Page 30 of Crowned A Traitor
Rose bushes blooming with red, black and the rarest white rose littered her Father’s favourite hideaway. “This place certainly hasn’t changed,” Klara said, stepping onto the charred grass. Life wasn’t sustainable in Hell, so her Father’s touch created the thriving buds.
Klara walked the gardens surrounding the Manor, admiring the thick dewdrops falling from the red roses. She could smell the hint of metal in the air as a soul had recently been sacrificed for each petal, thorn and stem. The Doomed feed the roses with their life source. Without the souls, the roses would wither and die in the scorching climate. She plucked a white rose from its grey stem, admiring its purity. The bewitched seeds forced the roses to bloom but it was the nourishment of a sacrifice that maintained them—the cost of magic.
“We used to play hide and seek in these gardens,” Frendall said, approaching from behind the fountain of Medusa.
“I hardly remember,” she said, not wanting a repeat of last night’s argument. However, Klara needed to know whether he would keep her secret or not. Since her Father hadn’t been at her door this morning with the executioner, Frendall hadn’t had a change of heart during the night.
Frendall stepped through the water cascading from the snakes of the Goddess’ hair only to step out onto the dead grass. A soft white petal crumbled in her hand as she closed her fist around it. A faint prick caused her to wince as the crushed rose bit her in defence. The small prick of blood bubbled and then dropped to the dead earth revealing healed skin beneath.Least I know the heart is settling.
“What do you think the gardens of Kalos look like?” Klara asked, and Frendall took a deep breath. Klara pictured vibrant green grass and the scent of thriving flowers. “I thought you would be gone by now,” Frendall said, changing the subject.
“You told me to stay,” Klara dropped the flower to the charred grass. They watched as the dead lengths of grass wrapped around the crushed petals and sunk back into the soil, hungry for any nourishment. “Captain Darley told me you gave his Guards the slip,” Frendall followed at her back as she walked through the hedges.
“I wanted to be alone,” she said facing him, and he stumbled a little, the unease of his face made her smile.
“You’re still terrible at hiding. This was the first place I looked.”
“If I had wanted to hide, you wouldn’t have found me.”
Klara circled the fountain dipping her hand into the clear waters to feel nothing. The cold water was a mirage to torture the quenched Doomed sentenced to serve in Hell’s garden. “Did you have to give the Captain a hard time? He has his orders,” Frendall said with his hand in his tailored trouser pocket.
“The Captain sent you? How humiliating for him. Father’s precious Guards are still a pain in my ass,” Klara smiled, walking around the rose bush that separated them.
“Your safety is to be maintained. There are dozens of guests at the Manor and very few your natural allies,” Frendall signed relaxing his shoulders.
“And yet you still expect me to devote my life to this delightful place. Don’t need to worry about me much longer,’ she said, thinking of their last conversation.
Klara sat on the marble ledge of the fountain staring up at the statue of Medusa. A Goddess forced to live as a beast because of her beauty. Frendall knelt in front of Klara, and she leaned back as his face sat inches from hers.
“In Kalos, you will be nothing and forced to hide forever. Forget the border and come home. I will give you my life.” He gripped her hands as they rested on her thighs. “No one will harm you.”
Klara saw the sincerity in his dark eyes. “I don’t need protecting. You think I’m running for my life? I could slaughter them all and not lose a wink of sleep,” Klara said, and his grip loosened. After the Ghouls, Klara thought she wouldn’t have been able to close her eyes without seeing them. Instead, she had slept peacefully.
“But I don’t want a life of death and cruelty.”
“You’re being…” Frendall stopped himself.
“Selfish? Call me my Father’s daughter. I want to lay on the fields of Kalos and never hear the screams of Hell again or walk the paths of Malum and see starving children.” Klara stopped, and they both shot to their feet as they heard the snap of a branch.
“Show yourself,” Klara commanded with the force of her new heart. A Hound appeared from behind a rose bush. Her chest fell, and the Hound submitted laying on the grass and Klara wondered where the second was lurking. Frendall raked a hand through his hair and wrapped his arms around her. Klara tried to pull away, but the more she pushed, the tighter he grasped.
“Think of what they would do to us if they saw us together,” Klara said, and Frendall stilled. “I don’t want to let you go,” Frendall said, and Klara welled up.
“Maybe in the next life,” she said, freeing herself from him. Klara knew what he felt for her would only be corrupted over time. The paranoia, the plots and whispers, it got to everyone in the end. Hell would twist them up so bad they wouldn’t recognize who they once were, and Klara didn’t want that.
“Hell corrupts everything, me not being here is probably what has kept you alive. If Abadan questions your loyalties to Lucifer or her, do you think she would let you live happily ever after?”
Frendall’s head hung low, and she messed up his perfectly combed hair. “Let me help you, if you fear the Queens, we can go to the King.”
“I’m not afraid, Frendall. I’m tired. I want to live without carrying a weapon or checking food for poison.” His expression remained blank, and she bit her lip, almost drawing blood. “Let’s leave things as they were before I came back yesterday.”
“I’ll never change your mind, will I.
“No.” Klara thought the silence between them would stop her new heart.
“When that call comes, the King will send me after you. To Hunt you.” Frendall was gone, and now the Commander was talking.
“I know the consequences of my actions. Once I leave, the Queens will raise the alarm. Just think with me out of the way, you could take over. I see how my Father looks at you.” She was trying to make light of the subject, but Frendall looked horrified.
