Chapter 66 - Sweet Goodbyes

Wherein Rose meets Marissa for the last time before leaving Splendor, and Bosra, Rose and Valentina share a veritable feast.

"Did you have trouble finding this place?" Marissa awaited Rose on the sidewalk of a quiet residential street, at the base of Mount Splendor, away from the thoroughfare that let travellers up and down into the palace district.

"A little." Rose greeted her friend with a hug, before wiping a few stray hairs away from her face. She redid her windswept ponytail. "Nobody could tell me where Chaulk Street was and which tube to take to get there." 

Marissa laughed softly. "It was like that for me too, the first time I came here." She let Rose into a private garden through its side gate.

"How did you learn about this place?" Rose looked around at what she could see of the lush, cultured wilderness; the colours were vibrant, but the sound of traffic - of life - faded away. 

"The owners needed a wizard to assess if there were magical items amongst the curiosities they were reorganising after an inheritance. I replied to their request." At the time, Marissa needed the money. She grinned: "I saved them from an annoying and possibly life-disrupting curse."

Rose’s look of confusion had Marissa laughing.

"Curses are real, Rosa Rose. Be careful out there in the Wold."

Rose promised she would. "Why are we here today?"

"I’m allowed to visit the garden whenever I want. There’s a natural magic here that I wanted to share with you before you leave."

Rose attempted to sense the magic and felt pulled towards the path that snaked between different shrubs and out of sight. 

Together they set off, walking the length of the comparatively narrow garden in companionable silence. Marissa pointed out a sculpture, a cute sitting arrangement under a rose bough, a frog pond with a little waterfall and plenty of lilies. Each nook was a work of art, not just what was the centre of attention, but also the landscaping around it.

To Marissa, the magic of the garden might be obvious, to Rose it was less so. She touched leaves, halted to study a feature that drew her eye. Slowly, she started to feel the natural currents of energy that suffused the garden, as the path tugged her ever forward, until it ended at a mirroring mosaic. It was broken and imperfect; showing two dark silhouettes against a lighter sky. 

Rosa Rose cocked her head. "It's weird to see ourselves as only this. Two shapes in a rough outline. No details." The mosaic was glossy and the pieces were mostly coloured with metallic glaze. It depicted Sunfather and Nightsoul in its symbolism, yet the reflection of the onlooker was more prevalent. 

"It is," Marissa agreed. She had been here before on her own. She knew that whenever she was to visit this garden again, she would forever be missing Rose standing beside her. 

"Thank you for sharing this," Rose gestured to indicate the garden, "with me." She turned to look Marissa in the eye. 

"It felt right," Marissa smiled softly, aware that this was the end of their time together. She would miss Rose and the little zing of magic that always sparked when they touched. She would miss all the micro-expressions that showed Rose’s thoughts.

It had been delightful to spend time with her. Whether that was at the library, reading and working, or having coffee at Paragon's Cup, or sitting in the music room of the Redemption Era house and listen to Rosa Rose play her violin.

"I will miss you, Rosa Rose," Marissa said softly, looking at their reflections.

"As will I," Rose replied just as softly, then grinned. She bumped Marissa with her hip. "We’ll keep in touch."

Marissa wasn’t so certain of that, but for now, she went with it. "Anything is possible with magic."

Rose laughed. "I suppose it is. I’ll have to work on learning a message spell." She touched the hard card in her skirt-pocket. She was allowed to learn all kinds of magic now, for use on the road.

For the moment, Rose’s enthusiasm lightened the mood. Walking back to the exit, they talked and laughed as they had many times before.

At one point, Rose noticed the path split. Investigating the off-shoot, she found that it led to a brick and wood townhouse that had cleverly been obscured from view by hedgerows that formed the backdrop of the romantic garden path.

They arrived at the gate too quickly. Their conversation stilled. The telltale slow drumming of heavy hooves and the singing of the metal tracks announced the imminent arrival of a tube.

Rose hugged Marissa tightly. She was kissed on the cheek in return.

"Bon voyage, Rosa Rose." 

Swallowing down tears, Rose replied: "Goodbye, wizard lady."

She took a step toward the tracks, the rumble of the rolling tube now audible. It rounded the corner moments later. She had to break eye-contact with Marissa to jump on.

As soon as she was safely inside, she grabbed hold of a support rail and stuck her head outside. She waved one last time, before the tube turned again and Marissa disappeared from view.

Rose resettled her weight and paid the steward.

Since Chaulk Street was on the quiet side of this tube’s circuit, she had all the elbow-room she wanted. Dimly aware of her surroundings, Rose leaned against the hip-high railing and let the events settle.

As more people hopped on and off, Rose almost wished the tube would stay quiet. The bustle of city life that she had gotten so used to over the past nine months was now pushing on her senses again.

"Are you all packed up?" Rose called up to the second floor.  

"Yeah!" Bosra replied, carrying down the last of the boxes containing her stuff. She had gathered more than she had noticed, especially these last weeks, knowing she had her own home to decorate.  

"Dinner is almost ready too." Rose waited to speak until she could see Bosra’s feet, the rest of her was hidden behind a stack of crates. 

"Good. I'm hungry." Bosra set down the crates on the recently polished marble tiles, right next to Rose’s stuffed duffle bag and instrument cases.

Tonight was the last night they would spend together in this house. Valentina had spent all day preparing a feast, whipping up a storm in the kitchen. Rose had helped between deciding what to take and what to leave behind. Unfortunately, she didn’t think her sheet music collection would travel well.  

"I think I finally did it!" Valentina called from the kitchen. "Soufflé, hah!" 

Bosra looked at Pupper. They both grinned. 

Valentina appeared, wiping her hands on her stained apron, a proud grin alighting her face. "Set the table, please, so we can eat."

"All done." That was why Rose called Bosra down. 

Together, they ferried all the dishes from the kitchen to the dinner table. There was barely enough space for everything.

"Not that hungry, Tina," Bosra said, sitting down. 

"We will donate what we do not eat." Valentina poured them all a glass of wine. "You will like this one," she insisted to her Highlander friend.

Taking a sip, Bosra was not disappointed. "Good choice." She didn’t like wine in general, but Tina had good taste.  

Bosra stuffed herself. Everything was delicious. If love had a flavour, it had certainly been added to every dish. 

"You did good, Tina."

"Thank you," Valentina replied softly. Hearing Bosra say so quieted the storm raging inside her. She bit into a chocolate-fudge cake with caramel drizzle and a little salt sprinkled on top, to keep from ruining the moment with tears.

The cake had been featured in one of the ladies magazine's she had gotten from a neighbour. Like the soufflé, it had been a challenge. She thought of the packed up morsels that were waiting to be sent to her father. He would like them, she thought. He would get to taste her accomplishments, as baking and cooking were not associated with a typical noblewoman's skill set. 

After all the drama, Valentina found peace within herself. Not even Venlica, with her early morning disinheritance proclamation, had been able to disturb it.

Her mother had been, and always would be, a hag. She would have as much influence as Valentina allowed her to have. Besides, she did not believe one venomous word spewed this morn. Her father would never stand for disinheriting her.

She would miss Rhodum. With all that had happened, she was closer to him than she had ever been before. Though there was more physical distance, they understood each other better now. She finally understood that he had always wanted what was best for her.

Valentina looked at her friends across the table. Though their goodbye would not be a permanent one, she would miss them too; they were her family.

She would forever be grateful to the confidence, purpose and solid base they had given her.

~

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