Rose of the Roses

ROSE OF THE ROSES

Once upon a time, There was a fair maiden named Roselyn, whom everyone called Rose. She was the daughter of King Eleandor, who was the King of a faraway land named Glotherin. On this year, it was The Princess’s 16th birthday. In Glotherin, 16 was the age of marriage, and so the king sent for eligible men who could wed his daughter. The king realized that none of these bachelors were suited for his daughter. Meanwhile, the daughter had fallen in love with a young man named Salar, who lived in Londar, a kingdom bordering Glotherin. He was but a smith, who would never be worthy in the eyes of Rose’s father. She knew this yet loved him still, a love King Eleandor knew nothing about.

Meanwhile, in a land not so far away, there lived an evil and vain Prince named Vlarick. Vlarick was a very good sword fighter, and was very handsome, but he was a monster on the inside. He ruled his land with an iron grip. It just so happened the Vlarick wanted a bride, but every girl he met did not like him and rejected him. Had they known the consequences, they probably wouldn’t have. He was so vain that any maiden that rejected him had her head sliced off. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. It just so happened that if that maiden was a princess; he stayed and conquered the land. And so, he came to the land of Glotherin.

He marched in with his army and surrounded the castle. He himself went inside and demanded Roselyn become his bride. The king, not knowing what to do, was very disturbed. He did not want his daughter to die, yet he would not want her to wed someone as evil as Vlarick. He announced that his son, Roldan, would duel Vlarick, and if Vlarick won, he would wed Rose. If he lost, he would leave and never bother them again. Now the king was no fool, Roldan was the best sword fighter in the tri-kingdom area. Vlarick, who had much pride in his sword fighting skill, accepted. The match was set for a week from that date, and Vlarick agreed. The only thing was, was that while the king was away settling an alliance with the king of Londar, Roldan was hurt in an hunting accident. He was in no condition to fight.

That night, the King found out about his son, and was going to call the match off. “If you call the match off, you will look weak and Vlarick will take Rose by force” said the king’s minister. King Eleandor went to Rose’s bedroom to talk to her about the situation, and she said “Fear not father, my true love shall fight for us”. She explained to her father her relationship. Of course Eleandor was furious, and he shouted “WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU EVEN THINK YOU CAN LOVE A SCOUNDREL LIKE HIM! YOU ARE A PRINCESS!” With that, he stormed out of the room. That night Rose cried herself to sleep. “I’m stuck in the middle of a twisted storm” she sobbed. “Please if there is any justice in the world, help me!” she soon went to sleep.

In her sleep, she had a strange dream. A golden man appeared to her and said “I will help you; you shall not marry that evil prince”. He said. She told him that her true love could not fight, due to her father, and her brother could not fight because he was wounded. “Who will fight?” she asked him. He simply answered “You”. “ME?!” she was confused. He explained “For every night of the week before the fight, I will teach you to fight during your sleep. All you must do is have a smith forge armor for you, and in the fight, make sure you conceal your identity until you have defeated you opponent. Nobody must know you are Rose, daughter of Eleandor; you shall be Roldan, son of Eleandor, and heir to the Glotherin throne. If you do not, you will lose your ability to fight. She agreed. For every night of that week she was taught a new technique and how to use a sword. The day of the last night, she had her love forge her armor just like her brother’s. She then had her brother moved to a medicine house in Londar. She went to sleep that night, and learned her final move to defeat Vlarick.

The next day, Rose told her father that Roldan had healed, and that he was ready to fight. The king was elated, and he went to the place Yard where the match was to be held. She then put on her armor and walked to the yard. She was greeted with the applause of her people all shouting the name of Roldan. She prepared herself, her sword held tight, and at the sound of the horn, she began to fight. Vlarick was very aggressive, but she was able to parry all of the swings. She took a few swings and missed. She dodged a swing he made and brought her sword down hard, slicing him on his chest, where he fell to the floor, bleeding. He said “Im….possible……. nobody has ever………. defeated me……” Rose, feeling victory, threw off her helmet and showed the world the swordsman who defeated Vlarick. She was full of pride, when all of a sudden her sword fell from her hand. “Fffffinsh me off” said Vlarick. She tried to swing at him, but her sword flew from her hand again. It was no use. She had lost her skill. With a final rage, He used magic to turn himself into a dragon, after which he took rose and carried her off.
When her Father learned of this, he was devastated. Ronald was still in no condition to save her. Rose’s love, Salar, learned of this and he was determined to save her. He forged himself armor, and took up her sword. He scoured the world for her, until a month later, where he found Vlarick (in his dragon form) sleeping in a cave. Rose was locked in a cell near him, and with a few quick strikes, Salar cut the bars off. She escaped, but unfortunately, the sword banging against the bars woke Vlarick up. He roared and immediately staring swatting at Salar with his massive claws. Salar tried to swing and actually hit once, but Vlarick’s massive claws pounded him to the ground. Salar was bleeding, Rose was helpless. She was about to see her love die in front of her. “Please….. Let me fight…… Please” she pleaded to the sky. Suddenly she felt warmth inside her, and she picked up Salar’s sword and stabbed Vlarick in the chest. He moaned and let out a roar; he caught her on her arm with his claw, and then dropped dead.

She helped up Salar, and they traveled the world back to Glotherin. In each place Salar’s blood fell, a white rose sprang up, and where Rose’s blood fell, a red rose sprang up. In this way, roses came in to the world. They used leaves and vines to stop the blood from flowing so quickly, and when they arrived in Glotherin they were taken to the castle infirmary, and soon after, the king realized that Rose and Salar were made for each other. They were soon married, and they lived happily ever after, thereafter, hunting and planting more rose seeds.

THE END