The Rose Necklace

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It took them both a moment to notice that the light surrounding them wasn't in their minds. They broke apart, and Adam smiled as his prediction came true. Lilly was herself again, with no trace of the potion's effects. True love's kiss had conquered after all.

They walked outside hand in hand, oblivious to the gloomy sky. To them, the day was bright and merry. It would have been perfect if not for the deaths of Rose and Ivy. They looked toward the flower patch, expecting to see wilted red roses, and gasped when they realized they were wrong.

While there were no more red roses, there were dozens of pure white ones climbing up the house. Dozens of lilies bloomed too, in vibrant and cheerful colors. They noticed that another plant had joined the roses and lilies. Intertwined with the rose vine, ivy was now clinging to the side of the cottage, as if it had been there all along. Adam and Lilly smiled as they stood before the picturesque scene, holding tightly to each other's hands.

In the days that followed, Adam and Lilly explained their story many times. First to Potter, then to many of the villagers wondering why Ivy wouldn't be supplying them with medicine any longer, and finally to the King and Queen.

Lilly had been dreading the moment she would see her parents. She had not quite forgiven them for what they had done to her. Still, in an odd way, she was grateful. If not for Lilly having to move in with Ivy, she would have never met Adam. Just the thought of what might have been made her sad; she knew that Adam loved her. Not her title, or her beauty, just her. Lilly. She would have had a much different life without him.

So when they finally did reunite, Lilly was surprised by the tears they all shed, and by how much she had missed her parents. They hugged, laughed, cried, and finally listened as Adam and Lilly told their story again. Hearing Adam tell his part, Lilly came to realize just how much it sounded like one of Potter's fairytales. Especially when they neared the end, and Adam told her parents how much he loved her.

It shocked all three royals when he got down on one knee and asked the King for Lilly's hand in marriage. When the King looked to his daughter for approval, she nodded her head so fast she was sure she would get whiplash.

Three months later, the first royal wedding in over thirty years took place. It was a very special wedding, for Princess Lilly was the first royal ever to marry a commoner. Adam and Lilly ignored naysayers, content to live their own fairytale.

A year after their wedding, Lilly discovered that they were to have their first child. They had a long conversation about the sort of parents they would be, vowing to not make the same mistakes as the King and Queen and Ivy. They would make mistakes, for no one is perfect, but they decided to learn from the past so that they could be the best parents possible.

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"Does this story have monsters? 'Cause I think that a good story has to have monsters. Real scary and bloodthirsty ones," the little boy exclaimed.

"Well, I think that a story is perfectly fine without monsters," the little girl retorted. "What a story really needs is a handsome prince to save the day."

"Nuh uh!" the boy argued, as only five-year-old boys can.

"Children!" their mother interrupted, laughing. "This story has both, but not in the way you're imagining."

"See! It does have a monster!"

The boy's sister stuck her tongue out in reply. She was two years older than her brother, and thought this made her much smarter indeed.

"Maurice Potter Jr., Ivy Rose, you shall never hear the story if you don't stop talking," Potter Sr. spoke up. "Sit quietly so your mother can tell it to you."

Lilly gave Potter a grateful look, glad that the children listened to him. He had a way of making them sit silently during his stories, and she was happy that he was helping them sit through hers. "This story," Lilly began, "is a true one. It really happened to your father and me." The children bounced on their parents' knees, Ivy Rose sitting with her father and Maurice sitting with his mother. They were in the library, with a fire burning nearby. In the corner window, planters held trimmings from a white rosebush, ivy, and lily bulbs. Lilly had brought some with her when she left the cottage so many years ago.

"It does have a beast, but not the kind you are thinking of, Maurice. Likewise, it has a hero, but also a heroine. Ivy, you are named after a woman who made many mistakes, but made the right choice in the end. You are also named after a woman who, like me, had no choice in the matter, but that I respect and love." So, she proceeded to tell them the story, not leaving anything out.

It had taken Lilly many years to fully forgive Ivy and her parents for what they did and Adam was much the same. One day they had realized that what was done was done, and that it was only harming them to stay angry. Ivy was dead, after all. Their hatred could not touch her. So they had forgiven her, and now they really did see her as a hero.

She and Adam had argued for years about the right time to tell the children, but finally, they had decided it was necessary. Lilly could see in their innocent eyes that this fairytale-like story was just that: a fairytale. They didn't believe it. That was okay with her, though. Maybe someday, they would see the truth in their parents' words, or maybe it would always remain a fairytale to them. Lilly didn't care.

Lilly could see their sleepy little eyes drooping from the late hour as she drew to a close. She finished the story in the only way that one can appropriately end such a fairytale: "They all lived happily ever after. The end."