22. Rosalie
Chapter 22
Rosalie
T he best part of the aftermath of Jace’s invasion was that they were free to enjoy the grounds again. The days, and especially nights, were growing colder as winter approached, and Rosalie didn’t want to waste the last of the sun. On sunny days, she spent as much time outside as possible, wandering the gardens or resting on the soft grass.
It was utterly delightful to finally rest after nearly a year of frenetic activity. Knowing her family would soon have the means to rebuild their fortune allowed her to finally set down the load she had been carrying. But as the days drew into weeks, she started to find the inactivity of her life at the enchanted manor difficult.
“How do you do this all day?” she asked Daphne as they lay side by side in the grass one late afternoon.
“Do what?” Daphne asked sleepily.
“Rest. I like it, but I also get…antsy.”
Daphne chuckled, the sound a little groggy. “You would. You always have to be doing something. It’s easy, though. Just make resting your achievement for the day.”
Rosalie laughed. “It was all right while we still had the manor to explore. And then I made that map of the gardens. But now I know every corner and cranny of this place. There’s nothing left to do.” She looked up at the sky, enjoying the pink and gold hue of sunset. “I’ll miss it here when we leave, though.”
“Mmmm,” Daphne murmured, “yes. You’ll miss the house .”
Rosalie ignored her, sitting up. “I’m itching to know what Dimitri is up to. Confess—you know why he forbade us from going anywhere near the western courtyard this afternoon, don’t you?”
The grass rustled as Daphne rolled over. “There’s no use hassling me because I don’t know anything.”
A calculating look settled on Rosalie’s face.
“There’s no point asking your brothers, either,” Daphne said. “If Dimitri didn’t tell me, there’s no way he told them.”
Rosalie flopped back down. “That’s true.”
“You’re too curious for your own good, that’s your problem,” Daphne said.
“And you’re not curious enough! I don’t know how you do it.”
“It’s easy.” Daphne yawned. “Just put it out of your mind and have a nap instead.”
“We’re here,” Oscar announced. “All of us. And with the requested food.”
Rosalie sat up again. “Food? Are we having a picnic?”
“No idea,” Vernon said cheerfully. “We just did what we were told.”
“Quadruple pay today,” Ralph added.
“I’m glad he’s been paying them daily out of the replenishing chest,” Daphne said. “They’re going to be rich by the end of this.”
But Rosalie wasn’t distracted. “It’s getting a little cold now the sun’s gone down. Are you sure the picnic wasn’t supposed to be at midday?”
Dimitri cleared his throat, drawing her attention. She scrambled to her feet. “Have you finished in the courtyard?” she asked eagerly. “Are we allowed to look now?”
He bowed low and gestured in the courtyard’s direction.
“Allow me to escort you, my lady.”
“Are we all supposed to come?” Daphne asked.
He smiled around vaguely. “Is everyone here? Excellent. Please follow me, everyone. And make sure you bring the food, boys.”
“Yes, sir!” Vernon said promptly.
“We should be paying them quadruple pay every day,” Rosalie said admiringly.
Dimitri smiled down at her. “If you’d like it, we can. It’s not costing us anything after all.”
“When you put it like that, you make us sound stingy!”
She turned the corner of the building and came to a stop, one of her invisible brothers colliding with her back. Dimitri steadied her, and she grinned up at him.
“A firepit? Outside? When the manor already has approximately thirty-seven thousand fireplaces?”
“You like it?” He grinned back. “Now we can stay out long enough to look at the stars. There were a lot of shooting stars last night, so I’m hoping for the same tonight.”
In the hours he’d been gone, he had built a secure firepit, placing logs in a circle around it, presumably for seats.
“Is this something you used to do in the mountains?” Daphne asked, and he nodded.
“The mountain community didn’t all gather often, but when we did, it was always around a bonfire.”
Rosalie’s expression softened. He hadn’t just made them a firepit and prepared a picnic; he was sharing something of himself with them.
“It’s a lovely present,” she said quietly. “We appreciate it.”
“Yes, I’m sure it’s a present for all of us,” Daphne murmured behind them before the rustle of her clothes moved away.
She and the boys quickly laid out the food the triplets had brought, along with plates and cutlery and even cups and flagons of drink.
“This really is a feast!” Rosalie was impressed.
Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so impatient all afternoon. Surprises could be enjoyable.
She shared a log with Dimitri, and darkness slowly fell, alleviated only by the light from the manor windows and the flames of the fire in front of them. The darker it became, the less noticeable the others’ invisibility was, and by the time she finished her plate, it wasn’t noticeable at all.
The six of them talked and laughed, keeping Dimitri entertained with stories of the triplets’ childhood, and even some early tales of Rosalie and Daphne’s.
“Why do I feel like you were reluctantly dragged into every single one of those disasters?” he asked Daphne.
“Because you’ve met Rosalie,” she replied.
They all laughed, and Vernon launched into another tale. In the darkness, their surroundings felt magical and secluded. Weariness crept over Rosalie, and she let her head rest on Dimitri’s shoulder.
He tensed slightly but made no protest, soon relaxing again. Eventually the talk dwindled into silence, and they all sat, staring into the mesmerizing flames. Rosalie was used to watching a fire, but there was something different about seeing one beneath the stars.
“This is lovely,” she breathed sleepily. “Maybe my true calling is to be a peddler and travel the kingdoms. I could sit under the stars with a fire like this every night.”
“Except when it was raining,” Ralph said. “Or snowing. Or blistering hot.”
“Thank you for that injection of practicality,” she said dryly. “I see you read my mood precisely.”
“Yes,” Dimitri said in a strangely formal tone. “I’ve noticed your mood lately. Is it that you’re missing your mother? It’s been a long time since you’ve seen her.” He put heavy emphasis on the final sentence.
Rosalie pulled away from him, the light, sleepy feeling gone.
“It has been a while,” Vernon said. “That illness excuse is wearing thin too. She’s starting to be concerned that it’s dragging on so long and has been talking about visiting you.”
“Hush!” Daphne said, in an unusually sharp tone.
Obviously, her friend had understood the significance of Dimitri’s words, even if her brothers hadn’t. Some of Rosalie’s pleasure in the evening picnic evaporated now that she realized it had been a farewell.
But Dimitri was still waiting for her answer, and there was only one she could give. She should be happy to give it, but she found she wasn’t in the least.
“I have indeed missed my mother,” she said, equally formally. “May I have permission to leave here to visit her?”
“Alas,” Dimitri said. “I cannot refuse you, and yet I know now that I will die. For if you leave me, I will surely sicken and perish.”
“I will not leave you, Beast,” Rosalie said, wishing she could put more enthusiasm into her script. “I swear that if you let me go to see her, I will return to you.”
“Do you mean it?” he asked, and his acting was perfect. The words sounded utterly sincere.
“I will be gone only a day,” she promised, seeing no need to drag out that portion of the story. “I will stay with her one night, and when I arise the next morning, I will return immediately.”
“Thank you,” Dimitri said, and again he sounded as if he meant the words.
They all headed inside quickly after that, but Rosalie lay awake in her soft, cloud-like bed for a long time. It was the last time she would lie in it, and she couldn’t bring herself to reach for sleep. She should welcome the morning and their imminent freedom from the Legacy, but somehow in her weeks at the manor, her original goal had become blurry and distant. She hadn’t felt trapped by the Legacy—not since that solitary day in the library—and ending her weeks in the manor no longer felt like the culmination of all her efforts.