The Rose Among Thorns

Chapter One

Chapter One

Rose shook her long hair away as she scratched at the soldier's arms. She managed to leave three long gouges on the man's arm, before someone else pulled her away from him. Frantically, she kicked out at the person holding her — but she might as well have been kicking stone for all the good it did. Exhausted, she could only stare at the sky helplessly as they dragged her away.

Her eyes burned as she thought of how careless she had been: how she had whined and dragged her feet to the garden, unwilling to pull out a few weeds. If she'd actually followed her mother's orders, then maybe she wouldn't be forced to leave. Maybe if she tried to hide... or ran into the forest...

But it was too late now.

She watched without much interest as they neared a hovercraft. The two men besides the entrance nodded at the soldiers around her. The person gripping her shirt by the back started to push her forwards, before she scowled and jerked away. "I can walk myself," said Rose irritably, taking her time to move up the ramp. She could feel their gazes on her, hard and razor sharp.

The situation would have been funny; so many of them watching her intently. One of her friends, Lydett, was boy-obsessed and would've loved the attention of the opposite gender — but Rose couldn't take her mind off of her parent's dead bodies crumpled like dolls in their living room. She forced the events from her mind and walked into the hovercraft as steadily as possible.

She blinked as she saw the silver metallic seats bunched around the room, with two girls bunched around them, fluttering through them like butterflies. "Sit down," said the man behind her, jabbing her in the back. Rose considered refusing, just to spite them, but reluctantly slid into the closest chair nearby. It was actually quite comfortable: what seemed to be metal folded and adjusted until her knots in her stomach finally relaxed.

"Would you like some water, miss?"

She glanced to her right to see one of the girls hovering right next to her chair, holding a tray with a glass of water and a bowl. Rose shook her head, heart pounding too hard for her to keep up.

"It'll help you calm down," the girl coaxed. Rose focused harder on the girl's plain features: brown, straight hair, and wide, gray eyes. Her eyes darted around the room as she fidgeted.

Rose plastered a smile onto her face and reached out to take the cup. Her fingers trembled and just as she took it from the tray, she dropped it onto the ground. "I'm sorry." She winced slightly, instinctively getting up to clean the mess.

"That's quite all right, princess," the girl said calmly. Rose stood in a half crouch, unsure whether to help her as the second girl picked up the cup and wiped the water away.

Then it hit her. The girl had said, "That's quite all right, princess." Princess.

Princess.

[Ten minutes ago]

"Rose, hurry up and get out," her mother said sharply. She tore her eyes away from the window facing the front of the house reluctantly. "You've spent enough time watching the grass outside that it's grown a full inch."

"The parade — " she began hesitantly.

"The parade is half over and you're still trying to watch it. I suggest you start cleaning the garden now, young lady."

Rose wearily nodded and slowly moved towards their backyard. She was aware of her mother sighing in exasperation and burned pink in annoyance. Somehow, her mother always managed to get her to miss the monthly parade every time. She couldn't remember the last time she'd walked with her friends, listening to the music and clapping. To show her annoyance, she dragged her feet slowly on the wooden floor, taking her time.