The Illyrian Series: The Oracle Of Rosedale

I stand in front of my window and stare at the ground. How did she do that?

I take deep breaths to calm myself down. Okay, she said if I want answers, I have to search for them. But did I hallucinate her beckoning me to jump out a window?

This is ridiculous, I'm going to sleep. I change into a loose, light blue nightgown and climb my bed.

After an hour, it becomes clear that I'm not going to sleep. No matter how tired or drowsy I feel, sleep doesn't come.

In the early hours of morning, I start getting scared. Little me faded away, my dreams have stopped and these people have begun invading my reality. These feels like the last line.

I stand up and march to my window. I push open the glass, look down and shake my head. No.

I stand up straight. I'm seeing things, I can't believe I'm actually considering suicide.

I look again and there's a foggy mist in the air. The atmosphere feels charged and I can't see the ground anymore.

I stick my top half out the window and the air propels me forward. Before I can retract my body, something pulls my hand and I head for the ground. I let out a loud scream as my body hurtles towards the stony gravel.

I feel the ground soon after but the impact is less painful than I thought it would be. Actually, it's not painful at all. It feels like soft grass.

I open my eyes and find myself in a courtyard. I stand up with shaky knees.

"Took you long enough." The red head I saw earlier says from the edge of the courtyard. She changed out of her previous brown dress and is now in a purple one. "I thought I was going to have to go back there."

"Where am I?" I voice my main question.

"Where do you think you are?" She starts walking away, I have no choice but to follow her.

"I don't know, can you please tell me? Who are you? And who called me here?"

"You ask a lot of questions. I don't know if that's a good thing." We walk up the stairs and down a long, dark corridor. We stop in front of a large wooden door with a strange symbol. An old staff wrapped in golden ivy leaves. "All your answers are behind this door, are you ready?"

"I don't really have a choice, do I?"

She shakes her head. "You don't." And opens the door. I walk in, prepared for anything.

She closes the door after me and I'm left in the empty room. It's a large cozy library with floor-to-ceiling shelves lining the walls. Opposite the door is a big glass window and to the left, a large fireplace. In front of the window is a dark brown wooden desk with papers scattered all over the top.

The shelf on the right props open and a girl walks out of the secret room. She frowns when she sees me. "Finally. You are a very hard person to contact, do you know that?" She walks past me and sits at her desk. I don't know what I was expecting, but this girl isn't it.

The first thing I notice is that she's a child. She looks like she's twelve. She has long brown hair tactfully pushed back by a silver wire tiara and is wearing a green dress that looks like it’s made of leaves.

"You're the one controlling my dreams?" I ask in disbelief. That makes her very angry.

"Yes, is that so hard to believe?” I feel the air in the room get colder.

"No. I'm just wondering why you didn't bring me here first. Why go to so much trouble with the dreams?" My breath is held.

She sighs and the air in the room goes back to its original temperature. "Because I wanted to know if you were strong and resilient enough for your quest."

"What quest?"

"The one I'm bestowing on you." She says this so simply.

I decide to play along. "And what will this quest be?”

"To find the Oracle of Rosedale."

I'm not sure how to react. "The oracle doesn't exist."

"She does. Also, don't let her hear you say that, she's very mercurial."

I clasp my hands together and exhale into them. "You didn't let me sleep for a whole week, only so you could tell me that I need to find some non-existent oracle. And in the impossible chance that I do find her, what do I want from her?"

She shrugs. "I can't tell you what you want, that's for you to decide. I can only tell you how to get to her." She ruffles through the papers on her desk. "Although I advise you to be quick, she's always moving."

"No," I say with convinction. "This is ridiculous, whoever you are, stop toying with me, stop making me think I'm crazy. And most importantly, don't ever contact me again."

She frowns. Next thing I know, she's right beside me. She produces a small knife. I cry when she makes a small cut on my arm.

"That will let you know this is real. As for your tone, I do not appreciate it. Here I am doing you a massive favor and all you do is whine." She scolds, it's strange being scolded by a child. "Maybe one day you'll appreciate this."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to be appreciating. Who are you and what do you want from me?" She doesn't reply. She goes back to her desk and picks up an old, brown parchment.

