Rose's Thorns

Chapter 5

Two new girls, we found two new "flowers" for the fat man's garden, he called them Violet, a 15 year old girl with dark brown hair and green eyes. She was what the fat man called a half breed, her father was dark skinned and her mother was white. She had her fathers dark hair and her mothers green eyes, she was beautiful, I wanted to call her Beatrice, but I knew better than to go against the pigs. 

The second girl was called Petunia, she was younger at 13, she had yet to bleed. Her hair was the color of a raven's wing, her eyes were ice blue and shone bright with intelligence. Her skin was pale and she had a few black dots on her button nose. Her eyes were heavyset and down turned. Her pale almost yellow lips were thick and heart shaped. After picking them up we traveled two villages over to a brothel the fat man frequented. We were all brought inside and Lorraine ushered us into the back parlor where she "trained" all the flowers. 

"Two new girls." Lorraine said, taking in Violet and Petunia. "Where are you headed next?" She asked not taking her eyes off of them. 

"Emerald pines." Dahlia said twirling her hair with her finger. 

"Aster is still too young for this correct?" Lorraine asked. 

"Yes." Dahlia said. 

"Aster darling, take Petunia to the library and show her your favorite story." Lorraine said. Aster took Petunia's hand and took her from the room. "Now, from my gathered Intel, northern men like to take charge. You are to be the obedient servant while he commands you." I huffed and rolled my eyes before crossing my arms over my chest. I hated these lessons. The worst part was when we had to strip and Lorraine made us....do things with one another. It would take a few days before we could even look at one another afterwards. Poor Aster never understood, but Daisy had sadly already learned. 

"Rose. Seems you're in a good mood like always." I growled and leaned back in my seat. 

"Well then, let's continue. Most of you already know submission from earlier teachings. Daisy, and Violet have yet to know. Dahlia, pair up with Daisy and....Lily go with Violet. It seems I have to teach Rose."

"Touch me and die." I growled. I hated this and I was already in a bad mood due to the dog incident only three days prior. I stood up defiantly which shocked Lorraine and the rest of my sisters. I left the back parlor and went out to the wagon and sat in the hay and waited for everyone else. After a few minutes the fat man stormed out of the brothel half naked smelling of beer and s*x. 

"I heard you weren't listening." He growled. I looked at him with narrowed eyes and huffed a single breath of air at him. "Get back inside." I sneered at him which only pissed him off more. "You want the belt again you stupid bitch." I rolled my eyes and marched past him back inside, instead of the back parlor I went to the library and picked up a book, it had been a while since my last read but the words came easily into my head. I sighed as I poured myself into the book. It wasn't anything interesting like the myths and legends of the new lands. It was a detailed description of each house of each kingdom. I flipped to the pages of the western kingdom and looked for house Dyxon. The page was filled with the names of each lord and lady that resided there. The last was the Lord and Lady my mother served under, the house had been destroyed in the last war and no Dyxon family member survived the ransacking leaving our village nothing but a ruin. After saddening myself with that I read what I would of the five kingdoms. I learned much that I didn't know before and left the library pleased with my new knowledge. Lorraine and the rest of the girls came out of the parlor looking at the floor avoiding eye contact. The fat man smirked until he found me glaring at him, he sneered at me before pointing to the door. 

"Get some sleep, we leave for the north in the morning." I grabbed Aster's hand, she took Petunia's in her free hand and we all went to the stables and curled up in our straw beds. That night I stayed awake looking up at the rafters where a flock of barn owls watched over us. In the middle of the night a snowy owl flew in and caught a small mouse before flying back out. 

When morning came we ate breakfast in the brothel before getting back on the road and heading north. We traveled beside the mountain river once we crossed the border to the kingdoms. It took us two more weeks to reach Victoria, the small village outside a days ride away from house Mount. According to the fat man, we would be visiting Lord Wallen Zaiqu on our way back south. That night when we stopped all of us were made to bathe in the river before sleeping. 

I slipped off my dress and went into the freezing water, my n*****s hardened the second my toes hit the water. I walked into the water until the tops of my breasts were covered. From there I looked up at the inky black sky speckled with stars. I heard a howl in the distance and I swore I saw a flash of white on the opposite side of the river. I turned to my sisters on the river bank and held out my left hand. 

"The faster you bathe, the faster you can get to the warm fire." After speaking I took a deep breath and slipped under the surface of the water letting the current pull my hair down the river. I rose back up and took the soap from Dahlia who waded into the water taking fast and shallow breaths. I washed myself and walked to the bank and grabbed my dress. I cleaned the yellow fabric of my everyday dress and helped little Aster wash hers before helping her clean up. We aided Petunia before leaving the rest of my sisters to wash away the sins of the whorehouse. We walked back to the fire and began to warm ourselves. 

