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THEO HAD SPENT A GOOD portion of his ride back to Havilah practicing how he would act when he saw Rose again. He knew he had been dreading it as much as he had been anticipating it; Bachas and Elva had both complained when he had slowed down his pace the day before. As he stood before Rose once more, at last, he decided he should have gone even slower on the way back.
Not that it would have helped any; he knew there was little that he could have done to prepare himself to be in Rose’s presence again.
He allowed himself a long second just to look at her; after all the weeks apart from her, seeing her again was riveting.
But, he noticed, Bachas’ seeing crystal had been accurate. She was tired, with dark circles under her eyes, and her face, while she was trying not to blush as she looked back at him, was pale with worry.
He watched as she crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s still Rose,” she told him sternly. “There’s no need for formalities between us.”
“Then I apologize ... Rose.”
She pursed her lips at hearing her name, as if she knew just how much he’d been tempted to call her Rosary. “I accept,” she said. “What are you doing here? Were you able to find your aunt? I know Thad had mentioned you were looking for her.”
Theo nodded. “I did,” he said. “How is Thad? I haven’t seen him yet.”
“I haven’t seen him in the past few days. He’s been taking care of your grandfather this week,” Rose said. “He caught a chill on the way back from Einish.”
“Oh. Maybe I should have stopped in to see them first.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t,” Rose said. “You went to go and see them first last time you were here.”
“Well, I guess it hasn’t been quite as long since I last saw them,” Theo said, giving her a quick smile. The smile vanished as he added, “And I suppose I don’t really want to give them the news.”
“What is it?” Rose asked, concerned. “What happened?”
“A lot happened while I was gone,” he said slowly, “but the short version is that my aunt is dead.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Rose’s hand reached for his, and then suddenly stopped.
For a long moment, they both stared at it, and then they looked at each other. Theo watched as Rose’s cheeks flushed over, and he knew she was uncomfortable.
Theo decided to change the subject. “So, where is everyone?” he asked. “I saw Roderick and Ronan while I passed through the town, so I know the others are back.”
“Oh, yeah,” Rose said. “Isra and Philip were having dinner with the king earlier, and I just saw Ethan in the training yard. Sophia’s probably still in the smithing yard.”
“Where’s Mary?”
“Last I saw her, she was in my room,” Rose said, nodding toward the door.
“Oh, sleeping already?” he asked with a grin. “Or is she still sleeping? I know she hates to travel on the road more than she lets on.”
Rose chuckled softly. “Yeah,” she replied. “I don’t know, actually. Maybe I should see if she’s in the room.”
But she made no move to get him to move, nor did she make some excuse to leave him. Theo was comforted by that; it seemed that for all they were struggling through their conversation, she had missed him enough to stay.
Either that, he thought, or she was trying to prove to herself that she could handle talking with him.
“Why did you come here?” Rose asked. “I mean, I am ... I was just wondering why ... you came to see me.”
If the circumstances were different, Theo would have been tempted to tease her, to ask her if there was some reason that he should not want to come and see her. But he knew—and he knew that she knew, too—there was a legitimate reason she was surprised to see him. While they were still acting like friends, all the intimacy of their relationship before their kiss was gone.
“I wanted to see if you could get me an audience with the king. There are some things I need to discuss with him about his brother,” he told her. He reached into his pocket for the ruby. “And I wanted to show you this.”
Rose gaped at the gem in his hand. “What is this?” she asked. “Is it dragon’s blood?”
“I don’t think so,” Theo told her. “My aunt had it in her house. It’s able to take away power from any magic.”
Rose’s eyes widened. “It cancels out magic?”
“I experienced it firsthand,” he said. Part of him wanted to tell her about meeting Everon, about Annalora and her eternal youth, and what he had found out about his family.
But it was then that she placed her hand on his, as she examined the ruby, and he lapsed into silence.
“I wonder ... my mother told me about the Rose Ruby, the one that my father had to find in order to marry her. She told that it had the power to stop magic. Do you think this could be ... ”
He looked over at her as her voice trailed off. He realized she was staring at him. “What is it, Rose?”
Rose blushed, before she stepped back and sighed. “I know this is important. But ... I want to talk to you,” she said quietly. “I wanted to talk about ... about that night you left.”
Instantly, his heart lurched uncomfortably. “No,” he told her. “No, you don’t have to do that, Rose.”
