Roses & Thorns

Rebecca I

Rebecca Vagrid was aware, that for her to become Queen Regnant, she had to prove herself as the only obvious choice, above her male cousins. Of course, there was no rule against a woman inheriting her father’s land, however it didn’t mean it was the norm. If she wished to be the anomaly that ended up being the good type of anomaly, she had to succeed in her trip to Caine Mine.

Around her, were the Crownsguard, sent by her father to ensure her trip went on without a hitch, and that made her feel even more determined to succeed.

The fact that her father wished for her to succeed him, meant that he wasn’t among the others who advocated for her to be married to her cousins to ensure the throne remain in the Vagrid line. It meant that her father trusted her to lead Nemuda as the Queen by right and to marry a man who would agree to marry into their family.

Even though her father wasn’t old, she was comforted by the that that he was well aware of the many things that could happen to him as he lay on his sick bed. He could live and continue to rule while arranging a marriage for her, or he could die and leave her to do as he trusted her to do.

No one knew why he was sick, only that he’d fallen ill for the fifth time in six months, and had seemed unable to ever truly be healthy. To Rebecca though, she felt like she was on a clock with her only hope being that she was able to get a big win in Caine Mine.

Who knew, perhaps the news would be what her father needed in order to get out of bed.

A bed that has seen him more in six months than I have.

She wasn’t without active opposition in her quest to solidify her place as Crown Princess of Nemuda and sole child of her parents, King Charles and Queen Helena. Not when her cousins, Prince Jeffery and Prince Henry, were both backed by her uncle, Grand Prince Sullivan, and more than half the Dukes of Nemuda, to take the crown. If anything, she had a tough uphill battle ahead. Fortunately for her, she wasn’t one to give up just because things were challenging.

“Princess, let us set up camp here. We’ll get to Caine Mine by noon tomorrow,” The Captain of the Crownsguard, Ser John, said as he rode next to her carriage.

“Sure,” She said with a nod and looked back to the reports she’d gotten on behalf of her father while her mother had remained by his side, regularly.

The reports detailed an approaching famine which was indeed a terrifying news from the Church. Thankfully the news was yet to spread to the citizens which would’ve caused a continent wide panic.

However, the Church had already advised every monarch to make plans to stock up their stores so that there would be food to sell to their citizens during the famine. An advice that had led to her being here.

That the report had provided an opportunity to do something tangible which didn’t include arguing with the Counselors who would rather oppose her than obey her, was a plus to her

Once the horses slowed down, her handmaiden hurried out of the carriage to help her get down the steps and unto the clearing they’d found.

As the camp was slowly set up, her mind returned to her mission, Caine Mine.

Caine Mine held coal that was very profitable, yet they hadn’t sold as much as was expected. Duke Lazarus Caine who was in charge, had claimed that the mine was running low, thus the lower percentage sent to the Crown. Rebecca on the other hand didn’t fully trust his words, she couldn’t, especially when he was one of her loudest critics in the past six months.

Her gut was telling her that there was more to the Caine Mine, one of Nemuda’s biggest resources, and she couldn’t ignore it. If Duke Lazarus was indeed defrauding the country when there was an impending famine and a cold war with Pompei, then this could be her chance to weaken his authority and help the economy of her kingdom.

But if indeed the mine was low, she would have to figure something else out, anything that would generate enough money which could be used to trade with Melam and get enough grain from the most prosperous nation in the continent.

“Your highness, your tent is ready,” Melina said with a bow which brought her mind back from the trees she’d been absent-mindedly staring at.

“Thank you,” Rebecca replied before she went into her tent which had been built like a house.

Within it was her bed, table and chair, and all were necessary for her as she took her seat.

“You’ve been quiet ever since we left the capital,” Melina said as she poured water for Rebecca to drink. “What’s wrong, your highness?”

“I’ve just been thinking, that’s all,” She replied with a shrug as she took her drink. “A lot of things are happening, and I feel overwhelmed already.”

“I doubt you are indeed out of depth, your highness. You are a lot more resilient than you think.”

“Doubtful,” Rebecca said with a negative shake of the head. “Being resilient is a trait only Logan has. I’m just being unnecessarily stubborn.”

“Come now your highness, you shouldn’t be that harsh against yourself,” Melina insisted as Rebecca finished her water and got to her feet.

“I need a bath,” She said as she gestured for Melina to get her soap and night wear for her. “There’s a stream close by that we could use.”

“Of course, your highness,” Melina said and hurried to get what she needed.

