Clockworks Chronicles of Zahn

18) The Temptation of the Rose

Victoria II felt herself reaching for the crystal rose. She didn’t remember ever seeing an artifact of such beauty before. She rejoiced in her heart such a gift was left for her. She just had to touch and admire it. Yet, something wasn’t right. As her hand closed in on the rose, she heard voices of warning calling from the background. One of which was her own from the back of her own mind. But why would touching such a beautiful thing be wrong?

Yet, to her in that moment there wasn’t anything else on Zahn. Just the beautiful rose. The voices of warning were incoherent and made no sense to her. So, she continued to reach for her desired treasure. There was something else amiss. Her hand couldn’t close on the rose. It was like there was an invisible case around it preventing her from touching the most beauteous of objects in all eternity.

A pair of small hands took her hands and pulled them to the side. Then a steel hand came crashing down, shattering the delicate crystal rose.

“No!!!” She heard herself cry out as she looked at the crystal shards fly all over her desk. Then she felt her strength give out and she started to fall only to find supporting hands holding her up.

Reality then came crashing in. She looked over to see Mousy, Lady Melanie Quin, holding her hands and looking her in the eyes saying, “M’nence, it was a magical trap!”

Part of her wanted to strike out at this impertinent girl. How dare she speak such a way of such a beauteous thing. But deep down she knew Mousy was right.

She looked over at Sir Johann who was brushing the crystal shards from his steel hand, but she couldn’t help but see the loving concern in his automaton eyes. She looked to her left and right to see her trusted sentinels holding her up gently by her arms.

She got her legs back underneath herself and stood up. She then said, “I’m quite alright now, thank you.”

She shook her head and looked back at the shattered crystal rose. Part of her pined for the beauty it was. But another part of her burned with righteous anger at the attack on her person.

“Sir Johann, I want you to find out who left this trap for me!”

He bowed and said, “Yes Your Eminence.”

She then turned to Mousy and asked, “Was it you who first knew it was a trap?”

“Yes M’nence.”

“How?”

“I just knew. I felt it down deep. I could see the power flowing around it. It had a blackness to it.”

“Strange that I did not.” She said absently. She then smiled and gently caressed Mousy’s cheek and said, “Thank you my dear. I now understand why Ouihan felt you needed to stay with me.”

She turned her back to the desk and said, “Someone remove that horrid thing. I cannot look at it!”

The page standing by not far away bowed and proceeded to brush the shards off the desk into a chamber pot. However, he only was able to get about half of the shards off before he looked at his arm and cried out in anguish. The shards seemed to crawl into his skin opening it up in several locations on his forearm. He looked at the others in the room with a puzzled look on his face as blood began to leak from his eyes, ears and nose. Then he fell to the ground convulsing and crying in pain with a gurgling sound. He was quite dead.

Victoria looked down sadly at Reginald, one of her most trusted pages. “He didn’t deserve this. Farewell Sir Reginald.” Tears flowing from her eyes. She then turned back to Sir Johann, “Are you harmed by it?”

Sir Johann looked at his hands and said, “No Your Eminence. I appear to be quite safe.”

Victoria II said, “Sentinels, you will clean up this cursed thing and then be cleansed. You as well Sir Johann. We cannot take any chances with this evil thing. Send for Dr Saba to see to Sir Reginald’s body! Have Arch Mage Jamison summoned immediately to look into this!”

She had to force herself to leave the room because part of her still longed for the rose. Mousy walked with her.

Lord Joseph heard about the rose incident. He cursed himself for being so craven as for not personally presenting her with the rose. Then she would have had to take it.

He excused himself from the Minister’s meeting he was attending, claiming a headache brought on by concern for Her Eminence and he made his way off the palace grounds.

He made his way across the city to the darker district he did his business in. He didn’t care to disguise his appearance this time. He just had to get himself a new rose to replace the one destroyed. He would then do what he should have to begin with. Hand it in person to her.

He entered the arcane shop and didn’t even pause or pay any attention as the troll said, “She’s expecting you my lord.”

He pushed his way through the curtain and the icy cold barrier, fueled by his anger and shame. He didn’t pay any attention whatsoever to the hideous creatures working in the workshop. He plunged past the curtain, entering the throne room proclaiming, “The rose failed. Despite all your promises it failed!”

She smiled at him but there was no friendliness in her smile. More predatorial, “It is not my fault you are a coward.”

He looked at her astounded. Her whole tone was mocking and ridiculing. Not warm as it had been, “How dare you blame me for this…”

She lifted one finger. He felt his veins and arteries on fire. A sudden emptiness filled his chest. His strength left him, and he crumbled to the floor as if his bones were suddenly absent from his body.

She stood and languidly walked over to him laughing. With her foot she rolled him onto his back and looked down at him.

“You piteous, craven fool. All you had to do to have your dreams was to deliver the rose to her hands. But you were bested by a child and your own cowardice. You are so lucky I still need you for another task. Otherwise I would sup on your flesh and fashion your bones into a harp to torture your soul with.”

He tried to talk but his mouth wouldn’t work right.

She put her hand behind her ear and said, “Pardon? Having difficulty speaking Lord Joseph?” She then clapped Her hands and he felt the pain and weakness go away.

He tried to get up, but his muscles weren’t working right yet.

“Don’t bother to rise yet Lord Joseph. You should kiss my feet for all I’ve done for you.” She then rolled him back over onto his face with her foot and hovered it near his face for a moment then said, “But even I am not that vindictive.” She laughed a soul chilling laugh.

She then held out her hand and Joseph felt his body lift back up off the floor to a standing position. His body moved of its own volition.

“Do you want your soul back?” She asked as She returned to her twisted throne and sat down looking at Lord Joseph imperiously.

“I want to be free of you, yes.”

“Then you have to do one more task for me. Rid me of the same immortal you want gone. I got his blood I wanted to make our child live. Now you can banish him from this world.”

“But the rose? I still need to win over her…”

“You fool. You have forever lost that chance. If you want your soul back and a chance to live and not lose everything else, you already have then you need to take care of Cooper.”

“How do I do that?”

She held up her hand and out of the shadows the troll or one who looked very much like him stepped carrying some sort of device with a brass handle, a copper coiled ring and a black crystal shard floating in the center.

The troll said, “You just need to point it at him and use your force of will to command him, with as much strength as you can muster, to return to his own world.” And he handed the apparatus to Lord Joseph.

With a gesture, She snapped his gaze back to her eyes. “Don’t lose that Lord Joseph. It is the only other piece of the Primal Crystal I’m aware of. It is precious to me. Once you’re finished with your quest then you’ll have your soul back and your freedom from me. Of course, after you return the shard.”