Alexandra’s Blue Rose

“Run princess! Run princess!” Sarah excitingly screaming at her friend as she was chasing.

The princess’s blond hair fluttering in the wind as she laughs and scurries on the royal lawn. Sarah and Alexandra have been friends since birth. They were born on the same day, and Sarah’s mother is the queen’s handmaiden. The Queen was also not of royal blood, and struggled to adjust to life in a castle, and as a queen. She has Sarah’s grandmother to thank for mentoring her through it all. Sarah’s grandmother was the king’s mother’s handmaiden and sometimes advisor. She was a very wish woman and grew up in the streets of Aeru. Where she learned to read people and become exceptionally street smart. Sarah’s grandmother started working in the castle and the queen took a liking to her. That is how their line of women became the handmaidens of the queens who followed.

In the past, the kingdom’s royals did not mix with the peasants or lower-class people unless they were servants. The king wanted that to change that, and knew marring a woman outside royal blood will help him understand his people’s needs better. The marriage also helped the king win the trust of the people and helped him build a prosperous and peaceful country.

A fair yet ruthless man. His subjects loved and feared him, his wife and daughter adored him, and Sarah got nervous every time she was in his presents.

“Sarah look!” Alexandra was pointing at something.

Sarah stopped chasing her and tried to figure out what her friend was pointing at. “A blue rose!?”

Sarah sees Alexandra's face light up as she runs across the perfectly cut lawn. She understands why the boys start acting strange when she is around, some secretly try to hide the bulge in their pants when she talks to them. Alexandra was a princess out of a fairy tale. Blond hair, blue eyes and a body, men would go slay dragons for. She is sweet and kind and did not care much for gold and diamonds.

Sarah’s mother will always scold her for being dirty and not doing more girl-like things. She sometimes attempts to be like Alexandra, but she would rather fight with a boy than kiss him.

Sarah’s dark brown hair and hazel eyes do not make her stand out like her friend. Her dad tells her every day how beautiful she is, and tells her to listen to her mother, but always winks at her when he says that.

Alexandra is the first one to the rose and stuffs her nose into it, Sarah sees a puff of glittery blue dust puff out from the rose and Alexandra quickly regrets being overly zealous. She coughs a few times, and Sarah was laughing at her friend’s reaction. Her eyes tear up, and her nose starts running. Alexandra sneezes a few times and had to scratch her nose.

“Are you ok?” Sarah asked her after a couple of sneezes.

Alexandra looks up, smiling. “Yes, I will be fine.”

“Girls, it's time to get ready for dinner.” It was Sarah’s mother calling them, and the two of them raced back to the castle.

***

Sarah is lying in bed waiting for her mother to pop in and sing her happy birthday. She wonders if her mother is tired, or the queen gave her the day off, that is why she’s sleeping late. Sarah reminisces about the last 16 years of her life. Her father always wanted a boy, but he is now even happier to find out that his daughter liked doing boy stuff. He taught her to be mentally tough, to use her mind and intelligence as a weapon. He made her read books on war strategies. Made her learn chess, and read psychology books on human behavior. She’s never used all that, but she does like to people watch. The way they dress, what they eat, the way they walk, but the thing she likes the most is learning how to fight. Her father always says that fights are not always won by brute force. She can throw a punch and dodge a punch better than most boys and some men.

Sarah finally gets up and decides to go find her birthday song.

***

Her father was in the kitchen. “Happy birthday rocket.”

Her father started calling her that the day she outran him.“I will rather not hurt your ears with my awful singing, and it is your birthday, so and let you sleep a little late.”

He came over and gave her a hug and a kiss. “Your mother will give you your present when she gets back. I must get to work. See you later, rocket.”

Her father ruffled her hair and was out the door. It is not like her mother to do this; even if she is going to get her present, she will always sing for her before leaving the house. Sarah decides to take a bath and to go find her mother.

***

Sarah is walking from her home towards the castle when a car stopped next to her. “Good Morning miss.”

Sarah takes a few steps away from the car. “Hi”.

The stranger in the car smiles broadly at her. “Where can I find Doctor Mikael?”

Sarah looks at the man a bit confused. He has a black bowler hat on with a long cream coat with a black shirt and black pants on. The car he is driving looks like it came out of the 1920. His round face seems like it was split in half as he was still smiling. Sarah explains to him where to find the doctor. The man drives off waving and thanks, her. She keeps walking, guessing why someone will be looking for the royal doctor.

***

“Oh, Sarah, my child.” Her mother gives Sarah a tight hug, and she has to close her eyes as the mid-morning sun almost blinds her.

“I apologize for not singing for you this morning, I had to leave really early. The princess is sick, and she can’t get out of bed. Doctor Mikael asked me to come get you.”

Sarah pulls her head back a little, puzzled.

“He wants to ask you a few questions.”

