The Secret World of Briar Rose(34)
“There she is.” Malicine pointed their staff to the branch, which stretched like a bridge toward the garden path. Giant mushrooms sprouted like cobblestones paving the road. Corin and Elly hopped over the mushroom caps, which bounced beneath their shoes and gave a spring to their step. The raven waited among the branches of the willow tree that blocked the view. Once they crossed past the trunk, a cottage emerged in full sight.
The walls were made of misshapen stone, which explained why the roof crouched in an awkward position. Windows opened from each side, their pointed arches wrapped in wild plants and greenery. A soil field stretched behind the house, where sunflowers grew as tall as the roof. The place basked in sunlight, so that the moment their feet touched grass, warmth filled their bodies instantly.
Despite the extravagance of the surrounding land, the cottage was smaller than Corin expected. On the porch sat a girl with chestnut hair and a satin dress embroidered with spring flowers. Shrubs grew from her sleeves, her shoulder bows and cape made of butterflies, which fluttered over tulle. Daffodils wrapped around her head like a crown, and daisy petals pressed onto her eyelids and cheeks.
Corin recognized the familiar patterns on the girl’s face, the way they formed teardrops just like the pearls did. The stranger was the same person Corin had seen in Winterland. But gone was the silver hair and snowdrop flowers, the pale lace dress and snowflake lashes, the bow and arrow pointed straight to Corin’s heart to kill her. This version took a different appearance. A beautiful disguise that was still a mystery.
The girl sat at a round table filled with bowls of fresh grapes and wooden boards with slices of cheese that fanned out like petals. Slices of pie oozed lemon meringue across porcelain. Tines of tiny forks were stained in orange and cream, like paint dripping from a brush.
“You’re late, Mal.” Her voice was light and airy like a hummingbird. She set her teacup down and smoothed the linens on the table. Her fingers were long, slender. Their length matched the vines painted across the floral-patterned fabric.
“It would’ve been nice for you to show up to my tea party on time. Isn’t that right, Penny?”
Across the table, a caramel-colored rabbit sat on a bentwood chair, holding a matching teacup between her paws. She wore a ruffle dress and oversized hat stacked with peacock feathers. Next to her, a gray cat continued pawing at the feathers before he sneezed on his green suit. The rabbit’s nose twitched in contempt.
“Good afternoon, poorly dressed guests! I’m Penny, and this is Dime,” said the rabbit. “We are Briar Rose’s best friends.”
“How rude. I thought I was her best friend,” Malicine replied. “After all, I’ve known her since she was a baby.”
“You mean you cursed me when I was a baby,” the girl said.
Dime licked his nether regions before looking up. “Now that is rude.”
“We had a rough start.” Malicine shrugged. “Put some damn pants on, Dime.”
The cat retorted by pawing a teacup off the table and watching it shatter.
Corin gawked at the entire scene. The group talked rapidly, as if acquainted from years of tea parties, while she tried to make sense of the scraps of information she had. They called the girl Briar Rose, though Corin could have sworn her name was supposed to be Amelia. Malicine claimed to be her best friend, which was the strangest thing that had come out of the demon’s mouth the entire time Corin had been here. There was also the fact that they stood in front of talking animals who wore petticoats, but that would need to be addressed later.
Malicine’s raven landed on top of a plate and pecked at a biscuit, scattering breadcrumbs across the linen. The princess looked unfazed as she plucked a lace fan from her sleeve and fluttered cool air to her face.
“What about you?” she asked Malicine. “Are you going to introduce me to your new friends, too?”
“They’re hardly friends,” Malicine scoffed.
“Ah, yes. I forget how long it takes for you to warm up to people.”
A bright shade of pink bloomed on Elly’s cheeks. She wiped her palms against her trousers and stepped forward to greet the princess from the fairy tale, finally come to life.
“My name is Elly. I . . . I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time.”
The princess offered a gentle smile, but her lips pressed tight, as if holding a secret. “It’s nice to meet you, Elly. You can call me Briar.”
Elly paused before, in a sudden burst, she jumped to embrace the princess. The butterflies in Briar’s cape spilled over to Elly’s arms as she dug her face into the princess’s shoulder.
“You’re real,” Elly whispered. “I always believed.”
Briar ducked her head in the crook of Elly’s neck, pressing the child closer so that their touch of skin would solidify the truth. The smell of strawberries and honeysuckle lingered in the air, so sweet that Corin could hear her sister inhale deeply and release a sigh of relief against the princess. But while Elly’s eyes were closed, Corin watched the golden dust gleam over Briar’s shoulders, how it dimmed into ordinary freckles when the sun hit a certain angle of her carefully crafted image.
“Thank you. But you must keep me a secret.” Briar pressed a finger to her lips. “This place is special because not many people know of it.”
“Unfortunately, that’s no longer true,” Malicine said. “These two stumbled upon this place by accident, but the portal was no coincidence. Your godmothers discovered a way here. And they’ve given Ezran immortality for his precious mission.”