The Order of the Twelve

Chapter 3: The Inn

Chapter 3: The Inn

         As Rosie thought about everything that had happened that day, she didn’t even notice that they had reached the inn until Aaron opened the carriage door to help her out. And the first thing she thought when she saw the inn was “What a lovely building.” It was a two story building with stables behind the building and it looked like it was made entirely out of oak. This wasn’t surprising because almost all of the trees in the area were oak trees. One of the other soldiers, she believed his name was Garret, went to put the horses in the stables while Rosie, Aaron, and the two other soldiers, Calvin and John, went inside.


         The innkeeper greeted them with all the hospitality of someone who was used to dealing with people he didn’t necessarily like. He gave them the two finest rooms available and immediately set the cook to work preparing dinner. Rosie made sure to thank the innkeeper before she went up to her room.


         Before Rosie went to her room, Aaron said to her, “Calvin and John will stand guard outside your room. I’m going to meet Garret outside and scout the perimeter.”


         “Aaron is all this really necessary? I mean it’s not like I’m going to run away or anything,” Rosie said jokingly.


         “I know you won’t,” Aaron replied, “but the rebels have been sighted in this area in the past and I want to make sure you stay safe.” Then, Aaron looked at Rosie in a way that made her heart race. “Besides, it shouldn’t take too long. Just go downstairs to the main area when you get your things put away and I’ll meet you there.


         “Yeah, sure thing,” Rosie said as he walked away.


         “You don’t have to worry about a thing, Miss,” Calvin said to Rosie before she closed the door, “Staff Sergeant Wade won’t let anything happen to you.” Rosie only nodded in reply as she closed the door. Security my foot, Rosie thought angrily, Aaron really doesn’t trust me. I can’t be that important, can I?


         Rosie put her bag on the bed and surveyed the room. It had a bed, a dresser, and one window. She noted that the window was large enough to climb out of and a tree within arm’s reach of the window. Rosie wanted to have an escape plan if she needed one. After she tested to see if the window opened, Rosie went back downstairs with her escorts. Calvin and John didn’t try to talk to her and she made no effort to start a conversation. She was perfectly content watching the other guests at the inn and making up stories about why they were there. It had been her favorite thing to do with Lacey back home. They used to make up stories to pass the time when Rosie was helping her mother run their pottery stand in the market.


         “Okay Rosie, how about the woman buying sausage,” she remembered Lacey asking, “What’s her story?”


         Rosie looked at the woman. “Let’s see. Um… Her name is Felicity Basset. She is buying sausage for her son’s special birthday breakfast.”


         Lacey yawned and said, “That’s all. You can do better than that.”


         “Hold on, I’m not done yet.” Rosie closed her eyes and thought hard. “I’ve got it. She’s buying the sausage to make her son’s birthday breakfast, but what she doesn’t know is that the butcher’s daughter Eunice used to date her son and he broke her heart. So Eunice is making sure the heartbreaker gets a nasty surprise in his breakfast tomorrow.”


         “What’s the surprise? Come on, Rosie, tell me.” Lacey pleaded.


         “Dear, little Eunice filled the sausage with worms.” Lacey burst into laughter. Rosie knew that Lacey always loved funny endings to the stories.


         “Rosie, one of these days, you are going to have to tell one of your stories at the schoolhouse campfires. You come up with the best stuff.” Lacey said as she regained her breath.


         “Not a chance, Lacey,” Rosie replied, “Besides, you know how nervous I get around people.”


         Lacey groaned and said, “Jeez, you are such a jellyfish. You should at least make some of the pottery here at the stand look like what you make at home. I bet more people would buy it if you gave it your special touch.”


         Rosie rolled her eyes. “Maybe if we were living in the capitol, but around here, people buy things because they work, not because they’re nice to look at.”


         “My dear, sweet Rosie,” Lacey said in her ‘You are so naïve’ voice, “never underestimate a person’s desire to own something beautiful. It makes them feel superior.”


         “Whatever you say. Now, why don’t you make yourself useful and help me dust.” Rosie couldn’t count how many conversations she and Lacey had had like that. Lacey was always trying to push her into doing things that would get others to notice her. Rosie always thought it was annoying, but now she was thinking that maybe Lacey really had thought that she was gifted.


         “Hey, I brought you something to eat.” Aaron’s voice brought Rosie back to the present. “I hope you’re hungry because the cook made plenty,” Aaron said as he set a bowl of stew in front of her. “Are you all right? You look kind of far away.”


         “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for the stew, it looks good.” Rosie started eating to keep Aaron from asking any more questions. She wasn’t in the mood to share her life story with him just yet. Thankfully, Aaron didn’t ask her anything else.


         Rosie was debating whether she should ask Aaron about the mark she saw on his arm when she saw a group of people walk into the inn. There were three of them. The first one was tall, with dirty-blonde hair that fell around his face and stopped at his ears. He also carried a longbow and a quiver of arrows on his back. The second one wasn’t nearly as interesting because he wore a hooded cape that made it impossible to tell what he looked like. Although Rosie could tell he had a sword at his hip. The third one was thin and wiry. He had light brown hair that went to his eyebrows and wire-rimmed glasses that looked like they could fall off at any moment. He looked over at where she was sitting, whispered something to the other two, and all three of them sat at a table in the far corner of the room. I guess they don’t like the soldiers, Rosie thought as she continued eating.


         Aaron looked at the trio and said, “Rosie, it’s getting pretty late and we have a long way to go tomorrow. I think you should go to bed once you’re finished eating.”


