Of Amour and Illusion
Chapter II: Accept the Inevitable
Rose
Sunlight filtered through the slight gap in the tired curtains of the cabin, shining onto Rose's eyes, awakening her. Her head was resting on Dimitri's chest with his strong arms wrapped around her and she had one leg draped over his. One of his hands was lying on her lower back while the other hand ghosted under her dress to rest on the back of her thigh. Rose blushed and nestled her head into the space between Dimitri's neck and shoulder. Not to her surprise, the movement caused Dimitri's eyes to flutter open. Rose smiled gently up at him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.
"Good morning," she whispered, placing her head back on his shoulder.
"Good morning, Roza," he replied, tightening his arms around her. Noticing their position, he jerked his hand off of her thigh. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I must have moved when-" Rose pressed her lips to his, effectively silencing him.
"Shh. It's fine, Dimitri," she said against his lips. Dimitri nodded and relaxed back into the pillows but he moved his hand to her waist instead.
"Did you sleep well?" He asked, slowly rubbing his hand up and down her back, caressing her through the fabric of her dress.
"Yes, I did." Rose replied. "I always do when I'm in your arms." Dimitri smiled and tucked her head under his chin.
"Me too, Roza. Me too." The couple talked for a while, as the sun raised the rest of the castle. Rose sighed and pushed up off of Dimitri's chest.
"I have to leave soon." She said sadly, looking down at her handsome Russian. "I told my handmaiden to let me sleep in this morning but I have to meet Lissa for breakfast to help her with more planning." Rose's best friend was getting married in the autumn to the Prince of Ukraine, Christian Ozera. They met at a royal ball held by her father for Rose's mothers 40th name day celebration. It was love at first sight and Rose always thought that the reason they had really connected was because they had both faced the grief of losing their parents. Christian's parents, the old king and queen, had been murdered by a group of rebels who opposed the crown when Christian was six. Christian was the rightful heir to the throne but refused to take the title of King, handing it off to his uncle. Christian had been dragged to the ball by his aunt, Natasha, who was a friend of Rose's mother. The two only saw each other for about half a year before they were engaged and their wedding is now almost upon them. As the maid of honor, Rose had been expected to be part of the planning much to her dismay. Dimitri sat up as well, brushing a piece of fallen hair behind Rose's face.
"I always hate this part. When the sun comes up and we have to part ways again, returning to our lives." Dimitri said, planting a kiss on Rose's cheek. "I hate being without you."
"Well you always have a little piece of me with you." Rose replied, placing her hand on the centre of his chest where a silver ring was hanging by a simple, golden chain. Dimitri smiled and placed his hand over hers.
"Yes, I do."
"I was thinking the chiffon silk for the table cloths." Lissa said, stroking the soft fabric that was splayed across the table. "What do you think, Rose?" She looked over at her best friend who fiddling with the end of the tablecloth, clearly not engaged in Lissa's enquiries. "Rose!" Rose's head snapped up, focusing on her irked friend.
"Sorry, what were you asking?" Lissa shook her head and gestured to the silk.
"What do you think of this?" Rose looked at the fabric, trying to decipher the seemingly universal fixation women have on this type of frivolous folly. In the grand scheme of things, will the thread count of your tablecloth at your wedding really be the catalyst of your happiness? "It's between this and the Egyptian cotton and I just can't make a decision," her friend explained.
"This one is nice." Rose finally said, folding her hands together. Lissa sighed again and pulled the silk back draping it over the railing of fabrics being considered to adorn the tables at the royal wedding.
"Are you okay, Rose?" She asked, taking Rose's hands into her own. "It's like you've been in your own little world lately? Is something bothering you?"
"Of course not, Liss." Rose said, drawing her hands back. "If something was the matter, I'd tell you." In truth, Rose's mind had been back at the cabin with Dimitri, her thoughts hadn't strayed far from him lately. She could never tell Lissa that though. No matter how desperately she wanted to confide in her best friend about her amour with a certain stablehand, she wouldn't risk it. It was too dangerous and she cared too deeply for him to chance that. Doing all of this wedding preparation with Lissa had also taken its toll on Rose. She was ecstatic that her friend had found love and was going to marry a man that she loved but she couldn't help but feel a slight bout of resentment. Rose could never pronounce her affection for the man she loves, at least not now or anytime soon.
"Are you sure?" Lissa urged, looking into Rose's eyes with a caring stare.
