The Red Rose That Has Green Thorns

“I was starting to think you weren’t coming today, but now our game is ready to play!”

The voice echoed in my head, and I found myself still looking at the rather menacing knight. It looked as though he was guarding the wide clearing behind him that I hadn’t noticed on my last dream visit.

“What is your business at the execution grounds, girl?" the man said firmly, eyes dark. I couldn’t place why just yet, but this man really freaked me out, but I kept my cool for now. If just barely.

“Remember: being coy saves the boy.”

Spunky’s voice in my head didn’t help the calming process, but I decided that following his advice wouldn’t hurt. I didn’t think anything else would work with this man, anyway, other than a bribe I didn’t possess.

“I’m here for the execution,” I said, blinking innocently. Playing dumb might work, if I pulled it off right. This was where we had to find out.

“How do you know about it?” he inched nearer with his sword. I gulped, hopefully unseen by him, and flashed a smile.

“Oh, you know,” I batted my eyelashes, desperately picturing another face on this man, “of course you do. You know just how quickly news like this travels!”

“Be that as it may,” the man said gruffly, not lowering the wickedly sharp sword, “the date for this execution was not publicly released.”

“Oh, dear!” I feigned slight stupidity. “I must have been lucky, picking the right day! But, may I ask why the date was not released? As I remember, several dates are…”

I hoped I was right. I desperately hoped that most executions were public in this dreamland…

“Lucky, indeed. The date was not released because of his accomplice.”

“Accomplice?” I looked up at him, trying to widen my eyes in innocence. “There’s another person?”

“Another lawless bastard that needs to learn a lesson.” the man harrumphed dejectedly. “I’m surprised we haven’t caught him yet. We never have problems like this, but the bastard we caught won’t reveal who his accomplice was.”

I leaned closer to the man, feeling dirty and tainted already. I pictured his face as someone else’s again, batting my eyelashes. “That’s too bad,” I said, pouting, “but since I managed to somehow pick the right day, surely you can let me in? Such a nice, big, strong, and dashing man like yourself.”

Cue the eyelashes, and leaning even closer.

In my pajamas, I realized with a disgusted tingle. My low spaghetti strap top. So not cool.

“A little more will even the score!”

“What I mean to say is,” I continued, nearly leaning against the man now. I followed Spunky’s prompting and kept going at it, “surely you can pull a few strings? I’m rather lucky I made it here on time, and on the right day, right? And all my hard work will have been for nothing if I can’t see this…this lawless bastard put to the justice he deserves!” I very nearly choked on ‘lawless bastard.’

“That’s the way, Rose! Hit it right on the nose!”

How did this little thing even know what my name was? Honestly. I was losing my shock at anything Spunky might say or do. With him, it was pretty much ‘expect the unexpected’. Constantly.

“A woman who likes to see the punishment for those who break the laws of the Wood,” the man leaned down to look me in the eyes, and with a start of fear I recognized those piercing orbs, “is a woman who is well worth pleasing.”

It was hard to force my calm façade to keep going, what with who the man looked so much like. The fright I felt looking at him came from how much like an older version of Alexander Boyd this man seemed to be. The Slytherin who tried to rape Lily, and then myself…oh, dear. Not good.

“Don’t let your fear show, you almost let the act go!”

“So you’ll help me, good sir?” I pleaded, forcing the words out and batting my eyelashes like a good little flirt.

He merely nodded, motioning toward a wagon I hadn’t noticed. One of the old covered merchant wagons. Out of the wagon hopped a girl, not much older than I, with two bulky dresses over her arms. She came over obediently, batting her eyelashes at the Boyd look-alike much as I had been doing.

Boyd look at me in a way that made me very uncomfortable, feeling very naked and dirty. Then he picked the blue one.

“Follow Martha,” he commanded imperiously, “She will assist you and act as your handmaiden. If you do not seem to be of high enough stature, inside you will be questioned on how you knew of this.”

