Chapter 43

As the midnight sky turns a radiant navy blue color, and the moon is full and bright, Cade and Thatcher gather enough men to take with them to hunt for Kristen and Princess Juliana. Later that night, the group slumbers in their own beds for the first time in weeks, since they journeyed to Castlerock and Stone Ridge. Only a few hours pass by when suddenly a shriek fills the castle corridors as Shelly and I rush through Melina's bedroom door. "What is it? Are you alright?" Shelly and I ask worriedly. "Yes I-uh....I managed to enter Carolin's dreams again, and there are some things I need to discuss with everyone in the throne room at once. I think I have found something useful that can possibly take Carolin and her evil goons down!" Melina tells us. Taking to the corridors I rouse everyone and tell them to meet in the throne room. 

Twenty minutes go by as the sleepy bed dwellers enter the throne room scratching their heads and wipe the sleep from their eyes. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice, but there are somethings that have been brought to my attention. Melina, you may explain to the group what you have seen" I tell them kindly. Melina smiles slightly and says, "Well for you to all understand, I must start from which it all started. I met someone when my mother, Arthur, and I were banned from Dragon Valley, and I was out gathering food supplies from a nearby forest" she begins as she chokes back tears. "His name was Tristan, and he showed me how to use my magic. I guess you can say I'm sort of an enchanter, although I don't have any healing powers. However, every so often I can enter Carolin's dreams. Normally I have to cast a spell to be able to do so, but this time I was sleeping and entered her dreams once more. You see, Carolin was a faerie at one time, and was kidnapped by a witch many years ago. The witch was very cold and cruel towards Carolin and made Carolin her personal servant, and kept her hidden for many years after the kidnapping. The tension between the king and queen grew so strong that their marriage started drifting apart. The king blamed his wife, although he knew she was hurting just as much as he was. Through agony and torment, the queen was found in the bathroom the following morning, with both of her wrists slit and bled out on the floor. A few years later the king's sister, Elizabeth came to the court to care for the king when he fell ill. Soon after that, the king awoke one evening and clasped his chest and fell to the floor. His guards found him only hours later. 

The kingdom had lost their king and no one but his sister, Elizabeth, was in line for the throne now that the queen and his daughter were gone. It was a very sad day in the Kingdom of Dragon Valley. When the witch heard of the deaths of Carolin's parents, she couldn't help but gloat about it in front of Carolin. The witch even went as far as telling Carolin that she was her slave forever and that the villagers would never accept her back into their kingdom because she's a monster. The witch had put a curse on Carolin when she was a baby. When Carolin turned sixteen, the witch went out to the forest to gather supplies one day, and told Carolin that she better be there when she returns. While the witch was out, Carolin found the witch's spell book, and made up a potion. When the witch returned, Carolin was ready for her, and threw the potion onto her, and killed the witch, or so she thought. Carolin then returned to the Kingdom of Dragon Valley and claimed her rights to the throne. On her eighteenth birthday the curse took effect and she became a hybrid. 

She was a great queen and did great things until the curse fully took it's toll. She had searched for many years for a cure, but was unable to find one. Not even the royal enchanter or the wizard who saved my grandmother many years ago could find a cure.  Once the curse took it's toll on Carolin, she lost her faerie powers and her wings were striped from her. You see when a faerie turns evil, they lose their powers and their wings" Melina explains. "That explains when I first met her, she had pale vampire skin, but also had the wings of a faerie. A few years later she no longer had her wings" Shelly adds. 

"Is the witch really dead?" Tulip asks out of curiosity.  Melina continues, "Now this is where it gets interesting. Two years after my father was born, the very same witch who Carolin thought she had killed, kidnapped my father, Lestat. Luckily they found him in just a few weeks, thanks to a merchant who was traveling nearby and heard him crying. Lestat was born with the same curse Carolin has, only he was mostly faerie, and no one really knows exactly why the witch took him other than to possibly get back at Carolin for trying to kill her." Roonie gasps before saying, "Did they ever catch the evil witch who did all of this?" "Carolin's guards caught the witch just a few miles down the road from where my father was found and took her to the dungeon. The day of her execution, the witch chanted some words in old Latin and disappeared, and was never seen or heard from again. Now based on Carolin's past, I think there's a cure out there somewhere. If we can remove the curse from Carolin, then we can bring her down!" Melina explains.

The group murmurs between one another and the room grows quiet. Jax breaks the silence as he says, "I'm all for finding a cure and bringing this evil woman down with the rest of her goons! That woman and her family have caused us all enough pain and suffering!" "Here here", the rest of the group calls out. "Now you all know I can't make any fast decisions without Cade here. Once our King returns home, we can bring this matter up to him and see what his decision is. Until then we can only remain calm, and hope they find little Juliana" I explain. The group agrees to my terms and we retire to our bedchambers for the remainder of the early morning. 

