A Wild Rose

Prologue

Prologue

Little rose

The Prince and his court had come. Matron Cathy had told me that it was such a rare honour for a competitor girl to meet any prince until the day they called The Coming of the Queen. I was excited for all the reasons that I now know never had a chance of occurring. You, see, being only five, I imagined a prince to be a handsome man riding on his beautiful white horse, ready to whisk me off to get married the next day, saving me from this orphanage. So when I saw him, I was a little disappointed.

He was only eight, so there was no white horse or whisking me off to get married. His face was covered by a translucent red mask, so I could not judge his handsomeness. And he didn't do anything that would get me out of the orphanage. But at least he was fun to play with.

"May I introduce to you, girls, Prince Alexander of Great Britain." Matron Cathy, who had to move her plump body out of the way to let the guests through, held out her hand to a procession of posh looking people, who looked nothing like the fairy tale characters I had imagined.

Rigidly standing men proceeded into the main hall, all wearing plain silver T-shirts with tight trousers, and a navy blue blazer covered in brooches and medals. One woman entered, who I immediately knew was the Queen. She too had once been a competitor girl, coming first in the Games. But she looked nothing like any of the girls here. She was stout, tall, and stood and walked rigidly. Her lips formed a frowning pout, and her eyes were a silver, which appeared to me like they hadn't always been so dull. She had vibrant ginger hair tied up in a bun, greying at the roots. It was much like the colour of her wrinkled face. But if you looked properly, she could almost be called pretty. However, she made no attempt to use and of this remaining beauty to smile, or even make a friendly gesture or face. Instead, she stood stiffly and made her speech.

"On this day, May 21st 2203, I declare that the London Institute for Girls of the Games received a royal visit, from my son, Prince Alexander, with his full court and advisors. This is a rare opportunity for any citizen, even those who are chosen to compete for the Prince's hand. You should show great honour and pride, as your Head Matron has worked so hard on you wild and challenged children to make you into perfect girls." she nodded at Matron Cathy, who nodded smugly, which made me despise her further than I already did. "So bow down before Great Britain's great Prince."

The doors swung open once more, and a young boy entered as if he were an adult himself. Another boy stumble in behind him, also wearing a mask, but this one was black. The Prince nodded politely at every Matron and every girl, who when I looked around, were all curtseying. Oops, I thought. I quickly curtseyed, delicately holding my green pinafore, and raised myself with the rest of the girls. But I had been noticed; the Queen was looking over at me in disgust. I knew Matron Cathy would have me for this.

After the introduction, we were told to go back to our dormitories, or roam around the gardens in a civilised manor, which meant no running, playing, or fighting. The rest of the girls in my dormitory, Laila, Vicky, Jessica, and Madison, decided to go out to the gardens; it was a rare opportunity, for usually we would be carefully watched any time we left the dorms. This was because we were never allowed to leave. We were here as babies, and none of us had ever taken a step outside of the Institute. Except little Chloe.

Her grave was a soulless patch in the garden to remind us all.

I decided to stay indoors, anyway, the only one of the girls who I actually liked was Madison, who was only three. However, Laila, Vicky, and Jessica generally used her as a play thing, and they were all seven, so I had no chance of beating the three of them in a fight to protect her. I sat on my soft velvet bed, holding my knees between my arms. I had always hated the dark green colour of the duvet, and had longed for a beautiful purple sheet with little blue flowers printed all over it. I heard a knock at the door, and expected it to be Matron Cathy come to deal with me, but she never knocked. My next thought was that of Matron Suzie, who would always come round on a Saturday to collect laundry, but she was supposed to be at the event. I decided to hide, just in case it was one of the older girls; they were likely to do something to me on their way through here.