Rose's Thorns

Chapter 14

Once they had all gone from the hall I looked at my mother who was smiling at me smugly. "Now what do you plan to do?" She asked. 

"Well it is another day, so I will go train with the rest of my soldiers." I said leaving the room. I walked to the jewelers and told them to make a necklace with a golden chain and emerald stone on it. They got right on it, seeing as I was the prince.  I was told it would only take three hours seeing as they just had to choose the right chain and emerald. Then I went to the stables and found my friend named Gyron, who sold horses. Rowan would need a horse as fine as Torrand were we to travel the north together. 

When I looked upon the beast I knew it was perfect, it was a grey horse, long yellowish mane and tail. (Dapple grey Andalusian) It was said she was the fastest filly to have seen the north. I bought the mare and turned her loose in the paddock with my stallion, he took a liking to her once she showed him she was the boss. 

It was almost time for the sun to set when I returned to the castle, mother and father were reading scrolls delivered by Goshawk. I walked over and took a seat waiting for them to fill me in. 

"You are not the king yet." My mother said coldly, narrowing her eyes at me. "And you won't ever be if you don't put her before trainings."

"Mother, how am I supposed to take Rowan across the north without a horse?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She smiled before walking over and kissing my forehead. 

"Thank gods you didn't put your training before her. I thought I failed you in how to care for a woman." I looked at my father who shrugged his shoulders and looked at my mother with nothing but love. 

"So what do the scrolls say?" I asked, hoping to get a real answer. 

"Our fields are producing less each year, if we don't solve the problem before the next planting season we won't have enough food to last us next winter." My father said throwing the scroll on the table while plopping into his chair with a sigh. 

"While Rowan and I are touring the kingdom, we can see what the field tenders say about it." I said stroking the beard I had. 

"What about Rowan? She is from the west where the crops seem to grow the best, maybe she has some insight that could be useful." My mother said looking between father and I. 

"Would she know? She was only eleven when her village was destroyed. And she told us her mother was a maid at house Dyxon, I don't recall her saying what her father did, other than that he was a soldier."

"It couldn't hurt to ask." My father said. 

"I suppose not." I agreed. "Anything else?" 

"King Orion has a new queen." My mother seethed.

"Why is that so bad?" I asked. 

"Her name is Marigold, a type of flower." I growled at the news.

"One of Rowan's sisters." I said tensely as I sat back and bit my index finger. 

"That was our conclusion as well." My father said. 

"Mother, Father, Brother." Henry said as he walked into my father's study where we sat. It was a large stone room, the floor was made of the redwood as our doors. A large tapestry hung on the wall of a woman with green eyes and brown hair. Around her grew trees taller than a mountain, the famed Redwood trees that were cut to extinction in the east. 

"Henry." I said to my younger brother as he took a seat beside me and looked carefully at my face. "What?" I growled. 

"Did you see Rowan's hand?" He asked. 

"No." I said sitting up. "Why?"

"Her left hand is full of scars. She said it was trying to strangle roses." I furrowed my brows, so last night wasn't a one time thing. "She also has fresh wounds, I took her to Garrick's chamber so he could make sure they wouldn't fester."

"When did you do this?" I asked.

"A few hours ago." Henry said, looking at father and mother who were looking at us strangely. 

"I'm going to see her. I'll see you at dinner." I said standing up and leaving the room letting my feet take me where they wanted to go. 

Rowan......

After getting yelled at by Garrick for being so careless as to not see him sooner, he finally put an ointment on my hand made of tea tree leaves and aloe, then he made me wrap it for a while. Not long after my cycle started and I had to ask a maid for a blood cloth. I went to a private area and put the cloth in my bleeding hole. When I was done I washed my bloody hands before going to the library. I was reading about the trees in the north when I felt his eye on me.

I looked up and saw Wolfe looking down at me curiously. He walked forward stopping at my side, crouching down and taking my left hand in his, all without a word. He took the bandage off and looked at the wounds from the thorns with a frown. He re-wrapped my hand before finally meeting my eyes. 

"No more of that." He said, his voice no more than a whisper. I nodded and he smirked, taking his right hand and using his thumb to brush my lip. "Will you walk with me?"

"Aye." I said closing the book, he helped me stand before we walked from the library silently. He put his hand on my lower back and led us outside past the stables to a paddock where his horse was loose with another. Torrand and the grey horse ran over when Wolfe whistled, I took note it was a she when they reached us. Torrand walked over and I ran my hand down his dark face. "Hello again." I said to the stallion. 

"I see you know Torrand." Wolfe said, tickling the horse's muzzle. 

"Lily and I went to the stables after dinner yesterday, I saw him then."

"Well this girl doesn't have a name, but she is yours." I looked up at him as he smiled down at me. "If you want to see the north, you're gonna need a horse to ride." I reached out to her and the mare snorted before nipping at my hand and running off. 

"Well then." I said glaring at her. I saw white and looked in the trees where the owl was watching Wolfe and I from the woods. 

"Do you know how to ride?" I heard Wolfe ask, his warm breath tickling my ear. 