The day rolls quickly on and as the evening sun sets, Katherine gathers the supplies she needs for her trip to find the wizard who threatens to take Shelly's light and joins me in the kitchen. We talk of her trip and of this evil wizards past, and I feel reassured that she will be able to put a stop to him. Soon after Shelly enters the kitchen, and notices Katherine has two sacks sitting on the counter. "Ah Shelly my dear, just the girl I was hoping to see before I go on my journey. Please come sit with me?" she asks. Shelly gives a nod and takes a seat across the table from her. "Would you like some coffee, I just brewed it a few moments ago" I offer. Shelly tells me that she would love some, and the two of them begin chatting away about Katherine's journey. 

Katherine smiles slightly as she pours a cup of coffee, "I'm going to need you to look after your father while I'm away. I really don't want to leave him in his weakened state, but I know I must find the wizard before Lestat does." "Of course I'll look after him while you're away, it's the least I can do. We have been apart for so long, and now that we're a family again, I wanna spend as much time as I can with him." Shelly tells her. Katherine smiles with thanks before explaining, "I hate to rush off, but Lestat has a head start on me, I'm sure I'll be able to find him before he does." Shelly tells her there's no need to explain, and Katherine smiles pulling Shelly into a goodbye hug before exiting the castle.

Just as Shelly and I finish our coffee, a horrible scream comes from upstairs, and we race to see what is going on. As we reach the top of the stairwell, nurses are scurrying about with hot water and clean towels. Rounding the corner to the the hallway, Roonie stands outside one of the doors that leads to a bedroom. "Roonie now what's going on?" Shelly asks. "Clover's having her baby, and believe me, she's one of the most awful patients I have ever seen! I feel so sorry for the doctor who has to deliver the baby" she tells us. "Where's Jax and Tulip?" I ask. "They're in the room with Clover. As soon as the baby arrives, Tulips gonna perform an enchantment to see who the father is" she squeaks nervously. "I'm sorry majesties, Miss Clover's needin' her privacy now" Midi says as she almost shoo's Jax and Tulip from the room.

"Well I guess now we wait" Jax says. I'm sure the other's notice his voice slightly quiver as he says it, but none of us mention it. Tulip looks quite somber indeed, and Shelly suggests that we wait in the sitting room until the baby has arrived. "Sounds like a plan" Luke agrees as we march down the hall. Drawing nearer to the room we hear Cade and Thatcher discussing plan of action for locating Juliana. "Darling, you're back" I say surprised. "Yes, Thatcher and I spoke with some of the villagers and rounded up guards to track down the baby" he tells me. "Thought we'd wait here until everything is ready. The guards are preparing the villagers for travel. It's not everyday these people see a journey such as this, and we can't afford to lose anyone because we aren't prepared" Thatcher explains. "That makes good sense" Roonie pipes up in her small voice. "You always think of everything honey" Shelly sweetly tells Thatcher before kissing his cheek. Hours pass as the group of us talk deep into the night and before long I can feel my eyelids drooping. 

Sunlight kisses my face and I squint as I open my eyes. Looking around I see my friends all passed out awkwardly on chairs and sofa's nearby. Luke gently holding on to Roonie's leg as it remains the only thing still on the couch her body hanging off it, and her face smooshed against the floor. I stifle a giggle at the sight of her and think to myself "Must've fallen asleep waiting for the news about the baby....THE BABY!" I almost shout. Midi peeks into the sitting room and smiles, "Good morning your highness. I've just come to wake you all. Miss Clover finally had her baby and got some rest, she's ready for visitors now. The poor girl was in labor for almost 12 hrs! I know she'll be wantin' to know who that little one's Poppa is so let's get these folks up and about!" 

Gathering in the room with Clover, everyone sleepily rubs their eyes and congratulates her on the baby. "Where is the baby anyhow?" Roonie meekly asks. "The maids took her to get cleaned up. I'm very weak, as I've lost alot of blood, but I'm glad to see you all" Clover manages to say. "Why Clover Vine I believe that's the nicest thing you've ever said" Bonnie says with a twist of sarcasm. But Clover just lets out a soft giggle. Soon Midi returns to the room, but this time she's carrying a small bundle, which she hands over to Clover. Everyone in the room gasps, well everyone but Jax, who immediately bursts into laughter. With an offended expression Clover demands for him to stop laughing at the baby. But, Jax is laughing so hard he can't even retort. A huge smile spreads across Tulips face, but she quickly hides it from Jax and instead answers for him. "Clover hun, Jax isn't laughing at your baby" she explains. "He isn't?" Clover replies, unconvinced. 