         “Okay, I’ll go up now.” Rosie said. Aaron put his arm around her protectively and walked her to the foot of the stairs. As she walked toward the stairs she noticed two things: 1) Aaron was glaring at the trio in the back of the room. 2) The one with brown hair would not stop staring at her. Rosie went straight up the stairs, ran to her room, and locked the door. Once there, she said to herself, “There’s no way I can stay in here all night.”

◊

         About two hours later, Rosie opened the window in her room, grabbed hold of the nearest branch, and surprisingly didn’t break her neck as she climbed down the tree. Once Rosie reached the bottom, she silently thanked Lacey for talking her into packing a pair of trousers. Rosie walked behind the stables and saw a large field that had an incredible view of the sky. As she gazed at the emptiness of the field she thought to herself, I wonder if it will work here. Rosie went a little farther into the field and thought goldenrod would be the perfect thing to grow there. She knelt down on the ground, pressed her palms into the dirt, and visualized patches of goldenrod popping up all over the field. When she opened her eyes, there was nothing. She closed her eyes and tried again.


         “If you’re trying to make something grow, it won’t work here.” said a voice from behind. Rosie whipped her head around to see the brown haired boy who had been staring at her earlier. “It only works if there is a source of water underground like a well or a spring.”


         “Who are you? How did you find me out here?” Rosie stammered out nervously.


         “I’m sorry if I scared you. My name is Logan, and I was in the stables when I saw you climb out your window. I needed to make sure those soldiers you were with didn’t mess with my friends horses. If you don’t mind my asking, what were you trying to make grow here?”


         “I uh…was trying to get some goldenrod to bloom here. The innkeeper was so kind and goldenrod is a symbol of wealth and good fortune after all.” Rosie couldn’t tell if he was a threat or not, but he seemed genuinely curious.


         “That’s a pretty advanced technique for someone with no formal training. Even if there was an underground spring in this field, how would you know you could do it?” He asked condescendingly.


         “It isn’t the first time I’ve made flowers grow.” Rosie couldn’t figure out why Logan was making such a big deal out of the whole thing.


         Logan raised one eyebrow, “It’s not?”


         “No,” Rosie replied as she avoided eye contact, “I did it once before. It was how I discovered I was talented.”


         “Ah…I see. And then the soldiers came in to ship you off to the capital.”


         “It didn’t happen recently. It was almost five years ago,” Logan looked almost as dumbfounded as Aaron had when she told him, “well…five years ago next month anyway.” Logan opened his mouth and closed it again. “Why does everyone I tell that to freak out? I mean, is it really that impressive that I hid my talent for that long?”


         “Wait a second, everyone you tell,” Logan quickly replied, “how many people know about you hiding your talent for so long? Because until I met you, the standing record for keeping a talent secret is about three months, tops.”


         Rosie could tell Logan was getting anxious, “If I count you, only four people. My mom and my friend Lacey have known since day one, and Aaron is the only other person who knows that my talent was a secret for that long.”


         Logan gave her a weird look and asked, “This Aaron guy, he wouldn’t by any chance be the redheaded soldier who can’t keep his arms to himself, is he?” Rosie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He sounded like a jealous boyfriend. He didn’t even know her name and he was acting like he owned her or something.


         “What does it matter if he is,” Rosie said in an irritated tone, “you’ve known me for even less time than he has. He certainly has more right to put his arm around me than you do.”


         Logan suddenly looked hurt. “I’m sorry. It’s just… if he knows you’re that powerful, and you are by the way, he might be playing with your feelings to make sure you cooperate. I’ve seen it happen before.”


         Rosie suddenly felt very hurt. Of course, that’s why he’s interested in me. What other reason could there be. “Well thanks for the warning Logan, but I’ll take my chances with them for now. I better be getting back to my room; long way to go tomorrow.”


         Logan nodded and said, “I understand. I hope we meet again someday … you know, I don’t even know your name.”


         Rosie smiled. “It’s Rosie, Rosie James.” Then she turned and walked back toward the tree and began the long climb up to her window. After a good deal of struggling, she finally made it back into her room and collapsed on her bed, the day’s events playing in her head. Three questions kept going through her mind as she slipped into the abyss of unconsciousness, is Logan right? Is Aaron just using me? Will I ever see Logan again? She only hoped that sleep would make everything clearer.

◊

         Rosie found herself in a dark room. Suddenly, light shined on two doorways. Aaron was in one, and Logan was in the other. They were both staring at her. A voice came out of nowhere and said, “You have to choose. You have to choose.” The voice became a chorus of voices chanting, “You have to choose. You have to choose.” The voices were getting louder and louder. She knew if she didn’t choose one of them something bad would happen. Then, the ground beneath her started shaking. Two fissures open up, cutting her off from both Aaron and Logan. She could smell smoke and then the doorways burst into flame. She screamed, but she couldn’t be heard over the voices who were still chanting, “You have to choose. You have to choose.” As quickly as they had started, the voices stopped. Once again she was surrounded by silence and darkness, but the smell of smoke still filled the air. A hooded figure came out of the darkness, the same person she had seen earlier with Logan and the boy with the bow and arrows. His voice sounded like a thousand people speaking at once in her head. “You must choose, or you will watch as all that you hold close to your heart is destroyed.”

◊

         Rosie woke in a cold sweat, her heart pounding in her chest. She tried to calm down but she couldn’t shake the feeling of terror. That was when she realized that she still smelled smoke. The inn was on fire!