EAST GARDENS | FIRST BREAK
Two weeks since her father had shown her just how seriously he took her disobedience.
Two weeks since she’d told Rhys Valentin she could no longer see him anymore. Could no longer study with him. Could no longer even speak to him.
Two long clocking weeks since Damen D’Arthe had broken two hearts.
Charity sat in the over run gnarled mess of the East Garden, a far cry from its glamorous twin, vines crawling up twisted trees, huge stone statues cracked with age and covered in moss, and wild bushes and brambles everywhere. The broken stone seat the teenager leaned back against was cold, and snow dusted thickly over the wretched place, echoing the frozen expanse of her heart. The blonde hid in the garden, clearing a spot to sit on the icy ground, because she knew sitting here alone in the cold she ran little risk of running into the tall boy that had been her best friend for so many fleeting seasons and her crush for a whole lot longer.
Plus, hidden in the East Garden, she could cry without being harassed by Diaxio. The hoxian was unashamedly pleased as punch that Rhys was finally out of the picture, more than sour that the blonde youth had stolen away her best friend. But things had changed, and Charity needed time. She didn’t want to clocking sneak into the tenth form dorm room to flutter her lashes at Benjamin Torres, she didn’t want to find a ‘new crush’ as the green eyed girl constantly said.
She wanted her Rhys back.
Hugging her knees, the Captains daughter cried quietly into her forest green skirt, ignoring the chill that burned her cheeks. She dug her fingers into her flesh through the material, as though the mild pain in her legs would help to drag the severe one from her chest. She felt hollow inside, and it was almost unbearable. Lifting her face, the youngster looked over at the snow dressed labrynth that dominated the garden. There were rumours that the curious rose maze was haunted by the ghost of a young student that had drowned in the pond at the centre, but frankly no one had actually seen the spirit. There were even more rumours that students who entered the maze didn’t come out.
Maybe that was better than feeling like this.
Wiping her eyes, Charity stood up, drawing her cloak tightly around her as she approached the arched entrance of the labyrinth. A sense of strange anxiety swept over the blonde, and her field flexed to test the waters. The teenager stepped closer, trying to lean to see around the first bend of the maze just inside the entrance. She swore there was a soft voice, just on the Vortas wind.
“Hello?” She called out softly, resting a hand on the frost trapped leaves beside her. An overwhelming urge to enter the maze all but pulled against her, and Charity took a hesitant step, breath pluming in a thick cloud against the cold weather.
She could just get lost inside, and everything could just go away. The voice on the wind seemed to be calling her, comforting her. All it took is just stepping inside and following the leafy halls and turns.
It would be so much nicer, she just needed to come in.
Shivering against the feeling brushing at her field, the heartbroken youngster prepared to enter the rose bush maze.