"Here." She throws it at me. "And get out of my sight. Hopefully, you'll have a better attitude the next time we meet." She flicks her wrist and a large swirl of breeze magically transports me back to my bedroom.

In my hands is the parchment. The wound she gave me is covered with dried blood and doesn't hurt anymore.

I roll the scroll and see a map. At the end of the page is a castle labeled 'The oracle of Rosedale'. To get there, I'll have to go past various villages, cities, even the kingdom of Tarron. I'll also have to go past Marrow forest, the Velin waterfalls, and Rinus Valley.

I roll the scroll back and place it under my pillow. A wave of weariness washes over me and I collapse on the bed.

I wake up around noon and wander if all that actually happened. The injury on my hand confirms my suspicions. I hide the wound from Rainey as she gets me ready for the day.

While training with Reagan, I find out what happened the night before.

"The casualties weren't too much. Some buildings were burned down, but the culprits have been apprehended," Maynard says. "You must learn to defend yourself, you might end up in a situation where a guard is unable to protect you."

"How many people did they catch?" I ask.

Maynard thinks. "I think a dozen, the rest escaped but don't worry, we'll get them."

I feel nauseous all of a sudden. I never dwell on any news about the resistance. It's so much easier to ignore it. I leave the lesson early and search for my mother.

She's in her bedroom, alone. "I heard." I close the door. "About the rebels."

She looks at me with empty eyes. "Oh. I was hoping you wouldn't." She sighs. "They got Nattie."

I frown. "Your cousin?" She nods.

"He's tossing them over Brooke Bridge. He's not sparing anyone. It's going to be so much worse, Adria." Her voice is breaking. "Enforcing curfews, restricting gatherings. They're not going to survive this." She holds me and starts crying. I haven't seen her like this since the glass shard incident years ago. "I failed them."

I rub her back. "You did your best."

"No, I didn't. You were right. We made bad choices and now we have to live with them." She sniffs. I want to tell her that she alone made this choice but it doesn't seem like the right time. "What I would give for another chance. A way to go back in time and fight to my last breath."

"That wouldn't have done anyone any good. You need to live to fight another day."

"We're past fighting now." She says in a low voice. I rock her back and forth as she releases her repressed tears.

It might be too late for her, but it's not for me.

Before dinner, I ask Rainey for a favor.

"I need to sneak out of the castle tonight," I say. "I'll be back in a few hours. I just need to go to Owan village. It's not far from the castle."

She looks very alarmed. "No. I can't believe you even asked me that."

My heart feels heavy. "Are you going to report me to the king?"

"Of course I won't. I just can't help you with that, you asked for too much. I could lose my head."

"I understand. It's okay." I leave for dinner and think up plans the whole meal. When I get back to my room, I see a large black coat and a note.

𝗚𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗿, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗢𝘄𝗮𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹. 𝗗𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

I memorize the directions and toss the paper in the fire. I put on the heavy coat and sneak my way to the ground floor. I hide behind pillars to avoid the maids carrying out their work. When the coast is clear, I enter the hallway opposite the kitchen.

It's dark and I'm scared I'll miss my way or get attacked. Thankfully, I don't, and soon see a door that leads outside the castle. The first thing that hits me is the smell. It stinks of rotten food and dye. The water is murky and make my eyes sting. This must be where the washing is done.

I enter a thicket of bushes and slap the prickly leaves out of my face. I eventually burst through the other side with what I'm sure are multiple scratches. I'm so occupied inspecting myself, I don't notice that I'm out of the castle, on my own, for the first time.

I start running down the makeshift path and don't stop till I see the lights of a little village. To its right is a dark forest. I'm beginning to regret not bringing any fire with me. I dive into the forest and use the moon to light my way.

I consider screaming but I don't know who else is here. I'm not even sure if the girl I met is here. She said she'll be by the tallest tree, but which one is that. I stumble around the forest in fear.

Fortunately, I see light some feet away. I follow it and arrive at a campfire. There's a little tent by the massive tree and a log in front of the fire.

"I was beginning to think you wouln't show up." A voice startles me. The girl appears from behind the tree, her lips are set in a hard smile. "Hello, Princess Adria, I'm Violet."