The morning after Elara's jealousy, neither of them mentioned it.
Not because they had forgotten.
Quite the opposite.
They both remembered it very clearly.
Ravenna remembered saying that she would be jealous of anyone who made Elara smile more than she did.
Elara remembered telling Ravenna that she was the one who made her smile the most.
Neither had intended to say those things.
Neither knew what to do with them afterward.
So they did what two people who were not quite ready to discuss their feelings often did.
They had breakfast.
Quietly.
Together.
Blue sat between them.
And Garin watched all three of them with the expression of someone who understood considerably more than he was willing to say.
Ravenna poured tea.
Elara reached for the honey.
Their hands touched.
Both stopped.
"Sorry," Ravenna said.
"No, it's fine."
Elara withdrew her hand.
Ravenna pushed the honey toward her.
"You can have it."
"Thank you."
A pause.
Then Ravenna looked at her.
"Are you still jealous?"
Elara nearly choked on her tea.
"No."
Ravenna smiled.
"Good."
"You shouldn't enjoy this."
"I do."
Elara narrowed her eyes.
"You've changed."
"Perhaps."
"You're becoming troublesome."
Ravenna smiled.
"I learned from you."
Elara tried not to smile.
She failed.
Ravenna noticed.
"I made you smile."
"Don't become proud."
"Too late."
Blue chirped.
Elara looked at him.
"Don't encourage her."
Blue chirped again.
Ravenna nodded seriously.
"He's on my side."
"He is not."
"He clearly is."
Blue climbed onto Ravenna's shoulder.
Elara sighed.
"I've lost both of you."
Ravenna laughed.
For a few minutes, everything felt normal.
Warm.
Safe.
Almost ordinary.
Then the castle bell rang.
Once.
Ravenna's smile disappeared.
The northern border again.
She stood.
"I'll go."
Elara looked up.
"I'm coming."
Ravenna hesitated.
Then nodded.
"All right."
This time, she didn't tell Elara to stay behind.
She simply held out her hand.
Elara took it.
The council chamber was crowded.
Professor Orin stood beside a large map.
Prince Adrian was there as well.
Several commanders surrounded the table.
Ravenna entered.
"Report."
A captain stepped forward.
"Three more watchtowers have gone silent."
Ravenna's expression hardened.
"Any attacks?"
"No."
"Any survivors?"
"Yes."
"Bring them in."
The doors opened.
Three soldiers entered.
All three looked exhausted.
One of them was shaking.
Ravenna approached.
"What happened?"
The oldest soldier swallowed.
"We heard singing."
Elara felt a chill.
"Singing?"
The soldier nodded.
"From the mountains."
"What kind?"
The soldier closed his eyes.
"A woman's voice."
Ravenna looked at Orin.
"Do you know what that means?"
Orin's face was grim.
"I have a suspicion."
"Tell me."
"The White Rose."
Everyone went silent.
Elara stepped forward.
"What about it?"
Orin looked at her.
"The White Rose was never merely a symbol."
He opened an ancient book.
"The original Saint line carried a form of magic that could communicate with the seal beneath the world."
Elara frowned.
"I've never heard that."
"Because the records were destroyed."
"By whom?"
Orin hesitated.
"Both kingdoms."
Ravenna's expression darkened.
"Why?"
"Fear."
Orin turned another page.
"The White Rose witches were believed to be able to hear the voice of the sleeping king."
Elara felt cold.
"Then the voice I'm hearing..."
"May not be the Void King." Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Ravenna looked at him.
"What?"
Orin pointed toward the ancient text.
"The White Rose could hear the world beneath the seal."
He looked at Elara.
"Perhaps someone is trying to speak to you."
Elara stared at the page.
The letters seemed strangely familiar.
Not because she had seen them before.
Because they felt remembered.
She reached toward the book.
The moment her fingers touched the page, white light spread across it.
Everyone stepped back.
Ravenna immediately reached for Elara's hand.
"Elara."
"I'm fine."
The page turned by itself.
Then another.
Then another.
The book stopped.
A drawing appeared.
A white rose.
Its roots descended into darkness.
Beside it was a black rose.
Their roots intertwined.
And beneath them was a silver flower.
Elara whispered,
"I've seen this before."
Ravenna looked at her.
"In the garden."
"No."
Elara shook her head.
"Before that."
Her hand trembled.
"I remember."
Ravenna's expression changed.
"What do you remember?"
Elara closed her eyes.
For a moment, she saw something.
A white garden.
Snow falling.
A woman wearing a white cloak.
A black rose in her hand.
A voice.
Do not forget.
Elara opened her eyes.
She was breathing hard.
Ravenna immediately moved closer.
"Elara."
"I'm all right."
"What did you see?"
"I don't know."
She pressed a hand against her chest.
"But it felt..."
"Familiar?"
"Yes."
Orin looked deeply troubled.
"That should be impossible."
Ravenna turned toward him.
"Why?"
"Because those memories should have disappeared centuries ago."
