The Forgotten Princess Rose
Chapter 100

Chapter 100: Chapter 100

"Get unpacked and prepare for dinner!" Zayne yelled to his soldiers. He offered his hands to Rose to help her get down from the horse so she wouldn’t make the same mistake of almost falling again.

Rose jumped down to Zayne to be caught by him. Falling before a large crowd only needed to happen once.

Rose surveyed the large house which would be home to the soldiers for the time they were here. It was far larger than the house they used before the one that Zayne had to himself. "This must be what they call a mansion."

Rose wondered now what counted as an estate or manor since the homes that she saw now were already quite large. She could hardly wait to see the palace even though it would be from afar.

"Rose, come for your bags," she heard Zayne.

Rose had been so lost in thought that she had not noticed Zayne pass his horse over to someone and went to start unpacking. "Excuse me," she said, going around a man she almost bumped into.

"You are excused," he chuckled.

Rose paid no mind to it as she went to Zayne’s side. "I can help to carry your bags."

’That won’t be necessary. They will be too heavy for you," Zayne replied as he took Rose’s bags from the carriage.

Rose took her first bag from Zayne. How heavy could his bags be that she could not help? She was the one who moved around all of his things at home and put them away in other rooms. "I can help with lifting your swords."

"My bags will be lifted out by those who can carry them. Come with me to see the room," Zayne answered, walking away from the carriage so Rose could follow.

Rose didn’t see how it was fair she could not help him yet he was holding one of her bags which only contained her dresses. Again, the misunderstanding would continue but Rose was too tired to think any more about it.

Rose followed Zayne inside and immediately became distracted by the decor.

"It once belonged to an earl before the lord took over. We are staying on his land for the time being. You will have your time to explore tomorrow. You will not need to do any work for me as I must head to the palace. I will be busy speaking to the king and members of his army," Zayne informed Rose.

It would be a tiring day for him from the beginning to the end of the meeting.

"I wish you well with the king. You shouldn’t smile so much when you see him since you might end up scaring him. He welcomed you into his kingdom so the meeting should be peaceful right?" Rose asked, hoping that it was.

Zayne needed some of her positive attitude to rub off on him. No part of the meeting would be peaceful. Two sides who had never sat down with each other would speak face to face for the first time.

Zayne’s silence gave away that the meeting would not be peaceful. She had to sound stupid for thinking that it would.

"Regardless of how it goes, you must return in one piece for me," Rose said, thinking of his safety now. "I do not want to lose my employer so fast. You promised to take me back to Janice."

"Then, if anyone starts a fight with me, I will properly defend myself since I must take you back. It would have been nice to hear that you were concerned about my safety for other reasons."

"I do," Rose replied. "I want you to be safe since I care about you. When I am not working, I see you as a friend. One of very little. I am trying to be positive so I do not witness you returning with any wounds."

Zayne stopped before the room they were to use. "Your king is the one hiding in the palace while I have spent many years conquering lands. If there is even the smallest wound, I shall release the little angry bunny to bite them."

Rose chuckled as she imagined a real bunny joining the fight. Her laughter stopped when Zayne touched her hair. He wasn’t holding much of her hair but it was enough to get her attention.

Rose looked up at Zayne, puzzled by his gaze. Suddenly, the house felt smaller and she could only focus on Zayne. He moved his hand to let her hair slowly slip from his finger. There was a strange feeling that followed when the last strand fell.

He merely touched her hair yet Rose felt like he had touched her hand.

Zayne didn’t know what came over him to touch her hair but it already happened and there was no going back. "Rose-"

"General!"

Zayne looked away from Rose to one of his soldiers standing at the top of the stairs. At least the fool knew he had come at the wrong time. His expression gave away that he was aware this was not the best timing.

"T-There’s news already received that the king’s army is less than two hours away from arriving."

"Go away," Zayne ordered the soldier.

"Yes sir."

Rose was able to properly think of what just happened after being disturbed. "Is it not important for you to hear more about the news? The king’s army that travelled here means that Mathias might also be here. What is the chance of him being left behind?"

"A very small chance," Zayne answered. "You won’t be going to the palace so that decreases the chance of you seeing him. As for the market, I will be near during the times that you go. You don’t need to run if you see him."

"I will not. I would like to be so bold as to throw something at him for kicking me and then searching for me. I will not turn out to be a violent person because of him. That is not who I am. He will fear me speaking of how we know each other but I am not out for revenge to speak of his life. This town is quite large so we shouldn’t meet," Rose said, trying to be positive once more.

How much would the world be against her to have her run into Mathias again? Rose wanted to explore the town without any trouble.

While Rose did not look forward to seeing Mathias again, Zayne was the opposite. He wanted to get a better look at Mathias. See clearly what the coward looked like. If Zayne had not lingered in the market the day he dropped off Rose then Mathias and his soldiers could have taken her right back to Graham.

Mathias was on Zayne’s list just right above Kurt.

Zayne opened the bedroom door for Rose to go inside as he heard the soldiers start to enter. ’This is the room we will share. There is to be a smaller room where I can put a bed for you. The door can lock."

Rose watched as Zayne left her side to open another door. "I don’t need a bed. I can sleep on the floor."

She was yet to get over that habit so having someone lift a bed will be useless.

"Very well," Zayne agreed.

His response surprised Rose as he normally tried to convince her to sleep on a bed.

"Then I will not use my bed and sleep on the floor," Zayne said, changing his tactic.