The Black Rose (12 page)

“So did you find anything in the library?” Wilhelmina asked as she sliced a piece of sausage with her knife.

“No,” Milly huffed, “There wasn’t a single other book that mentioned….” She stopped as she heard
a shrill laughter, which was clearly
Edolie and another deeper sounding laugh, which must have been Jerome.
Wilhelmina swallowed her sausage as she turned to see Edolie and Jerome
enter the dining room.

“
Good,”
Wilhelmina thought as she went back to eating her breakfast. Jerome seemed to
act as if nothing had happened, which was what she had hoped for
. Howeve
r, Wilhelmina
planned on avoiding him as much as possible until after the wedding.
It seemed the tables had turned and Wilhelmina was now the one avoiding him.

“Good morning,” Milly said politely as Jerome and Edolie sat down at the table. She curtsied to them before taking her plate and
heading into the kitchen
. Wilhelmina curtsied as well and left. She would finish her meal in the kitchen with Milly.

“Those two sicken me,” Milly muttered as she began washing the dishes in the sink. Wilhelmina had lost her appetite and handed her plate to a maid. She held on to her glass of milk though.

“Milly,” Wilh
elmina sighed. It was no use,
Milly would always be upset that Wilhelmina wouldn’t be queen.

“I just can’t help it,” exclaimed Milly, “It’s just not fair.”

“A lot of things aren’t,” Wilhelmina commented before finishing off her milk. Milly took the glass from her as soon as she had emptied it. “Is something wrong?” Wilhelmina asked. Milly seemed even more agitated
tha
n
usual, but then again, she had never been under so much pressure before.

“I’m fine, it’s just the wedding and all,” Milly sighed
as she finished washing a pot
, “Sorry, but I really need to work, but I’ll see you after the wedding. Things will go back to normal then.” She smiled and Wilhelmina returned the smile.

“Alright, I’ll let you be,” Wilhelmina gave Milly a hug before leaving the kitchen. She knew she would only get in the way and she didn’t want to add to Milly’s stress.

“Oh Mina,” Milly sobbed as she watched her friend exit the kitchen. She knew things would never be the same after the wedding. There was no way they could be once Wilhelmina found out the truth. To die alone was a sad and unfair fate.
Milly truly wished that th
ere was something she could do.

Chapter 9

The day had arrived. It was
a beautiful warm, sunny day.
T
he last day of summer.
Some of the trees were already changing color and a slight breeze warned that autumn was on its way. However, as nice of a day as it was, there was no time to enjoy it.

Wilhelmina was stuck running around with the other bridesmaids. Her dress fit perfectly, but others were having last minute dress woes. Bianca had gained some weight and her dress didn’t
quite
fit. The dress maker was doing her best to make a last minute fix. Edolie was freaking out because she couldn’t remember what her dress looked like
while a few maids were helping her put it on
.

The castle itself was in a race to get last minute decorations done for the reception. The ball room was covered in pink and white streamers, the colors Edolie had chosen for her wedding.
There were white and pink roses everywhere. The tables were covered in white linens and at the center of each round table was a vase full of pink and white roses.

The maids even
had to wear
pink
frilly
dresses
and
white aprons. Milly frowned as Wilhelmina walked past her in the hall. Wilhelmina mouthed an “I’m sorry” before racing off after the other bridesmaids. They were going to be late for the church.
She felt bad for Milly who dreaded the puffy sleeve, but it’s what Edolie wanted so Milly would just have to put
up
with her dress for the day.

The church had also been decorated in pink and white.
Pink and white roses lined the pews and window sills. The aisle was lined with a white runner and there were pink petals scattered along the side. A flow
er girl added more pink petals on
the runner as she made her way down the aisle.

Delaney quickly handed Edolie her bouquet of pink roses before taking her place in line
.
The bridesmaids were all in their pink dresses
and their bouquets
consisted of white roses
.
The groomsmen
lined up next
to
them. They
were all wearing white, and each one would escort the bridesmaid
s
down the aisle.

Wilhelm
ina felt nervous as she waited for her turn to enter
. She was afraid Jerome would
call off the wedding
. She prayed he would marry Edolie and everything would be alright, but she had an uneasy feeling as she walked down the
aisle with her partner
, who happened to be Jerome’s brother
.

Prince Jerome was no longer wearing
h
is classic dark blue and gold uniform that represented his kingdom, but white and gold instead, which was the traditional uniform the groom wore if he was marrying into a kingdom.
He stood at the altar of the church
, next to the priest,
waiting for his bride.

Jerome had no
t forgotten that he kissed Wilhelmina and feared her presence in the church would make him lose it.
H
e
started
to feel nervous as the string quartet began to play and the bridesmaids entered. Then, as soon as he saw Wilhelmina enter, his heart pounded fast. He formed a fist
behind his back
hoping to resist the powers of the curse, but her smile continued to suck him in.

Wilhelmina could feel Jerome’s eyes on her and she felt worried. She smiled hoping that he would understand that she didn’t think ill of him. She just wanted him to marry Edolie and for everything to go back to normal. She took her place next to Shirley and then the song changed to the classical wedding march.