***

Sarah walks into the princess’s room, and she can feel the dense hand of misery pressing everyone down in the room. The king and queen are there, Doctor Mikael, is talking to two other people, a man and a woman. Alexandra’s room is almost as big as Sarah’s entire house. Alexandra loves the color gold, so she decorated the room white and gold. Every time Sarah comes in here, it feels like she is teleported to another dimension. The walls and golden trimmings, little fairy statues. It is too girly for Sarah, but she still thinks it is beautiful. Doctor Mikael signals to her; just as someone else came into the room.

“Hello! Everybody! I am doctor Barbeneagra. Thank you for inviting me to your humble country, I think Aeru is magical.”

Sarah takes a close look at the man and recognizes him from earlier. He greets the king and queen and strolls over to the doctor before Sarah could get to him. They converse for a few minutes, then calls Sarah.

“Sarah, I apologize for disturbing you on your birthday, but we really need to know if the princess ate anything strange yesterday.” Doctor Mikael, almost whispering to her.

Sarah takes a few seconds to think.

“Or even touched anything?”

Her attention turns to Barbeneagra.

“No. Wait, she did smell a blue rose that puffed up some glittery stuff in her face.”

Barbeneagra picks up his case and straightens his hat. “Come dear girl. You must show me the plant.”

***

They were on their way out of the room when Doctor Mikael’s assistant met them at the door. “Doctor here is the autopsy of the two bodies that were found.”

Doctor Barbeneagra inquisitively looks at him. Sarah also attempts to have a peek at the document like she will understand what was on it.

“There were two terrible murders last night. A man and a woman were brutally killed, one’s head was ripped off. His spinal cord was also removed. The woman’s breasts were torn off, and we don’t think it was an animal attack because there has never been one.”

Sarah and the two doctors, along with one of Aeru’s only generals that has seen war, General Stone, make their way into the royal garden.

Sarah is bewildered, to see that the rose is gray. One touch from Doctor Barbeneagra makes the pedal dissolve like burning paper. Barbeneagra takes out his cell phone and calls someone. “Bormetheus, will you be so kind and come to the royal garden? I need your expertise on something.”

Barbeneagra smiles. “Professor Bormetheus. He lives in Aeru, maybe you’ve heard of him. He is an expert in the world of vegetation, and has a thing for folklore.”

A few hours later, they are all back in the garden with the professor.

Bormetheus swings his walking stick as he skips through the garden. His green and black checkered suit, with his yellow bow tie and white shirt. Reminds Sarah of a jester, with the way he walks and carries himself.

“Hey, hey, hey. What do we have here? Professor Christofol Bormetheus is present.”

Barbeneagra points at the gray rose. “What do you think?”

Bormetheus did a small skip and bents over to have a better look. “Whoever took a sniff, sniff at this will have a high possibility of gliding through to Hades or some place where all the dead people go in a few days. This practically species of Blue rose. Is not.. How shall I say? Gentle to the Homo sapiens brain functions. It will break it down, gradually, and painfully.” Mikael looks like the blood is being drained from his face, and Sarah feels like all her strength was just sucked out of her. She grabs hold of Barbeneagra’s coat just to keep standing. She can’t feel the tears come out of her eyes because her skin feels numb, the taste of salt in her mouth registers it to her. Sarah looks bewildered at her hand, then wipes the tears from her face.

Bormetheus taps his walking stick a few times. “No long faces. Come now, come now. There are a few legends and folklore on potions and magical cures. Sporadically, these fairytales hold truth to them.”

Doctor Mikael clears his throat. “Are there no proven cures for this that we can just go get?”

Bormetheus lifts his chin up and Doctor Mikael. He pauses with a scratch to his beard. “Nnnoo”

He hops away from the rose.

General Stone steps in. “You say there are legends tied to it? Is there one that could save our princess's life?”

Bormetheus rubs his chin again, does a little two-step. “Let me think, let me think. Yes, yes, yes there is. The orb of life, it’s called. That is the only thing that can cure that puff of glitter your princess inhaled. That is what the legend says anyway, and as per legend custom, no one has returned from searching for the orb.”

General Stone pushes his chest out. “I will go find it. I have lived a long a prosperous life under my king and if this is the only way to save his daughter, I will do it.”

Sarah looks at the general and sees the resolution in his eyes and before she could think. “I will go too.”

The men turn to the young girl in amazement.

Doctor Mikael gently put his hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “You are still young Sarah, if there is no truth in the legend, and you do die, it would have been a fool’s errand.”

Sarah swallows her sadness and pumps her face full of resolve. “Will one of you gentle man go then? She is not just my princess, she is my best friend and like a sister to me. It can just be a legend and there can nothing, but I have to do anything in my power to help my friend.” Bormetheus clapped his hands. “Then you will not mind if I also jump on the wagon. I’m the only one here that knows where we will be going, and I have an item that I want to test on this adventure. Just be warned Sarah, there will be danger, and I’m not talking about a big spider under the sink danger. Things that can actually cut your life short, really short.”

