The Key: Book 2 The Rose Tree Chronicles

Prologue: A Difficult Task Indeed

Three hundred years had passed and there were new rulers to the kingdoms on land and the empire under the sea. Gerardo had left his mark on the hearts of the seapeople and his name had gone down into history on land and throughout the five oceans. Gerardo's only child, a son he and Mira named Jaskaran, became emperor after he married a naiad named Renée. Renée was infertile, so she and Jaskaran adopted a mermaid and named her Nadia. After a ceremony to make her heir, Nadia became the only heir to the throne. It was not long after that Nadia became deathly ill and Renée refused to leave her child's bedside. A couple more months passed, and the miracle worker whom the emperor and empress hired said that Nadia was getting better and should be healthy again in a year, but when Renée looked at her daughter, she didn't believe the miracle worker and remained hopeless.

Month after month, Renée watched over her daughter waiting for her to show signs of healing, and as each day passed and Renée saw nothing changing in her child's face, she became more and more depressed, worried, and faithless. All possible negative emotions drowned her heart. The sounds of her constant wailing, her curses toward random people, and her obnoxious crying could be heard all over the palace and never ceased. After a year, the miracle worker returned to check up on Nadia.

"I find myself baffled, Your Majesties," he said. "She was making so much progress last I saw her. Now, I am sorry to say, it is hopeless. I estimate she has four years to live."

Every day since, the empress spent her time in Nadia's chamber crying. Nothing could make her happy and the more the merfolk tried to lift her spirits, the worse her mood became. Horrible thoughts possessed Renée's mind and she dwelled on them. After several months of extreme mourning, the empress herself became ill, which only worsened her mood.

The sorrow spread with the news throughout all the underwater kingdoms. The oceans were calm and the skies above the water became empty of life and weather. The world wondered why the seas were so quiet and the air so still. The naiads communicated with the forest inhabitants who communicated with those outside the forest. Then, in a little over a week, news about the mood of the empress of the five oceans and the condition of her child had spread throughout all the forest creatures and the sorrow followed with it.

When Jaskaran and the miracle worker walked in to find Nadia's chamber trashed and Renée on the floor weeping and bleeding, the miracle worker banished her to bed away from Nadia for the sake of Nadia's health.

"You cannot take me away from my baby!" she wailed. "I'll have you all beheaded! She's my baby and she's dying! You cannot take me from her!"

She thrashed at everyone who forced her into her bedchamber. She even tried to kill herself. That was when Jaskaran had her tied down.

"Will this end, Miracle Worker?" Jaskaran asked.

"I'm not sure, Your Majesty," the miracle worker answered. "I've seen this go away, and I've seen it last until death."

"With your experience and knowledge, can you make a guess?"

"I'll be honest, Your Majesty. Her condition can possibly last from ten years after Nadia's death to the rest of her life. She seems to have an extremely bad case of depression."

One day during Nadia's tenth year, when Emperor Jaskaran had the time, he came in and sat on the sponge mattress of their clamshell bed next to his wife. He reached over and gently stroked Renée's cheek, waking her. She blinked a couple times and looked up at her husband.

"You shouldn't be so upset, Renée," Jaskaran said.

"Our baby is dying, Jaskaran!" Renée replied. "Why don't you care?"

"I do care, Renée." There was a moment of silence when Renée started crying again. "You need to go see the Miracle Worker at Moss Canyon."

Renée stopped crying and gaped at Jaskaran. "What? The Moss Can—are you mad??"

"She requested to see you, Renée." Jaskaran untied her. "Maybe she can help you. Maybe she can help Nadia."

"I doubt it."

"Renée, go," Jaskaran said sternly.

Then before there was any more arguing, Emperor Jaskaran glided out of the bedchamber and left his wife there with nothing else to do. So, Empress Renée got out of bed and went to the Moss Canyon.

                                                                ξ

The Moss Canyon was very far away. As Empress Renée traveled further from Coral City where the palace was located, the water grew darker and darker. Even the glowing fish around her didn't offer much help in lighting her way. She almost ran into a thousand sea creatures, rocks, and cliffs, but soon there was a dim, red glow that came from behind a large rock wall some distance ahead. She flowed toward that red glow wondering if she was lost, but to her relief, it was the Moss Canyon. Empress Renée discovered that a lava river created this faint red glow. The river led into a wrecked ship that seemed to have sunk recently. The ship was surrounded by tiny volcanoes that oozed lava into this river. The empress flowed over to the entrance of the ship and stood there, wondering if she should enter.

"Come in, Dear," said a cackling voice from deeper inside the ship. The voice had a strange accent and Empress Renée winced at the sound of it. "Well come on! I been waiting a long time for you already, don't keep me waiting any longer! We gots tings to talk about!"

