Roses and Royalty

Chapter 5

At five in the morning, Ivy rose from her bed and groaned. It was still dark outside; stars sprinkled the night sky and moonlight shone through her open window. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she mustered the energy to get dressed and brush her hair. She picked at the fabric of her dress, annoyed that she had to wear such uncomfortable formal attire. Grabbing her cloak and wrapping it around her shoulders, she strapped on the small daggers she kept on herself at all times; one in each boot, one strapped onto her thigh.

The king held his council in the throne room. There were six cushioned chairs curving around the bottom step of the throne and a chair off to the side, where Ivy sat. The council members held the power; Ivy was merely there to observe and provide information. The king had not yet arrived, as it was tradition for him to appear after the rest of the council members had taken their rightful seats.

Councillor Niv was the first to enter, and the other five followed suit. A few minutes later, an ominous thump reverberated around the room as the doors swung open and the king entered. Ivy and the Councillors bowed, and the king took his seat at the throne, Serpent's Spear in hand.

"Good morning, Councillors. As you may know, my assassin was abducted about a week ago, and I do not intend on letting these criminals go without charges."

Ah, so this was about Nikos and his crew. Ivy swallowed, slightly shaken.

"We also have a matter to discuss about a certain... individual and the crimes I have uncovered. We are to discuss her execution plans." the king spoke, his voice low.

Another execution. Ivy should be used to it by now; there were a couple public executions per month. But this time it was different. The king had never called council for a single execution before. Whoever it was, she felt sorry for them. Their fate was probably going to be the same as her mother's, if not worse.

The king and the councillors started debating about her kidnappers. Ivy tuned out, uninterested in hearing what had happened to her described again.

"...We know one of them is Sykes. The girl claims to not know the names of the others." someone said as Ivy decided to pay attention again.

The king turned to Ivy. "Assassin, tell us everything that happened."

Gulping, she described her experience in detail. She tried to leave out her conversations with Nikos as much as possible to avoid suspicion.

Satisfied, the king returned his gaze to the map spread on the table in front of him. "There are two main flat drylands in Vena- Soli and Aricita. Soli is bordered by the sea while Aricita is bordered by the Soli Lake. Judging by the assassin's description of the area, I'd wager a guess that their base is located in one of the two towns."

"Soli is known to be populated mostly by Elves." one of the councillors murmured.

"Is the location of the base in Soli, assassin?" the king asked her, as if he suddenly realized he had a primary source because she was there.

Ivy wanted to lie, but she knew he'd see right through it. "Yes, your Majesty."

The king nodded. "Very well, we will conduct our search there first. I want this to be a private mission. I will gather a crew of the best officers in our ranks and send them."

Private missions were rare. Sykes must have stolen something of great importance to the king for him to want to keep this mission quiet.

"It is settled then." a councillor declared.

The king pushed the map aside and dropped a new scroll onto the table, rolling it open. Ivy squinted her eyes to attempt to focus on the image from this far. Her breath caught in her throat and she almost gasped aloud.

There on the parchment was Celeste's portrait; head angled, the hue of her brown skin perfectly captured, locks of hair framing her beautiful face.

"This is Celeste Fortis, a maid. She has been caught conspiring with the same criminals who abducted my assassin." the king confirmed her fears. "Tomorrow, she is to be executed."

Suddenly, it all made sense. The letter, the tense look on Celeste's face as she'd handed the envelope to her- she finally understood. Dazed, Ivy squeezed her eyes shut, head spinning with a thousand different thoughts as she struggled to keep herself grounded.

"My lady, are you alright?" one of the councillors asked.

She forced herself to open her eyes and give a meek nod.

Councillor Niv frowned, "The lady seems to be feeling ill. Perhaps she could leave early today? I'm sure we can finish without her."

Without even looking at her, the king waved his hand at her in dismissal. "You may return to your chambers."

Ivy stood, wobbling as she dipped into a quick bow and hastily exited the room. As soon as she was out of the king's sight, she started sobbing, tears running down her face as she sprinted. Ducking around corners and dashing down hallways, she finally made it back to her bedroom and skidded to a halt. She threw the door open and slammed it shut, not caring who heard. She was too heartbroken.

She sunk into her blankets, pulling them over her head as she wept. Curling herself into a ball, she let out all the pressure she'd been holding in ever since her kidnapping. Her mind wandered back to Celeste- sweet, darling Celeste, who'd been nothing but kind to her ever since the day they had met.

What had Celeste done? The king said she'd been conspiring with Nikos and the others- that couldn't be true, could it?

There was only one way Ivy knew she could confirm what she'd heard. Trudging to her desk, each step weary and tired, she opened the bottom drawer and pulled out Celeste's letter. Carefully, she peeled off the black wax seal. She should've noticed the color earlier. Each wax seal color meant something different in Vena; red was used for business, blue for passion, pink for congratulations, white for invitations, purple for royalty, and black for mourning.

There were two papers in the envelope. One was a proper letter, the other a small scrap of paper. Shaking, Ivy pulled out the larger folded parchment, unraveling it at the crease. The penmanship was sharp and blocky, dark ink bleeding through the page. Ivy realized that this wasn't Celeste's handwriting. Why had she given her this letter?

Starting at the top, Ivy began to read.

< Ivy,

Meet us where we met last on the night of the full moon in a day's time. Only you know the way.

Nikos >

She knew she owed it to Celeste to go through with Nikos' plan. She didn't have a smidgen of trust for him in her heart, but she knew Celeste wouldn't give her this letter if it wasn't for a good reason. Trembling, Ivy reached back into the envelope to fish out the other piece of paper.

< Dear Ivy,

Thank you for everything.

I'll miss you,
Celeste >

The script was messy, as if Celeste had scrawled a hasty note onto whatever parchment she could find because she was in a hurry. Nonetheless, it made Ivy emotional. Those four words were enough to make her bawl.

The tears spilled over. A drop of liquid from her eye landed on the small scrap of paper. She watched the ink swirl and bloom as it dissolved where it was wet before she shoved both the letters back into the envelope, crawling back to her bed and clutching the envelope close to her chest. She cried for hours, tears soaking her pillow until the sky faded from red and orange to a dark black. Eventually, her weary body gave into the need for rest, and she eased into an uncomfortable sleep.