The Forgotten Princess Rose

"Close the door, Lucy. She is not properly dressed," said Zayne, not wanting anyone to come in and see Rose as she was now. 

Lucy stared at the pair for a moment then turned away as she came out of the shock of seeing Zayne here. She had turned her back for a few minutes but that was all this woman needed to lure Zayne here.

Lucy couldn't believe that Zayne would entertain this. What happened to the man he knew? Why was he entertaining this woman's tricks and being wary?

Lucy closed the door as Zayne asked. "Since she is not dressed, you should leave so I can help her. I brought one of my dresses."

Zayne turned away from Rose so she could get up onto the bed without fearing he would see her naked. "If I leave her being taken care of by you, I might return and find her without a blanket. Where is the food she is to have?"

Lucy avoided looking Rose's way since it had to be enjoyable to see Zayne against her. "I informed one of the maids to bring a plate of food for her. It took some time to find a dress that might fit her-"

"I didn't know you change sizes every day, Lucy. How hard it must have been for you to have to pick from so many sizes. And you wear the same style whenever you take a break from your armour. Don't try to lie to me, Lucy. You'll never succeed," said Zayne.

For as long as Lucy was part of his group, Zayne saw her wearing the same style of dress in different colours. It wasn't a hard decision to decide which one should go to Rose. Not unless Lucy had suddenly changed to be interested in dresses. 

Zayne looked at the dress in Lucy's hands. "Took some time to pick the worst one?"

"I did not," Lucy replied. "I was stopped by others who heard of us having an intruder."

Rose felt uncomfortable with the two seeming to argue. It wasn't her place to speak up since she was just a guest here and the woman she now knew to be named Lucy already didn't like her. 

"Right, I am sure you were busy. Leave the dress and go. I don't want to keep you from being busy. Now," Zayne said, at his limit with Lucy. All of the people here, Lucy would know he disliked when his orders were ignored. 

Lucy had more she wanted to say but she did not want to argue with Zayne when there was an outsider here. He asked her to leave and she would do just that, but she would stay outside at the door so nothing would happen here.

Lucy placed the dress on a small drawer by the door and left as she was told. 

Zayne needed to remember what he was here for. They were to complete the truce and then return to their home.

Silence fell upon the room after Lucy's exit.

"I don't mind whatever dress she brought. It will be better than the one I have now," Rose said, trying to make the two not argue. 

"What did she say to you when you were alone?" Zayne asked, taking a guess Lucy had disobeyed him. 

"She only said that she would bring a dress-"

"Rose," Zayne interjected before she could finish her lie. "I hate liars. Don't make yourself out to be someone I hate. What did she say to you?"

Rose bit her lip. The truth was going to have Lucy coming after her more during the time that she was here but she couldn't hide it from Zayne. "She thinks that I am here to sleep with you and asked me to leave. Maybe there is something about me that makes it easy to spot I lived in a brothel."

Rose continued, "Her words hurt but there isn't a need to get upset about what she said. It only concerns me."

"It concerns me since she disobeyed my order. I am their general so they are to accept my orders whether they like it or not," Zayne explained.

"You are like Graham," Rose blurted out. She immediately regretted it. "N-Not like that. He has the power to make everyone do what he wants and we are not to complain. That wasn't a good comparison. Why would I do that?" She panicked.

Zayne was both offended and amused. Offended that he was compared to Graham of all people but amused by how she panicked. "It is fine. Take the map before I wrinkle it even more."

Rose accepted the map and rolled it open. For the first time, she was able to see what the kingdom looked like. "We are here?" Rose asked, pointing at what looked to be a town.

Zayne placed his finger to the right of Rose's finger to where the town was. "We are here. Do you not know the name of the town?"

Rose looked at where he pointed. "It's because I don't know where I wandered off to."

"You only walked around a mountain, Rose. You didn't make it three towns over."

"I know that. It was a mistake. So," Rose started to move her finger in search of a church or at least another town far away from where she was now.

"That is more than a week's ride away from here and walking will take you over two weeks. Maybe three. You did well last night but you shouldn't push yourself. Why don't you go to the king's sanctuary? I hear they take in all kinds of people,' Zayne suggested.

Zayne folded his arms as he watched Rose move her finger past where he suggested. Either she didn't trust his suggestion or…

"Can you read?" Zayne questioned as it would explain her mistake.

Rose kept her attention on the map. It was embarrassing to reveal that she did not know many words. "I cannot. I only know a few words sometimes and I don't know where I learned them. I don't remember going to school. The older woman said I should forget what I know."

It was preferred that women in the brothel didn't know how to read. They were to just look pretty and please their customers. Rose never tried to figure out how many words she learned to avoid getting in trouble and years later without any schooling or attempts to find anything in the brothel to read, she didn't know how to read the map.

Rose forced a smile and looked up at Zayne. "It must be funny to hear that at my age I cannot read. I don't know what my real age is so I am not so ashamed. I heard that some young children miss school to work if their parents need money so I am not alone."

"I am not judging you for not knowing how to read. I should have guessed it. Tell me what you are looking for and I will point to it. Move your finger unless you want it to touch mine," said Zayne. 

Rose tried not to get confused by his kindness but she still needed to thank him. "Thank you."

She looked down at the map, looking around for where she should go. Her attention went to a name she couldn't read but she felt like she had seen it before. Rose decided against it since it was too close to this town.