Rose's Thorns: The Wolf's Prophecy

7

In such a short time, the kingdom of Meadow had been given groundbreaking news, and Princess Rose had been given a companion. It is the night of the 14th of May, and Rose is leading the stranger up to a part of the castle no one knew about. A place only her has ever been in. A hideaway concealed in plain sight.

"Are you absolutely positive no one will come here? Isn't this your room?" The boy asked for the hundredth time, and for the hundredth time, Rose ignored him.

When she was 8 years old, she had gotten into a bit of a... well, a predicament, let us just say. She had been playing around in her most favorite clearing in her kingdom, creating trees and things like that when she had made a nearby fairy ring angry. It took a long time for king Aris to make peace once again with them, and in the meantime, she had been confined to her room, where she had done quite a bit of exploring (looking for secret escape ways). When she was there, she had found an irregular square in her ceiling that she was happy to investigate. She had pushed up old rickety trunks and chests that were no longer in use, and with quick use of her plant growth ability, she had stabilized her makeshift staircase with ivy and vines. This was her secret. Her treasure. In the strange tile in her ceiling, when pushed up and over, it revealed a beautiful room, an old, abandoned tower of the castle. She had used this room as a confident, a friend. The walls told nobody her secrets, and she told nobody of the room's secrets. It seemed that this old dusty space was her closest friend, her only love. When she had gone for the maps of the castle, she found that the passageway was not on any map known. And it just made her discovery even more special to her. She became even more determined to uncover the secrets of her home. So, she did.

But did she really want to share it with this kid? This stranger? Is this really what you want? Your best-kept secret, the one true thing that belongs to only you? A quiet voice whispered in the back of her mind. She heard the boy talking but she was too caught up in her thoughts to answer. She does not know the boy. She does not know anything about him. Does she want him to know about her? Then she remembered the fear and desperation in his voice

"Don't tell them I'm here" and that is when she decided she had no real choice.

"Will you answer me?"

Finally, Rose stopped and turned. They had now reached the room and with one hand on the knob, she looked at the boy. "Listen, kid, you'll have to keep a little secret, just as I'm doing for you-"

"Orion"

"Pardon?"

"My name is Orion, like the man in the stars"

"Oh, I get it. Okay. Orion then. Do we have a deal?"

Rose knew there was no questioning it. He had no choice, and she was only doing a good deed.

They shook hands, the deal was done. And the door opened.

Roses room was a rich deep red color with ivy growing up the walls, especially where the trunks were stacked. Walking to this corner of the space, she motioned for Orion to follow her up, into the hidden room.

"What are we doing?"

"You'll see, it's my space. Well ... yours." She added the last part to herself, but she made sure he could hear. Because It was his. For now, anyway.