Soon the whole group is suppressing their snorts and chuckles, and Clover looks as though she is about to scream. "No you dense toe-head woman! He is laughing because all this time; the guilt trip, the whining...all this time you have been torturing Jax. Telling him he's the father of this baby and that he needs to be with you and take care of it, when it's clearly impossible that he could be the father!" Bonnie snaps. The small caramel colored baby gives a little cry and Clover looks from it's pouting face to Jax, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Let me help you along...Jax has a light skin tone, and you are nothing short of porcelain. There is no way that this could be Jax's child" Bonnie points out. Clover gasps in astonishment, "Oh my gosh, that's true! That must mean this is 's child!" After talking with Clover we find out that she had many, um 'gentlemen friends' but only one of those had a darker complexion; his name is Reed. Clover bursts into tears frantically, "I just didn't know! I thought it was the baby of the person you love." Roonie shakes her head and hugs Clover tightly, "Aw Clover that's just not how it works. Don't worry though we will find Reed and inform him. I'm sure it will all work out." Tulip takes a small step closer to Jax so that standing next to one another, their forearms barely graze against each other. I see Jax give a little smile, but it turns to a surprised expression as a loud snort bursts through the room. Glancing over I see Bonnie, red faced, doing her best to suppress her laughter. 

Once the commotion had died down a bit Reed was found and informed about his new daughter. We extended an invitation for him to join us at the castle to visit Clover and the baby, and he arrived promptly. After one of the maids announce Reed, I escort him to Clover's room. A large muscular fellow, he sure seemed timid and quite nervous, but that was to be expected. He had what appeared to be coarse thick dark hair, but it was neatly kept, his eyes were a bright amber and he wore a kind expression. "It's going to be alright" I tell him softly, with a smile. The corners of his mouth turn up revealing a dazzling white smile and he whispers in return, "I know...I love her." Down the chilly halls we continue, until finally we reach Clover's room, and I ease the door open.

Clover's eyes light up when we enter and she places a finger to her lips, before pointing at the baby sound asleep in the bassinet. Reed rushes to Clover's side and he tenderly speaks, "Clover are you alright? I came as soon as I could! Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant!?" Clover tells him the whole story up to that point and Reed wears a discouraged look. The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Clover decided to speak, "I'm sorry, I just have known Jax for so long. I really thought he was the one even though he doesn't reciprocate the feelings." Reed takes a deep breath and sighs, "Clover I was so hurt when you left, I didn't even understand why. I mean one day we're happy and in love, then I wake up one morning and you're gone. But, I never forgot how much I love you, even when I couldn't find you. I am willing to put the past in the past and be a great dad to our little girl and if you will let me...." He slowly eases to one knee, and pops open a little butterfly shape box with a simple diamond ring in it and then continues, "...if you'll let me, I'd like to make you my wife." Clover inhales quickly, and a smile spreads across her face before she agrees and the two of them intertwine in a heated kiss. Sensing I should give them some space I quickly sneak from the room to go find Tulip. 

 
Passing through the dining hall I see the men celebrating with Jax. "Now you might actually have a chance with Tulip!" Luke kids. Jax gives him a playful frown and Arthur raises his pint, "To second chances!" "More like fifteenth, but who's counting?" Thatcher chuckles elbowing Jax in the side. "To Jax and his endeavors!" Cade smiles and the lot of them shout, "Here, here!" before taking massive gulps from their pints. Smiling and shaking my head, I continue through the room and out the back doors, making my way to the gardens.

Under a weeping willow tree I see a very perplexed Tulip, who is pacing back and forth, and appears to be talking to herself. Gently pulling aside the long branches of the tree I speak a gentle, "Knock, Knock?" Tulip gasps, apparently startled by my sudden presence. "Oh, Nora! I didn't see you there!" she exclaims nervously. "What are you doing out here anyhow? Not the best day for a walk through the garden" I mention as I hold my hand outside the safety of the branches. Little raindrops kiss my palm and far away thunder crashes softly. "Looks like it's gonna pour anytime now" I continue, but Tulip says nothing. Taking a seat on the small stone bench under the tree, I pat the seat next to me, as to call her over. Reluctantly, she joins me, but stares at her bare feet. Glancing down at them I notice tiny paintings of tulips adorn her toenails and she wiggles her toes into the earth. "Still an earth faerie at heart even though she's royalty" I think to myself. 