"You" Sigmond said pointing at me with his long thin finger, "are not to f**k this up you stupid cunt." I nodded once as a sign of agreement. I didn't know much about the Princes of Emerald pines. What I did know was that the king and Queen were known to be kind and just rulers. They ruled over the strongest kingdom, almost all the houses were involved in weapon making or hunting. 

"Eat." Roeger said as he took a bite of his rabbit. I sat on a stone and pulled apart a squirrel. In the trees I saw white and I looked up to see the owl from the barn and the night at the brook. I looked away and went back to eating my dinner. When I was done I took a small walk in the woods, again I heard a howl and decided to head back to the wagon. The others were back from the river, instead Rayburn and Sigmond were gone, possibly taking care of the entrails from our meal. After dinner was over we curled up on the ground while the men climbed into the wagon. 

I awoke during the middle of the night which wasn't uncommon seeing as sleep didn't seem to like staying with me. I walked over to the dying coals and added a few sticks before resting a mid sized branch into the tiny fire. The wood instantly caught fire and I watched the tiny flame dance around the wood leaving the once brown branch a pile of grey ash. 

"Can you tell me a story?" Aster peeped from beside me causing me to jump. I hadn't even noticed her wake nor walk over. "Sorry Rose." She said lightly. 

"My name isn't Rose, nor will it ever be." I said looking into the fire. 

"I don't remember my old name." Aster said impishly. 

"I wish I had known what it was. I wouldn't have let them take it from you like they did with most of the others." I said as she sat down beside me. "What story would you like to hear?"

"A new one." Aster said. 

"Okay. When I was young my mother told me this story, to this day it remains one of my favorites." I said smiling at the memory. "Long ago in the olde world there was magic everywhere, the gods lived alongside us gifting us with magic powers and creatures to rule with. There were great sky beasts called dragons that breathed fire and could burn a castle down with just one breath. There were horses with magic horns on their heads that could talk in the same tongue as you and I. In the lakes and rivers men made of water helped us cross without the use of bridges, in return we were to give them food enough for them to thrive. 

But we humans are a greedy and jealous race who always want to be the best. So we begged the gods for the use of magic, however they kept denying our wishes, perhaps knowing that one day we would try to challenge them and become gods ourselves. One day a King named Kaglious got tired of begging and began slaughtering the magical creatures the gods had given us as gifts. He started with the unicorns, killing them was easy you see. The water men were harder to kill, but all he had to do was starve them out. The more he killed the more people began to support and follow him. In the end the dragons were all that remained, before they could go extinct they begged the gods to help them. The gods heard their plea and looked upon the olde world in horror. 

The three gods who created the unicorns, water spirits and dragons all went to earth and confronted Kaglious. The first god was Raferteez. He created the water men, he took a third of Kaglious's men and drowned them when they refused to stop before killing all magical creatures. Torrand was the next god to talk to Kaglious, he was the god who created the unicorns. When he still refused, Torrand used his powers to impale another third of the followers with daggers made of the bones of the now extinct unicorns. 

The last to go to Kaglious was Rowan, the goddess who created the dragons, you see, Kaglious grew tired of the gods killing his men so he set a trap knowing the goddess would walk right into it. When Rowan arrived to ask the man to stop he had her stabbed in the back by a man waiting for her in the shadows, with her last breath she called out to her older brother. Vaynir was furious, for when his sister died so did the rest of the dragons. Vaynir created a new race of humans, taller than trees and stronger than 100 of a regular man. Vaynir created the giants, and once his creation killed the rest of Kaglious's men he went and retrieved the bones of his sister.

It was Vaynir who created this new land, it was to honor his sister. He placed her in the highest mountain in the northern lands where the snow stays all year round and left his most loyal creation to guard her. The white lions are the protectors of Rowan's remains which is why they allow no one into the mountains and why they never leave their post. After a few years the surviving men who wanted a fresh start after the devastation of the magical war got on ships and sailed the oceans looking for a place to claim. It just happened to be land Vaynir created for his sister that we landed on." I looked down at Aster whose mouth was hanging wide open, smiling I used a finger to close it. 

"Wow." She was still shocked by the story. "So the bones of a real goddess are actually in the mountains of the white lions?" 

"I like to believe that there are, if it is true that means there is a higher power watching over us and that all the struggles we have overcome mean something."

"What if the gods are punishing us for the crimes of Kaglious and that's why our lives are so shitty."

"I wouldn't blame them. What Kaglious did was inconceivable and atrocious, I personally would never forgive someone for killing my younger sibling." My eyes found the sleeping figure of Sigmond and I had to scratch my wrist. The invisible itch to kill Sigmond after all of these years had become something I could dampen slightly by tearing at my own flesh. 

"I hope Kaglious is burning in hell for what he has done." Aster said fiercely, I smiled down at her before yawning and standing up. 

"He is little one, let's get a bit more sleep before the morning comes, yea?" She nodded and we went back to the rest of our sisters on the ground and we laid down letting what was left of the night pass as we rested for the next few days of traveling.