Free Black Rose by K.L. Bone Page B

than
anywhere else she had ever known. She knelt before it.
    It
had been four years since the last of her father’s ashes had been placed within
the large marble structure and two years to the day since her mother had chosen
to join him in death. She sat before the tall statues surrounding her for a
long time, offering silent prayers to the Gods above. Yet these scattered
visits always ended the same way. “Why?” Mara asked the question which could
never be answered. “Why did you leave me?” 
    She
turned toward the stone which bore her mother’s name. “Why? Why did you leave
me all alone?” Her hands dug into the dirt, lowering her face to the ground.
She sat there a long time as she cried. “You left me,” she shouted for the dead
alone. Then, someone touched her shoulder.
    Her
eyes flew open to find Edward kneeling beside her. “I thought you might be
here.” She looked at him and the single glance was all it took. “I’m sorry,” he
said gently. “There are no answers. I wish I could tell you why, but…I can’t.”
    Mara
turned from the tomb with deep bitterness. “I know why. He left her alone and
the isolation was unbearable. She was all alone.”
    Edward
reached forward, lifting her gaze. “You speak as though you know.”
    A
shiver slid through her and she spoke in a voice thick with emotion. “Don’t I?”
    “Princess.”
His gaze was deep. “What are you saying?”
    “She
knew that she would never love again. No one—not even me. She was alone.”
    “But
you are not.” He moved his hands to grasp her arms just below the wrists,
commanding her attention with his touch. “Do you hear me, my Lady? You are not
alone.”
    “Am
I not?”
    “No,”
he said and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her slender frame. “I…”
He drew a sharp breath. “I don’t know what I would do without you.” She began
to shiver in his arms. “Please, Mara, you are scaring me.”
    “Everyone
leaves,” she answered through tears.
    “I
won’t.” He rose from the ground, forcing her to his feet. He stared into violet
eyes. “I love you, Mara. Do you hear me? I love you and you will never be
alone.” He pulled her into his arms again, running a hand through her long
black hair. “ego adsum, mea rosa. I will not leave you. I will never, never
leave you.”
    Mara
had been fourteen when Edward had sworn to end the loneliness which consumed
her life. And only nineteen when he would embark upon the quest that would
force him to break every promise he had ever made, condemning her to the life
her mother had chosen death over being forced to endure.
    Edward
had taken her back to her rooms that night, disregarding every hint of protocol
as he laid the Princess upon the bed and pulled her to his chest. She clung to
him, oblivious to the fact that Garreth had entered the room and taken silent
watch in the far corner. “It’s okay,” Edward whispered, cradling her against
him to place a gentle kiss upon her brow. He held her for a long time before
her breathing finally slowed to the steady rhythm of sleep.
    “What
happened?” Garreth asked quietly as he moved to a chair beside the bed.
    “She
went to see her mother.” 
    “Is
she all right?”
    “No.”
He traced a hand gently through her long hair which trailed down her back. “I
don’t know what to do.”
    Garreth
slowly shook his head. “I wish I knew.”
    “She’s
so young. I wish I could take her away from here.”
    “Yes…but
the Queen would never allow it. She is still a Princess. I try to stay here as
much as possible. Though, as a member of the guard, it is difficult.”
    “Yes.”
Edward nodded. “We could bring her into the circle for a while. Move her to the
chambers between ours.”
    “A
Princess of the blood living in a circle of guardsmen? You can’t be serious.”
    “I
don’t know what else to do. Does she still train with the swordmaster?”
    “Every
day.”
    Edward
nodded. “I will take over her training