Rosewood woke up bright and early the morning after the ball. It was officially her birthday and that meant she would have much to do. She didn't waste anytime that morning as she had her bath and did her hair and makeup. When she was finished she put on her dress, the one her grandmother had given her when she was only a baby. She was meant to wear it on this day, and somehow, it was just her size. The same size her mother was, and her grandmother, and the women before that too.
The dress was a faded red color with a laced chest and short sleeves. It fell down to her knees and met some white stocking and strapped red sandals. Her hair was curled and touched her shoulders, giving her a Snow White like. Her deep red lipstick and dark eyeliner accentuated the look of a Disney princess even more. Rosewood could only smile at her reflection. She knew she was pretty, of course. But she'd never brag or talk about it. She'd rather be unnoticed somedays.
When she entered the dining room for breakfast she was greeted by her whole family, even her grandfather her hadn't been around for the past few months. Her heart seemed to lighten as she took he usual seat. Everyone seemed so calm and collected. It was wonderful.
"Rosewood! Today you'll be going into town for a special birthday walk." Her father, King Adam, spoke as they waited for their food.
"I get to leave the castle?" She sat up and gave a bright smile. She usually had to stay on castle grounds, unless there was an event outside the castle for her and her family.
"Yes, child! I hope that one day you'll take over as queen, and even then, the princess must know her people closely." King Adam spoke with such authority, his kind eyes and gruff beard always comforting towards the royal children. Rosewood could only feel loved as she thought about how good her day was already going.
But, as it was her birthday, there was only one thing her brain reminded her of wanting. One thing she could never truly have. A lover. And not just any lover, but someone far away and out of reach. Someone who covered most of his skin and only revealed his purple eyes. Someone who's white hair curled so perfectly, his lips giving way to a small dimple on his cheek. Someone playful and happy. A prince of war. A prince of Onyx.
Prince Raven Obsidian. He was all she wanted and all she couldn't have. Dancing with him had been pure bliss, and although she told herself she would never fall for someone like him, she had spent the entire night tossing and turning. And it was all because she couldn't erase his pretty purple eyes and handsome smile. All because she couldn't take the thought of him and throw it away.
And the next time she would see him would be an entire year from now. How awful was that? Maybe not that awful. In that time she could fall in love with a different man, a better man. She would learn that the Onyx prince was not her best option. No matter how charming he was. Or how cute his gift had been…
The prince had given her a black blanket and a teddy heart, which he seemed to have sown himself. It was a shock when she realized it wasn't a weapon, and that they had found no trackers or anything on the bear. Instead, it was just a fluffy and soft toy for her to sleep with. How sweet.
After breakfast, Flynn dragged his older sister out of the castle and into town. Rosewood had agreed to walk with her brother as they weren't sure she'd be completely safe. Crime still happened and thieves would jump with joy to know they could steal from the crowned princess.
The main town was beautiful. Trees, parks, and homes everywhere. With every turn you could see a child playing and a family happily eating. The shops were all well cared for and busy as ever. The new year had begun and everyone had received their biggest pays from the royal family. This meant everyone in the kingdom had enough money for three months of bread and more. Crimson was, of course, the richest kingdom after Sapphire. They had no worries about finance the same as Onyx would. Even Viridian had come close to having no money a few times in Rosewood's life. But Sapphire and Crimson were smart. They kept their money to the important things and only invested in the war.
Right now, most people would be out shopping or working. Others would be having big parties with their own families and eating grand meals. The freshest food had been delivered now too, as the spring harvest was soon to come. This meant most of the people were cooking up the best things they could, as well as restaurant owners.
It wasn't long before Rosewood and Flynn found themselves at the end of the pathway, meeting a beautiful lake that separated Crimson from the other kingdoms. It was a wide lake, you couldn't see the end of it, and it stretched through all of the Crimson towns. Rosewood admired that greatly. Whoever her ancestors were, they had chosen a wonderful place for their kingdom.
"Rose?" Flynn turned to his sister after a while of looking out into the lake.
"Flynn?" She responded, keeping her gaze leveled with the calm water.
"Remember yesterday…how you danced with that prince?" His voice came timid, which wasn't usual. Whenever he spoke to her it seemed as though he couldn't lower his voice. This was entirely different.
"Of course I remember. It was my first dance that entire year." She smiled at the teen. "And it was less than a day ago."
"Yeah, yeah it was. Would you ever marry him?" That was a shocking question. Rosewood seemed stunned as she took in this question.
"W-what? Marriage? With someone from Onyx? Flynn, he's in his twenties already and I've just turned eighteen."
"That's not a big age difference….he's also only nineteen, sis." Flynn grinned at his own knowledge "And if you married someone from Onyx, that would make our kingdoms Allie's and twice as strong. The kingdom with the best army and the kingdom with the greatest flare!"
"Ohh…I get it. My love life is a giant plan for world peace and domination?" Rosewood almost laughed at the thought.
"N-no! I just figured it'd be best!"
"Of course you did, little brother. But honestly he isn't my type." She lied to herself with that sentence more than to him. She hoped to believe it was true.
"Not your type? You say that like we didn't grow up together! I know the guys you ogle with those lovey eyes."
"Lovey eyes?"
The two were silent for a few seconds. A nice moment of just taking in their conversation. And then, finally, they burst out into laughter. A fun, happy laughter that made anyone's heart smile. Just two royals laughing off the pressure of society and fear. That was her relationship with Flynn.
