Free The Black Rose by Diana Sweeney Page B

resembled a mix between lilies and orchids, and were a beautif ul fuchsia color, which made Wilhelmina think of Delaney and her love of bright pink. She giggled.
    The sun was setting and Wilhelmina waited anxiously for the flowers to glow. Lately she had been out here every night just to watch them glow. It strangely soothed her, something she needed right now. S he has been spending most of her time agonizing over Jerome and Milly. The flowers provided a temporary solution to her frustration, but even among the flowers she found herself wondering about those two.
    Wilhelmina didn’t know why Milly was avoiding her, but had a strong feeling that she must have found out something in the library. Did the story of Lord Melanthius have something to do with her? Wilhelmina pondered the idea that maybe the sorcerer story related to her in some way , but she couldn’t figure out what the connection was . It also didn’t seem very logical, since he was banished from the kingdom before she was born. He also didn’t appear to be a threat since no one seemed to worry about him. If they were worried, his name would have likely come up sooner.
    It was no use. Wilhelmina had nothing to go off besides that book, and that book did not give her much information. She fell back among the lumairas and it was then she realized they were glowing. She watched t heir soft pink glow and after awhile found it hard to keep her eyes open . She sat up and yawned , “Wel l I guess I should go to bed.” Wilhelmina stood up and headed back into the palace.
    Jerome and Edolie’s wedd ing was just a few days away. She sighed, Milly was probably really busy and she was over thinking it, but she knew for sure she wasn’t exaggerating the Jerome situation. He definitely was avoiding her. No one just walks past you in a hall without some form of a greeting. Then again, maybe he had a lot on his mind? Wilhelmina shook her head; she needed to stop worrying about Jerome.
    She froze as she spotted Jerome standing on the second floor balcony. The balcony was located at the end of the hall and over looked the castle entrance. He was still dressed in his uniform, so he must not have gotten ready for bed yet. He was also alone.
    “ And I was just thinking about him ,” Wilhelmina thought to herself. Irony wasn’t her friend.
    She debated as to whether or not to go up to her room, or to talk to him. The flight of stairs leading to her room was just straight ahead, so she could easily go up them without being noticed. However, she wasn’t going to be able to find out if or why Jerome was avoiding her until she confronted him . Wilhelmina took a deep breath to calm her nerves. If she wanted to know what was going on , now was her chance to corner him and talk to him.
    Jerome didn’t even turn around when she stepped onto the balcony next to him. He was staring intensely at the night sky. His face looked as if he was deep in thought and Wilhelmina wondered what he was thinking so hard about. She stood there for a little while to see if he would notice her, but when he didn’t say anything, she decided to interrupt his thoughts.
    “What are you looking at?” Wilhelmina asked causing Jerome to jump. She giggled. He really hadn’t noticed her at all.
    “ Wh - What are you doing up?” Jerome stuttered.
    “I went to see the lumairas,” Wilhelmina smiled innocently at him, “You?”
    “I-I was…” Jerome stammered . He still hadn’t recovered from shock and the strange pang in his chest was back, “just getting some fresh air.”
    He had a bad feeling about this and because Wilhelmina had sneaked up on him, he had no time to prepare himself. It was hard enough to avoid looking at her when he spotted her in the palace. Why did the curse affect him so much? Jerome forced himself to think and then realized that the curse probably had the same affect on any man that met her, like the guy she had danced with. Wilhelmina wasn’t allowed out so it never