With a deep breath, she left her tent and walked past Ser Henry who had been standing guard outside her tent and predictably, he followed after her, leaving the five other guards behind.

“I’ll stay close enough Princess, so that if you come against any threat, you can raise alarm,” Henry said as they got closer to the stream.

“Thank you, Ser Henry,” She said as she and Melina went through the tree line and arrived at the small stream.

“I’ll go keep Ser Henry company,” Melina said with a bow which Rebecca simply nodded at.

Once alone, she stripped and got into the water with her soap in hand and with slow, deliberate motions, she lathered her brown-skinned body before she proceeded to rinse herself. After a thorough wash, she came out of the water ready to dry off, only to face five assassins with their swords drawn at her.

“If you wish to scream, go ahead, but you will bring your handmaiden and all your men to their deaths.” One of them said.

“So,” She began as she glared at the assassins who didn’t bother to hide their gaze on her body. “It’s between dying alone or dying with others?”

“Both are okay with us,” Another said. “But if you scream, we will have a lot more time to spend with you.”

“I’m a Princess of the Blood, not some whore you stumble into in a whorehouse,” She snapped before she took a measured step back to the water while slowly scanning the area for anything she could use as a weapon.

“Let’s kill her already,” The third one said as he walked closer to her. “The Grand Prince paid for her head, not for us to have her.”

That caused Rebecca to snap her eyes to the speaker in shock, as her mind raced for possible meanings that could be drawn from those words that didn’t include her uncle trying to kill her.

However, she didn’t have a lot of time to process the words nor her next actions before the first one ran at her, sword ready to slash her. Only a sharp duck spared her head as she swam for the deeper end of the water.

She was already aware of her uncle’s desire to install Jeffery as King, but for him to go as far as assassination was a shock. She could call for help, but she feared for the lives of those close to her. At least if she died, it would be alone; if she involved her closest people, she would have no one to mourn her.

Sure her father would mourn her, but only for a short while if he couldn’t survive the illness. As for her mother, she would be overwhelmed by grief which would either lead to her early demise or Rebecca would be shifted to the corner she’d been in for six months.

Then there was her father’s ward, Logan, dubbed as Prince, but even he wouldn’t care about her in her death since as they lived, they didn’t care for each other. He would be too preoccupied with his long-lasting illness, which had given him his constant cough at a young age, to mourn her.

Her assassins on the other hand seemed very determined to kill her, seeing as they all followed her into the deeper part of the water. However, just as she wondered whether to scream or not, a spear jutted out of the leader’s belly.

First there was confusion before the person who’d plunged it materialized behind the now dead assassin, withdrew the spear and grabbed the sword strike of the next, by the blade. Rebecca covered her mouth in horror as the hand bled, but it faded as the assassin was stabbed clean through with the bloodied spear before he was released to die.

The stunned silence lasted a second before the other three attacked in quick successions. However each attack was effortlessly parried by the White Haired Stranger’s spear. Each attack seemed too slow for her White Haired Saviour who danced around their attacks until finally he ended their misery. Like a well rehearsed move, all three soon fell dead around her, staining the water red.

Once none lived, the White Haired Stranger, who wore a silver mask that covered the lower part of his face, turned to look at her with his piercing brown eyes. And at that moment, she had forgotten her nudity and simply watched him meet her eyes firmly before he removed his cloak and wore it over her body.

“You need to be more careful, Princess.” Though his voice was all jumbled due to the mask, Rebecca could tell that he had put more emphasis on her title like it meant a lot more to him than he let on.

“Who are you?” She asked him as she heard the bush rustle with hurried boots of her Crownsguard.

“You already know who I am,” He said before he dematerialized right before her eyes just as Henry and the others burst into the clearing to see her surrounded by bloodied water, and a black cloak around her shoulders.

“Princess!” Henry shouted as he ran to help her out of the water, with Melina at her other side. “You should’ve called for help, and who owns this?”

Rebecca kept quiet at his questions and instead focused on the key features of her White Haired Saviour with powers unknown to man.

He was taller than her, but she was no short woman as she stood at 5’11”. He had white hair, so pure white and long that she doubted it was artificial. He also had deep brown eyes that held a burning passion within, as if he knew her very well. Too well.

“You already know who I am.”

Perhaps, she knew him as well, but just didn’t know it. Either way, she was going to find him and thank him properly, but for now, she had a mine to visit by dawn and a lot of sleep to catch up on, lest she got none through the night.

“I need to sleep.” That was all she said as she returned to the camp, the cloak of her White Haired Hero around her shoulders.