The Black Rose, Page 2

  Wilhelmina felt nervous and even more so when she locked eyes with Prince Jerome. He had looked at her so intently, she worried that he had been attracted to her. However, once down the stairs, she noticed he was talking to Edolie and sighed in relief.

  “You look gorgeous,” Milly whispered excitedly as she hurried over to Wilhelmina. Milly was just a servant so she didn’t get a grand entrance like the lords and ladies. Instead, she was already on the floor along with the other maids. Both headed to the back of the ball room in order to watch the guests start to dance. Wilhelmina had been the last to enter and it would be awhile before the king and queen made their entrance.

  “He’s perfect for her,” Milly mumbled as they watched Edolie and Jerome dance.

  “I guess,” Wilhelmina said. She didn’t really know Jerome, but Edolie seemed happy to be dancing with him.

  “That should be you.”

  “Milly,” Wilhelmina hissed.

  “Well it should be!”

  “Shhhh!” Wilhelmina said frantically hoping not to catch anyone’s attention. Luckily everyone seemed focused on Edolie and Jerome.

  “Sorry,” Milly said, “It just irks me.”

  Wilhelmina sighed, “Just let it be, there’s nothing we can do…”

  Their conversation and the dancing were interrupted by the king and queen’s entrance. Everyone bowed as King Wilhelm Frederic of Aridale and Queen Henrietta Anne of Aridale walked down the marble staircase.

  “As most of you already know, we are here today to celebrate a very special occasion,” King Wilhelm smiled at his daughter, Edolie. “Princess Edolie Marcelle of Aridale is to marry Prince Jerome Alexander of Vanica.” Everyone began clapping, even Wilhelmina and a reluctant Milly.

  The king continued, “Princess Edolie and Prince Jerome shall be our future king and queen, so I know you are all wondering when they are to be married.” King Wilhelm paused for suspense, “Their wedding date has been set to be on the last day of summer.” The room filled with applause and Wilhelmina had to leave. All the celebration was strangely getting to her and she headed out the back door to the Queen’s garden.

  The Queen’s garden was in full bloom. There were hundreds of different flowers of many different colors, but the garden was most famous for its rare blue roses. The blue rose was Queen Henrietta’s favorite flower. They lined the stone path exiting the castle and stopped at a white arch covered in green vines. Behind the arch was an open area that had a beautiful fountain at its center. The fountain featured a sculpture of an angel holding the sun. By the fountain there were a couple of benches, one on each side. Wilhelmina sat down on the nearest one and looked up at the night sky.

  She was not sure why she felt upset. She had already accepted the fact that her sister would be the next queen. She also did not want to be queen. The fact it bothered her so much made her even more upset and frustrated.

  Wilhelmina began to doubt herself. Maybe she really did want to be queen and telling herself she did not had been a lie. It was selfish for her to take the role from her sister. Sure she was the oldest and should be next in line, but then what would become of her sister? Edolie would probably feel the same as Wilhelmina was feeling right now, and with that thought, it made it easier for her to accept Edolie as the future queen of Aridale. Besides, if she really wanted to be a ruler she could always marry a prince and rule a different kingdom. Wilhelmina shook her head at that thought, no; she wanted to marry for love. Not a single guy had yet made an impression on her, not even Jerome, the handsome prince of Vanica. She sighed and looked down at her reflection in the fountain. Then again, she was rather plain herself. She doubted she could attract anyone and turned her attention the moon.

  Back in the ballroom, Milly had been asked to dance by a gentleman and took the offer since she was not able to find Wilhelmina. Jerome, on the other hand, had spotted Wilhelmina leaving, but Edolie demanded his full attention. He had no idea how long they had been dancing and greeting guests before she finally told him she needed to go freshen up. As pretty as Edolie was, she was quite a talker.

  Jerome needed a break from his fiancé and decided to go out for some fresh air. He secretly also wanted to see Wilhelmina again. She had caught his eye and he was very interested. Edolie was of course beautiful and charming, but there was just something about Wilhelmina that appealed to him.

