I woke up in my room and it was dark. Someone had lit some candles in my room, but other than that, it was dark everywhere. I looked out the window. There was still a faint line of orange along the horizon and I knew that the sun had set not too long ago.

I sat up and stretched my muscles. I yawned and then froze. I remembered right then why I was so tired. I had been so upset. The prince had not given me anything at all to work with. he did not give me any information. I was so frustrated with him. I wanted to learn something so that I could just go home.

I looked around my room and contemplated what to do next. I figured I should go and find Jameson soon. He was probably worried about me.

My eyes fell on the table beside my bed and I froze again. When did those get there? I looked around. The flowers I had picked on our horse ride were in a vase on the table on the balcony. I turned back to the side table.

There, sitting in a beautiful blue vase was a bouquet of some of the most beautiful roses I had ever seen. There were a few red ones, a pink one, a yellow one and a bunch of white ones. I the white roses all had tips that were the softest pink color. I slowly stretched my hand out to touch them. I was not sure they were real.

The petals were soft as velvet. The thorns from the stems had all been removed. I stared at them for a few more minutes when I noticed a piece of paper folded in a beautiful star pattern. It was tucked delicately in the leaves of the roses.

"What is this?" I asked aloud as I reached to take it from the leaves.

My name was written in beautiful script in the center of the folded pattern. I recognized the handwriting. It was Prince Wyatt's. I groaned a little. Did he really think a few flowers would make it all okay?

I hooked one of my fingers under a fold and gently tugged. The star quickly and easily unfolded. It was masterfully folded. I had never seen anything quite like it. I took a deep breath before I opened it further. I was hesitant to see what the prince had to say. He really was not someone I wanted to hear from at the moment.

I slowly pulled the paper open so that it would lay flat. I held it in my hands for a few moments. I was looking at it without really seeing it. I did not want to read it. I was afraid, but I did not really know why. It was not the kind of afraid that made you anxious and want to run away. It was the afraid that made you uncomfortable and made it feel like your stomach was doing backflips inside you. I tried to shake the feeling, but I just could not do it.

Deciding that it was better to just get it over with, I started to read the letter. It was written in the same expertly penned hand and was written in the prettiest blue ink I had ever seen. It was dark blue and you could almost mistake it for black. It shined in the light. I took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds and then released it loudly. Then I began to read.

Roslyn,

I do not even know how to begin to apologize for the behavior that I showed today. It was entirely out of line. I should never have lost my temper with you. I am afraid that I have never been good at controlling myself when I am startled. My mother used to scold me all the time for this. Now that I am alone, I sometimes forget that I must still be courteous to others. You see, I so seldom see anyone that I do not know how to behave when I see them.

"When he is startled? What is talking about?" I mumbled to myself, and kept reading. I was hoping that maybe he would answer some of my questions in this letter. By now the fear was gone and was replaced with anticipation.

What you told me today did startle me. Everything about you really startles me, if I am to be completely honest. I am still baffled that you have found me and my castle and I am even more confused why you would return. I wish I could really talk to you about it all, but I am so limited. I am trapped in my own prison and no matter how much I might wish to escape, it will never happen.

What? He was trapped in a prison? He has a castle! He is a prince! He can do anything that he wants! I was furious with his statement. I was sure that he did not understand what true suffering was and I was sure that I would never give him my pity. He was just an arrogant man seeking for forgiveness. That was all.

And now you are probably thinking about how I do not know suffering. I hope one day that you may be able to understand everything that I have gone through. I do not expect you to believe me, but I wanted you to know that I am so sorry that I have let my life cause me to be so bitter that I would ever argue with such a lovely lady as yourself.

My intentions with this letter is to offer a bit of a peace offering. I am afraid that I cannot tell you where your mother is. That would be admitting to something that I cannot bring myself to face. I am sorry for my weakness. What I can tell you is that she is safe. She is as happy as she can be. You do not need to worry about her.

I stared at the paper. I read the words, "She is safe. She is as happy as she can be," over and over again. It was like my brain could just not quite understand what I was reading. He knew about my mother. This proved it. How was I supposed to deal with that. And he would not tell me where she was? Why? This was getting to the point of being ridiculous. How could one man be so infuriating?

I decided I would keep reading and see if the prince would tell me anything else. I needed to do something or I was going to exploded from frustration.

I know that this is not what you want to hear. I am so sorry. For everything. I need you to know something. I want to tell you. I truly do. It is just not possible for me to tell you right now. I am so sorry. Please. Do not stay angry with me for too long. I want to see you smile again before you leave. I will do anything to make that happen.

Your ashamed prince,

Wyatt

"He cannot possibly think that I can just forgive him that easily!" I fumed to myself.

I held the letter in my hand and I glared at it. It was full of hatred. This spoiled prince was telling me that he wanted to tell me about my mother but did not have the ability to. That was the worst excuse I had ever heard in my life. It just proved to me that he was even more selfish than I thought.

My stomach growled. I looked down at my stomach and grimaced. I had not eaten lunch because I was too upset from talking with the prince. Now, I was starving but I did not want to leave my room. I did not want to explain all of this to Jameson. I had no idea how he would react. I was not sure if he would go and demand answers from the prince or if he would try to convince me to leave. Either way, I did not want he to do anything about it.

What I really wanted to do was to ask Mary and Reginald about the letter. I wanted to understand all the vague hints that the prince left in his letter. I wanted to know so that I could truly be upset. I did not want to just be upset because I did not comprehend why.

A few minutes and stomach growls later, I decided that I needed to get food. It was not use just sitting here being angry. I needed to get out and do something. Eating was something I could do without thinking too much. Maybe I would be able to help Mary after dinner and I could get a chance to talk to her.

