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Kingdom of the Red Rose
(Episode 45 of 62)
Chapter Sixteen: Nathaniel and Emma
(Part 3 of 3)
Another puzzle completed, another image was formed, and Griffin witnessed another memory that belonged to Nathaniel, his former self.
This memory was about two years later. Nathaniel had stayed and worked for the Hartley family. He and Paul escorted Emma everywhere, but when Paul would go and work at the farm, Nathaniel would go and work with the Hartley brothers, helping with the books. As Paul had predicted, Nathaniel was romantically involved with Emma and everyone knew it, yet no one spoke of it. Nathaniel and Emma were left alone to enjoy their romance. The brothers took a liking to Nathaniel and soon he was invited to join their circle, yet he never moved to the house. Instead, he stayed with Paul, and Emma would visit them daily at the little cabin at the edge of the farm.
The new memory was the day Paul had announced he would stop escorting Emma everywhere and leave the job to Nathaniel. It was already decided that Paul would stay at the cabin and live the rest of his life in peace, never having to work in the fields again. Emma and Nathaniel had organized a small feast at the cabin and invited some of Paul's closest friends, even the Hartley brothers made an appearance. It was shortly after lunch, on a very hot summer day, and everyone had scattered in the green and sunny field outside Paul's cabin, hiding in the shade of nearby trees. Emma and Nathaniel sat alone under a tree, talking, and laughing when Paul walked towards them.
"Paul, come join us. We need your wisdom, your expert opinion," Nathaniel was sitting with his back to the tree and Emma resting in his arms with her back to his chest.
"Yes, Paul, please tell us, do you remember those paintings we went to see about a week ago?" Emma added.
"Yes, the artist in that dirty little house at the centre of town, the one that smelled like rotten corpses."
"That's the one," Emma said and both her and Nathaniel laughed.
"Let me guess, you're wondering how many corpses it took to cause that smell?" Paul replied and they all burst into an even louder laughter.
"No, no, but maybe we should talk about that later. We were discussing the paintings he showed us," Emma turned and faced Paul. Even though she could not see, she still turned in the general direction of whoever spoke to her. She could touch an oil painting and form a detailed image inside her head; something she developed over the years because of her blindness and her love of paintings.
"What about them madam?"
"Which one do you think was the artist's best work? And Nathaniel, don't you dare try and show Paul what to say," Emma held Nathaniel's hands against her chest with one hand and covered his face with the other.
Paul looked at Nathaniel and formed a radiant smile, "The one with the mother and her two children in the bedroom."
"Ha, see, told you," Emma let go of Nathaniel.
"Paul only said that because he knew you liked that painting more. Paul, be honest, wasn't the picture of the knight riding his horse more impressive?" Nathaniel opened his eyes wide, formed a smile and nodded his head, urging Paul to agree with him.
"It didn't have a red rose," Paul replied, "So no, it wasn't."
"See, your taste in art is lousy," Emma jumped in giggling.
Nathaniel squeezed Emma in his arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "So you preferred the other painting simply because of the rose in it?"
"Not only for the red rose, but it did make the painting better," Emma replied.
"To be like a red rose, right madam?" Paul said.
"Yes Paul, to be like a red rose," Emma smiled.
"Ok, I think it's about time you explained to me about the red rose theory."
"Paul, perhaps you can explain the theory to Nathaniel?"
"I can try," Paul shifted his position to face Nathaniel. "I believe I have finally understood your theory madam, but I don't know if I can properly explain it to others."
"Try me," Nathaniel replied.
There was a gap in the memory, and it skipped to some hours later. Emma had left with the last of her brothers as they said goodbye to everyone and went back to the mansion. Paul and Nathaniel went for a horse ride around the farm. They reached the top of a hill and paused for a moment to enjoy the beautiful view of the sun setting far into the distance.
"Paul, you see that fence down at the end of the field?" Nathaniel said.
"Yeah, what about it?" Paul asked.
"There's an unmarked grave down there. I asked the other workers about it, but no one knows whose it is. Margaret said she saw you visiting the grave a couple of times. Do you know who is buried there?"
"No, I don't. It's a stranger's grave that no one ever visits. I just feel it wouldn't be right if I left it to be overrun with weeds, so I occasionally visit and clean the area around it."
"There's a tombstone, but it's unmarked. It's just a white piece of rock with nothing carved on it," Nathaniel continued.
"Why does it matter who's buried beneath it? Someone obviously cared enough to bury that person and place a tombstone over the grave, even if it's a blank one. I just feel it would be disrespectful to let it be overrun with weeds."
As with every piece of memory that was restored, the pain in Griffin's head subsided for a brief moment, only to return stronger and more violent than ever. The final piece to yet another image fell into place.
Griffin, as Nathaniel, found himself lying on a blanket beneath the night sky. It was about a year since his last memory; the third year he had spent at the Hartley farm. Emma was next to him, her head resting on his left shoulder. His right hand was touching the cold wet grass while his left hand ran through Emma's soft black hair.
