Queen Velverosa Novels & Stories

Well, putting away all of that aside, Natasha had hit the shower and put on a fresh pair of blue jeans with a pink top and a white sweater before getting into white sneakers. She let her blond hair rest above her shoulders as she grabbed a bag and put something in a sort of cage right next to her closet. "Come on out, V," she started after setting down what she had put at the base of the cage. A moment later, something slithered out from a dark corner of the cage. A snake;a green viper to be exact. Taika had given her the snake when she and her mother had gone on a visit to Hawaii, where she had learnt was her birth place.

"They'll send four hundred men and a bomb big enough to level this mountain. Tokyo will do the same. Every syndicate on the planet will burn Vespera flat before they let the Sovereign bloodline come back." Varek stared at his own reflection in the dark glass. The rain running down over it. "Kill the cameras in the east wing," he said. "Wipe everything from tonight off the servers. Her intake. All of it." A pause behind him. "Varek." Tor's voice went low and careful. The voice he used when he was about to say something he knew wouldn't land well. "We put her in a car tonight. Hand her to the London board. The debt goes away. We get the east coast ports. No one ever has to know what she is."

Just beyond a jagged rock outcrop near the absolute edge of the steep path, swaying gently in the biting breeze, grew a single flower. It wasn’t just any flower. A breathtaking, deep violet bloom. Orchid-like. Almost glowing under the overcast sky, as if it didn’t belong to this cruel world. “That’s Victoriae-reginae, known as Queen's Orchid.” he said calmly. “One of the rare medicinal orchids. Grows only in hellish cliffs like these. The market pays a fortune for it.” ​I stared at the delicate bloom, my mind struggling to connect the dots. “So?”

She explained that Selena had been brewing the disease in her lair for years and had finally unleashed it on the kingdom as an act of revenge. Alpha Caleb was shocked to hear this news, but he knew that they couldn't just sit back and wait for the disease to spread any further. Lady Victoria suggested that they needed a rare aloe vera plant that grew only in the Medusa River to create a spell to counter the disease. She volunteered to accompany Alpha Caleb on the dangerous journey to retrieve the plant.

"What else could happen that wouldn't hurt us both?" Robert cleared his throat, taking a step forward as he crossed his arms. "Verbena is a plant that hunters and other beings use to weaken wolves. It isn't dangerous to humans until a certain point, but just one drop for us could harm us. If someone was to use that on Archie, you wouldn't be affected" I think for a second because I've heard that name before. Jenny chuckles, squeezing my hand. "The other name for it is vervain."

Now that everyone was in pairs, they scattered off to do their assignment. Maria and Luna did the same, searching for the right plant to do their research paper on. Maria inspected the area and caught sight of a large three-foot tall plant. Suddenly reaching out to clasp her hand with the princess, Maria pointed to the plant and asked, "What type of plant is that?" "Its name is Ceratiola; not only can one cook with it but it can also be used for potions that fight away the effects of blindness," explained Princess Luna, amazing Maria with her knowledge. When Maria pointed to the second plant, the princess wasted no time launching into another explanation.

My plant. As Edin sat beside her pressing a cool cloth to Fawna’s forehead, inwardly I cursed myself for keeping my eyes focused only on Adara and not being more vigilant over her sister when we were in my garden. Women are always attracted to beautiful flowers, and perhaps nothing growing on Vukasin Island was more beautiful than aconite: wolf’s bane, the Queen of Poison. Perhaps because of the nature of Vukasin—perhaps for another reason, I don’t know—the aconite that grows here was not only the most deadly species of that plant in the entire world, it is also the most beautiful.

"Rosette, you are who you are and who you want to be. Don't let anyone aside from you tell you who you are and make you doubt yourself. Be strong in your perception about yourself, Rosette. Always." I swallowed, tears clogging my throat. Was it possible to love him anymore than I already did? "I love you, Felix." "I love you too, Rosie. Now is that idiot by any chance a curly haired blond?" My mouth dropped open, how on earth did he know? "How...?" "Seems like he's the one. It's Jason Clove, he was an absolute jerk when he was still here, was your senior,and he liked you. Had a crush on you and...

Then he answered: “We’re missing one ingredient.” The relief vanished before it could even settle. “What ingredient?” Pavel opened another file on the monitor. A botanical image filled the screen: a plant with extremely thin leaves, dark blue, almost black, with small silvery flowers that seemed to shine even in the photograph. “Lunaria Tenebris. Known as the Black Moon Flower. It’s rare—extremely rare. It only grows under specific conditions: volcanic soil, high altitudes, cold climate. The last time it was documented in Russian territory was decades ago.”

I sit in the leather chair in front of his desk. "Try to guess." Officer Smith crosses his legs and locks his fingers on top of his knee in a quizzing pose. "Come on, try." "I-I don't know what you are talking about, sir." I stutter and scratch my forehead, clearly clueless. "Where did you go last night, Veronika?" "Sir, I--" I open my mouth, then close it like a fish out of water. So the little old bastard made a call.