Chapter 8

Cerise was roused by Roselle. She woke up, bleary-eyed and feeling fatigue in her muscles, though she suddenly became alert when she sensed the present of another in the dungeons. The person, whoever they were, stopped outside their cell and regarded them thoughtfully.

“You’re the Princess of Rozarre?” the woman said, a tall woman with blonde hair with two strands of hair dangling to her breasts, and her hair put up into a ponytail.

“Y-Yes?” Roselle said.

“I heard whispers among the kitchen wenches that the PRincess of Rozarre was held here. Lucky me, I struck gold today. If I can bust you out, then you can help me infiltrate the treasure vaults and rob them of all their money.”

“A heist adventure,” Roselle said while perking up. “Like in the stories that I read! That sounds fantastic! I would much rather be out there doing something thrilling instead of sitting all cooped up in a prison cell.”

“But isn’t stealing wrong?” Cerise said, while Roselle laughed.

“Come on, it’s a heist adventure. Besides, we’ve got a free opportunity to get out of here.”

“I’m not sure if I trust this woman,” Cerise whispered to Roselle. “Think about it. There’s got to be some kind of catch.”

“I know it, but what other choice do we have?” Roselle whispered back, before she said. “We will help accompany you, Miss?”

“Viola,” the woman said while folding her arms underneath her sizeable chest. “I’m a combat medic nurse that travels across the world on battlefields and other hectic places to heal the wounded. Why is a combat nurse trying to steal money, you ask? That’s a very good question, but not something that I will reveal until all three of us are safely outside the Soreno kingdom.

“All right, we trust you for now,” Roselle said. “Just get us out of here! Please.”

“All right,” Viola said. “I get the larger portion of the treasure. You two can split the rest among yourselves. Meanwhile, I know the layout of the castle like my own hand. I’ve been scouting out throughout the Kingdoms while acting as a Medic. The Prince himself is very sickly, you know. I had to take care of him. Princess Nautilus was tending to him.”

“Oh…” Roselle said, while looking shame-faced. “I do hope he is all right.”

“Personally, his sister is crazy, if you ask me,” Viola said while clucking her tongue in disapproval. “Has this crazy obsession with her brother. Did you know that the Princess is keeping her brother with placebos? She’s convincing him that he needs medicine to stay well. All so that he could stay dependent on her and no one else.”

“That sounds…rather messed up,” Cerise admitted. “So? Do they have any lore on the Philosopher’s Stone?”

“Plenty, as I can see,” Viola said with a cluck of her tongue. “But time is a wasting. Time is money. We can’t stop and chit chat all night long.”

“I understand,” Roselle said “Leave it to us to infiltrate the treasure vaults. We’ve had good practice before, fighting a dragon in a treasure vault.”

“You infiltrated a treasure vault before?” Viola said, seeming impressed.

“Well, my mother always keeps traps and monsters hidden within the castle of the Grand Duelist’s training,” Roselle admitted, and Cerise confirmed it with a nod.

“I think that you two are the right people that I’m seeking,” Viola said with a smile, before she unlocked the cell door with a pick. “Well, come on out, you two. There might still be time yet to escape this place far richer than we would’ve been before!”

“I’m in!” Roselle said, and Cerise reluctantly followed along. She had a bad feeling about this, though she didn’t voice her trepidation out loud. She didn’t want to be the wet blanket of their company, and maybe it would work out in the end. She just needed to be loose and go with the flow, or so they say.

“Now,” Viola said. “Well stop by the library real quick, it leads towards the treasure vault. The treasure vault is unlocked by finding various riddles hidden within the labyrinth books that you need to solve in order to open the treasure vault hidden within the library.”

“Sounds like something the Soreno Kingdom would do,” Roselle whispered.

When they made their way to the library, Cerise stood in awe at all the books lining the various shelves. So many tomes of knowledge with the wisdom of authors long dead past, or current authors sharing their lifetime of secrets and their mistakes to overcome hurdles were put here. Cerise felt a thrill shiver up her spine. She could probably spend her time reading here endlessly! She was sure that the Rozarre Kingdom ahd a grand library, but nothing as grand as this. This was where the Mages would go to practice magic and learn their tutelage from Archmages. In this very library.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” Viola said. “I once studied here to become a combat medic nurse. But that was in the past.”

“Which book to choose?” Roselle murmured as her finger trailed past the spines of various thick bound tomes with gold leaf pages. “There are thousands of books! It would be lovely to spend an afternoon here reading all the tomes that I can want…”

“Focus, Roselle,” Cerise whispered, and Roselle startled when she picked up a giant tome on Magic and Symbology.

“You’re right, we don’t have time to waste,” Roselle said, and she looked at the patterns in the library. “

“I already found the four tomes scattered throughout the library that we need,” Viola said cheerfully. “The vault is in the very back of the library, behind that bookshelf. Do any of you know magic?”

“I do,” Cerise said, before Viola handed the books over to Cerise. “Now go to these pages read the certain sections that I tell you to say, in this order. That will move the giant bookshelf aside and let us into the treasury vault.”

Cerisde did as she told, and she muttered the incantations that were said in the books and teh book shelf before them trembled and moved aside to reveal a giant treasury door vault that needed to be open. Viola clapped her hands together with glee before she started picking open at the lock popping the door wide open. Viola laughed.