"All this stuff with Jax is bothering you, eh?" I cautiously ask. She nods, but remains silent. We sit a few moments watching the winds carrying the thundering clouds south, and lightening flashes across the sky as the rain begins to fall. "When I was little Jax and I spent everyday together. He taught me to swim and we would go fishing often, they were some of my favorite times. When we were 12 he found a lightening flower...that was a great day" Tulip says reminiscently. "That sounds lovely, what is a lightening flower?" I ask her curiously. "It's a very rare flower that grows where a bolt of lightening has struck the ground. They are very rare you see, and are almost blinding with their brilliant blue-white color. He gave it to me, and told me that my beauty surpassed its extravagance, and then he kissed me. I have never felt about anyone the way that I feel about Jax..." she explains. Giving her a soft smile I reply, "Not even Alex? You were prepared to move away from this place forever with him...surely that meant something?" Tulip closes her eyes, and a glistening tear rolls slowly down her porcelain cheek. "I was angry...I never meant it. I just wanted to run away and be rid of all these feelings. I just..." Tulip trails off hiding her face in her palms. 

Before I even have time to reply or act I notice a rain soaked Jax standing a few feet behind us, his eyes glossy with the tears he's clearly holding back. Carefully rising from my seat, I smile and quietly wave him over as I slip out of sight next to a nearby tree. He approaches silently and takes a seat next to Tulip. As she continues to softly sob into her hands, Jax looks at her with an apologetic expression. He places his arms around her in a comforting embrace, and closes his eyes, but says nothing. "Oh Nora, I just don't know if he feels the same way, if I'm the one he truly wants..." Tulip bursts out sitting back quickly. Her hands fall from her face and she wears a look of shock as she now see's Jax before her. He wipes a tear from her face with his thumb, and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. His eyes tinged with red from the stinging tears that have escaped. The two stare into each others eyes for a few moments, while Jax struggles to keep the tears from emerging. Finally breaking the silence he says in a wavering voice, "...it has always been you!" Clearly desperate to kiss her, he holds back, probably to show her that he has learned self control, but she smiles and pulls him into a passionate kiss. Their wings glow brightly while the two lovers share this moment, and the rain subsides as the sun begins to peak through the clouds. "I know I have been a fool Tulip. I know that I can never undo the hurt I have caused you, and for that I deeply apologize. Every time I felt our relationship becoming more serious, I got scared. But, since that day with the trolls, there is one thing I now know, and that is that I'm not afraid anymore. I'm ready for a committed, serious relationship with only you. I only hope that it's not too late..." "I want to believe you Jax, truly I do, but now I am the one who is afraid" Tulip tells him quietly. Her words seem to be like shards of glass as she speaks them, for she looks pained to even say them.

Jax suddenly stands with a burst of energy and tells her, "I will prove it to you, anything my love. Anything! I would saw my own arm off to proof it to you!" She gasps and gives a light chuckle assuming he jests, "Now you're just being silly! You wouldn't dare!" But Jax remains serious and from his pocket draws a flip knife. His gaze remains on Tulip as he pops open the knife and places it against his forearm just above his elbow. Before either Tulip or I have time to react, Jax slides the cool blade into his skin and blood trickles down his arm. "Jax don't!" Tulip screams jumping up from her seat. "W-what are you doing!?" she stammers taking a handkerchief from her pocket and cleaning his arm. The cut isn't very deep and has only broken the skin, but it's enough to convince Tulip and she takes the flip knife from his hand. "You really mean it don't you?..." she whispers as she gazes into his eyes eagerly. "With all my heart my sweet" he whispers back, and it's apparent that his words ring true. "This is it Jax, I mean it. If you hurt me again..." she huffs before trailing off. "I promise you I won't" he tells her before pressing his lips against hers.

Unable to help myself I let out a happy sigh and it startles me, causing my foot to crunch down on a twig. Tulip and Jax break out of their kiss and they catch my eye. "I was wondering where you ran off to!" Tulip exclaims. Taking a few steps toward them I reply, "Yes, well it seems like it's a good thing I did. Could I be mistaken?" Jax looks at Tulip beaming, "I would certainly say it was a wonderful thing!" Tulip glances back at Jax and her face flushes a bright pink as she nods happily. "This is wonderful news! You two back together again, it's just fantastic!" I happily tell them. "Yea but look what he did to his arm!" Tulip frowns, gently holding up his arm. "Well, I may or may not have been eavesdropping a bit...I saw what happened. Jax! I know you wanted to show her you are serious but my goodness man, don't torture yourself!" I scold. "It's nothing less than what I have felt without you in my life" he says lovingly to Tulip. "What a suck up" I kid. Tulip giggles a bit but replies, "Hey it was sweet!" Jax gives a laugh and puts his arm around Tulips waist and asks, "Shall we celebrate this grand news?" Clapping my hands together excitedly I exclaim, "Oh gosh! I can't wait for the others to find out! C'mon Tulip, do you want to?" Tulip seems to glow her sunny yellow color and shouts in agreement, "YES!"