Fourth Arc (Thorns of The Black Throne) - 445. Afternoon Tea With The Queen II
Rose sipped her tea, eyes thoughtful. "That's not weakness. That's survival."
"But now I'm here. In gold silk. With embroidered slippers. And people calling me 'my lady'."
Rose smiled faintly. "The title fits. But so would peasant. Or general. Or rebel."
Jane blinked.
Rose went on, still calm. "Titles aren't who we are. They're just… ways people try to define us so they feel safe. But what you survived? That's yours. No one gave it to you. You lived through it."
Jane looked away. "Sometimes I miss the dust. The noise. Even the awful bread from the merchant quarter. Everything here is… too perfect. Too quiet."
"You miss being useful," Rose said quietly.
Jane froze.
Then nodded.
"Rose leaned forward slightly. 'Then maybe it's time I made you useful again.'"
Jane looked up, startled. Her teacup hovered halfway to her lips, fingers trembling just enough to make the porcelain tap against the saucer. "What do you mean?"
Rose leaned back in her seat and folded one leg over the other, calm, composed, but her gaze was sharp. The kind of stare that could peel layers off someone and still remain elegantly polite. The breeze stirred the light lace of her sleeves, and beyond the glass garden windows, the Euphorion afternoon stretched gold and fragrant.
"I mean," Rose said, "that the King and I have been trying to crack a certain code. One that leads back to Erebus Mountain."
Jane blinked. "Erebus?" Her voice dropped. "Why… that mountain? You know that place is cursed, don't you?"
"We know," Rose said quietly. "We also know your stepmother's power may have started there. Or at least, that's where her reach grew. There are patterns—coded passages in old records. Hidden accounts from the Pontus court and scholars of the old kingdom. We found multiple links. And now…"
Jane was frozen. Erebus. That wretched mountain. Black stone cliffs and silence too loud. She remembered the taste of iron in the air, the way animals refused to go near it. The local farmers used to whisper that if you climbed past the third ridge, the air got thinner, heavier—like it was trying to keep secrets buried beneath your feet.
"Now," Rose continued gently, "we think it's connected to how she's kept your father and your brother under her spell."
Jane closed her eyes. "My father…"
"And your brother," Rose said.
Jane let out a slow breath. "I don't even know if they're still themselves."
"That's why we need to go back."
Jane snapped her eyes open. "What?"
"I want to take you there," Rose said plainly. "Erebus. Pontus. All of it. We're preparing a diplomatic front to formally investigate the magic disturbances—Euphorion has jurisdiction now with the treaties signed. But more importantly… this is a chance to release them. Your real family. Not what your stepmother's turned them into."
Jane's voice dropped to a whisper. "They might kill me if I come back."
Rose's face didn't flinch. "Then we won't go in alone. You'll be escorted. Protected. And… we'll use a cover."
Jane blinked, confused.
Rose smiled faintly, too calm. "You've suffered an accident. You lost your memory. A riding incident, perhaps. You wandered far and I found you collapsed near Euphorion's western border. When you woke, you mistook me for your mother. Or your sister. It's trauma-induced misidentification. Quite believable. And you're under my personal care now."
Jane's brows furrowed. "That… might actually work."
Rose sipped her tea, nodding. "I'm from the Heart family, remember? Medicine and medical law are our specialties. I'll create the records, the prescriptions, the signed assessments. If anyone questions your sanity or clarity, they'll face Heart-verified documentation. Royal-level."
Jane stared at her for a long, quiet moment. Wind stirred the garden again, the sharp scent of orange blossoms wafting through the open windows. Rose didn't look away. She never did when things mattered.
Jane whispered, "You're serious."
"Of course I'm serious." Rose set her teacup down, not bothering with the saucer. "You're too important not to be."
A lump formed in Jane's throat. Her hands clenched the hem of her skirt beneath the table.
"I didn't think anyone would try to help me anymore," Jane admitted. "Everyone just… left."
Rose didn't say anything for a while. She just reached forward and gently touched Jane's hand.
"Not everyone," she said.
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