“But—”
“It’s better if we don’t,” Theo said. “Besides, everything worked out for the best, right? I managed to take care of my family’s business, and you were able to see to yours.”
“Theo—”
“Come on, Rose. We can just be friends again, right?”
“We are friends,” Rose insisted. “But that still—”
This time, Rose was interrupted as Mary came out of the room. “Theo?” she asked, rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes.
“Hi, Mary.”
Instantly, Mary perked up. “You’re back!” she cried happily, flying into his shoulder and hugging his arm.
Theo glanced over at Rose, surprised to see her slumped over in defeat. They had lost the moment, he thought, and he was relieved.
“What are you doing up here?” Mary asked. “Did you just get back?”
“Yes, I did. And I was just showing this ruby to Rose,” he said, holding up the ruby again.
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” Mary said. “But you’ll have to forgive me if I still don’t want to touch it. After Rose got that one, I’m more than a little leery of them.”
“Understandable,” Theo said. “I’m pretty sure this one doesn’t have any dragon’s blood, though. So it should be safe for you.” He held it up so she could see it more easily. He tried not to feel anything as Rose’s hand slipped away from his.
She clapped her hands to her mouth in astonishment. “Oh, Rose,” Mary whispered excitedly. “This is it. This is the Rose Ruby!”
“I thought so,” Rose said. “The queen told me that the Rose Ruby was able to cancel out magic, and Theo was just telling me about how he saw it work.”
“It’s as beautiful as I remember it,” Mary said, her voice hushed.
“You’ve seen it before?” Theo asked.
“Of course. The queen had it in her possession when I first met her. Juana would know more specifics about it, but it has been many years since I’ve seen it. I remember that it was lost, and that was it.”
“My mother told me that she’d given it to my uncle,” Rose said. She looked back up at Theo. “Can I see it?”
He nodded and handed it to her. “You said your uncle was the one who had it?”
“Yes.” Rose’s lips tightened with irritation. “I have learned a lot about my family in the last several weeks. Probably too much.”
Theo nodded slowly, sympathetic to her circumstances; he knew the realities of that particular situation. But he also knew he had to focus on their present problems. As he watched Rose take hold of the ruby, he was more certain than ever that he had to see the king and inform him of his brother’s treachery at the border.
Before he could ask Rose to grant him an audience with her father again, Mary gasped. “Rose, look at you,” she said.
Theo jolted as he saw what she was looking at; Rose’s appearance was changing as she held the ruby. He watched as the blue faded from her eyes, transforming into a lovely brown. The warmth of her sunshine hair cooled into a dark brown, and even the shape of her face seemed to change.
“What?” Rose asked.
“It’s pushing back the fairy magic you and the others gave her,” Theo said.
Rose glanced at him. Even though her eyes were different, they were no less expressive. She ran a hand through her hair, which was suddenly much straighter. “Do I still look okay?”
“Uh ... ” Theo was too busy staring at her to answer. She still looked like herself—determined and forceful, and strong yet compassionate. Still stunning, still enchanting. He decided, in the end, she looked a lot like Isra, only with lighter hair.
He debated whether or not he should tell her that as she frowned at him. She had made her feelings on their relationship very clear, and he did not want to push. Their friendship was already more fragile than he would have liked.
Rose looked over at Mary. “Mary,” she asked. “What do you think?”
The small fairy gave her a big smile. “You’re still you, Rose,” she said. “All our fairy magic did was make your beauty more pronounced. Nothing we did to you changes your personality or who you really are.”
“Does this mean that, as long as I hold this ruby, Magdalina’s curse is broken from me, too?” Rose asked.
“I don’t think it would be broken,” Mary admitted. “Our fairy magic will return when you put it down, after all. But she would be unable to compel you to fulfill the curse.”
Rose’s eyes lit up. “This is wonderful,” she said. “No one would ever choose to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel.”
“That would also be a way to defeat her in the end,” Theo realized. “All magic has rules, right? If she can’t fulfill the curse, her blood spell would destroy her in the end.”
“Maybe now we don’t have to march on Darkwood,” Mary said, squirming with happiness.
“Oh, we’re still going to go and attack her,” Rose said, making Mary sigh with frustration. “She’s still an enemy of the crown. She tried to kill my father, after all, and she’s ruined countless lives.”
“Was she the one behind the poisoning attempt after we left for the Romani territory?” Theo asked.
