Poisonous

   It was a fairly well known fact.  A right of passage, so to speak.  Every noble boy was given a quest by their wizard godfather.  If they completed it they became men.  If they failed then they'd probably die or be shunned forever.  So it wasn't for no reason that  Sir Christopher le Croux was nervous.
   "Do you have your sword? Do you have your horse ready? Is your shield polished?" his advisor, Blake, asked.
   "Yes! Now, I have to go receive my quest!  Get out of my way!" Chris snapped.
   "Yes, sir." Blake murmured.
   Chris scurried to the east tower where Mandrake, his wizard godfather, lived.  The staircase was steep and crumbly. It felt as if the tower was about to collapse at any minute.
   "Godfather! GODFATHER!" the boy called.
   "Oh my Magi, shut up!  Why are you here, brat?!" the foul tempered wizard replied.
   "Um...you're supposed to give me my quest." he meekly replied.
   Mandrake spun around and stared at him. He stared a little longer. Then, he burst out laughing.
   "You?! You'll never make it!' he guffawed. "But, it's a chance to get rid of you."
   You can probably imagine that that statement didn't exactly boost his confidence.  The wizard skipped to his huge blue filing cabinet.  Mandrake never skipped!  His wrinkly pale hands flipped through all the files until they landed on File Rose.
   "Here you are! You're quest is to go to the Valley of Red Soil, and pick the Rose of Healing.  Then, take it to the Kingdom of Retina and give it to the ill Princess Iris in the form of tea to cure her disease."
   "Yes, Godfather." Chris agreed.
   Chris hopped on his strong white horse, and rode for three day and two nights to the Valley of Red Soil.  Obviously, the soil was red.  He suddenly whooped in joy.  There were two roses right up ahead!
   Oh! How would he decide which rose was the Rose of Healing?  The roses themselves were beautiful in different ways.  One rose was white as freshly fallen snow.  It radiated peace and purity.  The other rose was black as the darkest night.  It exuded a sinister, alluring aura.
   Chris decided in an instant.  Clearly, the white rose, which seemed do comforting, would cure the princess of her illness.  He carefully plucked it from the blood red ground, and started his journey to the Kingdom of Retina.
   He arrived a day later, and was immediately escorted to Princess Iris' bedchamber.  The princess looked deathly pale, and her voice sounded as hoarse as a crow's.  Chris quickly made the rose tea, and Iris swallowed it weakly.
   The change was immediate.  Her voice sounded like an angel.  Her skin glowed with a heavenly radiance, and her smile nearly made Chris swoon.  She kissed him on the forehead, and started to fade away.  Chris panicked. What was happening?
   "Thank you, Christopher le Croux.  You have cured me of the fever called living.  I'm free!" she said, as she disapeared.
   "Oh no! I must have chosen the wrong rose!"  Chris moaned.
   Just then the guards came in, and when they realized the situation dragged the moaning boy to the gallows.  There he was lynched.
   It wasn't until many years later when it came to light that the Rose of Healing(black) and the Rose of Death(white) showed what the person who would take them truly wished.  Princess Iris truly wished to die.  That was why the Rose of Healing was black and evil looking. She thought that life was evil.