumbling of a dozen horses tearing across the plains. Nothing was secret, and all conversations could be heard from any point on the marble floor.

The sensation was unsettling to most newcomers, but the odd feature had its uses in the court of kings.

Aurora had simply grown accustomed to the odd little quirks of the castle. They were the sounds of all that was familiar, though this was a place lost to time and long forgotten. These distant echoed pieces of her past were something she could never reclaim, not if she fought with the strength of a hundred armies, nor if she paid a thousand times her weight in gold. They were the precious, tiny, details; the last remnants of what she had let slip through her fingers.

The high throne hall was empty, save for the matching seats of wood. The thrones of the regents, long abandoned. The gilded mahogany wood had been stripped of all value, the sparkling gemstones pried from their tiny sockets by rough hands. The place of honor where her father had once sat proudly leading with chin held high had now become no more than a cheap chair. The merriment and babbling of the courtiers was gone, replaced only by silence and dingy vacancy.

Aurora looked up at the twin stairs that swept on either side of the thrones at the head of the room. Her body twitched, instinctively recalling the days long ago when she had leapt excitedly down, eagerly taking the steps two at a time as she raced to her mother's open and welcoming arms.

"Mama! Mama!" The scampering feet of the young princess scuttled over the last flight of stairs, skipping over the landing and leaping towards her mother. Little arms flung themselves outstretched and hands grabbing at the open air, hungry for love and maternal touch.

"Oh, my sweet little one." Briar Rose smiled, her pale eyes partly obscured by her high, dimpled, cheeks. Her red lips piqued into a smile, and her face was framed by luxurious long flaxen curls akin in color to the rising sun. Teardrops of pearl swung from her ears, glittering in the midafternoon light as she laughed, high and happily, her soft smile open and welcoming.

Illumination of early noon lanced through the windows of stained glass, casting fractals of color and bathing Rose's creamy velvet dress in shafts of spectrum splendor. The ample swell of the square cut bodice matched perfectly with the simple detailing of the gold embroidery that scrawled, simple but beautifully, up from hem and hip and culminating in a vibrant blooming tree. Leaves outspread, its branches reached up to hug her ribs and midsection like tiny leaved fingers bathing in her radiance.

It was no wonder that she had been called a legendary beauty. There were none who could hold a candle to her splendor; none likened to her quiet and demure grace. She was perfect, they said, everything a Queen should be. A Rose without a thorn.

She strode the last few steps and knelt, meeting the child's warm embrace.

"Mamma, I missed you." The toddler squeaked balefully, looking up into the beautiful face of the blonde noblewoman "You weren't in the gardens today…and all the flowers were blooming. I wanted to show you a butterfly I caught, but you weren't there." A tiny pink lip jutted out, and azure eyes, big and doe-like, looked close to tears. Rose cooed softly as she cupped her only daughter's chubby cheek and planted a gentle kiss upon Aurora's tiny button nose.

"Shh, it's alright my love. I am here now. You can show me the butterfly tomorrow morning if you like…" The Queen trailed off and let out a sigh, her proud shoulders slumping as if beneath a great and terrible burden. "Aurora…darling, I must tell you something very important. You must listen very carefully, understand?"

The little princess gasped, her eyes stretching wide in excitement. "Like a secret?!" she whispered, her trilling timbre hushed in surreptitious secrecy.

"No dearest. Not a secret…but it is very important, and you must never speak of it to your father. Can you do that? Can you be a big, strong, princess for mummy?"

Aurora nodded fervently, her little mouth drawing down into a serious frown. "I'm good at keeping secrets. Cross my heart." she said, x-ing a little cross with her finger above her tiny chest with a comical sense of stern duty unbefitting a 3 year old. Rose smiled and patted her child's amber locks with a gentle caress.

"Mommy has to go away for a while…a bad lady named Maleficent wants to do mean things to some very nice people…and mommy has to make sure that the good people of the kingdom don't get hurt….but this may take a long time and Mommy isn't sure if she'll come back." Rose explained slowly, deliberately trying to keep her words as simple as possible for the sake of the child's understanding.

