*~*~*~*~*
I was at the computer researching the hieroglyphics when Ben returned from a run. I had the box with the four key chambers and the four new keys. I was in the midst of researching the symbols, trying to find the meaning of them and how they were connected.
Ben sat next to me. I looked over at him and ogled him for a moment in time. His dark hair was tousled, the ends drawn together with licks of rain. I sighed while my red rose heart of desire bloomed.
‘What?’ he asked, his eyes intense.
I curved my lips up a little, but didn’t answer. Instead, I moved closer to him and kissed him just below his ear, and along his jaw line until my lips met his. His lips parted and our tongues danced, awakening my yearning. Warmth radiated throughout me as my desire flamed. I shouldn’t be kissing him like this.
Ben drew back from me. ‘Stay focused on the research. Finish what you started with Gran’s drawing room,’ he whispered. His voice was rough and he kept his eyes closed.
‘It was a thank-you kiss, for looking after me,’ I said with a breathy voice.
‘Mmm. I’ll have to look after you more often, then,’ he replied, and opened his eyes. I gazed into the depth of his eyes and connected my lavender rose heart to his white rose heart, then broke our eye connection. I had to get on with fulfilling Gran’s last wish. I shook my head to clear it. I had a job to do.
Within fifteen minutes I had gathered all of the information I needed to open the final remaining box. Gran’s final wish would be fulfilled today; the mission would be completed and the journey of the drawing room would fade to become a distant memory.
A spark of excitement twinkled inside me, mixed with a dose of trepidation.
I returned to the drawing room and placed the four keys in front of the four keyholes of the box on the coffee table beside the weird, bizarre rock.
The research showed the hieroglyphics on the keys were the numbers; one thousand, one hundred thousand, one hundred and ten thousand. And the hieroglyphic symbols on the keyholes were letters T, C , E, A.
The symbols on the keys had to match the symbols on the keyholes somehow. I started at the smallest number and worked my way up with the letter symbols, re-arranged to spell my name.
One by one I pushed the key into the lock, and one be one I turned them.
Ben entered the drawing room and sat opposite me just as I turned the last key—to no avail. My skin prickled and panic travelled through my body like a toxin. All of a sudden I felt nauseous. I tried it again and again and again in various combinations, each time feeling despair creeping into my blood, until I had nothing left.
I gave up.
I closed my eyes and exhaled until there was no air left in my lungs, and no nausea.
It didn’t matter anymore—Gran’s final wish didn’t matter anymore—I couldn’t find the patience to continue. Not after the long journey to this point in time. Not after my failure to unlock this absolute last box. Not after pushing my courage to its limit.
Anger and frustration had slammed me in the face and shut the door on my goodwill and kindheartedness to finish the journey.
I had blown it.
After all of this time and effort, I couldn’t, and wouldn’t fulfill Gran’s last wish.
I opened my eyes, ran my hands over my face and shook my head. ‘I am finished, Ben. Done. Failed.’ I stood to leave the room when Ben reached up and grabbed my hand.
I turned and glared at him.
‘You are not done, Cate,’ he said in a gentle voice. He stood, lifted his chin and looked down at me. His voice became forceful. ‘I … am not done!’
I stared at him. His reaction to my acquittal blew my mind. He had never lost his temper before.
With caution I sat down. Obedient. Submissive.
Ben ran his hands over his face and through his hair. ‘Cate … I want this finished so we can have our relationship back. I want to move forward with you … but, this … this room is like a thorn in my side and I need it removed, as much as you do.’
I realised then how selfish I had been in this journey. He had exhibited amazing patience throughout the conquest and I had taken him for granted.
I looked at the box and the keys. All I had to do was to find the correct combination of turning the keys in the locks.
So, I removed all the of keys and started again.
Ben’s cell phone sounded.
I looked up at him to see him looking at the caller ID. He stood and rubbed the back of his neck then walked out into the sitting room, answered the call and paced to and fro in front of the fireplace whilst in conversation. He shook his head and glanced over at me with an anguished look. Once the call had finished, he turned away from me and stood motionless with his hands on top of his head.
The call could only mean one thing—he had to return to Earth Sphere.
Great.
My spirit took a dive while my lavender rose heart dropped its petals. I removed my eyes from him. This always happened. When I needed him, he would be taken away.
I closed my eyes for a brief moment, sucked in a deep breath and returned my gaze to the final keyholes. I ran my fingers over the smooth diamonds on the keys and inserted them in descending order into the keyholes and turned them.
The final piece of the puzzle.
Click.
My heartbeat quickened. I tried to still my trembling hands. I was afraid of what I would find inside the golden box. I didn’t expect to feel this way. I expected to feel joy and elation, relief and fulfillment. Yet, I felt none of those.
Panicked, I checked that I had the items from all of the other locations: the golden locket, the fob watch, the Pandora bracelet with the two new beads on it, the large, rusty dungeon key, two vials—one with a lock of hair, the other with some sort of clear liquid, and I had used the compound on the Magnificent Tree.