  Out in the Queen’s garden, he spotted Wilhelmina sitting on a white bench by the fountain. He watched her for a bit from a distance. She seemed lost in thought as she stared at the night sky. He looked up to see what she was looking at. The moon was full tonight and there were a few stars, however, many of them were hard to see with the light of the palace. Jerome turned his attention from the sky to Wilhelmina and made his way over to her. She didn’t even look away from the sky when he approached her.

  “Excuse me,” Jerome said as he bowed in front of Wilhelmina.

  Wilhelmina was startled out of her thoughts. She quickly stood up to greet Jerome with a curtsey.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you,” Jerome smiled, “I just came out for some fresh air and noticed you were out here.”

  “It’s alright,” Wilhelmina said regaining her composure.

  “You look beautiful.”

  “Thanks, you don’t look bad yourself,” Wilhelmina smiled awkwardly. They didn’t really know each other and Wilhelmina wasn’t very good at small talk. She never really had much practice since her only friend was Milly. She also was never allowed out of the castle.

  “Wilhelmina, right?” Jerome asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m Jerome,” Jerome said and Wilhelmina nodded. She already knew that of course. “Your sister sure likes to talk a lot,” Jerome added trying to make conversation. They would soon be related through his marriage to Edolie and he wanted to be on good terms with her.

  “Yes, that is one of her flaws,” Wilhelmina said starting to feel more comfortable. At least they weren’t talking about her. “Do you like her?”

  “Oh, yes very much,” Jerome said hoping he didn’t seem like he was complaining, “She’s very pretty, sweet, and her voice is very lovely, which makes up for her chatter.”

  Wilhelmina giggled causing Jerome to smile. He wasn’t quite sure what it was about Wilhelmina, but he was definitely attracted to her. He liked Edolie of course, but it was different. He felt both girls could equally be a suitable wife even though he knew he had to marry Edolie in order take the throne. Jerome felt confused, it as if his heart was being pulled in two different directions.

  “There you are!” Edolie exclaimed as she ran toward Jerome and Wilhelmina. She instantly began rambling about something and grabbed Jerome’s arm. Her interruption distracted Jerome from his thoughts and mixed feelings. He looked at Wilhelmina and she smiled at him, renewing his confusion, but once again Edolie distracted him by tugging on his arm.

  “I’ll see you later,” Jerome managed to say to Wilhelmina as Edolie dragged him back to the ballroom. Wilhelmina giggled and followed them back inside. She looked for Milly to tell her she was going to end the night early, but noticed Milly was dancing with a gentleman. Wilhelmina decided not to disrupt her friend’s fun and headed off to her tower.

  In her tower, Wilhelmina undressed. She sighed in relief when she changed into her red night shirt and shorts. The maids had taken her gown and were putting it back into her closet. She had survived the night and wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed. However, she had to wait till the maids left. Once the lights were out and the maids had gone, she climbed into bed and looked at her ceiling.

  She wondered if Milly was still dancing. She hoped Milly wouldn’t be upset that she decided to go to bed without letting her know. Wilhelmina was too tired though to worry and decided she would apologize in the morning. She was sure Milly would have all sorts of things to tell her tomorrow.

  Chapter 3

  Days had passed since the Spring Ball and Wilhelmina had spent most of the time in her tower
avoiding the wedding preparations. However, today she had no choice but to be a part of the wedding planning since Edolie had picked her bridesmaids and of course, Wilhelmina was chosen to be one of them.

  “Who does she think she is!” Milly was furious and did not approve at all. She did not think it was fair that Wilhelmina wasn’t chosen to be queen. “She is going to be queen and now she rubs it in your face by making you stand up there and watch!”

  “Milly….” Wilhelmina did not realize how upset her friend was over the situation until now. It was going to take all of her energy to calm Milly down and she was not sure if she would have any left to pick out dresses with Edolie. Milly let out a frustrated grunt as she sat down on Wilhelmina’s bed.

  “Milly, it’s not a big deal. I don’t want to be queen,” Wilhelmina said more for herself than for Milly. Even she was beginning to have doubts. Wilhelmina had been so passive about the situation for so long that she had no idea what she truly wanted.

