Blossoms
The vampires had agreed to try and visit every two years, and that was completely alright with Rose and both Princes. They all wished to get to know each other better. Rose knew she was going to love their visits, and wished that they could have been closer together and seen each other more often, but these distant visits were also a safety precaution. Tension still ran high in both nations about whether the other was going to attack or not.
Though peace had been called, trust had not fully bloomed. So the visits were often guarded heavily. When Richard planed to take a visit to Vladimir, he had Rose guarded with six men at all times. He would trust his daughter's life with the two princes, who could protect her, but not until they reached the palace. So while their carriages bumped down the road, knights were positioned around the sides of Roses, four outside on steeds, one on the top of her cart and one inside. He sat stiffly watching the widows, not trusting the vampires.
He was one who did not care for the peace treaty between the two nations, and would have preferred to have seen all of the vampires wiped out.
Rose tried to encourage a conversation from him, but his only response was a low, short grunt. Eventually she gave up and sat silently bored the whole ride. The whole time she thought of all the games and things she could play with Erik and Charles when she got there. She wondered how much older than her they were and what kind of things they were interested in as well. It had only been a year or so since she had seen them and in that time she had barely reached a decade of life.
The bouncing ride lasted what seemed forever before loud horns broke through the air and echoed around the new castle. The guard tensed, visibly, and Rose attempted to stick her head out the window to catch sight of their destination. In minutes the carriage was pulled around to a stop, and the door opened.
Erik appeared and held his hand in to help Rose from her seat. The guard sneered and got up first, pushing his way past the prince and to take his spot near the front of the cart. Erik stared at him bewildered, wondering why a knight would show such disrespect to a royal. He turned his attention back to Rose and grinning she took his hand. “It’s so good to see you again!” She said happily, giving a small curtsy when her feet were solidly on the ground once again.
Erik chuckled and smiled at her, she was glowing. “It’s good to see you again too.” He smiled stunningly at her and gingerly led her towards the main entrance. “There are many things around the palace I’d like to show you.” Erik could feel excitement bubble inside of him. It was a curious feeling, to have his stomach twist inside of him, and make him nervous. He wondered if all day it would feel like that, and if he could make it happen all day.
Charles was in class at Rose’s arrival. It seemed like a mountain of work was laying before him, and his teacher was not about to let him leave. He growled and got to work, using his vampire speed to sort through the pile as quickly as possible. It had been a known fact for some time in the castle that Erik was the favorite. There were only a few people in the castle that didn’t put one son above the other. The king and queen were quite oblivious to it, and sadly so was Erik. He held his brother beside him in everything they did, he didn’t seem to think that the two were treated any different.
Some years, during birthdays or celebrations, he noticed it, but always made sure to compensate for his brother. Once he even gave up over half his birthday presents for his brother. It was a fact that Erik cared for his brother greatly, and Charles looked up to his brother.
“Erik, where’s Charles?” Rose asked, drawing Erik out of a memory.
Erik chuckled and smiled at her. “He has some homework he needed to finish before our teacher would let him leave. He’ll be done in a few minutes I’m sure.” Erik didn’t want his brother to finish soon, he wanted to spend time with Rose first, he did his best to hide his emotions from her however. “Why don’t we take a walk to the garden while we wait?” Rose smiled brightly, she couldn’t wait to find out what kind of garden Erik and Charles had.
The two of them were already very beautiful, so their garden must be immaculate.
They entered the garden silently, and the air left Rose’s lungs. She expected beauty, but this...? this was beyond what she had prepared for.
Thousands upon thousands and perfectly pruned rose bushes covered the area, perfect stonework between the bushes, some showing great heroes, others magnificent beasts, and some even held a mural. Several vampire servants worked on the bushes to keep them primed and strong. “Amazing.” Rose breathed at the sight. Towering in the center of the garden was a Cherry Blossom tree. It’s pale pink petals not yet ready to open, were twisted tightly around one another.
“When it blooms, thousands of petals flow through the air.” Erik said waving his hand to the tree. “My mother planted that tree when she got married to my father many years ago. It was meant to be a symbol of their everlasting love.”
Rose’s hear fluttered, what a romantic gesture, she wanted to do that for her loved one. Someone who she would love for eternity, and have a beautiful reminder of their love such as this. “It’s so wonderful.” She grinned, tears in her eyes. How she longed for that wonderful kind of love.
A true love.
“Rose would you like to continue?” Erik asked, gently swiping away a tear on her cheek. She smiled and looped her elbow through his. Erik grinned at this, it felt right to him. He should have her on his arm like this forever. He laid his fingers over hers and they walked through the garden.
Higher up in the castle in a pretty dark room was a frowning teacher and a proud student. Not only had Charles finished his homework in record time, so far the teacher hadn’t found a single thing wrong. He couldn’t even dock Charles marks. He found no errors in the boys work. “You may leave, Young Master.” He grumbled disdainfully.
Charles grinned even wider and in a blink of a human eye, he was gone. He flew down the stairs to where the scent of fresh human blood was the strongest. “Father.” He bowed in recognition of his father. “King Richard, Queen Aurora, it is a pleasure.” He bowed to the human rulers.
“Charles, your studies are competed already?” Vladimir asked. Of course they were, but he couldn’t help but brag a little at how accomplished his son was.
