Ghost in the Roses

“Do I bore you, Mr. Rivers?!” the sound of my name comes crashing down.

I should have been taking notes all along, but the last thing I recall doing is sitting down at my regular seat. The rest is a blur.

“Sorry, sir. Can you repeat please?” my posture springs up.

“The laws that determined the ruling in Lady Valybrig vs. Sir Koronof?” Sir Dima folds his hands behind his back.

Shit. I didn’t realize we were that far along in the discussion.

“Umm... the ruling, right. It’s...um...” even though I perfectly know the answer, nothing intelligent went past my lips. All I could do is make noise that only resembles speech.

“Mr. Rivers, leave my class,” Sir Dima decides that I wasted enough of everyone’s time.

“Yes, sir,” regretfully, I get up.

This never happened to me before. Always, I come to class prepared and deliver. This is messing with my head and I’ve got to get her out of my mind. Sitting on the hall bench is all I can do. In silence, I hear someone’s muffled voice behind the classroom door answer my question.

Why did I ever have to meet her? Why did she choose to dance with me? Who is she? I feel so stupid for becoming such an easy target. Ever since that night, I realized that I’m just a dumb little lamb.

There's still an hour and a half left of my banishment, then I’ll have a second chance in a different class to redeem myself. Until then, I’m left to wonder about the hollow halls. So, it catches me by surprise to find that the corridor isn’t completely soulless. In a corner of my eye, a shadow turns a corner. Which is unusual, since our uniforms are bright white.

In the much calmer past, I would have let it slide and not given it a second thought, but under current circumstances, I feel necessary to follow.

Like a slithering serpent, I’m careful to catch the spot where I took notice of the sneaky ghost. My peaking eyes see nothing. That only heightens my senses. I know what I saw. It’s real...and intelligent. It must have known that I would follow, otherwise, it wouldn’t hide away from me.

I step out in plain view, hoping to entice the predator that roams the halls.

“Anita, come out. I know you’re here,” I'm stern, but not loud enough to cause an echo.

She knows that if she doesn't cooperate, I could get a lot louder; something that she wouldn’t want. We’re in my world this time.

“Hi, Adrien,” she gives up her sanctuary behind a column.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I grab her by the upper arm to keep her from sneaking away.

“You’re right. My entry is not authorized and I’m not welcome here,” Anita looks me dead in the eye.

My hand squeezes harder. I should expose her for what she is.

Anita gasps but dares to keep looking at me, “Then alert your superiors. All you have to do is point me out. Just yell.”

I hold her back as she awaits her fate. This is up to me. All I have to do is squeeze harder and alert the hall guard. If she’s going to try to escape, I have the authority to use greater force and be unable to her. I can have her arrested. I can have her imprisoned. I should have her arrested and imprisoned.

Yet, I can’t. I won’t. Instead of doing what I’m supposed to do, I let go. But as smart as she is, she doesn’t take the chance to flee.

“What are you doing here?” I whisper.

“Looking for answers, but looks like I got lucky this time. Now I can get the information straight from the horse’s mouth.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Has anyone asked you about your little misadventure?”

“I’ll only answer that question under one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Answers for answers. My truth for your truth.”

“Alright. That’s fair.”

“I’ll go first.” I take a claim.

“What is it?”

“What’s your name?”

“If I tell you who I am it might be difficult to believe, but this time, I’ll be telling you the truth and hope it will help you understand why I’m doing this. I’m Lada Ruslaevn.”

“You can’t be a Ruslaevn,” shaking my head, I take a step back.

“My turn,” Lada reminds me of our deal.

“Has anyone asked you about the night you sneaked out?”

“No. Thank goodness.”

“That’s not good.”

“What’s not good?”

“No one asked, because they already know. They want you to think that you got away with this. They want you to think that it’s all over. They know that you’ve been in contact with us. They’re watching you.”

“Fantastic,” my shoulders drop.

“Your turn.”

“How can you be a Ruslaevn? Shouldn’t you then be at a palace, wearing your house ribbon and a crown on your head?” Her claim to be royalty is quite extravagant.

“I can prove it to you, but you’ll have to take me to the library.”

“What proof do you have?”

“Please, it’s at the library. You have to see this, Adrien.”

“Okay. I'll humor this," I nod, "but if you try anything, I'm turning you in."

Under the pretense of being friends, Lada holds on to my arm and I play the gentleman who's escorting her around the grounds. Trying our best to smile, we follow the protocol of seeing the head librarian first.

“Good morning,” I interrupt her stamping.

“Good morning, Sir,” the head librarian opens her beak, “What can I do for you?” her big yellow eyes stare into mine as she wipes the ink off her feathers.

“I want to show my girlfriend the library.”

“Hoo, hoo, hoo,” the librarian laughs. “What an odd place for a date.”

“I know it’s not the most romantic place in the kingdom, but she begged me to show her the Academy’s library since the hour she got here,” I explain.

“I love books, history in particular,” Lada draws closer to my side.

“Fine. Your library pass, please,” she extends her gray wing.

I comply and she takes it without suspecting a thing.

“Alright then. You know the drill; you’ll get your pass back when you bring the map back,” the librarian takes flight and unlocks a little drawer.

I’ll never know how she keeps track of them all; there are hundreds of maps all categorized into their own little compartments. The shelf that towers right behind her desk keeps them all safe.

“Here you go,” her claws slip a glass sphere into my hands.

“Thank you. I’ll see you soon,” I dismiss her services and let her continue the labeling.

I hold out the sphere, “Put both of your hands under mine.”

“Okay,” Lana’s touch is cold.

“Now, I’ll wake it,” I glide my other hand over its surface.