Slowly, Empress Renée stepped in and avoided the lava river which seemed to flow straight through to the stern of the ship. The place had been completely remodeled to fit a miracle worker's purposes. Empress Renée wanted to know how the ship didn't rot, mold, or especially burn down being surrounded by lava. Behind a marble podium, was the miracle worker who looked like a hideous hag with an eel's tail. One of her eyes was yellow and the other a fiery orange and they burned through the empress's soul.

"There you are," said the hag with a smile that revealed four missing front teeth. "Follow me and we have foam tea." She turned around to lead the young empress deeper into the ship. "We have much to talk about."

Empress Renée maneuvered around the podium and hesitantly followed the hag.

"Have a seat while I set up the teakettle," the hag offered. The empress obeyed.

"So," Empress Renée said shyly after a long silence. "What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"It's about your daughter, um, oh what's her name?"

"Nadia," the empress reminded.

"Ah, yes!" exclaimed the hag. "That's her name! Anyway, we needs to talk about you and your daughter."

"Me and my daughter?"

"Yes, and we start with you." The hag approached the table with two cups of foam tea. She gave one to the empress. "You're stressed out. Why?"

"My daughter is sick and she won't get better," Empress Renée answered as if it was obvious.

The hag shook her head and Empress Renée looked at her confused. "That's not all. You feel an emptiness inside you also." Empress Renée wondered where the hag was going with this. "Many people do," the hag went on. "But you seem to take it a lot harder than most. You tink your daughter that will fill this emptiness, but you must admit, you were unhappy before your daughter became ill. It will be known, your unhappiness is what made your daughter ill in the first place."

Empress Renée couldn't think of how to respond.

"Did you know that depression is contagious? It spreads troughout the household and eventually leaves the house into the city. Depression makes you more able to get ill! That is what happened to your daughter!"

"So where are you going with this?" asked the empress.

"You want to know what will make your daughter better?" the hag asked taking a sip of her tea.

"Of course!"

"Your daughter was getting better when the miracle worker you hired said she was. Your distrust and negative disposition made her ill again, and she's only getting worse. So it all comes down to this: if you don't become satisfied, if you don't find something to fill your emptiness, your daughter can't stay in the ocean! You kill her! Your daughter is so young, her tiny body can't take the stress like the rest of the world can. You must provide a better, more positive environment for her to live in."

"And how do you expect me to fill this emptiness?" the empress asked in a mocking tone. "Do you even know what this, 'emptiness,' is?"

"You must find out on your own, or there will be no effect," the hag answered. "For instance, I have found God. On my own. Even if you fail to find joy for yourself, you can express joy to others and in turn, provide a more positive environment for your daughter to live in."

"Well, I must say this visit has been fun, and I'm very pleased to hear that my daughter's death will be on me. But I must be going." The empress got up to leave. "Thanks for the tea."

"So this means you don't want to save your daughter's life?"

"Stop pinning it on me!" Empress Renée violently jabbed a finger at the hag.

"You act as if she's already dead. You can easily save her life."

"This is ridiculous." The empress began to walk away again.

"Well then pack her things. She be leaving the ocean tomorrow morning."

"What are you talking about?" Empress Renée asked. "You're not taking her away from me!"

"No, you're abandoning her. And if that won't help you search for happiness, perhaps this will. If you fail, your daughter will also be given this golden ball when she is sent to land." The hag pointed to a golden ball somewhat larger than a baseball. "There, she must keep it hidden. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Empress Renée asked frightened.

"Because it will hold her curse."

"You cursed her?"

"No," the hag answered taking another sip of her tea. "But if you do not become more positive and encouraging of those around you, you will."

Empress Renée was infuriated. "I will have you executed!"

"Take this with you," said the hag ignoring the threat. She handed the empress a key on a gold chain. Engraved in the heart-shaped handle was a rosebud. "Remember the Rose Tree that was planted in honor of your father-in-law?"

"What about it?"

"It's almost finish stretching above the ground. I expect it to be finished growing its leafy branches in about a year or two. Once the rosebud on that key is bloomed, the Rose Tree will have finished growing its branches and your time will be up."

"Time for what?"

"Finding what's missing in your life, of course. To save your daughter's life. Now if all these... warnings, if you will, do not influence you to find something to fill your emptiness, I don't know what will. Too bad your daughter's life isn't enough." The hag began swimming away to clean up the teacups.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Notting, notting. Just fill your emptiness before the rose blooms."

"And what if Nadia dies before then?"

"She won't, trust me. I know. She will remain in the same condition she is in at the moment until your time is up. By the way, do not wear that key around your neck. It will hinder your ability to find what's missing in your life."

Renée placed it around her neck. "I'll have you executed." Then she quickly flowed back to the palace to tell her husband everything.