“Yes father, and the teacher was quite frazzled at the speed and accuracy in which I had finished my work.” Charles smiled. Vladimir and Richard chuckled.
“Excellent work, as always my son. Your brother has gone ahead with the Princess to the gardens, you can meet them there.” Charles bowed and moved towards the side door that led to the garden he had built with his mother. “My lady, if it pleases you my wife has prepared some tea in the next room, would you like to join her while I chat with your husband?” Vladimir asked, he waved his hand to a waiting door where his wife waited.
She, like many vampires, was very beautiful with long dark hair and sharp eyes. She resembled Charles very much as Erik resembled his father. She smiled sweetly and waved a hand in acknowledgment. Aurora smiled and turned that direction. “I will see you two fine gentlemen later then.” She curtsied and moved on ahead.
With the Queens together and the Kings together the palace moved back into a normal pace, except for the princes.
Charles followed his brother’s scent, and Rose’s towards the center of the garden where their mother’s tree was growing. Erik was sitting on a bench facing away from Charles, while Rose was staring up into the branches under the tree.
She spun a few times, making the bottom of her dress swirl around her legs. When she stopped she could see Charles approaching them slowly. She grinned wide and waved at him. He waved back and moved a little faster. “Charles, there you are!” Rose called. Erik turned to see his brother walking at a human speed. Charles didn’t want to use his vampire speed, he didn’t want to scare Rose.
“Sorry I’m late.” Charles announced stopping in front of Rose. He smiled and bowed his head. He slowly took her fingers in his and kissed her knuckles. “It’s nice to see you again Rose.”
Rose shivered at the sound of her name on his lips. He lifted his head and the two of them stared into each other’s eyes for a moment. Rose’s heart thumped, causing her to release a shaky breath. Charles smiled and backed up, letting Erik join the group.
“So what shall we do today?” Erik asked. He was a little disappointed that Charles had finished as quickly as he did, but none the less he got to spend some time alone with Rose.
“What is there to do?” Rose asked.
The boys shared looks. They didn’t know very many activities that they could do with a human girl. Most of their free time was spent hunting for animals in the forest to state their thirsts. Charles looked around before deciding. “Why not a game of Hide-and-Seek? We can play in the garden, there are many places to hide here.”
Erik stared at his brother. Obviously the two were at an advantage with their powers, and he knew it. But so did Rose. “You two will find me in seconds if I hide.” She announced.
“Then we will have to make some rules.” Erik added.
“We won’t be able to use any of our vampire powers to hide or search.” Charles finished.
“You won’t use any of them?” Rose asked. She was flattered that they would try so hard for her sake. They nodded at her, both agreeing with the circumstances. “Alright then, I’ll count first. You have 20 seconds to find a hiding place.” They nodded. Rose turned to the tree and hid her eyes and began to count aloud so they could hear her.
Rose didn’t hear them run off, but when she hit 20 and turned around they were gone. “I should have only given them 10 seconds.” She muttered and walked down the path. Rose didn’t play very many games, but one of her favorites was Hide-and-Seek, so she tried very hard when she played with Erik and Charles.
Erik she found hiding behind one of the murals, he had crouched right down so that she didn’t see him when she walked past. But because he had followed the rules he had left footprints in the soft soil. Erik wasn’t concerned that she had found him so quickly.
Charles had also hidden himself behind a statue, but he didn’t leave foot prints. He had climbed the statue from the stone path and took the heroic pose of the statue he hid behind. If he was human his arms would have become tired, but he wasn’t. Rose had a lot of trouble finding him, but one of the paths curled around the statue, so when she took it she could see him.
She laughed at the sight of him holding his arms high like he was flexing, one arm pointed straight out to his side. He did look very heroic however.
Charles jumped down and the three met back into the center of the garden. “I was found first so now it is my turn.” Erik announced.
“Erik I have an idea.” Charles stopped him from counting. He took his brothers shoulder and whispered into his ear. “We didn’t use our powers to hide from Rose, but what if we use them to help her hide from us?”
Erik looked at his brother, mostly because he just suggested they break the rules they made. “Even if we didn’t use our powers, we can’t cut off our hearing or smelling. It would take seconds to find her. So why not?” Finally Erik agreed.
Charles waited until Erik turned his head to count before scooping Rose into his arms. “Charles!” Rose hissed.
“We made some new rules, close your eyes.” He whispered. Rose frowned but closed her eyes. Around her she felt the rush of wind. “You can open your eyes now.” Charles whispered, close to her ear, his cold breath tickling her neck. Slowly Rose opened her eyes.
Outside she saw something even more spectacular than the garden.
They were in the forest, surrounded by massive willow trees whose branches swept the ground. In the center was a clear pond, surrounded by floating lily pads. “Amazing.” Rose whispered. Charles chuckled and took a seat on a rock.
“Erik will be here in about 5 minutes, so you can check it out.” He offered Rose beamed and rushed to the water’s edge. The water was clear, so much that she could see the rocks lining the bottom. A small water fall was tucked in the corner sending ripples across the smooth surface.
“Its beautiful.” She whispered turning to look at Charles. He smiled at her.
He looked like a piece of art work sitting in the light of the sun, shadow surrounding him. He’s so handsome, Rose pondered.
“Yes, beautiful.” He whispered back locking eyes with her.