The Love of a Prince and a Flower
By: Jamie Oliva
Once upon a time there was a Prince named Drake. He lived with his father, the King of Edel. Drake and his father never talked much, since his mother passed away when he was three, his father became distant, unloving. Prince Drake didn't know of love, he believed money was happiness for it is what his father taught him, he never had fun, and he always kept an emotionless face. He was getting ready for the walk through the villages, this was annual to show that the villages were still connected to the kingdom. Although this particular one changed his life entirely.
There lived a girl, up in the poorest village in the kingdom, despite the fact that she had no parents and was the poorest of the poor village. She collected and organized flowers to sell for a living. Her name was Rose, she had no parents for they died in the ongoing war. She lost them when she was three, this war had been going on for about twenty years. When the war started the villages started to grow more distant from the kingdom, that's when a tradition of the walk started. Once a year the prince would walk through the villages with no guards. Rose never cared for going to the walk, she didn't care to see the royal family. It was not that she hated them, this walk just wasn't important to her. On this particular day she decided to go, supposedly it was fate.
Throughout the day the King and Prince Drake walked through every village. After each Drake would get more and more bored. They got to the poorest village and Rose was setting up her flower shop. The village was very quiet at this time; there was no clapping or cheering like there was in the other villages. Probably because this one wasn't highly populated. Rose was done setting up her flower stand outside and looked up to see the prince. She found herself staring at him because he was handsome. She leaned over her stand and accidentally knocked a vase over sending it crashing it all over the ground. The crash sounded throughout the village and the prince looked over to the flower stand to see a very distressed Rose. Embarrassed Rose went to pick up the broken pieces, the prince however was staring at her beauty.
Drake walked over to her and started to help pick up the pieces throwing them away in the nearest garbage can. Rose looked up to see the prince helping her and she was very surprised.
"My prince, you don't have to help me, it was my fault, and you'll scratch your hands." Rose said to him. Prince Drake just continued to throw away the pieces.
"Nonsense, you leaned over the counter to see my father and I, I believe I am partially to blame. And what about your hands? It is a shame for hands of such beauty to be scratched." He replied.
Rose blushed at his comment, "But my prince-" she started but he cut her off,
"Please, call me Drake." He said to her. Rose just nodded and finished picking up the pieces with him.
Prince Drake got up and started to walk away but turned around to face Rose. "What is your name?" he asked.
"R-Rose." She said and bowed. Prince Drake simply nodded and walked back to the castle with the King. They arrived at the castle and the prince went to his room. The King soon entered his room too.
"My son, why did you help the girl? She is of no importance." He asked.
"Father, she is a part of the kingdom, therefore she is of some importance. If there is one thing I have learned in my time of being a prince, it's that the kingdom is its people. Without the people, we would be rulers of sand and dust. Besides, it would be rude for me not to help." Prince Drake replied.
In about a week from that day a ball was going be taking place. Everyone is to attend, although children were not allowed. Rose was getting ready to go as well, the ball was important to all women; it was chance to show off their beauty. Through out the week Rose saved up her money from flowers to buy a dress and jewelry. Prince Drake however, was looking out his window for he finished looking over the guest list of who was going. He had to know all the names. Drake was waiting for the moment he would see Rose again.
Rose looked at herself in the mirror, in just an hour she was going to be dancing at the ball. The carriages came to get the people of the village and she got on making sure not to ruin her new pink dress. She had on white shoes and her long hair brown was curled. It took exactly an hour for the coach to arrive and for everyone else to arrive. Once everyone was there the King and Prince Drake entered. They were both in their tuxedoes. Rose and Drake made eye contact immediately. The prince was supposed to be honored the first dance and each year he would just simply pick a random girl. But tonight he walked up to Rose and asked, "Would you like to dance?"
"Of course Drake." She answered curtsying. They started dancing together and Rose noticed how awkward he danced, he seemed tense like a robot almost, he didn't move freely. Although after a few minutes other couples joined the dance, and Prince Drake started to enjoy dancing with Rose.
When the song was over Prince Drake bowed and Rose curtsied. Rose went to sit down and Prince Drake went to his throne chair. The ball carried on and he was now bored, he noticed Rose not dancing. Drake got up and walked over to her sitting down next to her, Rose was surprised by his actions.
"It's a shame for a lady to be at a ball and not dance. Come with me." He said and grabbed her hand leading Rose outside. He called for a carriage and helped her inside, he quickly told the driver where to go.
"Where are we going?" Rose asked curious.
"To the lake." He answered.