I stood up from my place on the bed, folded the letter and placed it in my pocket next to the broach, gave one last glare to the roses beside my bed and walked out of my room towards the kitchens.

Before I had entered the room I heard voices.

"She has been in her room all day. What if something happened?" It was Jameson. He sounded frantic and worried.

"She'll come out when she wants to. Don't push her dear," Mary's cheerful voice said calmly.

"I just want her to be happy," he said glumly.

"I know that. She knows that. Just let her find her own way. That is what will make her the happiest." Mary said all of this with a confident voice. I was shocked in how well she understood me.

"How do I do that?" he asked. He sounded a little desperate. Almost like he was lost and was asking someone how he could find his way back.

"Let her come to you. If you keep going to her she is just going to fight against you."

I bristled a little at what that comment meant. I did not fight against people. Occasionally I loved it when someone could tell what was wrong and came to me to help me. What I did not like was when I had to explain myself.

"How long will that take?" he asked.

"As long as she needs. You just need to be there for her."

He sighed and mumbled something that I could not hear. Mary laughed aloud. She sounded like something was truly amusing. "You really think that is such a problem?"

There was a pause. I assumed that he nodded or something.

Mary laughed again. "You seriously need to stop worrying about that. She is too headstrong for that to ever happen."

Headstrong? Was I really that unreasonable? What were they talking about? I wanted to know, but I also wanted to stop this conversation. I did not want to hear anymore. I was afraid that I might hear something that I did not like, so I stepped forward into the doorway.

"Roslyn?" Mary said with a huge smile. It was clear that she was happy to see me.

Jameson turned quickly from where he was slouched over a table and stared at me. "How long have you been there?"

I laughed just a little. "Not very long. I was coming down because I am starving. When are we having supper?" I thought that I did a good job of keeping my voice happy. I did not think that I had done anything to clue them into the fact that I was upset.

"We were just waiting for you. It's all ready whenever you want to eat." Mary said happily.

Jameson studied my face. I tried my best to not look at him and let him know that I noticed. He looked like he wanted to say something, but must have thought better of it because he did not say anything. He just watched me.

"Perfect. I am so hungry. We should eat now. Is that okay with you Jameson?" I asked turning to look at him.

He looked a little startled. "What? Oh yes. Dinner. Now. That should be just fine." He was having a hard time forming sentences.

I giggled just a little bit. "It sounds like someone else needs to eat just as much as I do. Did you skip lunch as well?"

Jameson shook his head. "No. I just was thinking."

"That must have been some intense thinking. You should be careful. You do not want to hurt yourself." I winked at him.

He blushed a little bit and mumbled something to himself.

I laughed at him just a little bit, then turned back to Mary. She was giving me a knowing look. It was like she could read my mind. I knew that she knew what I was doing. She knew I was faking being happy. I ignored it and asked, "Do you need me to carry anything in?"

She shook her head. "You two go on ahead. I will be right in with your supper."

"Thank you Mary. You are amazing," I said as I pulled Jameson's arm to lead him into the dining room. He was still a little baffled by what I was doing and did not seem to really be there with me.

I walked into the dining room and took in the sight of it. I was getting used to all the grandeur that was around me. I was no longer surprised at the beauty of the magnificently set table. It was just as it had been for all the other meals I had eaten here.

Jameson took his seat across the table from me and I sunk into my chair too. I smiled at him as he still watched me with a concerned look. I was determined to not say anything about it though. "How has your day been?" I asked.

He shook his head a little in confusion but answered me. "It has been alright. I was able to ride some of the horses again today. Reginald showed me around the castle a little bit. It has been rather uneventful."

I nodded and smiled as I listened. I was glad that his day had been so much better than mine. Before he asked me how my day had been I said, "I am glad you got to see around the castle. I have not done that yet. Perhaps tomorrow you can show me everything Reginald showed you."

"Of course," he agreed. He frowned just a little at how I had not let him ask about my day, but then decided to ignore it too. He smiled at me. "There is a magnificent garden to the east of the castle. You can see the sea from it. I will have to show it to you. I am sure you will enjoy it."

I smiled. "I do love gardens. Is it the rose garden?"

He looked confused. "Rose garden? Reginald did not show me any rose gardens. How do you know that there is a rose garden?"

"I saw it from a window once. Also, Prince Wyatt keeps sending roses to my room. I assumed that they were from that garden." I answered truthfully.

"He is sending you flowers? Why?" he asked jealously.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I thought it was just make sure I felt at home. I just thought they were in the rooms. Do you not have any in your room?" I knew I was lying. I knew that there would not be any in his room, but I did not want Jameson to think that it was anything romantic. I also did not want to tell him that it was because of an apology.

"No," he said flatly.

"Oh. Well. Maybe we can find the garden tomorrow and pick some for your room. They are rather beautiful," I said as nonchalantly as possible. I really wanted to find it so I could look around. I thought it was a little strange that Jameson had not noticed it or that Reginald had not shown it to him. From what I could tell it was most beautiful part of the castle.

"Alright. I bet it will not be that hard to find. The layout of the castle is actually quite simple once you know your way around," Jameson said. He was trying to make me happy by giving me what I wanted.

"Perfect," I smiled at him.

He smiled back at me, but did not say anything further. We ate our meal in a comfortable silence. We had both come to a silent agreement that we would not say anything that might upset the other person. I looked at Jameson occasionally and I realized that the silence was not so comfortable for him. He looked tense. I wanted to say something to make it better, but I did not know what to say.

We finished our meal and said our goodnights to each other. We promised that we would see each other in the morning and go searching for the rose garden. I decided to not talk to Mary that night. I needed a night to sleep on what I had learned. Then I would know exactly what I would ask. I went to be looking forward to the next day.