Rose shook her head. “No,” she told him. “There’s a long story attached to it. Her brown eyes softened. “I’m so glad you’re here so I can talk to you about it.”
She smiled at him as she handed him the Rose Ruby once more. As soon as he took the jewel in his hand, her locks once more burned with sunshine instead of copper, and her eyes lit up in their usual cerulean.
He stared at her again, as Rose returned to her normal self. Theo wrapped his fingers around the ruby, determined to push past the discomfort between them. “Right now, I need to see the king,” he said. “I have news from the border he needs to take care of.”
“What is it?” Rose asked.
“If you can get me to him, I can tell you both at the same time.”
Rose frowned, clearly impatient. “Fine. Let’s go and see him now then, so I can hear what’s happening.”
He sighed at her displeasure. “It’s just a matter of timing. I don’t want to have to tell the story twice, Rose.”
Mary fluttered between them. “I’m going to go and tell Juana and Her Majesty the news about the ruby.”
“Thanks, Mary,” Rose said. “See you later.”
Theo watched as Mary hurried away, almost wishing she would have stayed so he would have some help with Rose. He turned to face her now, as they were once more alone. “So, your mother is still in the dungeon, then.”
Rose nodded. “For all it’s hardly a dungeon,” she said. “Uncle Hebert has restricted access to her, but he has made sure she is comfortable while waiting for her trial. He might be waiting a long time for that, from what the king has told me.”
“Is he intentionally pushing her trial back?”
Rose nodded. “He seems to know she’s guilty.”
“She’s guilty?” Theo nearly stumbled as they headed toward the council room.
Rose nodded. “She told me she tried to get rid of the king in order to help me.”
“Why? How would that help you?”
“I don’t know,” Rose said. “She says that the king is going mad, as a relapse of sorts from Magdalina’s attempt to kill him with Magdust before I was born. She thought if I was queen, the kingdom would be more politically optimistic, and Isra would be safer, too.”
“I was glad to hear that the king decided not to imprison them when they returned,” Theo said.
“Oh, he thought about it,” Rose scoffed. “But I think he knows the truth about my mother. I suspect he’s trying to hold off until my eighteenth birthday. The future is so uncertain for the kingdom right now.”
He knew better than most how much that was true. “I guess the last thing he would want would be more problems for his image and the kingdom’s politics.”
“Exactly.” Rose brightened. “Since you’re here now, you can help us with our plans.”
“Our plans?”
“Yes. Isra and Philip and the rest of us finally have a solid plan for Magdalina,” Rose said, suddenly more excited. “And now that you’re here, you’ll be able to help us attack her castle at Darkwood.”
“You know I will do what I can to help you,” Theo assured her.
“Good.” Rose reached out and took his arm, and it almost seemed as if they were back to their normal routine.
But Theo knew they weren’t. There was no disguising how he felt about her, and there was no getting around how she did not want to feel about him. He carefully pulled himself away from her, ignoring the small pout she sent his way. “Maybe I should see to Bachas first,” he said, desperate to put some distance between them.
“Bachas?” Rose wrinkled her nose. “You mean that obnoxious pixie? He’s still with you?”
“He has a much better temperament now that he’s been reunited with his wife, Elva,” Theo told her. “Both of them have offered to help with Magdalina.”
“Well, I suppose we’re in no position to refuse help,” Rose said. “And Sophia will likely be glad to hear he’s back. She was wondering how he was doing. But you wanted to go to the king now. If it’s urgent, we can survive Bachas being back here, even if he’s not chaperoned.”
Theo nodded. “True.”
A few more moments passed as they made their way through the castle. As they walked through the familiar halls of his childhood, Theo wondered if he would ever feel at home in the castle again. He felt a strange sense of displacement.
“How are the kids?” Theo asked. “I’ve missed them.”
Rose slowed her steps down, as they approached the king’s council room. “They are doing okay,” she finally said. “They weren’t happy when I left them at Einish. But they seem to be doing a little better now. They’ll be happy to see you again.”
“That’s a relief,” he said. “Maybe I’ll go and check in on them, and our other friends, when we’re done here. I doubt the king will be happy to speak with me.”
“Don’t worry,” Rose told him with a playful smirk. “I’ll be here to protect you.”
Theo gave her an uneasy laugh. “That’s why I’m nervous,” he told her, as they both stepped into the room.