The Forgotten Princess Rose
Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Chapter 80

Rose wanted to show that she could not respond to Zayne when he was here but wanted to learn. Rose did not want to disturb Zayne when they travelled, so their lessons would have to end until they returned.

"Must you be so mean?" Rose asked, looking away from Zayne so she did not have to see him enjoy his victory. "It isn’t good for you to stand outside here so you should return inside. I’m sure Janice would be happy to serve you food right now."

Much to Rose’s dismay, Zayne remained by her side. She did not understand why he stayed outside doing nothing when he claimed the small bird was bothering him when he could go inside.

"It is going to take a lot more than to get rid of me, Rose. You will have to bear with me standing out there with you. When you are done, try speaking to Finn as I need to know now if you feel safe being near him. He is someone that I trust," said Zayne.

Rose hung up the last blanket and then said, "Then I trust him. I will do my best to be comfortable with whoever you decide I must stay with."

As long as she wasn’t left alone with anyone she didn’t know for too long, Rose knew she would be fine. She would spend most of her time within Zayne’s tent where it should be safe and then explore when Zayne or Finn was not busy.

"Does he know everything about me? I know that he helped me with getting my paper but does he know how long I have been in the brothel, about Graham, or that I cannot read?"

"He knows about how long you have been there but I have not told him all that I know about you and Graham. It is not like I know more than Graham being obsessed with you and I have no need to share that you cannot read everything. It is not my place to share your secrets," said Zayne.

It couldn’t be avoided that Finn knew about the time she had been there because he was right there searching for the paper.

"Thank you. It is fine that he knows about my past since he went to the brothel to help me. I would prefer that my reading situation be kept a secret. If anyone were to find out about it, I would like for it to only be Janice. It is only right that I tell her before anyone else finds out," said Rose.

She had grown quite close to Janice during the few days that they worked together so it wouldn’t feel right for Finn who she just met to know more about her. Rose didn’t want Janice to feel like she was comfortable sharing her story with everyone else but her.

Rose bent down to take up the now empty basket. "Janice has been kind enough to share about her life. Of her late husband and son. She is always so willing to tell me about her life so I feel guilty when I am too embarrassed to speak about mine. I don’t want her smile to change."

"You have been here with her for how many days now? Do you not know if you can trust her yet? From what I have seen, she will not treat you any differently," said Zayne.

The two were acting like mother and daughter with Janice sometimes seeming like she wanted to push Rose far away from him.

"I know that I can trust her. There are just little things that I notice when the truth comes out. There is a small difference in one’s smile or they hesitate to say something. I don’t want to be pitied as well. I wish it would all just be forgotten so I don’t need to speak of it," Rose said as she knew Janice might treat her a little differently.

Anyone who cared couldn’t help themselves by wanting to make her happy at every corner. Rose liked how it was now and didn’t want any part of it to change.

"Ow," Rose touched her head. "Did you throw something at me?"

Rose looked down to find what it was.

"You left me with no choice but to get you to stop overthinking. Unless I am free to touch you now after you tried to yank my arm from my body the last time that I was here. Or is it that only you can do any kind of touching?" Zayne asked, trying to understand if her boundaries had changed.

Rose looked off to the side. They hadn’t spoken about her shaking his hand since then. It felt good to do something without panicking. "It would be wrong if I could touch you as I like but you cannot do the same. I am fine with handshakes and if there is danger coming my way then you can pull me away from it. I would like to start there."

"Is that fine with you?" Rose asked. It was the most she could do right now.

Though Graham was dead, there were still plenty of fears that made her nervous about everything happening around her. There were times at night when she felt like he was near or her mind was playing tricks on her to make her think she could hear his voice.

It was unfair that Graham was no longer in this world but she was still haunted by him. She could not easily escape the years she dealt with him.

"It is fine with me but how about I do you a favour and flick your head to get you to stop overthinking-"

"No," Rose quickly denied the offer. "Your hands are bigger than mine. If you flick me with your fingers, you might bruise me. I do not think that I overthink more than anyone else. Would you like it if I flicked you?"

"I have never been flicked by an angry bunny so I am a little curious about how it would feel. Why are you walking away from me, Rose? Are you angry?" Zayne asked as he followed her back inside.

"You helped me to be entertained, didn’t you?" Rose questioned as Zayne was going out of his way to bother her. While she was annoyed, Zayne kept smiling like his teasing was funny.

"I did not. I thought you would be trouble but I couldn’t leave you out in the cold. My reward is now being entertained by you and all your reactions. The king owes you plenty as it is thanks to you that I do not find this land to be boring. They have certainly shared stories that make your land appear better than it is," Zayne said as the stories he heard all seemed to be lies.

"Perhaps you are only saying this because you are not from here. Of course, your kingdom would seem better. It cannot be that all stories about your kingdom are all true. The truth will be twisted at some point," Rose concluded.

Zayne knew that his kingdom had some troubles but not like this. He had not seen what he had heard of during his time out at sea. "We do not sell our own like animals to make money."

"Well, that is wonderful. I wouldn’t have ended up in a brothel if I was from your land. Still, there might be something that others complain about. It cannot be all good since you have to cut off someone’s fingers," said Rose.

Rose continued to explain, "This kingdom is my home and though I wish that there would have been more done to stop anyone from selling others or stopping it from being allowed that women could be forced to sell their bodies, I don’t want to think that it is all so bad as you are making it."

"I thought the world outside the brothel would be much better. Please do not kill my dream, Zayne. I’m sure you’ve visited better lands with all your travelling. Save insulting the kingdom for when you are before the king. Maybe then he would make changes. No wait," Rose panicked.

What if Zayne and the king were to get into a heated argument and then Zayne tried to cut the king’s fingers? Zayne shouldn’t try such a thing against royalty.

"You must forget what I said. Picking a fight with royals or nobles does not sound like a good idea. I am certain they already have their minds made up that they do not like you as do you not like them," said Rose.

"Thank you," she thanked Zayne after he held the door open for her. I hope you will become great friends with King James. Then you won’t get hurt in war and since you care so much, you can get rid of slaves or brothels."

Zayne remained silent as he did not want to ruin Rose’s good mood. While he was going to speak of the people in this kingdom being sold, Zayne was not going to become good friends with her king.