A Pearl Of Wisdom (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 28: Explanation?

"It is only like 11:00, it would take forever to wait for the sunrise!" Roze says.

"Yeah I guess your right, we should just go home then, it was a dumb idea!" I say.

"Well I think it would be better to go back today but we should come see the sunrise a different day, maybe when we feel a bit more rested and relaxed." Ren says. I nod my head Ren always says things in such a nice way and Roze is always so blunt with me. They are both so different from each other, I hardly think they are related sometimes.

"How are you guys even twins" I say aloud without even thinking.

"What do you mean?" Ren asks.

"Oh sorry I was just thinking that the two of you are so different in personality that it is hard to think of you as twins" I say.

"Well maybe that is the point" Roze says.

"How so?" I ask.

"Well I don't want to be like Ren, I wanted to be my own person you may even say I almost instinctively tried to act like the opposite" Roze says being very honest for once.

"I see what you mean, but I think the two of you could become so much more powerful if you guys would team up together instead of fighting against each other" I say and then wipe myself off and start walking back. The two of them start following and get the horse moving. The rest of the time was spent in a comfortable silence. I think we are just tired from all of the craziness that had happened. We put the horse back in the stable and left the cart there.

"I will walk you back to your room" Roze says.

"Roze where are you even staying?" Ren asks.

"None of your business" Roze says.

"Well then you can't walk Anise back because you are not living here. I will do the honor of taking Anise back to her room" Ren says frustrated.

"Goodnight Roze, get home safe" I say and pat Roze on the shoulder hoping he gets the clue not to antagonize Ren anymore.

"Fine! goodnight Anise, I will talk to you later" Roze says and Ren frowns at this but doesn't say anything. Ren and I walk away in silence again.

"I don't think that Roze could change, I think he hates me and probably always has" Ren says and sighs.

"Don't worry about it, I will talk to him again!" I say. We arrive at my room and Ren stops in front of my room.

"Anise I can't thank you enough for everything that you have done for me, I don't know where I would be if you hadn't been so quick-thinking!" Ren says and puts his arms on my shoulders.

"Well I didn't do it alone, I had a lot of help from Roze, he found a good book to help us along" I say feeling uncomfortable not knowing where to look. Ren kept looking me in the eyes and he lowered his body and brought his face close to mine. I thought he was being very brave and felt my heart fluttering. He lowered his lips onto mine and gently kissed me. I gently moved my lips against his in reply. We separated and he smiled and wished me a goodnight and left.

I woke up the next day feeling so confused about what has all happened! it doesn't feel real. The only thing that was upsetting me was that Ren and Roze do not get along and if they don't work it out it could always be a problem. I thought that overcoming this tough situation with Maris will have brought them closer together. Maybe I can be a mediator for the two of them. I then go off to breakfast and join Celine and Holly.

"So the palace is in a tizzy! what happened with Maris?" Celine asks.

"Why do you think I would know anything?" I ask.

"Well because Maris was friends with you" Holly says.

"I don't know much? but it seemed like she was going to leave because she was needed at her own home?" I say unsure if what I was saying would be okay. Jack comes and tells us that Prince Ren will have an announcement today and that he was coming to talk to us. Shortly after we finished eating Ren came in looking better than he had for a while.

"Hello everyone how is everyone doing today?" Ren asks. We all reply we are good in unison.

"Okay I know there is some rumors going on about Maris and I just wanted to clarify that she has left the palace and will not be coming back. She did not act appropriately to be a concubine in this palace and tried to manipulate people. I made the decision that she should leave, and I hope that all of you feel like I have explained this well enough" Ren explains. A girl with green blood raised her hand, "Could you also kick us out if we do something to displease you?"

"Well it depends, Maris was telling me lies about situations and I foolishly believed her and caught by her lies. She was also trying to manipulate the other guests that came and almost convinced them of going to war with other provinces. She was causing very serious situations that were dangerous. Only if you would have ambitions to cause wars or something that serious would I make you leave" Ren says.

"Well I think all of you girls are safe in that respect" Jack says.

"Well I hope you enjoy your afternoon and I will leave now" Ren says and leaves.

"Anise, I thought you said that she left because she needed to go home" Celine says to me after.

"Well that is what she told me! Do you think she was telling me the truth" I say saving myself.

"True, I guess she wasn't really your friend either" Holly says.

We go to our lessons for the day. We decide that we want to have our history lesson in the garden since the weather of late has been so beautiful. As I sit outside my minds starts to drift and I smell all of the flowers around me and I all of a sudden and I start to feel dizzy. Some images flash in front of me of a little girl running behind a boy and I hear counting. Holly asks if I am okay. I tell her that I am going to go to the infirmary because I have a headache.

"Do you want me to come with you" Holly whispers.

"No I will be fine" I say and leave as quietly as I can to not disturb the class. I stagger a bit trying to get  to the infirmary. I hold onto the wall as I walk to the infirmary and run into Sage walking down the hallway.

"Anise are you okay?" Sage asks and then guides me to the infirmary and helps me to a bed. I close my eyes and fall into a deep sleep.