Once Upon A Rose - Chapter 5
Happy New Year!! We’ve made some changes, and we’re excited to share them with all of you. First, we have a new website for readers where we can talk about our “book of the month” starting with the one we’re serializing right now. Find out more at our Lavender Cottage Book Club.
Next…Welcome to our Lavender Cottage Library! Read some free stories, follow us to read more, and sign up for a tier if you want to read the rest. Everything but our WW2 short story and historical nonfiction are included. Enjoy the stories!
And if you’d rather buy the books, you can find all our stories at our Lavender Cottage Books website, where we have links to our Lavender Cottage BookShop and most retailers.
Finally, we have the next chapter of our story.
Chapter 5
The next morning, Celsiana told her parents she would be in the garden. She wanted some time alone, and her friends were not planning to visit for a few days. When she got to the bench, she sat and thought about her plan one more time. She knew there were risks, but she had to do something.
Her brothers might be all for marrying royalty from other kingdoms, but what kind of husband would they expect her to find? And what if he was even worse than these two royals? She would have to live in his kingdom and under his rules. She couldn’t do that. She had made her decision and it was time to act.
She slipped off her dress as the garden outfits were always a little too big. Underneath, she was dressed as a boy. She had always liked using her brothers’ old clothes when she was doing really messy work in the garden. That had been a few years ago, but luckily some still fit.
Celsiana hid her dress under the rosebush and glanced around one more time. No one else was in this part of the garden, so she walked over to the wall and moved aside some trellis. There was the old drainage pipe that was no longer used, but it was large enough for her to fit into. She doubted that anyone, but the gardeners, even knew it was there. She tried not to think about spiders as she pushed her way through, then she was on the other side of the wall.
She looked out at the meadow and realized she’d have to work her way around to the village side. The meadow had little cover and anyone watching from the castle would see her. Or they’d see a young man walking in the meadow. She laughed as she tucked her hair up into the hat.
Celsiana did her best to look like a normal young man walking across the meadow and eventually headed towards the village. On the way, she decided to stop by the river and get a little mud to wipe on one cheek. She also got mud on her boots. They were entirely too clean for someone who spent time in the meadow every day.
She had a rough idea where her friend Avaleen lived, and she followed the creek as she walked along the edge of the village. When she reached the last street and turned right, she thought she recognized the garden as Avaleen had described it.
“Excuse me, do you need any help in your garden?” Celsiana asked in her lowest voice. As Avaleen turned, Celsiana couldn’t help a small giggle.
“Oh, my goodness!” Avaleen said, putting a hand to her mouth. “I can’t believe it. What are you doing here?”
“I’m taking a day for myself,” Celsiana replied. “And it’s high time. I have two princesses visiting the castle, and they’re driving me crazy. Fortunately, they don’t want to spend much time with me, so I made my escape.”
“But Your Maj…I mean, you can’t be here,” Avaleen whispered. “You could be in danger.”
“In danger of what?” Celsiana asked. “We haven’t had anything but good relations with all the nearby kingdoms in over twenty years. I doubt anyone will be trying to kidnap a princess.”
Avaleen giggled. “I guess you’re right. Why don’t you help me? If anyone asks, I’ll say you’re working for a free meal.”
“An excellent idea,” Celsiana replied, smiling. “Now, what can I do to help?”
They had a wonderful time that afternoon, and Celsiana did stay to eat lunch. She had to leave after that because she was afraid someone would notice she was missing from the castle. As she made her way back through the drainage pipe, she made sure no one was watching. She quickly grabbed her gardening dress from under the rosebush and slipped it back on. A few hours later, she sat down to dinner with the rest of the family. She might have been a bit flushed, but otherwise did a very good job of hiding how proud she was of her little escapade.
Celsiana managed to get away almost every day that week. After the second day, they had to tell Janine and Laurena. Then, all four girls worked in the gardens together. Either at Avaleen’s home or one of the other girls’ gardens. A couple of times a week, they would still meet in the castle, but did their best to avoid the visiting princesses.
The one time they bumped into Arabella and Seraline, the two were quite rude to Celsiana’s friends. They greeted Celsiana and pretended not to see her friends, then whispered and giggled together after they passed.
“You have to put up with them all the time?” Janine asked, glaring at the retreating backs of the two princesses.
“I know they don’t like me, but they didn’t have to be rude to all of you.” Celsiana shook her head. “I really don’t understand what my brothers see in them.”
“Maybe their fortunes?” Laurena asked, then blushed. “Sorry, I just…”
She stopped as Celsiana bent over laughing. “Forgive me, but I find your outlook most refreshing, Laurena.” Celsiana giggled again, then hugged her friend. “I wish you were here all the time.”
Laurena looked at the other two girls, before laughing as well.
“They are rather awful,” Janine agreed.
“They’re pretty,” Avaleen said thoughtfully, “but looks fade.”
The others nodded in agreement as they walked out to the gardens.
Read another chapter next Friday!