The room became silent.
Elara looked at him.
"Centuries?"
Orin slowly nodded.
"The last White Rose Witch died more than three hundred years ago."
Elara stared.
"But I'm here."
"Yes."
"And the White Rose chose me."
"Yes."
"Then..."
She looked at Ravenna.
"Maybe she didn't die."
Ravenna's eyes widened.
"No."
Orin shook his head.
"The witch died."
"Then how can I remember her?"
Orin looked toward the silver flower drawn in the book.
"Because perhaps you aren't remembering her."
He closed the book.
"Perhaps you are remembering what she left behind."
That afternoon, Elara went to the garden alone.
She needed silence.
The Silver Rose stood between the black and white roses.
It had opened fully.
Its petals were beautiful.
Almost translucent.
Elara knelt beside it.
"I don't understand."
The flower gave no answer.
She touched one silver petal.
White light spread beneath her fingers.
Then the garden disappeared.
Elara stood somewhere else.
A vast field stretched beneath a dark sky.
Black roses grew on one side.
White roses grew on the other.
But there was no hatred.
No armies.
No walls.
A young woman stood in the center.
She had white hair.
Her eyes were bright.
In her hands was a white rose.
Across from her stood a woman with black hair.
She held a black rose.
They were smiling at one another.
Elara couldn't hear their voices.
But she understood.
They were friends.
No. More than friends.
They trusted each other.
The vision shifted.
The two women stood before a great black door.
Something moved behind it.
Something enormous.
Something hungry.
The women joined hands.
Black and white magic intertwined.
Silver light appeared.
The door closed.
The vision shattered.
Elara fell to her knees.
"Elara!"
Ravenna's voice.
Ravenna was kneeling beside her.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Then what happened?"
Elara looked at the flower.
"I saw them."
"Who?"
"The first Black Rose and White Rose."
Ravenna became still.
"They weren't enemies."
"No."
"They knew each other."
"Yes."
Elara took Ravenna's hand.
"They were protecting the world together."
Ravenna stared at her.
"Then why did we forget?"
"I don't know."
The Silver Rose suddenly began to glow.
Both women looked down.
A new line appeared across the petals.
What was divided can be joined.
Ravenna whispered,
"The old pact."
Elara nodded.
"But there was something else."
"What?"
Elara looked at her.
"The door."
Ravenna's expression became serious.
"Tell me."
"There was something behind it."
"The Void King?"
"I think so."
The Silver Rose pulsed.
Elara's fingers tightened around Ravenna's.
"But it wasn't awake."
"Not then."
"No."
Elara looked toward the castle.
"And I think..."
She hesitated.
"I think the marriage isn't just about peace."
Ravenna looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
Elara remembered the words.
Two hearts.
One choice.
A home is not a place.
It is the place where you choose to remain.
"I think our marriage is part of the old pact."
Ravenna's face went pale.
"You mean..."
"The treaty didn't create this."
Elara looked at the Silver Rose.
"It completed something that was started long ago."
Ravenna was silent.
Then she asked,
"Was I chosen?"
Elara looked at her.
"I don't know."
"And you?"
"I don't know."
Ravenna's hand tightened around hers.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Ravenna said quietly,
"I don't like the idea that something ancient decided who I should marry."
Elara looked at her.
"Neither do I."
"I don't want to love someone because an ancient spell says I should."
Elara's heart stopped for a moment.
Ravenna seemed to realize what she had said.
Her cheeks became red.
"I didn't mean..."
"I know."
Elara smiled softly.
"Then let's make sure."
"How?"
Elara stepped closer.
"We choose."
Ravenna looked at her.
"Choose what?"
"Each other."
The words were simple.
But they carried more weight than either of them expected.
Ravenna stared at her.
Then she smiled.
"All right."
She held out her hand.
"Then I choose you."
Elara took it.
"And I choose you."
The Silver Rose burst into silver light.
The entire garden shone.
For one brief moment, black, white, and silver became one.
Deep beneath the castle, the ancient seal answered.
But the sound that followed was not a crack.
It was a lock turning.
Once.
Twice.
Then silence.
Ravenna looked toward the earth.
"What just happened?"
Elara shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then she noticed something.
A tiny silver mark had appeared on the back of her hand.
The same mark appeared on Ravenna's.
They looked at each other.
The symbols slowly connected.
A single rose appeared between them.
Not black.
Not white.
Silver.
Ravenna stared.
"Elara."
"Yes?"
"I think the ancient pact just recognized us."
Elara smiled.
"Then perhaps it should learn something."
"What?"
"That we make our own choices."
Ravenna laughed softly.
"I think it already knows."
They stood together beneath the roses.
And for the first time, the Silver Rose did not feel like a warning.
It felt like a promise.
But far beyond the mountains, in a place where no human or demon had walked for centuries, an ancient stone door opened by a single inch.
Something watched through the darkness.
And this time, it spoke clearly.
"Then let us see whether your choice survives the truth."