Roses Always Have Thorns [Completed]

14. Dear Uncle

Soon enough, the night transformed into day, and the train was brought to a halt.

'Wha... What's wrong?' Rose mumbled, still half-asleep.

'We need to move.' Alekzandre said, pulling Rose up to her feet. 'Quickly!'

With most of her consciousness still not there, Rose didn't complain. She followed Alekzandre -who mostly pulled her by her arm- out of the train and inside a town, doing her best not to trip throughout.

At some point, they stopped and it was then that Rose got to get to her senses.

They were in a rather comfortable-looking village settled next to some mountains. Looking up, Rose couldn't help but stare in awe.

'Are those...?' She asked.

'The Fichtel Mountains.' Alekzandre nodded, admiring the mountains. 'You said that your uncle should be somewhere up there?'

'Exactly.'

'Well, if he is indeed somewhere there, we should hurry up and begin climbing. With a little luck, we'll find shelter by sunset.'

'Hn.' Rose nodded in agreement.

They began walking and, in no time, they reached the base of the mountain. The two looked up. In Rose's opinion, the mountain was very intimidating.

If it wasn't Alekzandre who'd shake her shoulder, Rose would've remained to stare.

'Rose?' Alekzandre asked, narrowing his eyebrows. 'Is there something wrong?'

Rose shot the brown-haired boy a look, before shaking her head. 'No. Not at all. Let's go.'

As they began walking, Alekzandre wrinkled his nose. He didn't really buy any of that but preferred to stay away. Maybe she's just nervous., he thought.

They began walking and, much to Alekzandre's surprise and annoyment, Rose didn't complain once for an unhealthy amount of time.

'Maybe we should take a break for a while.' Alekzandre suggested with a dry laugh when the silence became unbearable. 'We've been walking for four hours, after all.'

'I'm fine.' Rose answered. 'Aren't you?'

Alekzandre blinked a few times. 'Yeah... I am.'

After another few minutes, Alekzandre shook his head. This needed to stop.

'Rose, look.' He said, 'You're not ok, I can see it. If you want to-'

'How can I be?' Rose burst out, making Alekzandre shriek away for a second. 'You were right! Lady Catherine send the word out about -probably for a big reward too, knowing her!-, and... and... if my uncle turns out to not be my uncle, then...'

'You're in misery.' Alekzandre completed the sentence, understanding.

'Very big misery.'

Alekzandre sighed and kicked a pebble. It was a bit surprising for Rose to admit her feelings of fear, but she made a fair point.

'Don't worry, lass.' Alekzandre said. 'If anything happens, my mom would be sure fine with taking care of you as well. She always kinda wished for a daughter, so...'

He didn't get to say anything else, as a pair of arms wrapped around him. Looking down, his heart skipped a beat when he saw a familiar bush of red hair closer to him than ever expected.

'R-Rose...' He stuttered, unsure how to react.

'Thank you.' Was the simple answer that came. 'Thank you so much.'