A Royal Rose

Chapter Seventeen

The tawny owl landed on the fence next to the downstairs window she had left her house from a week or so earlier. Rose’s face was chilled from the cool air of her journey, her hair was knotted and her hands sore from gripping on for dear life. Looking at the terrace house she had left, she pondered how many days she had been missing from in the human world. The bird with its reddish tones and white patch underneath flew off into the night sky. Maybe not all the birds in the Fae world spoke, she wondered as the owl hadn’t said a word to her the whole journey or goodbye.

Stood precariously on the fence, she waved her wand above her head and she was inside the house. Looking down at what she was wearing, she decided to use her wand to change her clothes to human styled ones before she jumped off the windowsill and mid-jump she ripped the locket from around her neck. The room got smaller as she grew to human height. When Rose reached her old height, she was stood upright in the dark light of the living room and it felt like she hadn’t jumped at all. Noticing a slither of light under the ajar door she walked towards it. The landing light at the top of the stairs was on, casting just enough light for her to see where objects in the room were without bumping into objects. It was bizarre to be human-sized again, she thought as she flicked the light switch on at the wall and looked down at objects that had once towered above her. A sparkly object caught her eye as the bright light filled the room…it was the ring on her finger. It was shiny and gold, engraved with what Rose figured was a royal crest with an E initial for Easton. Smiling to herself, I must return soon, I miss them already.

Going upstairs as quietly as she could manage, she knew that someone was probably sleeping upstairs, one of the stairs creaked beneath her weight. Oh s**t! Rose’s heart thumped in her chest loudly as she tried to hear if she had woken up Sarah but luckily the house stayed silent. Sneaking along the landing she went to her bedroom and pushed the door open luckily the lock on this door wasn’t the best, so a quick shove did it. Listening out yet again, she heard no one stirring in the house so went inside. Scanning the room as she went in, she could see everything was as she’d left it, yet it was covered in a layer of dust. I wonder how long I’ve been gone. She wondered as she ran a finger through the dust on the chest of drawers in front of her. There was no time to waste, so Rose opened her wardrobe and emptied the large cardboard box that held her grandmother’s possessions onto her bed. The twenty or so objects that were held in the box, spilt out onto the pink patterned duvet, Rose watched anxiously as saw some of them nearly roll off the bed. Spying the photograph of her family underneath an old china cup, she placed it in the box. Rose then went around the rest of the room, placing inside all the things she wanted to take back to the Holt inside the box too.

Looking around the room again and opening a few drawers filled with clothes and various other things like old bills, she knew she had packed everything of significance. Luckily, I don’t have many possessions otherwise this would have been difficult, she thought as she picked up the box to test its weight. The box was full but not overflowing, although heavier than she would have liked. Rose left the room for the last time, with no regrets and snuck out of the front door. Placing the box on the concrete path in front of the house, she posted her keys back through the rusty letterbox.

How on earth do I get back? The realisation came to her, as she looked around. The Holt was the other side of the town, she remembered flying over it as Merula had carried her for what seemed like forever over the town. She knew where she needed to go, but it was going to take over an hour to get there by foot. Rose had no money, stupidly she hadn’t thought to grab any before she posted the keys back and she wasn’t going to hitchhike as she didn’t want to spend the night in a police cell if she got caught. Remembering what she had been told ‘Every hour away from the Holt days would pass’ and Rose couldn’t shake off her gut instinct that the Toft would attack to avenge for the maiming of Mara. Hoping that she wouldn’t be as long she predicted she picked up the cardboard box she sped off in the direction that she recalled the birds flying in, Rose carried her cardboard box into the crisp night.

Wandering around the town, following the signs to the village she knew the Holt was near – “Ainesthorpe”, Rose thought for a moment that’s probably why Aine is called what she is! She smiled thinking about her mother, as she carried on walking in the direction of the village. An hour or two must have passed as the sky was getting lighter, and her arms and legs were achy. She’d made some bad choices along the way and ended up having to double back on herself, what she had thought was a shortcut wasn’t – it was a dead end. Finally, the road signs had led her out of the town, the suburbs had made way for expansive ploughed fields and she was still a good mile away from the Holt according to a nearby sign.

Her arms felt heavy now, and her mind was wandering. Looking around her, Rose wanted to go back to the house until she shook the thoughts out of her mind. I don’t want to go back to the bedsit, I want to go back to the Holt and see the people I care about, she repeated to herself. She had to sit down every so often too which wasn’t helping with her fading memory. She walked half a mile more and after the pauses to rest, when she started to walk again, she had to remind herself why she was holding a box of things. Her memory was fading with every step, Rose was sure of that. Her feet throbbed now, her arms wanted to drop the box, but when she saw the circle of trees on the top of a hill in front of her. With each step, she could feel the strong urge to return to the crappy bedsit on the west side of town, but she told herself again that those trees in front of her were home.

The edge of the Holt was in front of her now and she’d walked down a grassy path along the side of a field. A sense of relief washed over her as she stood next to the large oak trees, she was home, looking around her for the veil of the Faeries. Rose couldn’t see it, what did it even look like? What was I looking for? She thought. Glancing down at the cardboard box in front of her, she looked at it and then looked harder at it. What am I doing here in the middle of a field currently? It is so black outside. She pondered. Shrugging, Rose picked up her box of belongings and started to walk away.