I didn’t ask any questions, but nodded as if I knew what we were talking about.

“You done well with all I could tell,” Spunky’s voice seemed proud of me. “But you’re about to wake, so my leave, I’ll take!”

But nothing shifted like the other times before. I was still in the wagon in the dream forest.

“Uh…”

“You’re not gone?!” Spunky’s voice was incredulous, and nervous. “Something must have gone wrong!”

“You’re stealing my Lord’s attention,” I turned to look at the girl who was supposedly helping me. “You’re stealing his attention with your flirting and those strange, revealing clothes of yours!”

“I…uh…what?”

“This is not good! This isn’t going as it should!”

“My Lord Knight! The way he looked at you! With the looks that are meant for me,” the girl elaborated, advancing menacingly on me. “You’re stealing them! You’re trying to steal him from me! Everyone does!”

“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Someone must have interfered! This isn’t how it’s meant to go, oh dear, oh no!”

Spunky was freaking out on me.

I decided that it probably wasn’t a good thing that Spunky was freaked out, and that Martha had a six inch piece of shining steel in her hand as she crept closer. And me, being who I am, was caught in a corner.

“Hey, I’m not trying to do anything, Martha--” I tried, holding a hand up.

“Shut up! What was all that flirting, then?! The showing off, the seductive tones, huh? You were trying to steal my Lord’s affections from me!”

Rage. That’s what she had. She had a whole bunch of built up rage, probably from all of the ‘others’ who tried to ‘steal’ Boyd’s affections. And I could see by the murderous glint in her eyes that she wanted to take it out on me.

And seductive tones? I was trying to be coy, and perhaps a bit seductive, but had I pulled it off so well that I’d taken on a seductive tone? Enough so that I had enraged my ‘handmaiden’ to the point that she drew a knife on me?

“Martha, I’m not - I didn’t - I mean, don’t do this!” it was kind of pathetic, but I knew I didn’t have my wand on me. I was in my pajamas, after all. “I have very important things to do, and it doesn’t include seducing B - your Lord Knight, okay? Just - hey, back up with that thing!”

She slashed my arm open, a three-inch long gash that already dripped blood.

“Rose, you have to find a way out! You die here and it’s real as a drought!”

He was freaking out. Big time. But what he said made my heart freeze. If I died in this dream, it was for real. Did that also mean the same of my friend? The one that was to be executed for something I did? Or supposedly did?

“Yes, the same of your friend! Your lives will really end!”

“Shit!”

Martha laughed, thinking it was because she’d cut me. “It hurts, doesn’t it?” her eyes gleamed. “I assure you, that doesn’t hurt near as much as all of you sluts trying to steal his attentions, but the next one will.”

“I don’t have time for this!” I hissed. “I’m a--” should I say it? I figured there was no other way to scare her off, and get in the execution grounds. “I’m the accomplice to the damn guy their executing, and I’m not afraid to hurt you if I must!” I stood in a shower of blood droplets from my arm and the new gash I’d let her get on my shoulder. Her eyes widened.

“The man’s accomplice is another man,” she said, although taking a step back. “He’s said it himself!”

“Have you ever heard of lies?” I leaned closer. “Deceit? Acting? Fake? Or maybe, he’s protecting me? Have you ever heard of those? Do you know someone who would risk their own life to keep you safe? Who would let himself be executed for the crime he didn’t commit? No, you don’t know anyone like that, because your Lord Knight wouldn’t even do that for you. He’d just use you - that’s all he does, isn’t it? And you know it. It hurts, doesn’t it?” I took a step towards the cowering girl, feeling terrible but knowing it was what I had to do. “It hurts to know that you’ll never amount to much more than something he’s using for his own benefit. You know, though, Martha…I didn’t really commit a crime. I was blamed for something your precious knight did. And I’ll make sure he gets what he deserves.”

