Every Rose has a Thorn

SAVED

Authors Note: The timeline of this show is so confusing so when there are timeline jumps in doing my best to guess how many years I'd be jumping. All you need to know is Rose is two years younger then Snow. I created a timeline to reference but for this chapter Snow is 10 and Rose is 8.

June 11, 1966

Ten days had past since the royal wedding. The excitement amongst the kingdom has slowly started to  fizzle out. The decorations had been removed, everything returned back to normal. The castle halls were rather calm compared to the week before. King Leopold and Princess Snow embarked on their quick trip to the summer palace to make sure everything would be ready for the arrival of Regina and Princess Rose a few days later. Many of the staff had followed in route to the summer home as they would spend the remained of the warmer months there.

Young Rose, newly eight years old, found herself wondering the corridors. Her long chestnut brown hair nearly touched her waist. It was untamed, curls spiraling in an unruly matter. Her dress an emerald green, dragging on the ground as it was just a touch to long for her. The young princess found herself at the king and queens bedroom doors. She knew her father had left hours before, but sometimes when he was gone, Rose found herself in his chambers. Searching for the scent of her mother.

Slowly, Rose used her whole bodyweight to push open the heavy wooden doors. Her feet slipping against the stone floor. Slipping between the small opening, the door closed behind her. Brushing her hands off on her skirt, Rose lifted her eyes. Her hazelnut eyes were met with the brown eyes of her new step mother, Regina. The two stood in silence for what felt like ten minutes. It was as if Rose had forgotten Regina also habited this chamber now.

"Is everything alright?" Regina asked looking at her youngest step daughter. Regina looked the girl up and down, observing her untamed hair. It was as if the girls nanny had abandoned her this morning. "Where is Harriet?" Regina followed up, but Rose still seemed shocked. The girls lips parted as if she was going to speak, but silence fell from her mouth. The two hadn't had many interactions since the wedding. Besides nightly dinners, although neither of them did much talking. Snow and the King filled the table with enough conversation to make up for the both of them. Regina and Rose had that in common. The second wife and the second daughter both met the fate of being easily overlooked. Still just looking at each other, Regina watched as Rose scanned the room.

There was a lack of familiarity in these four walls. This room no longer brought the grieving child comfort. "I'm sorry." Rose pushed out, her hand nervously running up and down her velvet dress. "Harriet is sick." Referring to her nanny, a alternative nanny had been given to Rose that day, but Rose snuck away when she stepped out to use the restroom.

"Come. Sit" Regina pointed to her vanity. Reluctantly, Rose propped herself up in Regina's chair, watching closely as her step mother grabbed her hair brush and began to untangle the girls hair. Something that suddenly reminded her of how Eva once did before. Spending nearly an hour on Rose's hair. Something she insisted on doing herself, mostly because it was their time together. Regina began to work through the child's hair. Letting her anger towards Snow White brew and sink into her veins. She caught Rose looking at her through the mirror, watching her every moment intently.

"You're very pretty." Rose said, her small voice carried through the chamber, she said the words confidently, which Regina had never witnessed from the girl in the short time she had known her. Regina looked at the girl through the mirror. It was as if she was starring at her younger self. A small swell in heart began.

"Thank you." Regina said, offering her a very small smile. Her response evoked a smile from the child. Rose slowly loosed herself, her tense posture relaxed. Regina began to braid the girls hair into a simple french braid, which looked beautiful and full because of all of the girls hair. Rose was unsure of what to say to Regina, she knew that her step mother was unhappy. That was easy to see if you truly paid attention, which Rose did.