"Nathaniel, love, it's getting cold. I think it's time we went back home," Emma curled up next to Nathaniel.
"Just a few more minutes, love. Here, cover yourself with this," Nathaniel grabbed an extra blanket and covered Emma.
It must have been the beginning of spring because flowers had begun to blossom, yet the night air was cold.
"What do you see?" Emma walked her fingers over Nathaniel's chest, at the rhythm of his heartbeat, up to his chin and back again, only pausing for a couple of seconds to hear his heartbeat before starting all over again.
"Oh Emma, I wish I could somehow show you the night sky. It's beautiful, almost as beautiful as you. Millions of bright stars, so many it's hard to believe it's night. The sun must envy their beauty. They are like a painting, no practical use for their light, but its beauty is unmatched. And the glorious moon is the crown of this beautiful night queen."
"But through you I still see the beauty of the world, my love. I feel what you feel, I sense the emotions that stir in you, and it affects me as it affects you."
"Ironic, isn't it?" Nathaniel said.
"What is darling?"
"You experience the world through me, but it took your love to make me see the beauty of this world. It's thanks to you that I can now lie here and appreciate this amazing show the sky has put on for everyone in this world," Nathaniel gave Emma a kiss. "Tell me love, what can you sense from me, what can you tell me about my feelings for tonight's beautiful sky?"
"You admire its beauty, but there is sadness in your voice. It's the tone of a person who's nostalgic of home. Your breath grows shorter and your heartbeat increases, the image excites you. The beauty of the sky reminds you of something else that is just as beautiful, and you are saddened because you miss what this image reminds you of, you miss home."
"But I am home, Emma. Here by your side is where my home is."
"No, this is where you chose to settle down, this moment here is your destination, but your journey began up there, among the glowing stars."
"I came from the skies, did I?"
"From Heaven, a fallen Angel for me to save. All these scars on your body tell the story of how you travelled through Hell, to come to Earth, where I found you. I became your red rose, my fallen Angel to save. And that is something I longed for."
"If that's what these scars mean then I must have gladly abandoned Heaven and walked through Hell. I saw you from way up there and fell in love with you, and so I came to be with you. To steal a kiss and feel your touch, to fall in love."
To fall in love. Those last words echoed in Griffin's mind, slowly fading away, and as the memory came to an end a new one began unfolding.
Another two years had gone by and it was the fifth year Nathaniel spent at the Hartley farm. He had moved to the mansion with Emma, and even though there never was an official ceremony, he and Emma were considered a couple by all. He was in a room with Emma and another man, a painter. They had arranged for a portrait of the two of them, but first they looked at some of the artist's previous work. Emma was sitting on a chair, an oil painting stood in front of her, and Nathaniel stood behind her. The painter was setting up the area behind them for the portrait.
"What would you like to be in that painting?" Nathaniel asked when Emma finished touching the painting, running her hands softly over the canvas, forming the image inside her mind, visualizing what she could no longer see.
"I want to be the rose. That beautiful red rose, something so ordinary yet beautiful, something so common in paintings, always there yet never mundane. That rose alone changes the message an image can give to you. It can be placed in the most serene images, or in the middle of a war scene, and it would affect the whole painting, it would give it a new direction. I want to be like that beautiful red rose."
"What does that mean, love?"
"I shouldn't try and explain it. You will see it when you're ready."
Nathaniel never understood what Emma meant, and she never told him. And even though Emma always saw it in all the paintings they came across, that contained a red rose, Nathaniel never could. He did eventually understand what Emma saw in the red rose and what it meant to be like a red rose; moments before he took his last breath. They posed for the portrait and Griffin immediately recognized the scene as the one he saw in the painting hanging over the fireplace at Nathaniel's house.
Griffin was pulled back into the darkness, standing in the middle of nowhere with one last set of lights remaining. This last set of lights felt stronger than the rest. It was directly above Griffin, shining on him, causing a sense of foreboding to rise within him. Griffin found himself scared of the last set of lights, yet he could not resist the temptation to look into it and discover the last piece of information he was missing, the end to Nathaniel's story.
With a quick jerk of the head Griffin looked up into the light. A heavy weight fell to his shoulders and he was forced to his knees. A prediction of what this memory would bring. Griffin tried to resist, to fight, he was not about to let this last piece of information defeat him. He did not realize this was not a choice. It was a done deal, the end result predetermined, for this was not the first time these events were occurring. This was simply a memory better left forgotten. He managed to get on one knee and was about to rise when the floor collapsed. Griffin fell fast and hard into nothingness and a sudden feeling of vertigo took over. He was falling from up high, and collision was the only possible outcome.
The story continues in:
Kingdom of the Red Rose
(Episode 46 of 62)
Chapter Seventeen: Forced Into War
(Part 1 of 2)
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