"Yes princess, I'm sure." Rose said with a smile. Lissa returned it and leaned back into her chair. "Now how about we look at some napkin options?"
Dimitri
The heat of the sun made cleaning the stables a particularly rancid job. A stable boy had come down with the flu so that left Dimitri to pick up the slack. His shirt was soaked with sweat and he was seriously contemplating shedding it. The only thing that was getting him through his work was the memories of his night with Roza and how good it felt to have her in his arms while they slept. At the age of 26, he could honestly say that he's never felt the feelings he felt with Rose with another. Dimitri chuckled at the memory of the day she stumbled into his life.
Dimitri was sitting at his worktable, cleaning a set of horseshoes when he heard footsteps approaching the stables. He stood up and walked to the line of pens where the horses were seeing a petite figure dip into one of them. No one except the stable's staff was allowed in here at this time of night. There's always the risk of an opposite racer trying to get the upper hand over the crown's horses. Silently, walking up to the entrance he saw that the figure was a girl. Her long brown, almost black, hair was cascading down her back, with a large cloak concealing her body. Dimitri couldn't see her face as he saw her go up to the white mare and stroke its mane while gently rubbing its side.
"Excuse me, Miss? What do you think you're doing?" Dimitri said. The girl jumped and let out a slight scream, clutching her chest, while quickly turning to face Dimitri. Dimitri's heart jumped a little in his chest when he saw whom the trespasser was, Princess Rosemarie Mazur, daughter of the King. He had seen her before from afar; she strolled the grounds sometimes and watched the horse's being trained. Being this close to her, he now knew why people spoke of her beauty with such revere. He had never seen such a beautiful women in his life. Her long, wavy hair flowed down around her oval shaped face. Her sweet, button nose sat above the most appealing, cupid-bow shaped lips. Although, what he was most drawn to was her deep, chocolate brown eyes that were staring back at him with startle. "Oh, I'm deeply sorry, Princess. I didn't know it was you." Dimitri said, trying to save himself from the possible consequence of taking tone with a royal. The princess dropped her hand and straightened up, taking him in.
"It's alright, you were doing your job. You just startled me." She said, turning back to the horse slightly. "I know no one is supposed to come here at night but I saw Luna out riding today and I wanted to visit her." Dimitri didn't know how to act in a situation like this. The closest he had ever come to speaking to royalty was the King's advisor, Pavel, who regularly came to check on the horses. He watched the Princess as she pet the horse and whispered to her; Luna didn't seem to mind.
"I'm Dimitri Belikov, the head stablehand." Rose nodded and smiled.
"Yes, I've seen you before," she said, seeming to get lost in her thoughts as Dimitri saw a light blush on her cheeks. "Do you want me to leave? I didn't mean to disturb you."
"Of course not, Princess. You're very welcome to stay." Dimitri replied, wanting to talk more with her.
"Thank you, but don't call me Princess," she said, letting a bit of her natural spirit seep into her words. "Just Rose will suffice."
"As you wish, just Rose." Dimitri answered to his surprise and horror. He was calmed though by the sound of laughter coming from the Princess and to his astonishment he joined in with her. He could have listened to her laugh all day but their moment came to an end, leaving them in a comfortable silence.
"I used to ride Luna, you know," Rose said suddenly, breaking the peace and looking at Dimitri. "I used to ride horses a lot when I was younger. Until I got to an age where my mother said it was unladylike and something a young princess shouldn't be engaging in." Rose looked thoughtfully back at the mare, patting her on the nose. Dimitri didn't know why he felt the need to know more but he found himself speaking.
"Do you miss it?" Rose sighed and stepped away from Luna, focusing herself on Dimitri.
"Yes, all the time," she replied. "I miss just being with the horses most of all. I feel better when I'm with them. I haven't felt this calm in a long time." Dimitri couldn't contain the small smile that forced its way onto his lips as Rose looked at him.
"You're welcome to come here anytime you want." Dimitri offered, hoping he'd get to speak with her again.
"When are you here?" Rose asked, taking a few steps towards him. Dimitri tried to ignore how his pulse quickened at that question.
"I am here all day, everyday except Sunday and I usually stay later than everyone else like tonight."
"So you'll be here tomorrow night?" Rose asked.
"Yes, I will." Dimitri replied, not understanding the feeling that was coursing through his body.
"Well then maybe I'll come by here again." Rose smiled and looked up at Dimitri's tall stature through her eyelashes.
