A Rose To Remember

A Familiar Face

Rose ran to a cliff edge facing away from the battlefield. she sat down and let her legs dangle over the edge. A warm updraft dried the tears off her face and tousled her auburn red hair. Her lips spread into a slow smile as she looked at the kingdom she had sworn to protect, happy and at peace.
A twig snapped behind her and Rose leaped up whipping out a dagger and lunging towards the person behind her.
"woah! Didn't mean any harm your highness!" one of Jared's men said his hands up "would you mind, you know, moving your dagger from my poor neck?"
"sorry" Rose replied sheathing her dagger as she stepped backwards "what's you name anyway?"
"I'm called Miles, Miles Elan"
"you'll know who I am, so I'll just say this, drop the 'your highness' stuff. I prefer that title to stick to the palace"
"yes ma'am!" Miles said with a mock salute "nice to see that Jared talks about me 'all' the time"
"he should?" she said smiling as he stood with his hands on his hips
"you think he shouldn't?" he said with mock horrification "why, I'm only his right hand man, second in command in his squadron!"
Rose couldn't help herself, she bent over in a fit of laughter at the indignant look on Miles' face. He sat down next to her on the cliff, dangling his legs off the edge as well.
"it feels good to laugh" Rose said, wiping tears off her cheeks. Miles nodded looking out over the cliff face.
"Ali sent me to find you. Said he didn't want you doing anything stupid" Miles said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He looked away before continuing "I saw Jared. It feels so wrong, seeing him like that. He's always been there for me, ever since my dad was sent to prison. I feel like a failure. the one time he needed me, I wasn't there"
"I know the feeling" Rose said quietly. A few minutes passed before anyone said anything.
"how'd you do it?" Miles said, looking at Rose curiously.
"do what?" Rose scooted a little bit further away from Miles, putting a bit of distance between the two of them.
"create a hole in the ground like that. I heard you singing and then this tunnel opened up in the ground and you ran out with Jared on your shoulder, straight into the physician's tent"
"oh, that" Rose drew her knees up to her chin and looked out over the cliff edge.
"how'd you do it?"he repeated, looking directly at her. Rose sighed, there was no way around it, she had to answer his question.
"I sung" She thought maybe if she answered vaguely enough he would take the hint.
"you 'sung'. You expect me to believe that you sung and then a tunnel appeared in the ground for you to walk through?"
"yes" Rose softly, embarrassed that Miles didn't believe her. "I know that it sounds crazy, and you have every right to think that I have lost my mind completely, but when I sing, I manipulate the earth, to a certain degree of course. It is something Jared and I inherited from my mother's side; she was one of the Nayni forest dwellers. My Father's side is a completely different story"
"and what's that?" Miles said, clearly wanting more answers.
"it is hard to explain, so I will just say it bluntly. I am one of the guardians of this world. The, ummmm, I guess you could call them powers, that I have inherited from my father are that I can control flame." She looked at Miles to see his reaction.
"is Jared the same?" Miles whispered, visibly shaken. Rose gave a small nod, still watching Miles. He looked so pale that it scared her.
"do you want to see?" Rose said, against her better judgment. Miles looked at her with renewed curiosity.
"sure"
"okay" She took a breath and flicked her wrist, summoning a small ball of fire that hovered just above her palm.
"that looks like you should be screaming in pain right now."
Rose shrugged, tossing the ball of flame from one hand to the other. Moving her hands in a fluid motion, she moulded the flame into the form of a bird.
"a Phoenix!" Miles breathed, as he stared at the bird flapping around their heads. Rose grabbed the bird, extinguishing the flame, and stood up.
"the sun is setting, I need to head back to camp and check on Jared" she said looking away from him.
"oh, okay" Miles said standing up as well. "I need to sharpen my sword anyway"
"goodbye Miles" Rose said walking back towards the camp
"See ya," Miles said as she rounded the corner.