They had grown up close, Flynn having the closet age difference with Rosewood compared to everyone else. Growing up they would both always be questioned and pressed into being the perfect older siblings. Rosewood had done her best and proved her worth while Flynn struggled to stay in a good mindset and developed more than just your average anxiety. Despite their worries, the two could always depend on each other for a good laugh. It was times like these where laughing just let loose everything. Where they really understood one another.
"I'll think about it, Flynn." Which was true. She would think about it, even if she didn't want to.
Marriage was the last thing on Rosewood's mind, despite everyone constantly reminding her. If she were to become the queen, she was excepted to bring a king. But no one had ever really caught her eye. Everyone wore the same colors, obviously, and nobody had that much of a personality. Her siblings were the only different people in the entire kingdom. The ladies giggled and played innocent whilst the men liked to flirt and work their days away.
Rosewood wanted someone willing to spend time with her. Nobody in Crimson would just give their lives away to the crowned princess. Maybe her younger sisters who weren't expected to keep a good reputation or do all the royal things most would think. But Rosewood had so much to do. She would never pull a king with her royal status, no matter how much money or beauty she could supply.
She left her mind space to glance at her brother, who was now sorting through some stones. When they were young, their mother would bring them to the lake and they would have stone skipping contests.
"You will never beat my score, Flynn." She joked, grabbing a seemingly perfect stone.
"I'm a lot stronger than I was before, I'm sure that'll prove something!" He spoke before tossing the stone. It skipped; one, two, three. Then it plopped into the water. "That was just a warm up round!"
Rosewood laughed and skipped her stone next. She counted it in her head as Flynn stood on his toes. Her high score had been eight skips, and Flynn could only get five. The two skipped tones one after the other for an hour until finally their arms had given out. Rosewood ended with a score of six and Flynn had scored four.
"Guess we aren't the same as when we were younger, yeah?" Rosewood turned to Flynn as he brushed the red from his face.
"No kidding. Rust builds up." He chuckled, grabbing her hand and leading her back towards the village.
They stopped to buy some pastries for their family, chocolate croissants and many macarons. Rosewood especially liked the vanilla flavored ones. Once they were done they brought the baked goods back to the castle. She felt good, and there was still more to go in the day.
They arrived home soon enough, heading straight to their family room. The kids were all seated and playing together while the king and queen watched. It was something calming, as though there was no war going on. As though they were a normal family.
"Rose! Flynn!" The kids all looked up simultaneously, Rachel announcing their return.
Rosewood giggled and held up her bag of sweets, watching her siblings quickly circle up to receive their goods. They all sat together and ate the pastries happily. There were few things that could ruin such a picture perfect moment.
"Thank you, sissy!" Little Carmine grinned, chocolate on the corners of her mouth.
"Of course, MinMin! But Flynn paid with his own allowance money," Rosewood responded, biting into her macaron.
"It wasn't that expensive, although the prices are always up today." Flynn commented. King Adam gave a small chuckle in approval.
"When are you planning to see that prince again?" Ari asked out of the blue. Was everyone expecting her to become rebellious and sneak off to see him? Like in some random fantasy book?
"I'm not." She stated, short and simple. But her parents had diverted their attention to her immediately.
"You don't like him, do you?" The queen asked, worry in her eyes with a slight hint of surprise. And maybe even…approval?
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. It doesn't matter all that much, mother, he's just a guy."
"Just a guy? My sweet red rose, you have no clue!" Her mother sat up straighter and leaned forward. As though she was about to share a secret.
"What about it?" Rosewood asked, deciding to take the bait her mother had so obviously set out.
"He's the fourth prince of Onyx! Onyx, underneath Viridian, is our greatest enemy." The queen spoke with a sense of curiosity in her voice. "If you do like him, then that would mean you could convince them to be our ally!"
"Again with the war talk? Mother, I will marry for love not for the sake of becoming allied with Onyx." She gave a stern tone to her voice. The prince would never like her back either way.
"But you like him…it's not that hard to translate into love, if I have any experience." Queen Annabelle giggled, something she only did around her children. King Adam raised a brow at his wife's words.
"Thank you, mother…but I'll have to think about that." Rosewood said with a finalizing tone. She would not give in to the temptation of her mother's voice.
Everyone went back to their other conversations quickly. Rachel told a story of her latest love interest and Harper did the same. Helios clung to Rosewood as Ari did the same. She smoothed their hairs and kissed their heads as she listens to the others.
Once dinner came around she was tired and drained from the social interactions. She was ready to get her beauty sleep and wake up refreshed. Her birthday was coming to an end and it was safe to say she had had a successful day. By morning her parents would be busy with the war and her siblings would be going back to school. She'd be alone for the most part.
And for the next few months after that she would have so much time to herself. So much time to prepare for her twenty first birthday. And the day she would possibly become queen.
Within the next two days, Rosewood had completed half of her agenda. She had so much time on her hands while her siblings were at school and her parents were working. It was almost like a ghost town in the castle. But they continued to have breakfast and dinner together, and after school at least one of her siblings would always beg her to play or help with homework. That kept her happy towards the end of the day before she would retire to her room.
One thing she had noticed was the thought of Raven in her head. It was a constant blur as he would invade her mind throughout the day. Wether she was cleaning with the maids or feeding the horses and dogs. He was always there. And it was only bothering her more and more. She had promised Flynn that she would think about marriage with him, but she didn't think it'd be this bad. Maybe a small 'should I do this?' before denying it completely. But this was way out there.
She'd even woken up late in the night after an exciting dream of the prince. She hadn't expected the out of nowhere experience, and something so…erotic, too. She wasn't sure how to feel.
Maybe she did like the prince…a bit too much..