The Rose and the Fox

The Rose and the Fox"Our biggest problem is the wolves," Josiah said as they sat around the campfire after breakfast. "I can sneak up on them, but I’m not enough to take on what seems to be an entire fucking pack. Even with a wolf of our own, and an assassin, that’s still three against too damn many.""Pack Rothenburg is nothing but a bunch of self-serving cowards," Scout said, finishing her tea and pouring a fresh cup. "We get rid of the one paying them, and they’ll leave of their own volition…" Her eyes seemed to glow briefly, teeth for a moment far too long and sharp to be human. "Thought they won’t all be leaving alive, I guarantee you that. Leave the wolves to me. You focus on getting to that nasty little rat responsible for this whole mess."Josiah nodded, mouth quirking. "As you wish, Scout. Blood knows I learned the hard way to leave pack business to the packs."Lily wasn’t nearly so confident. "How do you expect to handle all the wolves by yourself? That’s—that’s reckless and stupid."Scout grinned. "You’d know all about being reckless and stupid, Your Majesty, but I promise I know what I’m about. Pack is everything to wolves, and they’ll fall right into the patterns and rules of it.""What does that mean? I saw how much those ones who took me hated you! A whole pack of them will do everything they can to rip you apart!""I’ll—""If you say you’ll be fine I will clobber you with the tea kettle, so help me," Lily hissed.Scout, infuriatingly, just grinned more. "Are you saying you don’t think I can defend myself, Your Majesty? I’m insulted.""Good," Lily retorted.That just made Scout and Josiah laugh.Whatever. Fine. Let them be cocky and dumb. She didn’t care.Scout’s amusement faded to worry. "Lily—""It’s fine.""It’s clearly not.""I’m done discussing this," Lily hissed. "Do whatever you want, woodcutter. When do we leave?"Her brows rose, but she only replied, "Josiah, Alice, and I will leave at first light tomorrow. You and Penelope—""I will not wait here, you are out of your mind if you think that’s happening.""You need to be safe," Josiah replied. "Taking you back the castle will be dangerous enough without also having to worry about your safety.""I’m not staying here, tucked away like fancy dinnerware, while everyone else does all the work.""You’re our Queen," Alice said. "They nearly got you the first time, what happens if they get you a second time?"Lily’s mouth tightened, because she couldn’t argue their reasoning, but by the same token she wouldn’t cower in the woods either. "I won’t stand here amidst castle ruins while other people fight and bleed and die for me. I ran away the first time because I had no choice. I have a choice now, and I won’t choose to hide away doing nothing for my own people. It’s my throne, I will fight for it as I should, in any way I can. I won’t hide away like a coward and wait for everything to be done for me. That’s not leadership. That’s how people like Ferdinand.""You’re staying here!" Scout said sharply, jerking as though she’d nearly stood up, hand clenching around her half-filled mug. "You’ll stay safe. You have nothing to prove by throwing yourself needlessly into danger. If your father had been properly protected—""He was in a meeting hall! In the middle of the palace! Don’t you dare—argh," Lily stood up with a snarl of frustration and hurt and stormed off. Seemed to be the only thing she was good at anymore. Running away, always running away.She’d be damned if she did it when it mattered most, though.Ignoring Scout and the others calling after her, she fled through the trees—and stopped short as she saw portions of the ruins she hadn’t noticed before. Not the main hall of the keep, that was where they’d made camp. A hallway or something, judging by the stairs that somehow remained, an elegant spiral riddled with moss and flowers. Helplessly compelled, she gathered her shawl more securely around her shoulders and headed up them, one hand against the crumbling wall for balance as she navigated fallen bits of rock and clumps of various plants.Despite reasonable concerns something might collapse on her, she made it to the second floor, into another hallway. Right in front of her was an open doorway, the door itself long since rotted away.Inside was what must have once been a bedroom, to judge by the canopy bed that had been taken over by ivy and other plants, the rough shape of it all that remained.A faint breeze ran through the room, and suddenly the air was filled with the scent of roses. The world around her seemed to blur—and then she was standing in an actual room, beautifully appointed in old-fashioned furniture, ornate wallpaper