  “But you would be so much better than that spoiled brat!” Milly exclaimed as she jumped off of Wilhelmina’s bed. She had had a rough week with dealing with Edolie. Edolie wanted everything to be perfect and had been constantly yelling at the maids and servants to get everything right. Wilhelmina believed that the pressure from Edolie had caused Milly to snap.

  “Edolie is getting married so it’s normal for her to be crazy, that’s where the term ‘bridezilla’ comes from,” Wilhelmina said calmly as she got Milly to sit back down on her bed, “Besides, I don’t want to marry Jerome. I don’t love him.”

  “But…. Oh…” Milly sighed as she gave in. She knew Wilhelmina was right. She was just frustrated with Edolie. Also, Milly didn’t want Wilhelmina to be forced to be with someone she didn’t like. “I guess love has always been more important to you than ruling.”

  Wilhelmina smiled. She was glad that she managed to get Milly to calm down. “Just remember, after the wedding, I’ll finally be able to go outside. Then we can do all sorts of things together, so it’s not all bad.”

  “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe I totally forgot! Now that Edolie is going to be married, we can do all sorts of things outside the castle, even dance with guys!”

  Milly’s explosion of excitement began to make Wilhelmina regret reminding her that she would be allowed to leave the castle. Fortunately, she was freed from Milly when Edolie’s maid of honor, Delaney, came in to let her know that they were ready to pick out dresses.

  The king had hired the best dress maker in Aridale for Edolie. The dress maker was located in one of the spare bedrooms in the royal chamber. The room had been emptied out and replaced with tons of dresses and fabric. In the back of the room wooden folding screens had been put up for changing purposes. What once was a bedroom now resembled a dress shop.

  Freedom from a spastic Milly came with a price though. Wilhelmina found herself trying on dress after dress, all of which were too extravagant for her tastes. Edolie had also picked pink, which was not one of Wilhelmina’s favorite colors. She looked like a girl trapped in a giant peach.

  “What do you think?” Edolie kept asking her bridesmaids.

  “It’s too dull,” Delaney spoke “It should be brighter, like a fuchsia color. It would make us stand out more and would go a lot better with my beautiful dark brown hair.”

  “Well I like it,” Bianca, one of Edolie’s bridesmaids, retorted, “Some of us have blonde hair and a bright pink would just look horrid.”

  “I like the color, but not the dress so much,” Shirley added.

  Wilhelmina felt that Shirley’s long red hair clashed with the color pink in general, but she didn’t want to say anything since pink was Edolie’s color of choice. Also, Shirley seemed to think she looked good in pink and Wilhelmina did not want to hurt her feelings, so she remained quiet. She would wear whatever her sister wanted. It was Edolie’s wedding after all.

  “What do you think?” Edolie asked, but this time directed to Wilhelmina.

  “Yeah, you haven’t said a thing at all,” Bianca chimed in.

  “Well, I think it should be your choice,” Wilhelmina said directly to Edolie, “It’s your wedding after all…” Wilhelmina felt nervous with all eyes on her. Ball gowns in general weren’t her style and adding pink on top of that just made her even more uncomfortable. None of the other girls spoke and it was clear they were waiting for her to say something, so Wilhelmina took a deep breath and nervously spoke her feelings, “But um… what if we tried more simple dresses?”

  “What?” The other bridesmaids exclaimed.

  “Well Edolie’s the bride; she should be the one that stands out….” Wilhelmina added in defense and bit her lip, “But it was just a suggestion….”

  “I agree,” Jerome said as he entered the room. He had finished getting tuxes done in the room down the hall and came to check on Edolie, only to find that she was not done picking out bridesmaid dresses, which meant she hadn’t even started on her wedding dress.

  “You’re not supposed to be in here!” Edolie exclaimed.

  “There is no rule saying I can’t see the bridesmaids before the wedding,” Jerome said as Edolie flailed her hands in his face.

  “Oh,” Edolie said and she turned her attention back to her bridesmaids, “I think we should give Wilhelmina’s idea a try and put on some more simple dresses.”