Mikael takes his hand off Sarah’s shoulder with a bit of disappointment in his face. “Doctor Barbeneagra and I will keep searching on our side for a cure. I will inform the king and queen and Sarah, you must tell your parents.”

Sarah totally forgets that she still has to get pass her mother. She knows her father will let her go, but her mother is a different story.

***

Sarah spent the entire day under a tree near the dam trying to read, but her mind kept coming back to her friend and this blue rose. She’s now walking home with another problem hanging over her. How will she convince her mother that she wants to go and find or try to help to find this Orb? An Orb that maybe exists. Sarah feels like she needs to lie, but her mother always finds out the truth, then her father will step in. The last time she did that, her father made her regret her actions, she was thought a lesson, and she does not want to go back to that class again. Sarah takes a deep breath before entering her home.

***

Her mother greets her with a long hug. “Are you doing okay, my child?”

“Yes mother. I’ll be okay.” She looks around the kitchen. “Where is my father?”

Her mother is busy cutting vegetables. “He will be here soon. He is just working a little late.”

Sarah wants to get the Orb thing out of the way, but now she’ll have to wait.

“Go look in your room.”

***

Sarah makes her way to her room. Two gift bags? She feels like she should be happier. She is getting two presents this year. Sarah knows children who get expensive cars and enormous sweet sixteen parties. She also knows kids who only get a hug and a kiss. Her friend got a deadly something eating away her brain for hers, and it seems like everyone has forgotten it’s her birthday too. Sarah looks at the gift bags. Her mother and father must have saved up for a few months to buy her these, it will be inconsiderate and extremely ungrateful not to open them.

As she is walking to her bed, she hears her father come in, Sarah rushes out of her room to go talk to her parents.

***

The sun is still behind the horizon as they arrive at the royal hanger. General Stone wakes Sarah up. “We are here, Sarah, time to wake up.”

Sarah is not accustomed to getting up this early. She was awake, but not all there when she left home. She remembers lots of kissing hugging some crying, and her mother and father telling her they love her. As they get on the plane, Sarah remembers that she never opened her presents. What if she dies? What if she never gets to see what is in those gift bags? She is still on autopilot when the pilot announces that they will take off in five minutes. A beautiful young woman walks up to her as she sits down. “Would you like anything to drink before we leave, young miss.”

Sarah looks at the woman with sleepy eyes. “ Strong coffee, please. With milk and two sugars.”

The woman down the corridor and disappears behind a closed door. There is another one going around talking to the other passengers, and she follows Sarah’s, coffee bringer.

After her coffee and the shock of feeling the take-off of a private jet, Sarah is fully awake.

It is her first time flying, and she is flying in luxury. The seat she is sitting in feels softer and more comfortable than her bed. The interior of the plane is mostly white with splashes of different browns, there are also a few touches of gold and wood. Sarah expects its expensive wood. She finally digs up the courage to take a walk down the corridor and see who else is on their trip, and greet everyone properly. The back seat gives her a better vantage point, the one problem is she can't see the people’s faces. She gets up and strolls past the seats. The seat in front of her is General Stone.

He is sitting with a tablet looking at maps. “ Are you awake now, Sarah?” He says with a big smile.

Sarah smiles back, nodding her head.

There are four men she doesn’t know with them. The last seat before you get to the part where the crew is, Professor Bormetheus is sitting reading a book.

He looks up and takes off his armless glasses. “ Sarah the brave. You are at last fully functional. After you have used the ladies room, you are welcome to sit your caboose next to me. I would like to speak with you.”

Sarah smiles. “Uh? Okay, and good morning to you to professor.”

Sarah joins the professor with another cup of coffee in her hand.

“It is superb coffee, but I prefer water. You will label me as certified crazy if I drink too much of that stuff.”

Sarah laughed. “That will spice up the flight.”

Both have a chuckle.

“Sarah?”

For the first time, the eccentric professor has a serious tone to his voice.

“I believe you are a smart and brave girl for doing what you are doing. I also hope that I can trust you, but I think I can.”

Sarah takes a deep breath, preparing her mind for where this conversation is going.

“The species of that Blue Rose is not or even the blue rose species are not native to Aeru. My knowledge is that there have never been any blue roses in your country. The climate and soil will not be a good habitat for them. These plants are exceedingly picky about where they grow. Having one fully bloomed in the royal garden is extraordinarily suspicious.”

Sarah did not expect this. She is under the impression that plants grow where they want, just some soil water and there you go.

“I’ve relayed this information to Doctor Barbeneagra and now you. The doctor will have his side mission in the palace and I thought an extra pair of eyes here will help. I do not want you to do anything reckless. If you see anything out of the ordinary, come tell me. You do not have to say anything, go back to your seat and enjoy your coffee.”

Sarah sits in the back seat, enjoying her coffee, and observing all the passengers from her vantage point. She rolls the conversation or the information the professor gave to her over in her head.