"I need you to promise me something, Aurora…promise that you'll be a good girl while I'm gone. Promise that you'll behave yourself and do as your father asks. And promise me that you'll be a wise and brave princess, dearest." The Queen whispered, her eyes were sad and welling with tears, but she fought to keep her tone light and her face smiling for the sake of the girl. Her breath hitched heavily in her throat, and she paused a moment to collect herself. "Promise?"

"But mommy…why do you have to go away? Can't you stay here? Why does the bad lady want to hurt the nice people?" The child wheedled, her voice whiny as she threw her tiny arms around her mother and nestled her face into the plush velvets of the Queen's gown. "I don't want you to leave."

"I know, dearest. I know." Rose whispered; her eyes clenched shut as the tears rolled silently from the corners of her eyes. She gently stroked the soft amber curls of the child, petting and reassuring. "But it's only for a while. Mommy will see you again…one way, or another…We will be together again, my dear. All that stands between us is time."

The place felt barren, and so did the princess's heart. The castle she had known as home was nothing more than a shell, imperfect and shadowy. All that remained where once joy and hope had flourished was broken stone and empty promises.

Cracked marble and decayed worm riddled wood were all that was left of her parent's legacy. The stained velvet of the twin throne seats - once the color of rich, burgundy wine- was now shredded and moth eaten. The vibrant royal blue of her father's tapestry was dusty and blanched with age, its golden hem torn away undoubtedly by some roguish thief looking for a way to make an easy steal.

There was nothing now. Nothing but broken glass and dingy stone and empty hollowness.

Aurora shuddered. She felt brittle, breakable, abandoned and discarded. She was alone in this place: A dead, forgotten princess among dead, forgotten things. She felt the tears prick hot and acid-like in the corners of her eyes and she bit her lip, fighting against letting them fall. She would not cry in this house of ghosts and shadow.

The heavy touch of a gauntleted hand grasping her shoulder drew the princess' attention.

"Aurora." The warrior whispered her name, but it sounded like a thrumming chorus amongst the walls of stone. "We just have to search the libraries. Then we can go. You don't even have to see his body…"

"I'm fine." The princess croaked, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. She cleared her throat with a cough, and deftly changed the topic. "It'll be quicker if we split up. I can take the library up at the top of the stairs, if you'll search around a bit down here."

Mulan shook her head vehemently "I'd rather not…I have no sword to protect you, and if something should happen—. "

Aurora's cool, steady, unreadable gaze met the dark eyes of the warrior, and Mulan saw a thousand whispered words in those eyes of icy blue. The swordswoman felt her tongue grow still as the weight of understanding fell heavily upon her shoulders.

This was about more than finding a book; this was about seeing what was left. Whatever the princess was searching for, she was asking to find it alone.

"Yes, princess. As you wish." The warrior nodded, dutifully respecting the unspoken bounds and not daring to push the issue. Aurora silently thanked the spirits and gods above for giving Mulan such a keen sense of privacy.

"Thank you my friend. I will be fine. Call out for me if you find anything." The princess tossed over her shoulder, as she swept towards one of the twin arcing staircases that framed the room on either side. The stairs swept up, like outstretched arms, embracing the hall and culminating in a high landing that lead further into the castle's inner rooms. Mulan guessed that the library remained just beyond.

"Be safe. Don't hesitate to call for me. I am here if you need." The warrior shuffled from foot to foot, displeased with the idea of being apart from her young charge, but torn between her understanding that Aurora needed space and time to grieve over all that was lost. She dug her nails into the hard leather of her palm for the second time that day, letting the needle-like lances of pain keep her rooted to the spot on the floor.

This was Aurora's internal battle to fight. For now Mulan would simply have to wait and stand guard, ever vigilant, unfailing and unyielding. The warrior would give the princess the only things she knew how to give: her silence, her obedience, and her quiet strength.

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