Eva's POV
"From what?"
"A dragon," I paused as I remembered. "It almost grilled me,"
"Did you see it's face?"
"No, it was dark there."
"But how did you know it was a dragon?"
"The fire let me see what it was," I shrugged my shoulders. "I didn't quite grasp the colour."
"Uhm," she replied as she adjusted herself on my bed.
"He was blond!" I told her recounting how beautifully they had grazed his strong shoulders. "He also had a sword."
"A sword too," She commented in an amused tone. "But no armour?"
"No armour but he did call me princess."
"Oh..." She sounded disappointed. I looked at her to see her preoccupied. She was in a daze thinking about something.
"What's wrong?"
She didn't answer, it was as though she didn't hear me. I reached out my hand to shake her by the shoulder but she flinched even before I could.
"What happened?"
She looked at me with her mouth slightly open. I thought she wanted to talk about something but instead, she turned around and laid down next to me.
"Nothing, go back to... sleep."
My eyebrows creased. I turned too and laid on my back. I stared at the ceiling confused. I turned to her to see her back still facing me. Her body was motionless with only occasional breath.
After a while, I slowly closed my eyes, hoping for her to respond if she wanted to but it became increasingly difficult. I couldn't fall asleep because of her, so I tried to calm myself by listening to the noise that came from outside of our room.
I thought about how we had met in the forest just last night and now she was on my small lumpy bed lying beside me. After our weird altercation in the morning, we stayed in my room all day. Cecilia and Lisa didn't bother to come in and check on me. It was either they were scared that they might find a dead body or they just didn't care. Either way, it didn't matter because it made keeping Rosé a secret even easier.
We talked about witches and their various abilities which she had called 'blessings' just like she had exposed me to auras in the cave. But not once did she talk about herself. How had she ended up in the forest when it was raining? Why wasn't she going back home to her kind?
The truth be told I didn't want her to go; I didn't want to be alone again. She filled a void in me. She made my little room a bit of a paradise and gave it the smell of roses. Her name suited her well.
The incident concerning the cloak had scared me out of my element. I didn't know what to think anymore. Cecilia had called me a murderer and Rosé had me called a witch hunter. She had lowered her wand and consoled me in the end but I felt like my life had always been a map of a line going nowhere. Where would it be in the next five years? Would I still be slaving my life away like this? Will I have found love? Would he vow to protect me and take me away from here? Maybe that was why I had been so excited after that dream and the fact that the mysterious man had called me a princess. I wanted a life where I could rest and finally be taken care of. The life of a princess. I was once a princess. My dad's princess before he died. No! Before Cecilia did something to him. The image of her ghostly pale face flashed through my mind. She had a hand in his sudden death. That was another reason I was indebted to Rosé. I looked at her again and smiled at her back.
People were wrong about witches, well at least this witch. The whole kingdom of Merynia believed witches were insidious creatures that were responsible for the death of thousands in the past and now. The most notable occurrence of the people of the kingdom with witches was the War of Zorra almost sixty years ago. The war that they say almost brought the mighty kingdom of Merynia to its knees. This time the witches joined forces with the Zorrite army. They almost won if not for the great Merynian Army commander who had defeated the enemies by an unknown power. Alas! The victory did not last when the enemy came for the hero and his beloved, killing them both but leaving her unborn child alive in her womb. At least, that was what the legend says. The first time I heard the story from the neighborhood kid named John, I had one question in particular that bugged me. Where did the rivalry all begin? There were theories but no answers.
Meeting Rosé had only piqued my curiosity. Did she know about the story? She might even know more. I was tempted to wake her.
"Rosé," I whispered half hoping she wouldn't wake up at the same time hoping she would.
She was unresponsive for more than a minute before she turned to me. Her eyes were watering and without a second thought, I pulled her to me. She didn't resist, instead she held on to me and finally started to sob quietly.
We were like this for a while before she pulled away.
"What's wrong?" I asked
She sniffled and wiped her tears with her fingertips. "Please, don't be part of them."
"Of who?"
She came closer and whispered. "The royals."
I looked at her stunned then it clicked. In the cave, when she had revealed that couldn't be a witch but a royal her ambience shifted and she became somewhat cold. When I had also said that the man from my dream had called me 'princess' she suddenly looked disappointed.
"Why?"
"They are horrible people, Eva." She sat up which prompted me to do the same. "Believe me, please." She pleaded.
I didn't say anything and just looked at her blankly.
She pulled up her sleeve to show me her scars. They were haggard lines that blemished her white skin. They looked a bit too fresh, they must have been inflicted on her not too long ago. They reminded me of the ones on my back "They did this to me." She told me, her eyes pleading with me. I still said nothing.
"You don't believe me?" She asked softly.
"I am not a part of them," I replied. "You know that."
"I am not sure anymore to be honest." She lowered her head.
"What do you mean?"
"It is said that when humans come in contact with witches, they start to have premonitions."
"So you are saying my dream was a foreshadowing?"
Rosé didn't answer but I understood what her silence meant.