of roses and birds on the wall in various shades of forest green, soft candlelight flickering.On the bed, a dark walnut with green canopy curtains, a man lay sleeping. He was breathtaking, the sort of beauty that almost hurt to look at. His skin was pale, like he didn’t see much sunlight, and his hair was as dark as night, long and wavy where it was spread messily around him on the pillow.As she watched, another man came into view, tall and broad, dressed in rough clothes, the kind favored by those who lived in the woods, hunters and woodsman, trappers and foragers. Like Scout. His hair was what really stood out though, a tumult of vibrant red, like someone had captured the heart of a flame and spun it into delicate strands.There were other figures in the room, but they were shadows, gray and hazy. Only the two men were clear.She stared avidly, wholly caught, as the red-haired man seemed to speak with the shadowy figures, before he bent, braced himself on the bed, and kissed the sleeping man softly. He drew back, watched a moment, before his face twisted with anguish as he pulled away entirely.The shadows seemed to wilt as well, and the red-haired man turned toward a large window—only to stop and turn back as the man on the bed moved, said something, eyes locked on the red-haired man.The world blurred again, shifted, and this time the two men were standing at the window, older now, holding each other in a way that spoke of years together, gold rings gleaming in the fading sunlight that was bathing them.Whatever they were talking about, it was intense. Tears trailed down the pale man’s face, to be delicately wiped away by the taller, broader red-haired man. There was a finality to them, as though some grave decision had been made, a decision there’d be no coming back from.Briar and Reynard. That’s who this was. Everyone knew the old story of how they’d died to save the kingdom from an evil witch. That was how the castle had been lost, only found again by Briar’s descendent, the great great grandchild of his sister, Queen Priscilla.Legend had it that once this forest had been all but dead, the Dark Forest instead of the Laughing Forest it was again now. That Briar and Reynard had died to save it, to seal away the evil witch who had been determined to destroy everyone and everything.This must be the night they died, the last hours of sunlight they ever enjoyed, a final sunset to echo their own looming end.Lily wiped away tears. Briar had not been king, but he had been a prince, and his sister Queen Priscilla had been a fierce leader in her own right. She’d never shied away from a fight, never hidden away in the woods while everyone else did the work. Briar had given his own life to protect her, his kingdom, and protected it even now as a spirit of the woods.She couldn’t even get into an argument without running away. "Why are you showing me this?"The world blurred again, giving her a faint headache, and then she was standing in the ruins once more—but as she looked around the room, she saw that something had changed. On the wall, above what might have once been a dresser or table, brilliant red roses had bloomed in a perfect rectangle, as though the frame of a mirror.Approaching it, Lily ran her fingers delicately over the roses and then the space they framed—and felt something give. Pulling away the moss and other detritus revealed a hollow in the old stone. There’d been a secret cache here once. She shooed away the insects she’d disturbed, cleared away cobwebs and one petulant spider, and saw a box, the kind meant to hold a ring or earrings, some other small bit of jewelry.Despite the age and ruin of the castle, the box could have been brand new.Blowing the dust and debris off, she opened the box, its delicate hinges creaking ever so faintly.A ring. Gold, a wide, heavy band, set with bejeweled flowers she would know anywhere: lily of the valley. She swallowed. Her mother had picked that name because of the valley they lived in and because it was her father’s favorite flower. But she’d also chosen it because Lily of the Valley was a beautiful flower, and symbolized purity, protection. They were regarded as a symbol of hope and new beginnings, and could ward against evil. They were an important part of medicine…and could also be a deadly poison, more than capable of protecting itself.Now here was a ring with her namesake, in an ancient castle largely forgotten, in a secret cache nobody would have ever found on their own. What was it’s significance? She set the box down to turn the ring over and over, examining every minute detail. The flowers themselves seemed to be made from mother-of-pearl, the