Sophie_Clark_4578

Ellor has always been hidden, whether it was from diseases so he should not die as his infant siblings did, or modern novels. Having raided the royal palace that sits in the east of the country of Anima per his father's request as a child, he now holds immense power, which everyone wants. This story follows the first fourteen years of King Ellor's reign, his struggle for power under his controlling father's hand, and his unforeseen similarity to the very man he despises most. 
  Marrianne has known Ellor since before his leg was shot in the war for the crown, she has seen him cry and she has seen joy light up in his eyes. To some, it almost seems that she loves him. She is his tutor's daughter, though, and carries no royal blood to pass on, so that love will never be anything but fantasy. After her family sends her away to a boarding school, she returns to the palace in Anima and receives a shock, the King is to be engaged. 
Set against the backdrop of a corrupted court in the 19th century, The Tourmaline and the Rose is just the beginning of an everlasting legacy of love, hatred, revenge, and division that is the Animan Royal Family. What secrets does Ellor hold? Will Marrianne's fate ever be sealed? Who is this mysterious fiancé who seems more legend than a girl? Read and have some of these questions answered.

The Tourmaline and the Rose

"I have not the faintest idea of why you sent for me, your majesty." Marrianne says, her mouth in a slim line. The king had requested her presence for some time, and it had only been this day that Marrianne had finally agreed to come. 


"As you know, I'm an engaged man at this moment," he replies. Marrianne nods, walking near him through the palace gardens. "Marrianne, I need you to go back to Europe."


"What? Why on earth would I do that? This is my home."


"I know that, and that has nothing to do with me being in Luxembourg or not."


"No buts! Whatever reason you have for me returning to Europe is fiddlesticks!"


"You are not to speak to your king in that way."


"You are not mine!" Marrianne speed walks in front of him, staring into his reddened face. "Look, if this has something to do with you, then you should be the one leaving, I don't care if you're king, I'll leave for Europe if you deem it necessary to behead me."


"I could never behead you," Ellor replies, scratching the back of his neck. He's always scratched his skin when he's felt anxious, it scares Marrianne to see him peel his skin raw. 


"There is no manipulation here, but for the words coming out of your mouth."


"I despise you, always have," Marrainne crosses her arms, staring out beyond the fenceline of the palace property. 


"You don't mean that, do you?" Ellor touches her shoulder, staring in the same direction as her. She doesn't look at his face, at his pleading, dog-like eyes, they won't trick her, never will they do that. "Marrianne, you were my one true friend, once."


"How do you think he would feel if he was within earshot right now."


"But what if he was?" Marrianne stares into his face, feeling the cold air of his breath against her skin. She feels him leaning against her closer, but she doesn't move away. "I meant everything I said," she finally replies to his first question, before leaning in to press her lips against his. 


The kiss doesn't last long, only a few bare moments of desire let out, before both of them move away from each other. "I'll be leaving in the morning," Marrianne concedes, tears bubbling in her eyes. "The Duchess doesn't deserve this, with all her hope and kindness, she doesn't deserve this, we must learn to restrain ourselves from ever doing that again."


Ellor scratches his neck again, staring at his shoes. "Yes, restraint," he agrees halfheartedly, before walking her back inside and sending her off quietly. 


Marrianne lingers at the entrance to the palace, watching Ellor as he makes his way to the throne. In the drifting summer afternoon of July, the sun leaks through the tiny window of the throne room, bursting onto his brown mane of hair. He looks at the spit of his father, his eyes red and bloodshot, his face saddened and hollow. 


Sat atop the throne, the king's head now scarcely reaches the top of the red velvet chair. He stares out into the light-leaked window, the only hole in the blindfold he has to the wailing land. His father has long made choices for him, through childhood and most of his early adulthood, but today, Ellor must make choices of his own. He chooses in his father's path, with no other one made clear, he chooses a level of blindness as he lurks through the halls of his palace like his old father once did preceding him.


Ellor knows the power he could hurl across the land, and he wields it with red eyes and a heart like black tourmaline.


Chapter 10 Marrianne