Do you know why red roses are here?
The story is tragic and yet we symbolize roses of love and passion.
The true story of the red roses goes like this...
Long ago roses were rare, very rare. Also, the only color of roses there was, was white. They weren't even called roses then. No one had a name for them since they were rarely seen. If seen, people would exclaim of how fortunate the person founded them were. The rare beautiful flower as they called it. Also, it had no thorns. No thorns to protect itself, but it didn't need to be protected for most of the time it was hidden from the world.
One day a young man around in this mid 20's was out venturing in the forest. The young man was named Godric. He had a kind face, such of a young boy with blonde hair and crystal clear blue eyes. He had a smile that would melt a girl's heart and a voice that could persuay even the toughest mountain. He a welcoming and never harsh, he helped the young and old alike, he took and gave out great advice, and he was a magnificant warrior in times of need. He had a girl in his heart. A young maiden a few years younger. Rose was her name. She looked like a princess that stepped out of a fairy tale. She had long, flowly brown hair with matching brown eyes that were large and very pretty. She was lovely not only on the outside, but also in the inside. She took care of people just like her soon to be husbad. Men fell in love with her at first sight, while girls both envied and adored her at the same time.
Godric looked around his surroundings thinking about his soon to be bride. Everywhere he looked he saw her face, laughing and smiling. Nothing in the woods could compare to her beauty, all except one. There on the side of the road at the base of a giant tree stood a pure white rose. Godric stared in awe and got off his horse as if it was all a dream. He never had ever thought he would see the rare flower. He had seen pictures and such, but the real thing was much more perfect? Words could not describe the beauty he saw in that flower. He did not want to pick it, but he had to bring it home. Hazel would be thrilled and he did not want anyone else to take it. That road was much traveled on.
So he strode to it and picked the flower. He carefully put it in his pocket and hurried home to show Rose.
Rose was...was no words were to tell how happy she was when she saw the flower.
She quickly put it in a glass vase and put it on the window still where everyone could see. Many visitors came and complimented and examined the flower. It made the small, yet homey cottage look even more beautiful.
The next day was a rest day, however Godric was called to the castle.
The castle was a great place. It is a honor to be invited. Godric took off his hat in the presence of the high king himself. King Fredric was a young king who just came to power after his father. However his reign has not been as wonderful as his fathers. His mind was not as wise as his fathers and still young to learn many things of being a king. It was a bad time to come to reign for a neighboring kingdom was thinking about to go to war. And now there was war and Godric was callen in to become a general. Godric felt absolutly honored to be called in. He gladly accepted the position and ran off totally forgetting about the wedding in progress.
Rose was both happy for Godric and disappointed at the same time.
"What about the wedding?" Rose asked as Godric was packing his bag.
"We'll have it after I come back. After the war ends." Godric said without a worry in his voice. Rose sighed and followed him out of the cottage to his horse.
Deep inside Hazel was worried sick. What if he didn't come back? What if sometime terrible happens? Anything so that Rose would never see Godric would break her heart. She looked at the ground clearly disappointed.
"I promise I will come back. We will have a wonder wedding and live happily ever after like a fairy tale." This made Rose smile, but she still couldn't help but worry.
"Be safe!" She whispered before he jumped on the horse and rode off leaving Rose alone.
A single tear slide down her cheek.
It was unbearable when Godric was gone. All Rose could do was think about him. How she missed him so. How she wished she could be with him.
She was making herself sick being alone.
One day at night she thought...is a battle going to stop me from seeing my true love? No, is what she answered herself.
She woke up the next morning early. She with a few bags of food and clothes. The last thing she brought was the flower. It stayed in the perfect condition as always, straight up right and pure white.
The journey was not as hard as Rose expected it to be. Though there was the problem of the hard ground, cold nights, and wild animals, but no harm really came to Rose.
On her third day in her journey she caught the footsteps of a army passing thru. Even though it was getting dark, she rode on determined to get to her love as soon as possible.