stem from silver, leaves from tiny emeralds.There were words inscribed on the inside of the band. For Love.The scent of roses filled the room again, a breeze compelling her to turn—to see the ghostly spirits of Reynard and Briar. "It’s you. Really you.""Your usurper has power he should not. Take it from him, as we once did, before he becomes the evil we died to cage.""I will," Lily said softly.Briar stepped forward and, despite his wispy state, gently plucked the ring from her grasp and slid it onto the middle finger of her right hand. Right where her ring of state would normally rest.She looked at Brier, his eyes the blue of a sky edging into night, sunlight still clinging to the edges. "Why a lily of the valley? I thought roses were your thing.""They were roses in my day. The magic does as the magic pleases. Stand strong, Your Majesty. The Laughing Forest will stand for and with you, as long as you stand for and with the forest.""I understand. Thank you for everything."Briar smiled, and soft, fond laughter filled the room before the two figures were gone.Lily took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then set her shoulders and headed back to camp. If they thought she had given up returning home with them, they were about to be disabused of that notion.When she returned to camp, the others were gathered, standing and sitting, as though waiting for her arrival. "Your Majesty…" Scout said, taking a step forward."I’m coming," Lily said, and presented her right hand, the ring on it glimmering. "I declare it, the forest wills it. I am Queen, and I say I go.""You’re so fucking stubborn," Scout said with a sigh, running her rough fingers over the knuckles of Lily’s hand before squeezing gently and letting go. "As you wish, then. Far be it for me to argue with a queen and her ghosts.""Just do as we say, all right?" Josiah asked. "I swear no matter the years that pass, the stubbornness remains strong in your line."Lily’s brows vanished into her hair. "You knew my ancestors? Which ones?""Several of them, many of whom should have been queen but were never permitted due to laws that your father was smart enough, and good enough, to throw out. They would have been proud of you, Your Majesty. Let me see that ring you’re now wearing. Tell me how you got it."Amused by the ordering around, Lily obeyed. Josiah gently took her hand as the others crowded around to see as well, running his thumb over the pearl-carved Lily of the Valley. "I wasn’t around for the fall of the kingdom, I was on a different continent entirely, but it was a story that spread far and wide. The beautiful prince and his thief lover, returning home to save Queen Priscilla and their home, home to the woods that loved the wily thief known as the Fox and the kind-hearted Briar, woods that bound themselves to the two of them in exchange for their lives, and bound an evil witch until their descendants vanquished her for good."Woods that spread across the whole of the continent, the various parts called by many names, protecting all who dwell there so long as their hearts are pure, repelling all those who would do the woods and its people harm. There is nothing in the world that compares to the Laughing Forest, and no power matches that which is found here in the heart of the forest. You are one of the precious few permitted to wield that power.""I don’t wield it," Lily said softly. "I ask the forest for help and so far it is willing, as our goals are united.Penelope sighed. "Were they as beautiful as legend said?""And even more besides," Lily said.Scout rolled her eyes and turned away to go back to the fire, throwing more wood on it like the fire had insulted her mother. Lily stared after her in bafflement, but only went with Alice and Penelope as they carted her off to go foraging for things to use for lunch and dinner.Thanks to Scout, and with further help from Alice, she managed to return with a nice haul of mushrooms, nuts, and late season berries. Plopping down next to Scout, who was carving up a couple of rabbits, she sorted through her collection. "Look at this! I’ll be the only queen in the world who can tell edible mushrooms from poisonous."Scout laughed, which made Lily far more pleased with herself than it should. "But can you tell after they’ve been cooked?""Could you?""Only with one or two of them," Scout said, smiling that warm, approving smile Lily loved far too much.Leaving Scout to her rabbits, Lily set to work on cleaning the berries, then cleaning and chopping the mushrooms, and finally the nuts, which took a great deal more work than the other two.By the time she was finished, everyone was more than ready for