Friends Who Became Villainesses

By Henry Cobb

Chapter Two: The Silver Rose

I was awakened the next morning by the sound of snoring directly into my right ear with an arm draped over the covers over me. My first thought was to wonder how it was that I was lying in a bed with a pillow under my head. I recalled the events of the previous day and turned to see that it was Princess Amesombra lying next to me with her arm over me.

I carefully slipped out of bed, but even this modest motion was sufficient to wake her. She stretched her arms above her, yawned, and then turned to me. "Morning, Angie."

"Good morning, Your ... Amy."

"You need to get over that hesitation, Angie. I shall be much more cross at the delay than anything you call me."

"Yes, Amy."

Amesombra took off our nightgowns and selected dresses for us. She had me sit and was brushing out my hair when she turned to a knock at her door. "Yes, what is it?"

"I have been assigned as your new maid, Your Highness. May I enter?"

"Yes, of course."

The girl who entered wearing the outfit of a palace maid had a face and figure of only 12 years old, and while her blue eyes matched mine in sharpness and color her short hair was as silver as a woman of seventy. She bowed to the princess. "Good morning Your Highness, my name is Synthia. How may I be of service?"

"Yes!" Amesombra dashed forward to grasp Synthia's hands in hers. "The Silver Rose of the Shadow Guard! You're exactly what I need. Bless my father for sending you to me."

Synthia pulled her hands free from Amesombra's and the naive innocence vanished from her eyes as she stepped back to examine the princess. "May I inquire of Your Highness which of my order it was who betrayed their oath by telling you that title?"

"Eight years from now at Colsilex you will tell Miss Angelica Pureheart here your title after she revives you from the brink of death. I would be dead or banished by that point, of course."

"The reports about Your Highness did not exaggerate. What is the point of my mission if I shall betray my oath and fail to protect Your Highness?"

"The fault would have been mine. There would be nothing you could do about the matter without violating your oath, and it would have done no good. I fully intend to not die so early, or so foolishly. Forewarned gives the strength of four arms after all. Please report all that you see and I shall cross-check with Father from time to time to see if your order is actually following orders." Amesombra turned to me. "Angie, now that we have Synthia, is there anyone you wish assassinated? It's hardly any problem for her."

"Your Highness, I mean Amy, knows that Synthia is spying on her and yet treats this as a private occasion?"

"I have no grounds to doubt that Synthia will be a reliable friend to you nor any doubts that The Silver Rose will perform her assigned duties. This is just a friendly reminder to you to never put those two commitments into conflict, as that was one of the factors leading to her death."

"But she's alive, she's standing right there."

"I mean of course the death of the hypothetical future Synthia. The woman who would have told you her code name."

"But aren't I going to save her?"

"Yes, once. She dies for your sake a short while later. Well, I'll try to be there to prevent this. But speaking of conflicts, surely there must have been someone in the slums who has bullied you that the world would be better off without? We four killed the thugs we knew would have been especially cruel to you in the future, but we don't everything."

"Everyone in the slums does only what they need to survive. I begrudge none of them their miserable lives."

"Did you see that philosophical maturity, Synthia? And at such a young age. Make sure that you include that in your report, Rose."

"I humbly request that Your Highness not use my title when I am unmasked."

"Yes, my apologies. I'll try to keep that in mind. And Angie, you'll make sure to tell not a soul about Synthia's secrets now, just as you wouldn't in any hypothetical future?"

"As Your Highness demands."

"Excellent. Let's be off to breakfast. And Angie, I'm not spying on you here and now. I don't know what people say to you when I'm not there, just what they would have said to you."

Amesombra had me sit behind her family with the other servants at the service at the palace chapel after breakfast. Then we returned to her room to change to shorts and simple tunics.

"Sit there." Amesombra turned and searched around her closet for boots slightly smaller than she had selected for herself. Perhaps she had outgrown these? She tried these on me then knelt back on the rug with a frown.

As she turned to search through the bottom shelf of her cabinet I said, "Your Highness, Amy, you shouldn't bother with a person like me."