It took her two days to get to the camp site where the soldiers were. She rode into camp with her head high. Man men stopped and stared not only because of her beauty, but also because they never thought a woman would come to this war site. Honestly, Rose did not know where which tent was her Godric's, but remembering he was a general, perhaps he was at the bigger tent right ahead of her. A gaurd stopped her and asked what she was doing here. Rose replied with a confident tone that she was here to see Godric, she was his soon to wife. The guard went in the tent and came back out followed by a Godric.
Godric was both furious and glad to see Rose. He was going to send her right home, but Hazel pleaded to stay. She could help cook, clean, and tend wounded soldiers. The generals agreed to this.
A few days later a battle stroke out near camp. Rose was to stay behind, but she did not like how everyone was going out getting themselves killed...enspecially Godric. She sighed as she moved around the camp doing daily chores, but she could not help her curiousity getting to her mind.
Now, the battle was bloody and gory. Not a place for a woman, indeed. Rose gasped at the sight. How horrible it was to her eyes! She had never seen anything like it. She had never seen so much blood, so much fighting, so much hatred of teams, so much hurt people. The battle was ending, though. Rose stayed a bit behind and when she thought the battle was over, she rushed down to Godric. He was still standing with only a few scratches that would be easily taken care of.
However, the battle was not over and having a woman on the field was not a good idea.
"Get out of here. The battle is not over!" Godric yelled. Rose was sad. Godric never yelled at her, never, and here she made a mistake and took off crying not looking once back. Godric felt sorry for her, but he could not just leave the battle field. He looked after her running and was not aware of the enemy behind him. Only when he head someone yell "Behind you Godric" it was to late.
The enemy's sword plunged through his torso. Blood splattered on the ground, Godric coughed up blood, and soon fell.
Many people went out to help him at once sending him to camp. The other generals would continue and win the battle.
As soon as they reached camp, Rose was called for. She cried when she saw Godric, a bloody mess dying. She knew she could not save him, it was impossible. The sword when right thru, it would leave a hole, nothing could stop the bleeding. Rose sobbed over her Godric who was barely alive.
He took her hand to his face, kissing it. He wore a sad smile on his face. Rose smiled a sad smile back. No words past through them, only the silence of death.
"I love you, Rose." Godric said.
"I love you, too." Rose replied. She knew this was the end. She shook her head 'no'. This couldn't be the end!
But it was...
Grieved so much, she dragged his dead body to a meadow nearby. She took the rose and a knife along with her.
Crying her heart out she layed the rose on Godric. It soon got covered in bits of blood on the side it touched him. Then, raising the knife, Rose swiftly brought it down to her heart. Blood splattered on the rose. It was now white with red splattered.
The couple both lay died. Rose on Godric gripping the rose.
The army soon found them and buried them in the same place and said a prayer over them.
Every year, people gathered from the village to go and pray for them. One of these days something was there right where they were buried. It was a flower with many thorns and red, but it looked so much like the rare flower.
Many people talked to each other in hush tones. What a strange flower! They thought. Look at the thorns...the flower itself is beautiful, but the thorns.
An elder women came to the middle. She gently sniffed the flower and turned to the people.
"This is the rare flower!" she called out. "Although it may not seem like it because of the color and thorns.
"Young Rose gave up her life to be with Godric, she had the rose with her. With their bloods joined together with the rare flower it created a new kind of rare flower. The flower was buried with them, using the ground's richness, it grew."
There were two roses twisted around each other. The red against the green made it stand out and easily seen.
"The thorns are protectors. I have a feeling that if we let these two alone, then soon we will have more of these rare flowers. We always picked them and never let them grow. I have a feeling if we just let these to alone we can have more rare flowers!" the elder told the village people.
"We need a name!" someone called out.
"So we do." the elder replied. She thought for awhile. "I have got it. We shall call these flowers..Roses. Rose, after the beautiful young lady herself and her heroic actions to be with her love."
The villagers agreed and nodded their heads.
The elder was right. Left alone a huge bunch of roses rose from the ground. Some redder than others and some pink. But the highest roses were the two original roses that intertwined each other.
People came and picked them giving them to their loved ones.
It soon became a symbol of love-enspecially the red ones.
Now you know how we have red roses. How Rose, herself, created the first red one. Grown with the blood of two couples, a true symbol of love...dying with your loved one.