“What? No! He…he doesn’t break laws! He’s a knight!” Martha took a frightened step back.

“Do you think he’s a knight that fights for the good of the Wood? If you do, then you’re sadly mistaken. He’s a servant of the Dark One, and he’s making you one of them, too. You don’t want that, do you? If you want something better than what you’ve got, you’ll help me. Okay?”

Where is all of this coming from? Saying I was framed by the Boyd look-alike? Talking about the Wood? And this Dark One? I don’t know anything about it, but it felt right. Even if they were lies, they felt right to say.

“They’re not lies, you’ve seen through the disguise!” Spunky breathed in relief. “Don’t you see? This is how it’s meant to be!”

Then why was he so freaked out?

“Because there was an interference, but it’s gone now, as far as I can sense!”

It’s great to know he can see inside my head now. But how does Spunky know I’m telling the truth?

“I was there, in the air. My poisonous goo helps me to help you!”

“Do you understand, Martha?” I knelt in front of her, taking a hand in my own. Hers was shaking. “I was framed by him. And now, if I don’t do something, my friend is going to die.”

She dropped the knife.

“Shall I get you ready for the execution, Mistress?” she whispered, looking up at me with a different look in her eyes. A fire of rebellion, perhaps? Surely she couldn’t believe me so easily?! Or had I just been that convincing?

“Good job, you’ve got her with you. Now it’s time for you to come to!”

I shot up, gasping in pain.

“God, Rose! What the hell happened?!” Scorpius asked frantically. “I’ve been trying to wake you up for ten minutes! And then you just got bloodied up all of a sudden and I - I was really worried, damn it! What happened?!”

I looked down and saw, only mildly surprised, that I had both gashes that Martha had given me. I looked back up at Scorpius, who was paler than usual and considerably freaked.

“Spunky’s idea didn’t go as planned,” I said softly, wincing as I moved my shoulder. “I figured it out in the end though. All’s well that ends well, right?”

“Ends well? Rose, you’re bleeding! And they don’t look like paper cuts!”

“Of course not,” I looked at him funny. “They’re from a knife, obviously.”

He blanched. “Merlin, Rose! You didn’t have to tell me!”

“You’d rather know than have to wonder in the long run, right?” I looked at him, then heard mewing. I looked to see Nira’s bright, worried eyes looking up at me.

“We’ll have to see if we can get Madam Pomfrey to heal you up without asking questions, right? C’mon, we’ve got to get down there while a lot of people are at breakfast…Merlin, Rose! It’s the Exhibition today!”

I nearly fell off the couch.

“I’d forgotten. Again,” I replied, gritting my teeth as I moved my shoulder again. My arm wasn’t bothering me at all right now. “And I don’t need the Hospital Wing. I’m not completely helpless. I can heal a few cuts, Scorp. And I really need a shower now. I feel disgusting.”

“Rose!” Scorpius protested as I stood up. “Should you really be moving around so soon?!”

“Scorpius,” I said firmly, looking at him. “I. Will. Be. Fine. I’m a big kid now, you know? Whatever happened wasn’t planned by Spunky, okay? There was interference. But I fixed it, and what’s done is done. I’ll be fine. Go down to breakfast if you won’t stop bugging me about it. I’m not going to bleed to death.”

He paled. “I hadn’t thought of that! You’ve lost so much blood! Rose--”

I snorted. “I’m fine. See?” I showed him my arm. “This one’s scabbed over. The shoulder’s still bleeding, but I can have it healed in no time. Calm down. Get something to eat. I’m taking my shower.”

“I’m waiting for you,” he said stubbornly, sitting on the arm of the couch.

“Fine, then,” I shrugged, hissing softly. I’m so stupid when it comes to shoulder wounds. “Just try to get the blood out of the sofa before it stains.”

I heard him let out a little sound of worry as I went to the bathroom and let the door close behind me. I snorted, and set to getting my shower and getting my cuts healed up.