  The dressmaker then disappeared into the dress racks to pull some simple pink dresses and Wilhelmina sighed in relief. However, Jerome’s presence soon put her in a state of panic. She wasn’t sure if she liked the idea of him looking at her in dresses. She had only talked to him once and still didn’t really know him. Her heart was racing as the dress maker pushed her behind one of the screens with a light pink dress. The dressmaker helped pin the back of the dress together since it was a bit too big, before disappearing to help the other girls.

  Wilhelmina took a deep breath as she looked at herself in the mirror. Though pink was not her color, she actually didn’t mind the dress. The dress went just past the knees and was strapless. A white sash was tied around her waist and formed a bow in the back. There were also little crystals scattered all over the bottom half of the dress. Wilhelmina did a twirl to see the dress from all angles before heading out for her sister to see.

  The other bridesmaids were already out and showing off their dresses. Delaney, of course, was in a bright pink dress. Shirley was wearing a light pink dress that had puffy sleeves. Bianca was also in a light pink dress, but hers featured a one shoulder. As soon as Wilhelmina stood on the podium, Edolie began to jump up and down.

  “That’s it! That’s the one!”

  “But….” Delaney began, but Bianca and Shirley covered her mouth.

  “It’s her wedding day,” Bianca hissed in Delaney’s ear.

  “Besides, you’re the only one who wants a blinding pink dress,” Shirley added before they all went back to looking normal.

  Wilhelmina felt embarrassed. She never intended for her to be in the dress that her sister loved. Her face reddened even more when she noticed Jerome was smiling at her. His blue eyes were twinkling, giving her a weird feeling and making her even more nervous.

  The dress maker quickly went to get the same dress Wilhelmina was wearing for the other girls so Edolie could see them all together in the pink, sparkly dresses. Wilhelmina couldn’t help but think they looked like a bunch of upside down tulips when they were all standing together, but Edolie was happy and that was all that mattered.

  With the dress picked out, the dress maker began measuring Wilhelmina and the other bridesmaids. Wilhelmina was nervous because she didn’t want to get pricked by the pins. After the dress maker had taken all the notes she needed, she removed the pins and allowed the girls to go change.

  “You look lovely,” Jerome remarked as Wilhelmina was about to head back to the dressing room.

  “I think I look like a tulip,” Wilhelmina said and then turned pink when she realized she just insulted her sister’s dress in front of her fi
ancé. To her relief, Jerome laughed and she hurried into the dressing room to get back into her normal, casual, green dress.

  When Wilhelmina exited the room, she found herself in the middle of a fight. Shirley and Bianca were arguing with one another while Edolie and Delaney watched.

  “You go with him!”

  “No you go!”

  “What’s going on?” Wilhelmina asked as she walked up to Jerome and her sister.

  “Edolie has to pick out her wedding gown, but Jerome can’t see it, so they’re fighting over who has to spend time with Jerome,” Delaney informed her.

  “It’s no big deal, I can go off on my own,” Jerome offered, “Then you all can be here to help her pick one.”

  “But…” Edolie began but her sister interrupted her.

  “I’ll entertain him,” Wilhelmina offered. She really didn’t want to, but she also wanted Shirley and Bianca to stop bickering. Besides, she would have to get to know Jerome at some point since he would be her brother in law, so she decided now was a good time.

  “Thank you!” Edolie exclaimed hugging her sister.

  “No problem,” Wilhelmina said. Jerome then offered her his arm. She smiled and allowed him to escort her out of the room.

  “Make sure you take him to town, we don’t want to risk him seeing Edolie in her dress!” Delaney shouted before they were out the door.

  “So how long do you think they’ll be?” Jerome asked. Despite Wilhelmina’s plain dress, he thought she looked beautiful and could not help but stare at her. Her lips were as red as a rose and her eyes sparkled like emeralds. He was strangely attracted to her even though he knew he shouldn’t be.

  “Probably the rest of the day,” Wilhelmina sighed. The bridesmaid dresses had taken all morning. “Knowing her, she just wants to try on dresses and then get a custom one made.”