"I'll be looking forward to it." He said, bowing his head to her as she made her way to the stable door.
"If you don't mind me asking, Rose, how did you get out of the castle at this time of night? The guards are on watch." Dimitri asked, taking a couple steps out of the pen. Rose stopped and looked to Dimitri, a secret smile on her face.
"I learnt at a young age how to get out of that place undetected," she said mysteriously. "You never know when it might come in handy."
Dimitri smiled at that memory of the night he met the love of his life. He didn't know at the time how exactly useful Rose's skill of getting in and out of the castle was. Rose had returned almost every night after that and they talked for hours, getting to know each other. He had spent some of the best nights of his life in these stables just talking to Rose and spending time with her, the class system nor their places in it weren't spoken of. It was just them. Finishing up with his job, Dimitri returned to the castle to take a bath and eat a meal with Eddie's usual company.
Rose
"So how is the planning going Vasilissa?" Janine asked as she sipped her black tea. Janine had invited Lissa and Rose to have afternoon tea with her and Lady Ivashkov. Lissa was fine in indulging Rose's mother's invitation and actually enjoyed talking to the two older women. Lady Ivashkov had obviously dragged along little Emilie with her who looked like she would rather be anywhere but there at the moment. Rose shared that sentiment.
"Oh, it's going great." Lissa replied, enthusiastically. "Almost everything is ready and prepared. And Rose has done a great job planning the bridal shower." Lissa smiled at her best friend as her mother gave her a skeptical look. In truth, Lissa had also planned most of the bridal shower but Rose was fine putting her name on it.
"Yes, everything is in place for next week. It should be a good time." Rose said, feeling bad for the lack of excitement and involvement she had for the event in Lissa's wedding.
"I'm sure it will be beautiful," said Lady Ivashkov and Rose rolled her eyes. She knew if it were anything but she would be reporting back to all of her friend's in Russia about the sideshow that is the Dragomir-Ozera union. The three chatted about any topic they could while Rose sometimes interjected her opinion usually earning a glare for her mother. Throughout the whole afternoon though, her and Emilie mostly stayed quiet casting sidelong glances at each other once in a while. Rose liked to think that they had a mutual understanding and dislike for this type of frivolity. As the subject changed to the appalling revelation that my mother had had to let go one of the maids because she'd gotten herself pregnant, the door to the tea room opened slowly with Adrian Ivashkov strolling through the entrance. Rose groaned inwardly and sighed. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get away from this man.
"I hope I'm not interrupting, ladies," Adrian started, charmingly, letting his gaze fall on Rose. "But I've been sent to inform you that dinner will be served in half an hour."
"Oh how the time passes by," Lady Ivashkov said, glancing at her thin, elegant watch. "It always does when you have good conversation." Rose wanted to throw up her breakfast at the amount of falsity in that woman.
"We should head to the dining hall where we can continue." Janine said, standing up. The women all began leaving with Rose coming up behind when Adrian stopped her.
"You know, Rose. If you wanted to eat somewhere a little more intimate, I found this lovely spot by the lake in the courtyard." Adrian offered, flashing her a winning smile. This type of thing was grating a Rose's nerves and she especially wasn't in the mood after the torture she just endured.
"I'm sorry, Prince Ivashkov, but I'm really not interested," Rose said. "I know that our families are in favor of us being together and you're very handsome and everything but I just don't feel that way towards you." Adrian didn't seem affected by her statement; in fact, he seemed as blasé as always.
"That's what you say now, Little Princess but just wait. Once we spend some more time together you'll see." Rose shook her head.
"I don't think so." Adrian gave her another sly smile and turned back towards the door to leave.
"Trust me, Rose. It would be a lot easier if you just accepted the inevitable now." Rose continued to look his way as he disappeared through the door. She had an ominous feeling that he knew something she didn't. And she was going to find out what it was.
Hey guys,
Sorry this took awhile but I've been really freaking busy lately. Luckily, school ends in two weeks and I'll have a lot of time to write and update. I realized in my last chapter that at first I introduced Lissa and the Ivashkovs as Romanian and then it switched to Russian so I just wanted to clear up that the Ivashkovs are indeed Russian. Also tell me if you want me to do more flashbacks of how Rose and Dimitri's relationship started out. I liked writing that part. Thanks for all of the reviews from the last chapter! I appreciate all of them.
-xAlexxCoop
