Once Upon A Rose - Chapter 12
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Now, for the next part of our story.
Chapter 12
Celsiana hurried out to the garden the next morning. She was surprised to see Arabella talking to someone by the main gate. The man turned and walked away before Celsiana reached them, but she saw he was tall and had a long cloak, which was not the normal attire for their kingdom.
“Just another party detail,” Arabella said, smiling at Celsiana. Taking her arm, she added, “I can’t wait until I’m your sister. We’ll have so much fun.”
“That will be nice,” Celsiana replied, a bit surprised by Arabella’s attitude.
“What are you doing in the garden so early?” Arabella asked.
“I like to work out here,” Celsiana said, waiting for Arabella to say something about it being beneath a royal to garden. When she didn’t, Celsiana glanced over. “I enjoy seeing the idea in my mind come to life in the garden. The colors, the fragrance, the overall design.”
Arabella nodded. “I know what you mean. Having a plan and seeing it realized can be very rewarding.” She stopped and turned to Celsiana. “I wish I had such an interesting hobby. Perhaps, you can show me sometime.”
Celsiana could see her plans for the day falling apart. “Of course.”
“Maybe after the party,” Arabella said.
Celsiana smiled. “That would be nice. Maybe we should invite Seraline to join us?”
“She doesn’t like to get her hands dirty,” Arabella replied. “I don’t think she’d enjoy gardening.”
With that, the other princess turned and walked back into the castle. Relieved to be on her own, Celsiana hurried over to the rose garden, changed her clothes, and slipped through the drainage pipe. She would still be able to get to Avaleen’s house before lunch and spend one last day with her friend.
Avaleen was not in the garden, so Celsiana knocked on the kitchen door. It flew open and Avaleen’s look of hope disappeared. “Oh, it’s you.” Covering her mouth, she said, “I’m sorry.”
“Who were you expecting?” Celsiana asked. “And don’t apologize. We’re friends.”
“Nicholas is missing,” Avaleen said. “My parents have been out looking for him since early this morning. We don’t think he came home last night because his bed hasn’t been slept in.”
“Missing,” Celsiana repeated. “Do you think it has to do with those men we saw yesterday?”
“I don’t know,” Avaleen said. “My parents have gone to check with a few of his friends and I want to tell them…but they won’t be happy we went to the tavern.”
Celsiana nodded. “Maybe we should check for ourselves. We could get Laurena and Janine to go with us.” She smiled. “We wouldn’t want you walking around alone with a young man two days in a row.”
Avaleen looked at her friend and smiled. “You do look a bit scruffy in those gardening clothes. I guess a few more friends might be a good idea.”
They left a note for her parents, then walked to Laurena’s house. She was happy to help, but Janine was not home.
“I guess it will be the three of us,” Laurena said. “Janine is probably working at the market today with her family.”
“We’ll go to the guild and if Nicholas is not there, we can stop by the market,” Avaleen replied.
They quickly walked to the guild and stopped at the corner of the building. “What are we going to say?” Laurena asked.
“I think you’re going to have to be the one to do the talking,” Avaleen said, looking at Celsiana. “The guild doesn’t allow women to join.”
Celsiana rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised?” She straightened her hat. “I’ll be right back.”
“If you don’t come back, I’m getting my father,” Avaleen said. “Be careful.”
Celsiana nodded and walked to the main door. She opened it and stepped into a large reception area with doorways opening on each side. A very large man was sitting behind a desk with two others standing by one of the doorways.
“What do you want?” the man behind the desk asked.
“To join the guild,” Celsiana replied in her deepest voice.
“We don’t take just anyone,” the man said. He looked at her clothes. “What are you? Some ditch digger?”
“I’m a gardener, but I want to move up in life.” Celsiana glanced around. “I’ve been told the best way to do that is join the guild.”
“You’ve got that right,” the man replied, “but we don’t take gardeners. You need a skill.”
Celsiana thought about what Nicholas was studying and nodded. “I’ve got a talent with herbs and other elixirs. My grandfather taught me before he passed.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “And who was your grandfather?”
Celsiana smiled. “Gerald of Harringford.” Her brothers had told her scary stories about the old wizard, who lived in the woods. She didn’t know if he was real, but she knew many had heard the stories.
“That’s not a real person,” the man said, glancing at the other two. “This one says he’s related to Gerald of Harringford.”
“Can you prove it?” one of the men asked, walking over.
“I can,” Celsiana replied, “but not to you. I want to see the man in charge.”
“Why have you waited so long to come to the guild?” The man behind the desk frowned. “Seems like that’s a skill you’d want to make the most of.”
“I didn’t need to until now.” Celsiana shrugged. “I met a girl and…”
The other two smiled at each other and the second man nodded. “I’ll go get Orris, but if you’re wasting his time, he won’t be happy.”
Celsiana waited and hoped this would work. Her science tutor had shown her this ‘magic’ the year before, saying most people didn’t realize it was possible. She just hoped he was right.
Read another chapter next Friday!
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