Dearest Blossom

The streets of the township were bustling with vibrancy as its citizens passed from store to store, acquiring the latest merchandise to befit the grandeur of the event that had awaited them. King Emerald of the Groundland Kingdom had finally noticed their little hope and decided to take a visit and inspect the land.

MowedTown had been a bit of a handful, being their outermost tiny town closest to the border of the neighbouring kingdom. Being acquired several years prior during his grandfather's rule, not much attention was paid to it.

Until word got out from its neighbouring cities that it was flourishing with agriculture exports as it was blessed with good lands and hard workers. Among other delicacies, the one reason that convinced the king to visit, was that the town, although backward and underdeveloped, was notorious for its beautiful inhabitants, mostly women.

The King being a womaniser himself, having over 50 concubines in his castle, so much that he would let go at least five to ten each year to make space for more women he acquired during his expedition. A queen he did not possess, as he found that none of the ladies he had were fit for that role.

He came for land.

He found her:

In one of the corners of the streets lay a small house, not much of a yard to walk into, but had a worn out fence and a little pavement that led to the house. On the front porch was a beautiful young woman, well only recently being anointed one the previous week, Rina Bloom.

Rina was a 21 year old vibrant yet modest and stubborn little woman. She lived with her elderly father who refused to send her off for marriage as she was the youngest of his five daughters. He was left delirious, weakening his body after his wife had left him, and slowly one by one his daughters had to find their lives, as financial strains forced them to marry.

Age being another factor, yet no reason made it enough to justify the loss of his family and emptying out of his house. At least he had his blossom Rina, the most delicate and more beautiful as she aged day by day. He had not much to worry though, because Rina hated the idea of marriage as well.

"Papa, I made some soup," she sang, gliding into her father's room with a tray of bread alongside a bowl of soup. Her father's cold face bloomed with delight at the sight of his treasure.

"My sweetheart," he smiled, spreading his arms that were tucked under the blanket to give her a hug.

"Mmm lost in thought again father," she caught her father again in one of those daydream moments where he would just sit up on his bed and stare sadly into the adjacent window next to the bed.

"No..." he trailed off, avoiding her gaze.

"Gimme gimme." Rina placed the tray before him and smiled happily. She looked at him lovingly as he devoured her food and patted him on his head.

Rina was more like a mother than a daughter to her father. He had aged drastically due to his hard work in farmland and as more people left the house, his grief made him age even faster as he grew even weaker. She loved her father either way, and promised to stay with him forever.

"The king is coming tonight, are you ready?" He asked, worry echoing in his voice as he slurped the soup from his spoon.

"Yes, I'm so excited," Rina’s face bloomed which made him more worried.

"Don't be too graceful and don't smile at him okay?"

"Don't worry dad, our costumes have a mask, and we will be behind a curtain," she chimed, knowing how much her father was worried that dancing for the womanizing King, laying his face upon her beautiful face and feminine body wouldn't  hesitate to seize him of his precious gem of a daughter he had. The last of the kind. "We will be like silhouettes."

"But still..."

"It will be ok father, as handsome as he may be, no man can ever take me away from my king of a father I have right here." She stood up and kissed her father's cheek, tucking him into bed and taking the tray from his bed.

"Come home as soon as you are done dancing okay," he called out at her retreating back as she left his room.

......................................................................

Rina ran as fast as she could in her costume across the streets, behind the stage where all the ladies were gathered to prepare for the performance. Even covered by a blanket, the red and peach chiffon ends of her dress were still visible along with the beads covering the lower part of her face as a mask, clanking every step she took. She was late and the King was on his way. If she missed this performance, there will be no meal for her and her father the following months.

She ducked under a beam and jumped over some barrels only for her dress to be caught on a loose nail on one of the barrels, causing her to trip. But before her little body reached the floor, strong masculine arms had beat her to it.

She landed in his arms as he pulled her up, in a hugging position sending shivers all over her body even though she was covered by a blanket that slowly began to slip down to the floor.

"Be careful, miss," the brave man said.

She lifted her head to meet his eyes and discovered how handsome the man was. Her eyes glowed with wonder and excitement as the wind blew the mask off her face, revealing her beautifully made up face to the strange man. His gaze turned tender as he lowered his face down to hers, moving closer to her lips.

"Your majesty!" She flinched at the call of one of the attendants approaching them.

Rina gasped in fear pushing herself from the king, picking up her blanket and ran away covering herself with the mask.

"I met the king, I hope he doesn't recognize me, Or I'm done for." She panicked, rushing to unite with the girls.