Thorn in the Rose {Book 1 Of The Once Upon A Time Chronicles}

Chapter 32: Valerie

"Once a spell has been placed nothing can change it, not even the witch who cast it. Have you ever heard of that?"

He nods. "Anybody who has ever opened a book on witchcraft has read those lines." He slowly walks into the room and stops at the bookshelf. "And, anybody who has read them knows that they are final. Nothing can change a spell once it's been cast."

A scowl appears on her lips and her hands tighten into fists. "Yes, you're quite right."

When she notices Maurie trying to gaze past her she moves again, now using her entire body and a nearby object to block the flower.

The two occupants remain locked in a staring contest for what felt like hours before Maurie eventually broke contact and smiled.

"Well then, I suppose I should get going."

"Why are you here for anyway?" she snaps.

With the smile still on his face he reaches over to the books and takes one off of the shelf. "This," he replies holding it up like a display at an auction.

Silently, he turns around and heads toward the door, but just before he can reach it, her voice cuts through the air, "How is he?"

Without turning back to look at her, Maurie replies, "The pain has finally gone away. Although, it took quite some time."

Belle smirks. "Well, if he had only supported me he wouldn't have had to go through that. I don't like it when people go against me. I'd keep that in mind if I were you."

He half turns back to her, a smirk tugging at his lips. "How could I ever forget." Once again, he turns away from her and walks out of the door. His smirk turning into a delightful smile because, unknown to her, he saw the fallen petal.

My heart frantically thuds in my chest and the broad smile refuses to leave my face.

A petal has fallen. A petal has fallen and that can only mean one thing—the spell is breaking. I don't know how such a miracle has occurred, but right now that doesn't matter. The spell is breaking and it is something that should be celebrated.

Despite my desire to rush toward the prince and tell him what I saw I decide not to until I have as much information as I can gather—the main bit being some theories as to why the spell has decided to start breaking. Why now after ninety years?

Normally I could do this by myself but my brain is jumping around from all the excitement making it difficult for me to focus. So, I do what I always do when I require assistance—I go to my Fabienne.

Eventually, after walking the halls for about half an hour, I find her sitting on her old bed in what used to be her room before her family's title was taken away and she was made a servant.  Her sad eyes slowly rake across the room and for a brief moment, she allows a few tears to roll down her cheeks. However, when she notices me she wipes them away and puts a smile back on her lovely face.

"Don't stop on my account. I know the memories this place beings," I say as she gets up from the bed and walks toward me.

As soon as she reaches me she wraps her arms around my waist and leans her chin on my chest. "It's not all bad, if we hadn't lost our title I wouldn't have been allowed to be with you. And God knows how you would have pined for me," she says with a smirk.

I laugh. "I think you're getting a bit mixed up. For I know that it would be you who would have pined for me."

The sweet sound of her laughter echoes through the almost bare room. Eventually, she calms down and looks up at me.  "What did you come to find me for? What's bothering you?" 

I smile down at her, loving the fact that she knows me so well. "You won't believe what I just saw." 

"What?"

As I tell her the story of how I saw the first petal has fallen from the rose her face lights up with joy and the smile on her face grows wider and wider as well as brighter and brighter. Together we sit down on the bed where we hold each other and cry with joy. 

"I can't believe this is happening! How is this happening?" 

I shake my head and say, "I have no idea, but we need to figure it out so that we can make sure it doesn't stop." 

She gets up from the bed and starts pacing back and forth in front of me. "Do you think it's because he stood up to her? He's never done that before. Maybe that's what the spell needed to start breaking."  

I shake my head, "No, I don't think that's what's causing it." I tap my finger against my chin while I try to come up with a theory of my own. Eventually, a thought pops into my head. "I read somewhere that some spells simply start wearing off after a certain amount of time." 

Now she's shaking her head. "I read that too, and the normal time frame was about thirty years. Last I checked we've been stuck here for just over ninety years." 

I nod, and we lapse into a moment of silence as we try to come up with another theory. After what felt like hours a smile breaks out onto my lip. 

"What is it?" she asks me. 

I look up at her and my smile grows wider. "Valerie." 

She looks down at me, confused. "Valerie." 

"Think about it, she's the only thing that's different around here. For ninety years we had nothing and now that Valerie has been coming over the spell has started to break." 

She shakes her head, "I'm still not getting it." 

I get up and put my hands on the sides of her shoulders forcing her to stay still and look up at me. "Earlier you said that maybe the spell is breaking because he stood up to Belle and that might be half true, but my question to you is, who was he standing up for?"

A flicker of realization shines in her eyes. "Valerie, he was standing up for Valerie." 

"Valerie is breaking the spell. I'm not entirely sure how she's doing it, but she's breaking the spell." 

Fabienne smiles and kisses my lips. "She's going to free us." 

"And we're going to help her."

Translations:

(1) I summon the witches of old. Earthbound mothers who once roamed these blessed lands. Please give me the strength I need to fix my spell

(2) Please, I beg you. Give me the strength... give me the strength.