Free The Enchanted Rose by Konstanz Silverbow Page B

rose? Why would you help me when you know nothing about me? I don’t understand.” 
    “I gave you that rose because I saw something in you that I haven’t seen in a very long time. I gave you that rose because you need it. And I find it no coincidence that only days after I gave you the gift of love, a storm has come to wipe away all the magic in the land. Who would want to stop you and your precious princess from being together?” 
    “What did you see in me?” I ask, but actually, I want to know how he knows my fears. Could he have heard me talking to Roselyn in her chambers? Who could hate the thought of us being happy so much that their only choice was to wash away all magic? 
    “That matters not. We leave tomorrow at sundown for the mountains.” He turns to leave, but I grasp at his cloak. 
    “Wait! Why tomorrow? Why at sundown? How will I find you?” 
    “I give you until tomorrow at sundown because you’re going to need that time. First, unlike other people, I want you to be happy. I want you and Rose to be together. So I suggest you give her a proper good-bye. And then I advise you go home and prepare for whatever we may find on that mountain. As always, I will find you.” Before I can ask more questions, he throws his cloak over himself and disappears.
     

Osric climbs down the balcony before I have a chance to protest. I would rather he hide in my wardrobe than risk going back into that storm, but I don’t have time to stop him or ask him to come back before Queen Jossa enters my room. 
    “Why would you leave the safety of the castle during a storm like this?” she demands to know, her face mere inches from mine. I stutter, grasping for an excuse, but nothing comes to me. 
    “Would it be that you wished to check up on a certain seamstress? The very seamstress who was supposed to make your dresses? I do not know what to do with you when you cannot obey simple commands. You were to be fitted and dressed for a wedding—your wedding!—and return to the castle. Instead, I am informed that you did not even get fitted, but instead, you called upon the royal physician to attend to a peasant!” 
    I cross my arms over my chest, standing tall, even raising my chin. I find my voice once more. “Her husband was dying. She lost her business in the market. She has children to feed, and I was not going to let them lose a father. As for the dresses, she has plenty of time to make them, and she will once she has been paid. I will not require her to give me those dresses—or any clothing, for that matter. How dare the queen, someone who is supposed to protect the people, accuse me of being in the wrong in this situation?” 
    “You defend the peasants, but not yourself?” 
    “I’ve done nothing wrong. I helped people in need of our assistance. I also intend to purchase Nadi’s business and return it to her. She cannot be expected to make clothes for others in her home, a place for her family.” 
    “This is unacceptable. You are a princess. Royalty. My daughter. I will not have you acting like anyone below our station. You best keep in mind that your actions reflect on me.” She sets her jaw, glaring at me as if I have truly offended her by being kind.
    “Then today, I did you a favor.” I sneer, knowing I am only digging myself deeper into trouble. 
    “The seamstress will be punished.” I note that she refuses to call Nadi by name. Perhaps she doesn’t know it. “She is to make your gowns without pay. She is to pay for the services of my physician, and then once she has met those debts, she is to leave the kingdom.” 
    “Mother! You can’t do that. I will not accept the clothing, and you know well that she can’t afford such debts. The royal physician makes enough money. He did not ask her for payment today—he will not require it later. He helped her as a favor.” 
    “I do not expect the physician to be paid. The dressmaker will be paying me for calling up