The Blood Rose

Chp. 1: Who Are You And What Do You Want With Me

-5 years later-
A long green robe trailed behind my back as I made my way up to the king. My sword sat heavily in its holster at my waist. Bowing down at the feet of the king, I closed my eyes in respect.

"King Berthon, I request to speak with you alone," My voice carries out across the throne room, reaching all the guards, "I will gladly give up my sword and any other weapons I have on me, if you feel it is necessary."

"GUARDS! Please take this young boy's weapons!" The king's voice was still echoing through the room as the guards ordered me to drop all my weapons, picking them up and carrying them as they walked out of the room.

"King Berthon, I would like to make a request to travel to the Kingdom of Sevalian. I have trained here for almost five years, and I'm your strongest solider. With my skill, we can kill the royal family and claim the land for ourselves," I explained, "Because we already have connections to them, we won't have to fight many other kingdoms for their land."

The king sighed, "Sagrian, you can't possibly be contemplating this idea at a time like this. We have other kingdoms already knocking on our doors, and I certainly don't want to have another one invites to the party. Are you sure you can execute your plan successfully?"

"Yes, your highness!"

"Fine."

-3 days later-
My legs wobbled slightly on the hot cobblestone streets of Sevailian. The large marble castle gleamed in the distance, and I begun walking through the winding streets to the castle. Merchants and dancers lined the roads, despite the sun being high in the sky. Carts with mules and horses were filled with foreign fruits and vegetables.

The site was truly beautiful. Like the harsh government didn't exist. Like the alleys weren't filled with the homeless and poor. Like everything was the way it was suppose to be.

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I continued my walk to the castle. A letter was sitting idly in my pocket. In the letter was the king explaining how he sent me, his best warrior, to protect his 'friend', King Raiguki. I was assigned to sleep in quarters on the same wing as the royal family, and in the day never leave their side and follow every order I am given.

After a while, I reached the castle gate, but by then, the sun was already setting. All of the guards had pointed their swords at my heart. I gently handed the letter to the one in front of me, relief flooding through me as they lowered their swords. The one with the letter ordered me to follow him.

"Listen...uh...Segrian," he said, glancing at the letter for my name,"the king is in the throne room, but he has ordered me to tell you that you are assigned to protect the prince from now on. I must inform you, you and the prince will have to sleep in the same room"

I nodded my head to show I was listening. Disappointment crept into my expression, as I had planned to kill the king tonight, as ambitious as that sounds, but royalty is royalty. Awkwardness soon replaced disappointment as I realized I would have to share a room with a stranger.

The guard left me by the door to my quarters, and I realized, as he left, I didn't know his name. Oh well. I had nothing with me at the moment, as my things were to be here tomorrow, so I decided to go to the prince.

Crossing the hallway in two long strides, I knocked on the door. A muffled 'come in' floated to my ears. I opened the door gently, peeking inside the room. A fire at one end light the room with a warm glow, and papers littered the floor. A bed sat idly in the corner and next to it sat a desk. A boy sat at that desk.

He had silvery blond hair and, from what I could see, pale green eyes. He was short and scrawny, with pale skin. His eyes glanced in my direction and he turned around in his chair, his eyes wide with fear.

"Who the hell are you? And what do you want with me?" He said, voice laced with fear.

"I'm Segrian, and I'm your new guard." I answered flatly.

The boy was the prince. Prince Toran. I had never heard anything of him before, but he looked to be younger than me, about 15.

"Um...why are you here?" He said, his voice a whisper.

"We have to share a room, king's orders," How was he not informed.

Toran silently nodded and turned back to his work. Exhaustion flooded me and I flopped down onto the young prince's bed, spreading my arms out wide. A sigh escaped my lips and Toran turned towards me, watching me. My eyes closed and I pretended not to notice. I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking.
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A sharp jab on my shoulder aroused me from my slumber. My eyes fluttered open to meet a certain prince. Guilt crossed his face as I glared at him. Pushing him away, I looked out of a window in the corner. Funny, I never noticed that. The sun was barely able to be seen above the horizon, a little slit of red orange above a slate of black.

"We have to figure out sleeping arrangements," Toran whispered, pulling his chin to his chest.

Grabbing a pillow off of his bed, I cleared a space for me to lay. I then tossed the pillow to the floor.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor, you know?" Toran whispered again.

"Well where am I suppose to sleep? You have to sleep on the bed. Unless you want me to sleep with you?" I half yelled back, smirking at the last sentence.

Toran's cheeks burned bright red. My smirk changes into a grin and I plopped down on the floor.

The prince was strange, but I couldn't help feel something towards him.