Rose stood in front of the hearth, stirring the pot. She was making some porridge, just enough for her mother and herself. Her father had already left for work as soon as it was bright enough to leave. He said he needed to start on her wedding present, and if he didn't start now, there was no way he would finish it in time, so he was going to set out early to find the perfect tree trunk.
Rose smiled to herself as she wondered what her father would carve for them. Imagine if it was a sculpture of the two of them. Of course not, that would take more than a week, and her father didn't sculpt humans—he preferred animals, especially birds. It was also the only thing she was a little good at.
Any minute now, it would be time for lunch. It was almost noon. She had to hurry; she always made sure food was ready by noon for her mother. The old woman didn't eat much, but at least she ate, even if it was a little. Her mother was getting sicker, and every now and then, she worried she might wake up and her mother wouldn't.
Rose smacked both sides of her face with her palms. What was she thinking? She had more important things to worry about and a wedding to plan for. She had to snap out of the bad thoughts. This was a happy time for all of them. Rose frowned as she recalled what had happened at the marketplace. Hopefully, he would be gone from Edenville, and she would never hear from him again. After all, royals rarely came to this backwater town.
Suddenly, she heard her name. Rose chalked it up to her hearing things and continued what she was doing.
"Rosie!" A gut-wrenching scream reached her ears. It was Ander; there was no doubt about it.
Rose rushed out the front door, her heart in her throat as she feared the worst. Was he injured? What could possibly be the situation?
She saw him standing in front of the house, his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. Rose walked to him. "What happened?" she asked.
"Y-ye fat'er,"—when Ander looked up, there were tears in his eyes—"he is about to be beheaded in the town square."
At first, Rose was sure she had misheard him. She was certain what he said was nothing along the lines of what she thought she heard. There was no reason her father would be on death row. The baron liked him too; he wouldn't let him be…
"They said he went to the forest when the crown prince closed it off."
"Ah," she said just as the spoon fell from her hand. She had completely forgotten she was holding it. This made more sense—that the crown prince had something to do with it. This was her fault.
"Rosie, I just said your fat'er is about to be killed."
Rose had never been the type to panic. It was a bit ironic. She was loud, rambunctious, and couldn't help but make lewd jokes, but when things turned serious, she went numb and even cold.
"I heard ye," she replied. "Could ye watch mi mot'er for me?" she asked.
"Yes. What are ye going to do?"
"I will be right back," she said and lightly touched his face. "Don't tell mi mot'er anything."
"Rosie, where are ye going?"
"Mi fat'er," she whispered and started walking away. But she didn't head for the town square. Instead, she headed in the opposite direction—toward the baron's manor.
She knew exactly how to stop this, and what was a little sale on her body for her father's life? What she was worried about was that it might be a little too late. It took some time to get to the baron's manor and even running at full speed didn't help.
Her father would most likely be executed at noon. More than anything, she was hoping the crown prince was waiting, giving her time to stop this. She stopped in front of the manor gates, panting hard, but it didn't feel like enough air was getting to her lungs.
There were three guards at the gates, and they stared at her with pity in their eyes. The news had gone around, but somehow, she was the last to hear. "I-I want to see the crown prince. Please tell him I'm 'ere. He'd want to see me, I promise."
"The crown prince already left Edenville. He left a while ago. Even if ye ran, ye could never catch up with him."
Rose tasted bile. Her mother was going to die, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it except watch it slowly happen. Her father, on the other hand—his death would be sudden, and it would be every bit her fault. She could stop it but failed to do so.
"What's going on here?" A guard on a horse strutted toward them.
Rose's eyes widened immediately. She knew the guard in question. He was highly ranked in the baron's manor and was one of the ones who had tried to hit on her—and she had kicked him in the nuts. He didn't like her anymore, and she felt the exact same way about him.
"It's Rose," a guard started to explain.
"Oh, yer father is getting executed." He giggled. "I heard ye said yer too special for a prince. Serves you right."
It took only the speed of a raindrop falling to the ground for Rose to make her decision. As soon as she did, her hand moved, she grabbed the reins and pulled. The horse panicked, the rider panicked, losing his balance, and he fell off—exactly what she wanted.
Rose moved quickly, lifting herself off the ground and onto the back of the horse. She was glad she let Ander teach her how to ride, and this was possible because he worked in the baron's stables. Though this had angered the baron when he found out, the only reason he let her go without any consequences was because of her father. But it didn't matter, as she had learned enough to be able to ride any horse.
"Hiya!" she yelled and shook the reins. The horse set off, and she could hear the guard curse behind her, but his voice soon faded as she galloped away.