King Wilhelm wore his red and gold uniform as he walked his beautiful daughter, Edolie down the aisle. Edolie’s dress was magnificent. The dress had laced sleeves and
the bottom of the dress had glittering diamonds scattered
all over
.
The train on her dress was as long as her veil.
Her hair was done up and on top sat a gold crown. Everyone stood as the two entered and Wilhelmina squeeze
d
her bouquet of white roses to prevent her nerves from showing
and was glad that the thorns had been removed
. She looked over at Jerome who appeared to be staring blankly at Edolie. He didn’t smile or show any sign of acknowledging her. He looked at her and Wilhelmina felt her heart sink. She had to go, she couldn’t be here.

Once Edolie arrived at the altar, the priest began to speak
.
Wilhelmina gripped her bouquet tighter and wished
for both of them to say I do. She wanted everything to be alright
, but silence fell as Wilhelmina happened to drop her bouquet right when the priest said, “
If anyone objects to this marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace
.
”
All eyes were on Wilhelmina, including Jerome’s, and then everything went downhill.

“I object,” Jerome said.

“Don’t
,
” Wilhelmina mouthed, but Jerome smiled at her and she felt her heart sink.
His once blue eyes had turned gray.

“I can’t marry Edolie because…” The room gasped and fell silent. Edolie burst into tears and
Jerome’s father stood up, angry at his son. His wife yanked him down before he could yell.

“No,” Queen Henrietta
panicked
as she tightened her grip on her husband’s hand
.

“I love Wilhelmina,” Jerome finished and as soon as he finished the ground began to shake.
People
began
shouting and screaming. Wilhelmina had no idea what was going on. She just stood were she was too afraid to move. Edolie had fainted and
King Wilhelm and Q
ueen
Henrietta
hurried to her side. Jerome had also fallen to the floor. What was going on?

Milly kept herself busy making the reception area look perfect for Edolie. She was trying hard not to think of Wilhelm
ina. She knew Wilhelmina would soon learn the truth and nothing would ever be the same again
. Milly bit her lip to hold back tears as she straightened out the linen on one of the round tables. The other maids were all doing the same, so no one notic
ed the tears filling Milly’s green eyes
.

All of a sudden the ground began to shake, and the perfect work the maids had put into making the reception area look lovely, was all for nothing. Plates fell of
f
the tables and shattered. Vases followed in pursuit, leaving a mess of roses and water on the floor. The chandelier above swayed dangerously
, causing the
maids
to
scream and run out of the room. Milly ran as well.
Behind her she could hear the loud crash of the chandelier hitting the floor. She hoped that all the maids had made it safely out of the room.
What on earth was going on?

She continued to follow the other maids toward the palace exit, but stopped when she noticed it was pouring outside
.
The maids all gathered in front of the door.
Thunder roared and shook the palace, and then the ground stopped shaking. The maids took deep breaths in relief and then gasped as the rain had turned to snow.

“What on earth?” Milly said looking up at the dark gray sky.
It was too soon for winter and she had very bad feeling about this.

The sky darkened
and rain came pouring down. Lightning flashed across the sky and the thunder
drowned out
t
he cries of the people in the city. A
black cloud
had
appeared behind Wilhelmina
.
She
didn’t even notice
it
and remained frozen in spot
staring at the scene before her
.
The frantic look of her mother’s face alarmed Wilhelmina
, but before she could react
she
felt
someone’s
arms wrap around her waist
. She was too shocked to try
to resist
. The last thing she
heard
was
her mother screaming her name
before
everything went black.

             
“Wilhelmina!
Wilhelmina!
” Queen Henrietta screamed as she ran to her daughter, but the black cloud had taken her before she could get to her. Henrietta fell to her knees and sobbed. This wasn’t supposed to happen. They had protected her for so long. They had done everything to prevent this. What did they do wrong?

The ground stopped shaking as Wilhelmina disappeared and the storm outside turned to snow inst
ead. King Wilhelm feared for
Edolie
.
Her forehead was burning up
and beads of sweat were beginning to form
.
King
Wilhelm had a servant fetch th
e best doctor in Aridale. Jerome had also fainted and
was being tended to by his parents.

“We’ll take care of the boy, you need to get back to your kingdom,” King Wilhelm said.

“You should have killed her,” King Baudouin growled.

“Baudouin,” Isadora said grabbing her husband’s hand, “Calm down. The council allowed her to live. Jerome is fine, he’s just unconscious.” She turned her attention to her other son and daughter in law, “Nicholas, Loretta, head back home and have a message delivered to the council. We’ll follow after you.”

“Yes mother,” Nicholas bowed before grabbing his wife’s hand and leading her out towards the carriages.

“Now, let’s go, King Wilhelm and Queen Henrietta will watch over Jerome,” Isadora said to her
husband,
“The council will want to discuss this.”

“Yes,” King Baudouin spoke still feeling bitter, “But if anything happens to my son, you will pay.” He then followed Isadora out of the church.

King Wilhelm
picked up his daughter and called for a couple of guards to carry Jerome
.
“Let’s go,” He said to his wife.
Queen Henrietta
nodded and
followed
her husband. She was still
crying
over the loss of Wilhelmina.