lunch. Leaving the others to finish getting the meal ready, Lily went to wash up in a nearby brook. When she was clean, she sat down on the bank and slid the ring off her finger to examine it again, admiring every little detail, the intricacy of the carved pearls, the delicate emerald leaves… and the strange inscription. True Love’s Kiss.Sighing, she slid the ring back on her finger, stood and dusted off her clothes, and returned to camp—just in time to be handed a cup of tea and some fresh bread slathered with some sort of nutty paste. "What is this?""Walnut butter.""Huh." She took a bit, and barely kept from moaning at the taste. "This is amazing."Penelope grinned. "Haven’t made it since I was a child, but we had so many walnuts gathered between the three of us, why not?""I love it."They gathered around the campfire, Lily sandwiched between her friends, Scout sitting with Josiah, and ate a lunch of roasted rabbit, mushroom stew, and fresh bread with nut butter. It was nothing at all like a fancy banquet in the palace, and Lily absolutely loved it. If only they were here for a good reason, friends simply enjoying some time together. Still, any moment of joy was to be savored, she’d sure as hell learned that lesson.After lunch, Lily trekked off with Penelope to bathe in the brook. By the fire, Alice, Scout, and Josiah were clustered close speaking in low tones. "I swear to god if they try to sneak away in the night…"Penelope giggled as she undressed. "I don’t think they’d be that stupid, not after your dressing down earlier." Her grin softened to a gentle smile. "You’re already a good queen, Lily. You’ll be a great one. I’m sorry your father can’t be here to see it.""Thank you," Lily replied, blinking away tears. She slipped into the water, swearing at how chilly it was, but cold water wasn’t going to keep her from getting clean. There was no telling how long it would be until she was able to take a proper bath in her own chambers again, so she’d take what she could when she could.When they were scrubbed clean and shivering slightly, they dried off, pulled on their clothes, and then settled on the bank to dry their hair and simply rest."So…" Penelope said playfully.Lily quirked a brow. "So what?""You and Scout?""Me and Scout nothing," Lily said flatly. "She hated my guts when we first met, after she had to save me and take me to her cabin and got dragged into all this mess. She probably can’t wait to get back to her normal life. Nevermind the danger she’s in just by her former pack knowing where she is now."Penelope’s look was entirely too knowing."Shut up, I like you better when you’re using your brain on other people," Lily muttered."She looks at you like she wants to stay, not like she wants to leave."Lily sighed. "It doesn’t matter who is looking at who like what. I have bigger concerns, it would be the epitome of selfish to focus on a personal romance right now.""Fair enough, but you also shouldn’t let a chance at happiness pass you by simply because the timing is awful. If we waited for perfect timing, none of us would get anywhere.""Let’s just get back to the others."Penelope smiled. "As you wish." She hummed a few bars of a lullaby, something she did often when she was thinking. "Going to have my work cut out for me when we return. Lots of people know I’m one of the ways to get to you, and many will be seeking to curry favor after all of this.""This," Lily said with a soft snort. "What a summary. They’ll have to try very hard, as I sort out who did what and consorted with who throughout the mess. I’ll need all of you to help me.""Don’t worry," Penelope said dryly as they reached the others. "Alice and Josiah already have plans on that."Josiah quirked a brow. "Plans on what?""Rooting out the rot in the court."His eyes shifted to an eerie dark red, the very color of blood from a deep wound. "Oh, yes. It will be my pleasure to figure out who else was part of this nasty little coup, who is sitting pretty right now while so many other suffer, or are no longer alive to suffer.""Good," Lily replied. "I can’t wait."The rest of the day passed quietly, night slipping over them peacefully. Dinner was eaten largely in silence, everyone lost in their own thoughts, though Josiah, Scout, and Alice spoken occasionally in quiet murmurs, ever refining their plans for taking back the palace.It would be no small task, and much of the plan relied on the army rallying to their true queen.By the time she crawled onto her bedroll, hopefully the last time she would ever have to sleep on the cold, hard ground, Lily was so mentally drained and anxious about the coming day that exhaustion won out with relative speed.