Rell and The Rose

Ch. 4, Do the Dew

Rell

A thousand rumors swirled outside the doors of the cathedral: the Dark Queen was dead, the Dark Queen had abandoned her people, the Dark Queen had been carried inside the dark cathedral in a glass coffin. Either way, I'd received a summons from Lorcan, and as his Beast-Slayer, I alone had the rights to pass through the doors.

Still, as I stood outside the cathedral doors, a pang of worry lanced through my shoulders about the wall I'd seen, with the moon above and the man below. Could it really have been the human realm? And if it truly existed, what did that mean for our realm?

Poxel are you there? I sent out to my small shadow dragon. He didn't answer, likely up to some mischief. He'd been banned from the cathedral ages ago for lighting a pew on fire. But I couldn't delay any longer, so I placed my hand on the deep, cool stone of the building, took a deep breath, and then slipped through the massive wooden door.

"Lorcan?" I called out when I stood in the softly-lit interior. Most would have addressed him as My Dark Prince, but he had always been Lorcan to me; from the day he'd caught Poxel and I trying to steal bread from the castle kitchens, to the day he named me as his own personal Beast-Slayer.

He didn't answer.

The spires of the cathedral rose around me, and, after a moment's heavy silence, I stepped deeper inside. It was empty at Lorcan's request today. I saw him there at the far end of the aisle, hands behind his back, head bowed and facing away from me... almost like a groom. The thought made me suddenly uneasy. Did that make me the bride? I had pledged my loyalty, and my life to Lorcan... but love, that type of love, was the one thing I couldn't give him.

The vastness of the space swallowed my footsteps, the only light from floating glass balls enchanted to hold dragon fire, so that it seemed as if we were swimming beneath a sea of colors. At the end of the aisle Lorcan's hair gleamed dark as his realm. Though he had a full personal guard, and a dozen knights sworn to his name, the sword strapped to his left hip wasn't for show. I'd seen him use it many times, and it had saved my life as many times as mine had saved his. Him being a prince had never stood in the way of our friendship... too much.

Lorcan finally let out a deep sigh, even though he hadn't turned. "Rell. Thank you for coming." He didn't turn to greet me, and I couldn't yet fully see what his body concealed before him, at the altar, though it looked large, long and a clear white... almost like a coffin. Was it true? Was the Dark Queen dead?

He stepped aside and I couldn't stop a soft gasp of shock.

The Dark Queen lay trapped inside a cloudy white coffin, still as death. Her raven-black hair fell in perfect waves around her, her lips blood-red.

"Is she...?" I didn't want to say it.

"Dead?" He sighed and shook his head "No. But I can't free her... I've never seen this kind of magic before." He bowed his head, as if the knowledge shamed him, suddenly seeming so much older than the eighteen year old Lorcan I knew.

I reached forward, surprised to find the coffee wasn't glass, but ice. Ice that never melted, and even Lorcan couldn't break. Who would be powerful enough to do this to the Queen? And what if Lorcan wasn't strong enough to undo it? But those questions had surely already occurred to Lorcan, so instead I asked, "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. We were traveling to the Blood Rose. She sensed something wrong."

Even as Lorcan's oldest friend and Beast-Slayer, I had never been on an expedition to The Blood Rose. Only those of royal blood could touch the Blood Rose, and knew where it was hidden. Or so I thought. "I didn't know you were going there," I said softly. You told me you were going to look for something, I wanted to add, but didn't.

His eyes darkened. "She must have sensed someone already there. She told me to wait, that she wanted to speak to the Blood Rose alone. I should have seen through it." His fists clenched, and I could already see from the way he stared at the coffin that he blamed himself. "When I went after her, I found her like this."

"And the Blood Rose?"

Finally, he turned to look at me. His eyes were as empty as the church pews, the stretched out row after row, into the dark, silent recesses of the cathedral. "Gone."

A cold finger ran down my spine. The Blood Rose held the fog close to the land, covering the realm in eternal darkness and protecting us from the faraway sun that bleached magic from the land. If The Blood Rose were gone, then the sun would begin to burn away the mist, slowly bleaching all the magic from the land.

"But how could it be gone?" I countered, not wanting to think about what would happen to all the magical beasts I knew and loved. "I thought only someone of royal blood could move it?"

Lorcan shrugged, his eyes darkening, holding something back from me. "That makes this all even more troubling. Whoever cast this spell, to trap the Dark Queen herself, must have been incredibly powerful."

More powerful than the Dark Queen herself? I didn't want to ask Lorcan if that were even possible.

"Do you think she knew them?" I finally said instead, trying to think like a Beast-Slayer. Maybe this was the work of a neighboring ruler? Or some trickster? First, eliminate the obvious. No need to track down a dragon when it's a pixie you're after.

Lorcan stared down at his mother. "Perhaps," he finally said, holding both their secrets tight. Then he waved a hand, both beckoning me closer, and seeming to dismiss the thought. "But that isn't why I brought you here. There is something strange about the coffin. I want your opinion. Come, look."

He crouched next to the coffin, and I came to kneel beside him. A semi-translucent green object was embedded deep inside the ice. Though it was warped and twisted, it almost looked like it had once been some sort of container. I had never seen anything like it. At the center of the object was a sort of paper wrapper, with bright, blocky writing.

"Mountain Dew," I read out loud slowly. "Like literally the dew off a mountain? Wouldn't that just be water?"

"There's more," Lorcan pointed. "I thought it was a tiny rock at first, but then..."

I peered forward, at what looked like a tiny, perfectly circular copper rock. I almost cracked my head against the glass when I realized it had a tiny face on it. And the most beautiful, perfect writing.

(What could it be? Better keep reading to find out? Any guess first? ;D)

Shout out to -CliffhangerQueen- for the awesome banner!

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Hannah)