As she entered the tent Rose was enveloped in a bear hug.
"Uncle Valgon!" she said whipping around "what are you doing here? are you here to see father's body? It is a golden tent just outside of the camp. I can take you there if you'd like?" Rose spun on her heel and headed for the door of the tent, even though everything in her wanted to pretend that it the past events had never occurred. Uncle Valgon grabbed her arm, stopping her from going any further .His blue eyes glistened with tears, but his sadness was mixed with joy. His shoulder length grey hair blew around his face in the wind coming out of the Valley of the Kings, the obsidian circlet glowed with unnatural power, and his royal robes were woven from Nayni silk, the most precious fabric in the land.
"Rose, I am not here to see my brother's body" Uncle Valgon said taking her hand "do not be mistaken, I am grieving my brother, but not in the same way your human friends and family are. Our people have a more... sophisticated, tradition for their dead. Ali has seen to it that your father's body has been safely transported to my palace. There will be a time when we will mourn the loss of a father, brother, and friend, but now there are more pressing matters at hand"
"and there's someone in here who wants to see you!" Ali yelled from behind a curtain in the tent "someone who is not listening to me and is trying to get out of his bed"
Rose ran to the curtain and pulled it back, revealing Jared, sitting on the edge of his bed, with a bandage around his middle.
"your awake!" Rose cried, strangle hugging him.
"ugh, I had thought my near-death experience would have given me the grace to breath" Jared said, wincing as she let go of him. Rose punched him lightly in the arm, and inspected his bandaged torso, looking for any signs of blood.
"how?" She said shaking her head in wonder "Ali said you only had two days to live"
"he did" Ali said bluntly, giving Jared a tunic to put over his bandage
"that's why I am here, I came last night and healed his wounds" Uncle Valgon shook his head "thankfully I had some Moon dust with me, it is the only cure for a Mithran wound"
"your Uncle turned up in the middle of the night and gave me a heart attack" Ali said gruffly "I thought he was an assassin. I almost stuck him with the surgical knife"
Uncle Valgon laughed "never thought I would be glad for a glowing circlet, when I turned around and the glow of my circlet gave enough light for Ali saw that it was me"
"you can be a pretty intimidating figure Uncle Valgon" Jared said from where he sat "what with you beard and freakish blue eyes" Uncle Valgon roared with laughter at Jared's statement.
"I could slap you for that, but" he shrugged still laughing "I would be worried if you didn't say something about my blue eyes"
"is there some story to do with the 'Blue Eyes' statement" Ali asked briefly looking up from where he was cleaning up Jared's clothes
"when Jared and Rose were about 4, Eli took Rose and him to stay at my palace" Uncle Valgon said with a chuckle "the poor boy got up to go to the lavatory one night, and when he left the lavatory I was standing there waiting for him. All he could see was a glowing black circlet and a pair of 'freakish' blue eyes"
"how was I supposed to know it as you" Jared grumbled "you didn't have a torch!"
"I can see where the 'freakish blue eyes'statement comes from then" Ali said laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.
"you said that there were more pressing matters at hand before I came in here" Rose said, changing the subject before Jared could get even more embarrassed "what were those matters?"
Uncle Valgon looked at Ali, who nodded before quickly putting away all his equipment.
"I have something I need to tell you two." Uncle Valgon leaned closer before continuing "in private"
"The grand tent will work" Jared said getting up "if it hasn't been taken down?" Jared looked at Rose questionably
"it hasn't been taken down yet" She said helping Jared up "this way"
She headed towards the door.
"Tommye, don't leave the tent! if anyone comes and they need more medical attention then you can give them, then have them take some disinfectant pills and sedate them" Ali said to his 14-year-old apprentice Tommye. "I will be back in about 2 hours" Tommye nodded and sat down on the weathered cane chair that sat in the corner next to all the medicines.
"I will not leave the tent, unless it is a life or death situation" Tommye said to his master "and not without properly evaluating the 'dying' patient"
"correct, Tommye" Ali said, patting the boy on the head "I am glad you have been paying attention during your lessons" Tommye beamed with the praise, as Ali turned to walkout with everyone else.
"Ali is coming?" Rose asked Uncle Valgon
"yes" he said still walking towards the grand tent "he has been my 'eyes and ears' you could say. He has been making sure nothing out of the ordinary was happening at you father's palace, but especially during battle"
"oh" Jared said, "unexpected but" He shrugged and looked at Rose
"it's nice to know that we're not alone in this world" Rose said reaching out and squeezing Jared's hand. He looked at her and nodded.
"ah there's the tent" Rose said, she pulled back the tent door and waited for everyone to go through before entering the tent, letting the tent door fall closed behind her.