"Oh, am I doing something wrong?" She turned back to me with a pair of thick woolen socks. "Have I abducted a freeborn girl off the streets of the capital and forced her to be my slave or serf? No, I have not. The king has exercised his executive authority to declare myself your acting guardian. I'll show you the document when you learn to read. Note that this does not make me your stepmother and you are not in any sense adopted into the royal family. By the laws of this land, I am merely your patron and you will remain under my authority to do as I see fit, until your eighteenth birthday. Speaking of fit, I thought my new feet were dainty, but you just have to be better in all things. As the plot demands."

She put the socks and boots on my feet. "Now walk around a bit. How does that feel?"

"Snug."

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"It's good enough for walking, but not for jogging. I'll send for my favorite cobbler and in the meantime we'll do stationary exercises.

We were joined by Synthia (who had been instructed to change into a similar outfit) as we went to another room that contained strange devices that I assumed were implements of torture. Amesombra then showed me that the torture was to be self-inflicted as she had the two of us follow her example through strange routines.

After around an hour of this, I collapsed to the ground with the room swimming around me.

Amesombra looked down on me with hands on her knees and her sweat dripping down to mingle with mine. "You can hardly do any sit-ups or push-ups, and you couldn't manage even a single pull-up. How did you ever survive in the slums, Angie?"

"I didn't have the energy to run very far. I just needed to run further than it seemed worthwhile to chase me."

"Well come along." She reached down to pull me up to lean against her. "Let's go take a bath. And you also, Synthia."

The other girl, who had matched the princess action for action, yet hadn't sweat at all, nodded and followed us. Halfway to the baths, Amesombra handed me off to Synthia who simply picked me up in her arms and carried me with no obvious effort. Amesombra then had another maid wash her while Synthia washed me and herself.

The long soak seemed to revive me and I found that my appetite had recovered when Amesombra insisted that the two of us sit down with her in yet another of her private rooms for lunch.

After the maids had taken away our dishes I was allowed a moment to collect my thoughts and felt bold enough to ask. "Why do you have so many rooms, Your ... Amy?"

Amesombra took a sip from her teacup and then smiled. "It is a justified expense for the nation. A princess is a pawn for peace through hostage diplomacy. We weave the web of family between nations to keep princes from marching off to war. Should you marry my brother (and you really should for the hat trick), you don't have to worry about interfering with that process as your revealed presence in our throne room should be sufficient to preserve the peace for a generation. That would be of course after your big adventure (should you survive that) and hence I have no grasp of the exact details that follow."

"How does Your ... Amy know of these things?"

"Are you worried about what my father said about the foresight? While Black Magic is rare, not all are contracted to or possessed by demons. Some practitioners are born with it naturally and some of these gaze into the abyss nod, and with bitter experience turn back to humanity with renewed determination to fight for peace, justice, and every human life they can save. Of course, I don't fall into any of those camps (though technically I may qualify as a demon) but don't take my word for it. Carefully examine the conduct of my character and draw your own assumptions. I have many potential assassins (hence I am overjoyed to have Synthia at hand), but you are my only executioner, Angie. Whatever my fate may bring I am content, for I know you better than you know yourself."

"Amy, your imagination is so fanciful."

"Yes, it has occurred that I survived and may well be dreaming all of this. That is the most logical possibility. If so then when this butterfly awakens I shall sigh and then return to the office. But speaking of work, that reminds me of why I have the first nibble at you. Angie, in a minute I will ask you to stand from your chair. When I do I want you to not struggle against the binding I will put on you physically, but instead to feel deep in your soul the light that overcomes the darkness. Use that to counter my spell then stand without any effort at all. Synthia, I want you to carefully study Angelica and shout out for me to stop if she starts to strain herself physically."

Synthia nodded at this then Amesombra moved her chair right in front of me. "Angie, close your eyes, focus on breathing normally, and when you are relaxed I shall start.”

I did as Amesombra bid and she started a chant, even longer than the one that Lady Malheurfla had used the previous day. Suddenly I felt something pour over me, a thick toxic sludge that I could tell without looking must be blacker than any tar. I tried to open my eyes but my eyelids were glued shut. I tried to scream but couldn't open my mouth. I tried to move out of the way but all of my limbs were stuck to the chair.