It senses my call and within its core, a light is born. The tiny speck grows and swallows Lada and me up. Within a second, it spits us back out into white nothingness.

“Is this the “in-between”?”

“Yes. What is it that you want to show me?”

Lada looks into the sphere. It’s very much active now and waits for us to select the coordinates. Multiple timelines flow under the thin clear skin of the globe, all of the different colors.

“This one,” she points at the yellow one.

“We can’t catch it. I don’t have the clearance level.”

“But I do.”

“You’ll have to be royalty to do that.”

“I am royalty, remember.”

“Oh, right. How could I forget? Be my guest then,” I welcome her failure.

Her fingers dive in and go fishing on the glossy surface. To my surprise, she retrieves it. The unmistakable yellow string comfortably rests in her palm.

“This makes no sense!” my forehead is lined with confusion.

With her hands holding on to each end, she stretches the soft fiber exposing the secrets that I am forbidden to see. A long string full of knots with equal spacing between them floats light as a feather and stiff as a board. Above the gold line, a label of words hovers in thin air. It says 'The Histories of the Royal Family.'

In a hurry, Lada’s fingers keep pulling the timeline farther and farther, looking for the right loop. There's nothing I can do, but stand next to her and watch. I have no idea where or when she wants to take me.

“Aha!” she selects a new label and the knot under it unties.

Another flash of light is released and takes us to a different “in-between”, a dark one filled with doors. Each entry is different: some are fancy double doors, some look like simple cottage doors, some look like bank metal doors, but there's one that stands out in particular. This door isn't much of a door. I can see right into the other side, just as any jail bars should allow. In this prison cell, a chained-up middle-aged man whose hygiene has been neglected for a long time rests against a damp corner, away from the dirty hay’s stench.

I look up above his door to read the label, but I’ve never heard of this person before. His name is simply a single-digit number.

“That’s prisoner number one. He’s the eldest son of the former King of The Green Domain. After him, he is the next one in line, but the King’s oldest daughter wanted the throne to herself and she could have had it if it wasn’t for his birthright of being the first and only male heir of their generation.”

“If that’s Prince Vita, then should the timeline show him in the hospital after falling ill and then show him dying from natural causes?”

“That’s what the current Green Queen wants everyone to believe. That’s how she stole the throne from my father. That is how I am of royal blood.”

Suddenly, a guard comes in to see the secret prisoner. He can’t see us, for this is only a logged memory from a witness.

The only purpose for this soldier's visit is to announce that this never-to-be-king is about to receive a relative into his quarters.

“Hello, brother,” a much younger Green Queen dressed in fine furs greets her competitor.

“Hello. What brings you here to my level?” the Prince’s voice is hoarse with mucus.

"I had no choice. I sent you three letters asking you to sign the resignation from your royal duties, but each time you refused.”

“I’m the heir to the Green Throne. I never suspected that you’ll be so power-hungry that you’ll betray our friendship. When I got sick I was a fool to trust you to get me to the hospital. Instead, you brought me here to speed up my death, because natural causes just don't work fast enough for you. I won’t repeat the mistake of trusting your words ever again.”

“I could never allow you to become king. Sign this! If you value your life, sign this! Otherwise, you’ll leave with me no other choice,” the royal woman holds out an envelope and a pen.

“No.”

“This is your answer?!”

“You’re wasting your time. I won’t sign this,” the prisoner shakes his head.

“If I can’t get your resignation, then a death certificate will have to do. Your execution will be carried out tomorrow,” this being her last time asking, she leaves the Prince to rot.

“How do you know about all this?” no one on the other side can hear me, but I whisper anyway.

“Some of the guards were loyal to my father and allowed him to write to me and my mother. I still have the letters,” out of her coat’s inside pocket, she shows me two envelopes.

No matter how afraid I am of how farther this truth may go, I dare to unfold the stained papers. The documents are simple; one was of what has happened to her father and was filled with a warning for Lada. The second one, only said how much he loved his only daughter. The signatures are undeniable and so is the royal wax seal. This is in fact written by the Green Prince.

“Why won’t you expose the truth and claim you right? Why join the revolutionaries?”

“No one will believe me, no matter what evidence I may present. And if anyone does, they will be too afraid to support me and go against the Green Queen. You know that.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you are going after all of them. The other families had nothing to do with this.”

“You don’t know that. Not even I know how deep the truth goes. But this lust for power can’t continue. The Houses can’t continue slaughtering their own family for a position in the High Office. This isn’t how we deserve to get our next rulers.”

“I’m sorry this happened to you and your father,” my voice trembles as I watch the tears roll out of her reopened scars.

“This is all the time we have. I must bring you back,” Lada wipes the wet trails off her flushed cheeks.

After she and I return the borrowed map of glass and get my pass back, Lada does bring me back, right to the same spot where I saw her sneaking around.

She just beats the bell, when the sight of her disappears back into the columns’ shadows. Lada went to find her way back to her underground pack. I stand still, but my mind is twisting in a whirlpool of sympathy, disappointment, and confusion. I can’t hear the noise and chatter that bursts out of the classroom doors. My head is louder.

“What the hell was that?” Nina’s attack shocks me.

“I’m just a little distracted. It’s one of those days,” I make my case, but my friend is a tough jury.

“Distracted? You choked!” her index finger pressed hard against my chest.

“Ow,” I laugh. “I said I’m sorry.”

“Adrien,” she lowers her voice, “don’t let this breakup get to you. She’s not worth it.”

I lied to Nina and Kai telling them that the reason why I’m not seeing ‘Anita’ anymore is that she broke up with me. Are they ready for the truth? For now, even I am not ready to process it. Lies. Lies everywhere. Lies of all kinds and sizes, while the truth is rare and hidden.