"The lake? But only the royal family is allowed-" she started but Drake cut her off.
"I am bringing you there, it isn't as loud and no one else can enter because my father has to stay at the ball, and no one else is part of the royal family." Prince Drake replied. The rest of the ride was in silence.
The carriage stopped, Prince Drake and Rose got out and walked over to where the lake was. He sat on the grass, as did she.
"Is there a particular reason you wanted me here?" Rose asked.
"I wanted to finally be alone with you." He said. Rose smiled at him,
"Why?" she asked. Prince Drake shrugged,
"Because I enjoy your presence. And you remind me of something… you seem so delicate yet beautiful, almost like a flower." She blushed and smiled at him.
"What?" he asked.
"Want to dance?" she asked.
"But there's no music, and were not even on a wooden floor." Drake said.
"So?" Rose replied. Prince Drake smiled for the first time since he was three and stood up. He helped Rose up and they danced to no music. This dance was different, He didn't dance like a robot, he loosened up and simply danced. Rose noticed this and giggled. "What?" he asked.
"You're getting better." Rose said. Prince Drake looked confused.
"Why would you ask me to dance if you knew I was bad? Doesn't it take away from the enjoyment?" he asked.
"I don't dance with you because of how good you are, I dance with you because I enjoy your presence." She said and this made him laugh.
"Fair enough." He said.
Suddenly Rose had an idea, "Drake, come with me." She said and led him to the carriage, she told the driver where to go and they were off.
The rest of the night Rose and prince Drake walked around the villages having fun. Drake had never had fun before that night. They did many activities, like playing with the animals, getting ice-cream, visiting the children at their homes, and so on. Prince Drake and Rose went back to their totally different lives except for when he would visit her. Prince Drake spent the day with Rose every other day. He now knew what it was like to have fun, he learned it from Rose. It was a tradition for them to go to the lake together. It was in no time that they fell in love. In a few short weeks prince Drake and Rose became engaged.
In three days the entire kingdom heard of their engagement, a lot of women became jealous, but most were happy for her. All was well until one fateful night. The enemy kingdom, Saravoul, had snuck into the Edel boundaries and terrorized the villages. Fire was set to one of them and hostages were taken. Rose was included in the hostages. When Prince Drake heard of this he was outraged. "Father we need to save the hostages." He said. "No, it would be suicide." The King answered.
"But father Rose is there!" he protested.
"Good! Then you won't marry a stupid peasant girl! They are lower than us! How could you decide to marry someone so poor?" the king shouted at Drake angrily.
Prince Drake glared at the King, "How dare you?! I love her, and If you don't care for her then that's too bad, because she will be my queen." Drake said storming out of the room.
That night prince Drake rode by horse the enemy kingdom's castle with all his share of the kingdoms money, including the royal sword and his crown. He even rode the finest horse in the kingdom. He came up to the entrance and the two guards stopped him, "Halt! If you with to pass then you mush leave your weapon!" they demanded. Drake obliged and left the royal sword. He entered the enemy kingdom and he rode to get to the castle. At the entrance you had to give something of importance or you're not allowed inside. He gave up his horse and entered the castle.
Inside he stood before a man quite larger than him. "What do you want?" asked the man.
"My name is Prince Drake. I would like to compromise to get back the villagers you stole from Edel." He said. Suddenly the man looked very serious and started walking signaling Drake to follow him. He led Drake to the throne room where the King was sitting in his chair. Drake immediately knelt to the King. "King Alucard of Saravoul, I am Prince Drake from the kingdom of Edel. I have come to retrieve the hostages." Drake said seriously. King Alucard laughed.
"Why should I give them to you?" King Alucard asked.
"Because I have this…" Drake said and dropped all the money on the floor. There was millions worth of coins on the floor. King Alucard's jaw dropped and he nodded.
"Take them." He said and he signaled the guard to get the hostages. Once Drake saw Rose they ran up to each other and hugged.
"You gave away all this money?" she asked. Drake nodded,
"Of course, I'd give anything to be with you. You are my Rose, my flower." He said. Prince Drake, Rose, and the other hostages all headed back to the kingdom once the money was counted.
About a month later Rose and Drake were married with the grandest wedding ceremony in all the kingdoms history. The King had died of a fatal illness, of course Rose and Drake had become King and Queen. The Kingdom of Edel was happier with them as King and Queen. They always went to the lake and walked through the towns once a week instead of once a year, although it wasn't a holiday, they simply did it for their enjoyment. The war was stopped and peace was there forevermore. They lived happily ever after.
