Kings obsession

The flies will always find you

Rose

"Where are we going?" Rose, who's feet were sore was ready to be home with her family, taking a nice hot bath with some lavender tea. Her skin was itchy from wearing the same dress all night. Her hair a bunched up mess and her eyes were sore and puffy from crying.

"M'lady, I kindly ask you to withhold your questions till after we get there."  How rude! I've been forced into a marriage I didn't agree to and he dare talk to me in such a way?

"I am quite sorry for you, miss, I- I tried to change his mind about it-but he was so blind and deaf to me. He ignored my every word like- like as if he were... possessed"  Rose was quiet. This new information struck her. He's obviously dangerous. But... he's mad! Absolutely out of his mind.

It had been quiet for about 3 minutes but they kept walking. Rose became impatient. 3 mins felt like a long time. And the red and black hall they were traveling through looked never ending. There were perfectly painted portraits of the rulers before King Vincent.

Some were posed on horses or with a leg propped up on a pile of gold coins. Some had weapons with blood on there faces or holding an enemies head. All these men were important. And old. But what really got her attention was a large frame, much bigger than the rest. It was sparkling gold and embroidered with beautiful handcraft work. The person in the painting, though, was very different from the others. It stuck out from the rest, and not because of its size. In fact, it wasn't a man at all. It was a young boy! He had little to no expression. Except his eyes were painted to have a dark tint. He didn't look happy at all. He wore the kings crown With the same cape as Vincent's draped across his shoulder. Except it was like a large blanket compared to the tall man's figure.

A wet cough sounded from Alfred as he held open a large door. "Ahem, I should think you would enjoy this. It has been a rather... stressful night, hm?" Rose slowly came closer to see inside the room. It was a bathroom!! Rose gasped and backed a few feet away from the short man.

"Absolutely not!" She screamed.

"B-but, M'lady? It is necessary you get clean-"

"I refuse to be undressed and vulnerable to you or anyone in this forsaken place! You might as well lock me away!" Rose stood with her arms crossed, showing Alfred she was serious.

He sighed, sweat dripping down his brow. Now what? He was in a tight situation here. This is not ideal to Alfred but he doesn't fancy the idea of his head being removed from his body. "Mizz Grantz... I really don't want to do this-"

Two armored men appeared from the shadows, and seemed to be headed in Rose's direction. Help-

She spun on her heel and dashed from the men. Immediately, they chased after her, with Alfred following behind. Of course he was sweating and panting uncontrollably. This wasn't part of his job, normally. He was hoping this didn't become his new life. He prefers not running after small woman.

Metal was clinking and banging against each other behind Rose. She easily dodged working maids thanks to her small frame. She turned down a corner and sprinted faster, hoping to catch them off guard. Alfred shouting in the background. She grasped a corner and pulled her self for a sharper turn, thanks to her races with her brother Charlie, she was a pro at this.

There she saw it! A hall with two directions to go. She looked back and they were far enough behind that they wouldn't see which one she took. She decided to go right. Hopefully there would be another hall or an empty room to escape through. She would probably never see her family again. She'd have to live in the forest and beg for coins to feed herself to stay hidden from the king.

She took the turn, hearing the heavy clanking of metal feet stomping on the hard ground. She hid behind a wall, catching sight of a room that held brooms. She looked back to see that the guards had vanished, running in the wrong direction. Rose crept up to the room and opened the door, hiding herself inside.

Finally in a 'safe' place away from all the stress, Rose took a minute to catch her breath. Only... there was an odd Oder preventing her from properly breathing. A fly buzzed through the dark. "Uhhgg" the stench got worse as Rose tried to wave it away from her nose. A dimly lit oil lantern hung from a scone on the wall. Rose turned the little wheel, giving the fire more rope to burn. But once the room was lit she screamed in horror at the sight. The cause of the smell was a rotting corpse, with a maids dress barely wrapped around it. She stumbled knocking brooms and other cleaning tools down. She opend the door behind her attempting to remove herself from the horror scene.

But as she rushed through the door, her heel caught in the back of her dress, making her fall backwards and landing on the floor. Her wrist hit the floor sending a painful shock up her arm. But she didn't want to stay there much longer so she crawled backwards only to hit something hard as stone. "What are you doing in there?" A cold voice spat angrily at the terrified Rose. Shocked, she shot her head up at the direction of the voice. It belonged to no other but King Vince himself. Her pupils shrunk in fear.

No

He grabbed her forearm, yanking her up on her feet. As she regained balance she winced in pain at both the grip he had on her arm and the shooting pain in her hand. "Wasn't Alfred supposed to get you in the bath?" His eyes scanned her still filthy appearance. But then he noticed the room she fell out of. Realizing where she was he became angry. "What we're you doing in there?"

"I-I was just-"

"You're entirely incompetent! Do you wish for death?!"

Rose was too stunned to speak. Tears began to well in her eyes. "Let me go.." she cried. Hot tears fell down her red cheeks. She was scared and in pain. She missed her mom and dad and this crazy man was hurting her.

Vince's face was in an image of shock. Was she really crying? Only then he noticed the grip he had on her was turning his knuckles white. He pulled her closer and leaned down to look at her face. She seemed to refuse to see his face. His lip twitched as this angered him. Just look at me, damnit! He placed his hand around her jaw and forced her eyes to gaze into his own. He heard her breath hitch at this. The fear in her eyes ignited a warmth in his chest.

A tear slipped from her eye leaving an invisible streak in her skin. He wiped it with his thumb, slowly caressing her. Even in her disheveled appearance she was the most beautiful thing he ever saw. He felt her body flinch in his grasp. She began wriggling to fight out of his hold he had on her. Vince quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and the other around her back, reaching his hand on the back of her head. He pulled her close to his body.

"No!" She muffled under his arms. "Let me go! Let me go!!"

"Shhh" he whispered at an attempt to sooth her. "You need a bath"

She froze afraid of what this meant. "And since you can't seem to follow simple orders, I'll just have to help you."

Oh no...