“For magical safety measures, they sure didn’t think about the vault itself. I guess they were confident that no one would find the exact tomes and solve the riddle.”

“Don’t you think that it was a little too easy though?” Cerise said with some unease, before Roselle waved her aside.

“Come on, Cerise! We’re on a heist adventure! There’s no reason for doubt or hesitation! We made it a out, and we’ve completed an adventure!”

“Exactly,” Viola said, before she took fistfuls of money in her hands and looting it into her bag. “Let’s go girls. We’ll make it out by ship.”

“Sounds like a lovely idea,” Roselle said, before she slipped a tome into Cerise’s hands. “That’s one book of lore on the Philosopher’s Stone. It’s by Nicholas Flamel himself.”

“Nichols Flamel? The great alchemist?” Cerise said in wonder, before she marveled at the pages within it. She would read this and find the answer to her sister’s illness!

They crept out of the library, past the guards and the great kitchens where savory foods were smelt. Cerise’s mouth watered, and Roselle managed to use her graceful footwork to steal a honey roll from the kitchens to split between herself and Cerise. Viola only seemed to care about the money, however, and when they made their way to the docks of the Kingdom, Viola said, “Well, I guess is now time for our departure. After we go on this ship, we may go our separate ways. It was nice meeting you girls, but I’m afraid that our adventure ends here.”

Before any of them could get on the boat, however, there was a great torrential wind that threw them all onto the ground. The winds were so forceful that neither of them can fight the tumultuous force that pinned them to the ground where they were. The waters in the harbor frothed and fumed, and the clouds started to spiral overhead to indicate a great storm being brewed.

When the winds stopped, they found themselves surrounded by Knights. Roselle and Cerise looked shame faced.

“I would’ve expected such actions from the Angel of Avarice,” Prince Caspian said, his sea foam green hair tumbling past his shoulders. “But not from you, dear Roselle. But not from you, dear Roselle. And Roselle…oh dearest Roselle. You will marry me now or else your exploit would be heard throughout the kingdoms. And why would anyone support a Princess who is a common thief?”

“Prince Caspian,” Roselle said with a gasp, and Cerise swallowed as well. The Prince caught them redhanded.

“It hurts my heart that you would do this, Roselle,” Prince Caspian said. “But Viola is actually my highly trained combat medic nurse, assassin, and maid. What to do with you?”

Roselle looked like she might crumble then and there. Cerise put a hand on her Princess’s shoulder, before saying, “Prince Caspian, We are in dire need of finding the Philosopher’s Stone. We were originally on a journey to retrieve it for the Queen so that my sister and the King may be saved. We plead that you show mercy and pardon Princess Roselle and I’ll…I’ll marry you.”

“Cerise, you can’t!” Roselle said in astonishment, before she said in a firm voice. “The one that I love is Crerise. Not you, Prince Caspian.”

“I don’t know why you would choose such a homely girl over me,” Prince Caspian said, anger marring his handsome features. “I could’ve given you everything. Yes, even curing your Magic Circuits so that you can use Magic again.”

Roselle’s lip trembled. “Are those lies or are you speaking the truth, Caspian?”

“I’ve always been honest with you,” Caspian said. Hurt on his features. “But apparently you didn’t trust me enough or shoved me away. All because… you cared about the Grand Duelist title so much. I purposely lost so that you would hold claim to the title rather than me.”

Roselle paled. “You what.”

Prince Caspian, in his anger, pressed on. “I lost on purpose so that you would win. In fact, it is I who should have the Grand Duelist tittle instead of you. You may have fancy footwork and swordplay, Roselle; it may even surpass my own, but you can’t use magic. I did it because I loved you, Roselle.”

“I thought you said that you couldn’t use magic,” Roselle whispered, before Prince Caspian looked frustrated.

“I was always able to use magic. I kept them hidden from you because you were so sore about having your Magic Circuits being ruined. Well, the least that you can do for reparations is marry me. I will share the Grand Duelist title with you, and you can have everything that you want; I will forget your shameful deed today.”

Roselle’s lip trembled, before anger narrowed her eyebrows towards him and look of pure venom was shot toward Prince Caspian. “You…you…you held back against me? I shouldn’t have the Grand Duelist title at all? How could you make me shamefully hold the title when I didn’t deserve it? Why didn’t you actually show your true strength and best it against me? I do not tolerate half heartedness, and you know that I would’ve gladly given the title to you if you truly deserved it, which you did. But you held back, and now my title of Grand Duelist is sullied. I don’t want the title anymore. I don’t care. All I know is that Cerise really stood up for me and saved me when she had the choice to run away; that is true love, isn’t it? She’s not a mere peasant girl, she is Cerise, and she taught me to open my heart!”

“Very well,” Caspian said, his features hardening into a cold glare. “I will take the title from you forcefully. We will hold a duel. This time I WILL overpower you. And then I will force you to marry me if you want to keep your status at all. Will you still choose Cerise over me?”

Roselle cried. “I hate you, Caspian! I will never love you, even if you do win!”

“Then it’s settled,” Prince Caspian said coldly. “I will take your title. I will force you to marry me. And I will have Cerise sold off to a brothel where she will pleasure other men instead of you.”

“I won’t let that happen to Cerise,” Roselle said, sending acool glare towards teh Prince. “You have angered me, Caspian. And I will make sure that you will repent for YOUR crimes. En garde; I challenge you to a duel to the death!”