What possibly could be in this golden box that required four keys to be turned in a definitive order to open it? What possibly could be in this golden box that put fear into me?
‘Just open the box, Cate!’ I whispered to myself. I flicked the tear away from my cheek.
‘Nothing will hurt you,’ he whispered. He had entered the room without a sound. He lowered himself to his knees on the floor beside me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. I wanted him to go away—because that is what he was going to do anyway. I had to learn to be strong without him.
I returned my gaze to the box, took a deep breath, and lowered my trembling hand to the lid...
It opened with ease.
Inside was a ring. And a note.
Another bloody note!
My bottom lip quivered. I blinked back tears as I picked up the ring. It had a gold band and seven jewels: diamond, ruby, malachite, rose quartz, chrysocolla, sugilite and opal. They matched the jewels on the keys which opened the locks around the drawing room. The ring was dazzling and compellingly beautiful.
And I hated it!
How could this be Gran’s final wish. It solved nothing!
‘When are you leaving? Probably in the next ten minutes knowing Earth Sphere,’ I said without looking at Ben. I couldn’t make eye contact with him. It would hurt too much. The closer we became in our relationship, the more he was taken away from me.
‘I’m not … I’ve taken leave,’ he answered in a gentle tone as he took the ring from me to examine.
‘But you can’t take leave! Your job is to protect the Earth and its people!’
‘I can, and I have. It is a large organization. I want to be here for you—’
I put my finger over his bottom lip and stopped him from talking. His pupils dilated as I moved my lips to his to write the secrets of my red rose heart of love onto his. Our kiss lingered, but I pulled away before my hunger for him increased.
‘Thank-you,’ I whispered.
He put his hand over his heart and gave me a gentle nod. How could he be so beautiful?
But then, I became curious.
‘Why the change of mind about work?’ I asked. He had never chosen me over a request to return to Earth Sphere.
He narrowed his eyes at me, then looked back at the ring. ‘It was something Nic said to me. It contained a truth that I did not want to hear.’
I looked down at the ring in Ben’s hand. ‘He is very good at saying things that don’t want to be heard. He means well…’
Ben placed his finger under my chin and lifted it so that my eyes met with his. ‘Yes … and I am thankful to him for that.’
My eyes burned with tears. I blinked them away and returned my attention to the letter that accompanied the ring. I picked it up. I needed to finish this once and for all.
I looked at Ben. He nodded to me.
Finally … this would be the letter that would reveal Gran’s last wish. And finally, I would be free from the task that had burdened me since occupying Gran’s house.
I opened the letter. It was in two parts. Energy left me like my blood had been drained away.
A two part letter?
This had to be a bad sign. I shook my head.
I opened the first letter and decided to read it out loud. Ben had been part of every step of the journey and I would not shut him out of it now. Besides, I had a strong urge to rip up the letters and burn them in the fireplace, and I knew that he would stop me from doing that.
I took a deep breath, and began to read.
‘My Dearest Cate,
I had complete faith that you would journey successfully to here. I know that it has not been easy for you. I am so very proud of you, my darling.
Now that you have found the ring, you have probably guessed it is not just an ordinary ring. Otherwise I would have left it to be found easily.
I trust no-one but you with this ring.
But Cate, I am giving you a choice.
You can put the ring onto your fourth finger on your right hand, or, you can put it back into the golden box and back into the brickwork of the fireplace and reseal it, forever.
It’s okay if you choose that.
But then, that is where my final wish will remain—sealed in a golden box forever.
If you choose to put the ring on, read the next letter, by yourself. I can guarantee that something will happen once you put the ring onto your finger. It may scare you, and challenge you, but you will be safe.
I love you, Cate.
I know you will make your decision by searching the righteousness of your heart, according your present time and place of your own journey in your life.
Gran
x x x x x x x’
I stood, walked away from the golden box and threw my hands into the air and shook my head. ‘This is SO absolutely, bloody frustrating! How can she give me a choice? If I don’t complete her final wish it will haunt me!’ Anger laced my words. I paced back and forth. ‘What do you think I should do?’ I looked to Ben, willing him to answer my dilemma.
‘I think,’ Ben paused in thoughtfulness, ‘I think you loved Gran very much. I think that she contributed enormously to your life and helped you to grow into who you are today. You should follow your heart, Cate. Listen to what you heart is telling you.’
‘Why is putting the ring onto my finger such a big deal? It doesn’t make sense—it is just a ring!’ I muttered.
‘It mustn’t be. Your Gran said it is not an ordinary ring, and that something will happen,’ Ben commented.
‘What the hell does that mean? If only I knew what would happen when I put that ring on, then the choice would be easier to make.’ I took a deep breath. It was the unknown I feared. And why is Gran giving me a choice? How do you make a decision when you don’t know the details, or the consequences of making that decision?
I sat in deep thought as a numbing fear grew inside me and spread its roots.
I had to make the right decision.
But for whom? Gran, or me?
My honeysuckle heart of devoted affection for my Gran ached.