BOOK 2 (The other Merryweather is Book 1)
After Rose and her younger sister Maria broke the curse, they've been enjoying their life here at Moonacre. However, to break them from their perfect paradise, Rose's recent headaches have been getting worse...
By noon's rays the castle was alive, the sun opening up as a flower on the horizon, rising to send those petals of gold to warm the forest - leaf, branch and root.
People young and old had began in the many preparations of running the castle for the De Noir clan, and it was certainly no exception for Rose & Robin to begin training. "Now Rose, this is a sword, you hold it at this end", Robin teased as he accentuated each word so Rose clearly heard. "I know", She mimicked his tone of voice and gripped the handle as the sleek iron glimmered in the late morning light.
"I did defend myself against your father if you remember correctly" Rose reminded Robin as she weighed the sword in her right hand, slashing it delicately at the air with a novice-like apprehension. "Barely", Robin smirked. Rose felt a sense of peace that they could joke about that incident now. The memories of her experience with his father were still painful, however she learned to cope with them in her own way.
Robin suddenly burst out "woah, slow down there, are you trying to kill me?" Robin laughed as Rose clumsily swung the sword around her. She could feel the heat growing in her cheeks. By now they must be beyond an attractive rosiness. They must be marking her out as a social incompetent. "Here let me show you", Robin continued and proceeded to carefully wrap his arms round Rose's waist and placed his hands gently over her delicate fingers holding tightly onto the sword.
"Now, if you move the sword this way and then come round like that, that's a defensive move and then if you do this..." his words trailed off as their eyes met. Rose looked up at Robin, smiling sweetly, her cheeks flushing pink, before quickly looking back down, and continued the training. The two teenagers seemed completely unaware of the world around them, and felt a complete sense of unity as Robin's hands guided Rose through the steps. It was almost like a dance, and they both felt so enraptured by each other that they failed to notice the shadow of a boy and a whiff of blonde hair quickly turn the other direction and off into the castle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A few hours had passed and late afternoon was approaching. Rose loved spending time with Robin, but the real reason as to why she was here kept growing in her head. The pain seemed to be getting worse and served as a constant reminder to the peril and made her only more anxious to get going. Yet she knew if she were to stand some chance in the woods, she needed to be prepared. They were going deeper in then ever before.
"And yet another point to me" Robin cheered as he pointed the sword at Rose's chest. She huffed in disappointment as he laughed and spun round arrogantly, far to pleased with himself.
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"Alright", Rose thought, "if you want to be like that, I think its time I stepped it up a notch", she planned as she prepared herself for the next round. Robin lazily spun round with his sword, however, Rose wasting no time, swung her sword round at him with such a force that it caught him off guard. Rose continued to quickly hammer in more strikes, forcing Robin to back away, that smug look wiped off his face. A few more hits came his way before Robin finally managed to have a swing at Rose and trap her by grabbing the handle of her sword and suddenly spinning her round. The manoeuvre was as quick as it was complicated and in the process managed to trip himself up and drag Rose down with him, landing in a heap on the floor.