The Forgotten Princess Rose
Chapter 128

Chapter 128: Chapter 128

"We have somewhere to go to check if they are your family. You don’t need to force yourself to remember anymore, Rose. You will remember the bad along with the good and it is twice tonight that you feared something. Don’t search for those memories. Wait until we visit Lady Ambrose," Zayne advised Rose.

Rose nodded her head, her hand still covering her face. She was pressed to Zayne’s bare chest because of him hugging her to comfort her. Rose was no longer fearing the memory but nervous about being so close.

Zayne’s body felt like a rock yet incredibly warm. Rose scolded herself for thinking of his body. He was only this way because she came here unannounced.

"You can let go of me. I am sorry for disrupting you going to bed. I will not do it again," Rose promised.

"Why not? I like that you finally ran out to me. Sleep on this side tonight," Zayne proposed, letting go of Rose so she could calm down. "You can have my bed and I will rest on the chair."

"I cannot do that," Rose disagreed.

The chair wasn’t large enough to hold Zayne’s frame.

Rose wiped her eyes. "I can go back to my room and sleep there. I am fine now."

Zayne wiped the tears that continued to spill from Rose’s eyes. "You are not fine if you had to run out here. I have slept in more uncomfortable places than a chair. Take my bed or have you been sleeping on the side of your bed again?"

Rose looked away from Zayne not wanting to speak the truth or tell a lie.

"You have not broken that habit yet. What can I do to convince you that I can protect you?" Zayne questioned, moving Rose’s hair over her shoulder so it would not stick to her wet cheeks.

"I want to protect myself. I don’t always want to be like this. Always uneasy or so easily frightened. I want to be better to protect myself. I will not always have you, Mary or Finn. I have protected myself for many years and now I rely on you, acting so weak. I do not like it," Rose confessed.

"Have you considered that you let your guard down because there are finally people around you that you can trust? I am more defensive when I enter a room alone as opposed to when I enter one with soldiers that I trust. I am less worried because they are there to help me. You mustn’t try to do everything by yourself," said Zayne.

"What is it going to take for you to realise that you are no longer alone? We could be close to finding your family and if we don’t you have-"

"All of you must return when you are done and Janice will not stay the cook of your home for long," Rose interjected before Zayne could sell her a dream. "She will want an employer who is here to pay her and I don’t want to be a burden joining her wherever she works next. I will be alone just as I intended for it to be."

’How did we get here?’ Rose thought, confused. They were speaking of her dream now Rose was back to being saddened by everyone having to one day leave her.

"If we do not find your family, come with me," Zayne suggested. "Sail with me to my kingdom."

Rose laughed as it had to be a joke. How many would be like her where Zayne came from? Would she be accepted as an outsider? Zayne was going too far by offering her a home there.

"Do not laugh as I mean it. You would see the seas as you want and explore another land. If there is nothing for you here, come with me," Zayne offered once more. His home was far away from the palace for him to keep her there. There was land to his name for Rose to explore. "Maybe you will not be haunted by the memories of this land once you leave."

"Do not think of it so seriously as we have not visited Lady Ambrose yet. Use my bed," Zayne repeated, going to the chair he would use for the night.

Rose grabbed Zayne’s arm to stop him from going to the chair. "You will be uncomfortable there. I am much better now. I won’t try to remember anything and just go to bed so please, go back to your bed."

"How unfortunate. Now I won’t be able to sleep without knowing you are sound asleep. The only solution is for you to be here where I can see you resting. You cannot fool me, Rose. I know you will be awake all night. So, will you walk to the bed or must I carry you?" Zayne asked, ready to do either option.

Rose looked at Zayne’s bed. It felt wrong to steal it from him. "Then, you use your bed and I will sleep on the chair."

"Then I won’t be a gentleman to you. Forgive me," Zayne said and then bent down to lift Rose.

Rose blushed, startled by his boldness to lift her. "P-Put me down."

"As you wish," Zayne replied, placing Rose on the bed. "If you run away from here, I will catch you and place you back on the bed. If you misbehave too much, you will leave me with no choice but to roll you in one of the blankets until you cannot move."

Rose sat up but she did not try to get off the bed. "This bed is for you. Your back will ache if you sleep on the chair. I cannot take your bed."

"Then, are you willing to share? It is big enough for me to sleep at one end. I can tie my hands if you do not trust me," Zayne proposed as a joke.

Rose hadn’t thought about Zayne touching her inappropriately. "It isn’t right for an employer and servant to share the same bed. No one does that."

"Because you had many employers before to know?" Zayne questioned, wanting to know where she was getting all these stories from.

Zayne knew of many employers and servants who shared a bed but his predicament with Rose was different. "No one will know if we do not speak of it. Since you get mistaken for a lady so easily, I wonder if I made you a lady instead of a maid, would you be more accepting of my kindness?"

Zayne offered her a job as his maid since she wanted work. He would have opened his home to her as a guest since she was someone who needed help but Rose would have questioned his motives then.

Zayne gave her easy work since he didn’t need her as a maid. If she wanted, she could stay here without doing work.

"Must we play a cat and mouse game or will you sleep? I am tired and the longer we do this time is wasted that I could used to sleep. I had to chase who spoiled your dress," Zayne said, his voice getting lower to convince Rose of how exhausted he was.

Rose couldn’t help feeling bad because of how much he had done for her. He had to be tired after the night he had. "Lay here. I will sleep at the bottom."

Rose could feel the panic in her creeping up but she ignored it. Tonight, she would make sure that Zayne rested. It could be considered another gift from her to him. Once Zayne fell asleep, she could sneak back to her bed.

"Rose," Zayne started, placing his right leg on the bed. "I meant it to tease you but are you truly suggesting we share a bed tonight?"

Rose couldn’t believe her suggestion as well but it was the only way they would both sleep tonight. "I can sleep on the corner of the bed and you have the rest. I cannot let you sleep on the chair."