A Knight Amid Thorns
Laurel O'Donnell
Chapter Six
Ella glanced at Graden in shock. The boy had the blue rose! “Yes,” she said, stepping toward the child. “Where is it?”
The boy shucked his head. “It is very rare. I don’t carry it with me. Someone might take it. I hid it.”
Graden touched Ella’s arm in warning, but she ignored him asking, “Will you show us?”
The boy narrowed his eyes at them. “How do I know you won’t rob me?”
Ella drew herself up. “I am a noble woman. He is a knight.”
“And…”
She was insulted that she had to explain herself. “We have a code we live by.”
“Beggin’ yer pardon, milady, but there’s been plenty of knights that have taken what they want.”
“Aye,” she agreed. “But we’re not like them.”
The boy quirked the side of his mouth in disbelief and ran a hand through his hair. “Perhaps if ye gave me some coin I’d be more likely ta trust ya.”
Ella glanced at Graden. She had no coin, she had all but fled the castle to search with him.
Graden shook his head in disagreement.
Ella silently implored him, grasping his arm. “It might be our only chance.”
Graden sighed and dug into a small sack tied to his belt. “And what’s to say you won’t run away after I give you the coin?” he asked of the boy.
“I can make more coin if I sell you the blue rose.” The boy held out his hand, palm up.
Ella grinned. She liked the child. His reasoning was sound and logical.
“Ifyou have the blue rose.” Graden put the coin into the boy’s hand.
“Oh, I have it!” He looked down at the coin with satisfaction before curling his fingers around it. “This way.” He turned back through the thicket.
Graden captured Ella’s wrist, halting her. “I’ve come across many people who said they have the blue rose,” he whispered. “None have.”
“We have to check. He might be the one who does.” Ella hurried after the boy. She lifted her feet high over the brush as they crunched through it. “Where did you find the rose?”
The boy shrugged. “I was walking through the thicket and happened to look down. There it was.” He turned and walked backward while talking to Ella. “Lots of people are looking for it. But I didn’t trust them as much as I do you.”
Ella cast Graden an encouraged glance as he trailed behind them. Others were searching for the rose? “Why are others searching for it? What do they want with it?”
The boy shrugged. “Can’t say. But I hear tell that it heals wounds and achy legs. It is also supposed ta turn enemies into lovers.”
Ella watched where she put her feet. She didn’t want to trip. “Wondrous and magical,” she whispered. The words her mother had used to describe the flower.
“Lots of old people want it for potions and the like.”
Darkness had claimed the lands making it difficult to see the child as he moved in the shadows.
“It only blooms once a lifetime,” the boy went on. “So, it’s really rare. Really rare. And worth a lot of coin.”