"My dad taught me before he left for battle, but I haven't ridden since then." I said looking at Torrand who had run off after the mare. 

"We'll have to refresh your memory then." I nodded, the sun was setting in the west, coloring the sky in pink and orange. Wolfe whistled again grabbing two ropes. The first he tied to Torrand and the second to the face of the mare. He looked over at me and I took the rope of the mare, I would not let her bully me. I followed Wolfe to the barn and put my mare....Fey, in the stall beside Torrand. I rubbed her face gently once before closing the door and hanging the rope like Wolfe did with Torrands. 

"You handled her like an expert." He said, taking my hand in his and looking down into my face. 

"Where are we going next?" I asked him, he grinned, showing his teeth and how perfect they were. 

"You'll see." He led me around, making sure I was by his side and not behind him. We walked back into the castle and into a room on the east side, the large redwood door made no sound as it opened. Inside the king and queen sat at a large pine desk reading scrolls. 

"Son, Rowan." The queen said with a gentle smile. 

"Your grace." I replied easily as Wolfe pulled me to a seat and motioned for me to sit. He sat in the chair next to mine before looking at his mother. 

"Rowan, what did your father do before he was a soldier?" King Tyson asked. 

"He was always a soldier. He moved to our village from a town governed by house Porter, here in the north. From what he told us as children, his father was a soldier in Royce Porter's guard. He grew up with weapons training and the skills of a mounted soldier. He took those skills west after he met my mother. She was caring for her ill brother who couldn't survive a harsh winter in the north. So he left for her."

"What kind of illness did your uncle have?" Wolfe asked. 

"I'm not sure." I said looking around the room. "He acted like a child sometimes, but he was really good at doing things that required hard work, like farming and working with animals. When the cold came and there was little hard work he could do he would become depressed and try to end his own life."

"He was a farmer?" King Tyson asked. 

"Aye, he used to tell Vaynir and I about how he had to mix the s**t with the soil."

"Why did he have to do that?" Queen Reymira asked. 

"Think about it, plants grow better in abandoned animal pens, s**t helps stuff grow." Wolfe chuckled looking at me while biting on his index finger. His hazel eye shined in amusement as he held my gaze. 

"How often did he do that?" King Tyson asked. 

"Before planting and after harvesting. He would always be so excited, coming into the house stinking it up, he would tell us every move he made, my mother always got so mad at him. What I would do for one more dinner like that." I said smiling down at my lap where I had clasped my hands together. My eyes stung as I thought about my family. Wolfe's large hand covered mine and my vision blurred at tears began to cloud my eyes. 

Wolfe stood and pulled me to my feet, leading me out of the room. He brought to an open area in the south end of the castle by the kitchens. There was a huge pine tree that had emerald colored needles sticking off it. 

"I come here when I feel lost." He said sitting on a wooden bench, gently pulling me down beside him. I leaned into him looking up at the tree. "I'm sure you know how I got my scar." He said softly. 

"I've heard the rumors, but I try not to head them mind seeing as it could be lies spread. Like the rumor of you favoring the sword." I said looking up at him, he pressed his lips to the top of my head. 

"I was 15, and a squire for my uncle Byron. He was slain in the middle of the battle, cut in half by a huge man in Hammerhall armor. That man came after me next, using his sword to s***h me down to my ribs. He didn't cut deep enough though, his blade missed my throat and I was able to survive. A northern soldier named Psando, Forest's older brother by a few years stabbed the soldier in the throat, getting impaled in the process. I watched my uncle fall, his blood soaking the sand of Summerville."  Wolfe said. 

"After the raid was over, Vaynir and I went looking for our mother. We found her at home, she was left on her bed, she was completely naked, and she was cut from her womanly area to her breasts. Her insides were spilling onto the bed which was so soaked with blood that it was dripping onto the floor. And yet she was still as beautiful as every other time I had seen her." I said finding comfort in Wolfe. His hand tilted my head up so he could look into my eyes. His were filled with pain and sadness. 

"There are some things a child should never see, and parents killed in that manner; is one of those things."  He sighed before looking up at the pine tree, holding me tightly; as if he were afraid I would vanish. “I was fearful earlier Rowan.” He confessed his voice still soft. 

“Why were you fearful, Wolfe?” I asked speaking his name aloud for the first time.

“Nay, call me by my real name.” He said looking back down at me, his fondness showing. “I thought you were going to want to leave. And after all you have been through with those men, I wouldn't have had the heart to stop you.”

“The truth is, I don’t think I would have been able to leave. I feel safe here with you….and I haven’t felt safe in a very long time. Leaving the north, and leaving you would be leaving that feeling once again. I don’t want to give up being safe anymore Aspen.” His breathing was heavy as he looked down at me. His eyes wild and lit ablaze by something new. Before I could process what was happening he had pressed our lips together. His were soft, his facial hair tickling my lips and causing me to giggle. He made a deep throaty moan when I did, pressing his lips even further into mine. I felt a small wetness on my mouth, I unsealed my lips to see what it was and his tongue raided my mouth, both of us becoming more connected to each other.