Chapter 7: The Corpse That Never Rots

Lily took after Thorne’s trail. He’d been clumsy or just indifferent, leaving behind things even an amateur would pick up on. She could tell he had been walking faster, there were signs of him tripping constantly. They were going deeper into the forest which confused Lily. He was heading the wrong direction.

He hadn’t paused either, she could make out that. She didn’t understand what he was doing.

The ground began to turn rocky and uneven; she had to watch her footing as she sprinted. Lily was waiting for some kind of bad news to hit her; it was like a constant pressure in the back of her mind.

But no, there was nothing that had gone wrong.

A crumbled castle stood in front of her. The door was open, the roots and vines that had grown on it snapped in half, still dripping life. She crept inside carefully, walking softly. The tower had once been part of something bigger though just what it wasn’t clear. Portraits of older kings and queens lay scattered and broken in half. Some were more recent then others.

There was fresh food lying in some of the silver plates. Candles were left burning, slowly running out of time. Lily crept inside deeper inside, staying close to the walls. She couldn’t hear anyone but her, it was so eerily quiet.

The floorboards creaked; Lily winced at the sound. She made her way deeper into the empty castle. All around her, there was signs of life. The flowers bloomed brighter then anything she’d seen before, even those confined in vases. There something distinctly alive about this place.

Thorne’s footsteps had disturbed the dust, they led all the way through the castle before they stopped outside the courtyard. He’d fixed things as he’d walked, just enough to neaten what was left of the castle. One of the paintings, a portrait of a girl, lay near the courtyard entrance. It hadn’t been touched by a single soul; vines crawled around it and held it in place. Butterflies nested near it and flowers burst from it.

She was beautiful. Lily had never seen a human girl with such a kind smile before.

The painting wasn’t like the rest of the castle. It wasn’t apart of the castle.

Lily moved to the courtyard, leaving the painting to rest. The flowers bloomed hardest here, all kinds of species and colours shone. She had to tip toe to avoid crumpling any of them, though she could see Thorne hadn’t bothered with that kind of curtesy.

In the center, a girl lay with her eyes closed.

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‘Ah,’ Lily breathed.

The girl was stunning, even more beautiful then the painting would have had Lily believe. But it wasn’t her features that made her this way. Lily could feel it, in the way the birds rested here and the way the vines curled. There had been love here.

Lily carefully walked closer, admiring the girl. A candle lay in her lap, unburning. The grass grew carefully here, smaller and thinner as it cushioned the girl. The girl didn’t breathe, she lay as still as the ground beneath her. But the life that flowed out of her was unstoppable.

It was like a moving force, the energy that surrounded the castle, Lily realised it. The castle should’ve crumbled long ago, but against the forces of the vines and overgrowth it stood tall still.

Multi-coloured butterflies flew in the air, like raindrops they surrounded her. Lily stood in bewilderment.

‘You really don’t have to keep helping me, Miss Lily.’

Lily squeaked and jumped, falling back into the flowers she had tried so hard to avoid stepping on. A butterfly landed on her nose.

Thorne’s voice had come out from beyond the tree.

‘You left me without a word!’ she yelled, lying on a bed of flowers.

‘I know where we are, I can lead myself the rest of the way,’ he answered, still out of her view.

‘That’s not the point!’ Lily brushed petals off her shoulder, they mixed in her hair.

‘Then?’

And Lily didn’t know how to respond because she knew she’d been making up excuses to follow after him.

‘You’re going the wrong way,’ she stammered, remembering they were far off where he wanted to be.

‘I had to visit here,’ he said, ‘I always visit here.’

‘Oh, y-yeah okay,’ Lily awkwardly stood up, ‘I just had something to give you,’

‘Later,’ Thorne said, ‘Please,

Just go.’

Lily walked away, stumbling a little. She looked back and saw Thorne kneeling over the girl in a kind of silent vigil. He seemed to be grieving

She felt a little hurt.

When she was far enough from the courtyard she made a mad dash. She didn’t want to be here anymore.

She paused in the castle kitchen, kicking at the dusted wooden tables. Stupid! She was stupid for following after him. She still didn’t know him, not even a little. One of the beams of the chair broke, it fell over. She slammed her foot into it and then angrily endured the pain.

Maybe a little hurt was an understatement.

She sighed, again that sickening heavy feeling in her heart making all her decisions for her.

She walked out to the front entrance, crumbling there. Lily sat there, plucking at the ground and playing with bits of grass. She weaved them together, like she had as a little kid. First a duck, then a swan and finally a rabbit.

The sun hung low now, she still sat and waited. She had begun to make a fourth grass duck by the time she felt Thorne’s shadow loom over her.

The atmosphere was dense, she didn’t want to look up at him.

‘My sister,’ he said, crouching down to meet her eyes, ‘This is her grave.’

Lily bit her lip; she didn’t know what to say, and even if she did, she wasn’t sure she’d want to say it.

‘I gave up everything to bring her back.’ Thorne said, holding out his hands.

It began to rain.

‘It wasn’t enough.’

‘Even now it, I still bear burden,’ he flexed his hand, the rusted joints cracking apart.

Lily held out the grass swan to him.

He took it.

She opened her arms. He knelt closer; she wrapped them around him.

‘Can’t I guide you for just a little longer?’ she whispered gently to him.

‘Please do.’