"Your Highness, stop! You're hurting her!"

Suddenly the sludge vanished. I jerked forward and opened my eyes to stare down at the floor.

"Angie, are you hurt?" Amesombra pulled me up by my shoulders so she could study my face.

I shook my head and she released me, to fall back into my chair.

Then she turned to the one who had shouted out. "Synthia, always call me Amy during an emergency. Don't bother with protocol when seconds are far more precious."

"As Your Highness demands."

"Synthia, are you busy this afternoon?"

"I am at the call of Your Highness at all hours."

"That's nice. Let's see." Amesombra turned to one of the bookshelves in her study. "Yes, I have a copy of 'The Pawn Who Became Queen'." She took this book down and flipped through it. "It's in large type with illustrations. It even has the scene where Penelope is thrown to the wolves. How fitting." She held the book up to show us a full-page illustration of a girl around my age being chased through a forest by a pack of wolves. "Synthia, please teach Angelica how to read this book out to you. I'll be in my room catching up on my princess correspondence, but I'll call for you should ninja attack."

Synthia seemed to have infinite patience as she had me repeat after her the sound of every word on every page.

A few hours later Amesombra returned to her study and asked, "Synthia, how goes it?"

"Your Highness' ward is an ignorant genius. With proper training, she should catch up in a few years."

"Yes, as expected. Just make sure that she is fully qualified to join The Royal Academy when I do. But let's take a break from that for a bit. Come in." Amesombra waved in an elderly man and two of the maids. "This is Miss Angelica Pureheart. You need to take her measurements. Mister Calzolaio, you're first."

The elderly man removed my shoes and thick socks and examined my feet. Then traced these out on paper and wrote down measurements at various points.

When Mister Calzolaio left Amesombra ordered me to strip naked so that the maids could measure my body. Then as I redressed she went over with them the fashions they were to sew.

As I sat back down Amesombra picked up the book I had been reading and turned to the illustration with the wolves. "I would also like you to copy this design, but in Angelica's colors, not those traditionally worn by Penelope. Make sure you size this not for her exact shape today, but for what you would expect in two months, now that she's being properly fed and thoroughly exercised every day. And make the belt a bit more sturdy so she can wear a dagger and other tools. The most important part is that she can run comfortably in this outfit. We wouldn't want her to be caught by the wolves, now would we?"

The maids nodded back at the not-very-nice smile of the princess, then quickly gathered up their tools and notes as they left.

At dinner, I was sent with Synthia to eat with the other servants. On my way out I heard Prince Tenecoeur ask Amesombra, "Tired of your new pet already, Sister?"

"No, dear Brother. Things became a little too intense when I pinned her down this afternoon, so I gave her a timeout."

That night I dreamed of being pinned under the black sludge again, but this time the jaws of wolves emerged from the sludge to snap at me while their claws emerged to claw at my body, all while I was pinned and unable to move. I awoke screaming.

Amesombra jolted and sat up, then pulled me against her. "Yes, I know it's hard, but there is no alternative. If you do not find the light within you then the entire world will have no dawn." She turned to the door to the maid's room where Synthia now stood in her nightgown with a dagger in hand. "It's okay, Angelica just had a nightmare. You can go back to sleep and I'll handle this."

Synthia nodded and closed the door behind her.

Amesombra then turned back to me. "It is through overcoming the bullying of evil Princess Amesombra that Angelica Pureheart finds the strength she will need later. While it is acceptable for you to hate me now, I will depend on your awareness and familiarity with my specific aura for my safety when I break the scenario and follow you on your quest. Let's not turn a White on Black attack into an accidental Blue on Blue. This isn't an American cop show after all. My powers are not quite the equal of yours, but Black Magic has a wide spectrum of uses. For now, I can help you sleep. Do you want me to do so?"

I nodded and she began a chant. A dark fog settled on my senses and I fell into dreamless sleep to only be awakened the next morning as Amesombra shook me.