Adrien knew it was a fool's errand to separate his personal life from his king duties. He wanted to the be same person while attending to both. That seemed impossible at this time. How was he to rule and make hard choices and still be the kind man she saw in him? He knew not how, but he was trying.
The troubles of being a King vanished from his mind he mentioned the game of hide and seek. She placed a kiss on his lips. He took it as a gesture of good luck. "You have until the count of one hundred before I come find you." He said and closed his eyes, "One . . . Two . . . Three . . . " He began to count out loud.
Rosalyn giggled as the king began to count. One hundred would come faster than one would think, but as long as she was on her way to her hiding place, she would be safe from discovery. She tried to recall where Chip had hidden all those times she had difficulty finding him.
One of them had been the second floor of the library. Rose had hardly ever visited the floor, since there were plenty of books on the bottom floor for her to read. She hurried out of the West wing and towards the library. She climbed the spiral staircase and headed towards the back corner of the room where the young lad had hidden.
Rose was almost to her hiding place when something odd caught her eye. Every book in the library had a title, even the old ones. Except this one. She knew this was no time to browse for books, but something compelled her to look at it. She reached out and pulled a small, baby blue book from the shelf. The cover was also blank and when she opened it, all the pages were blank as well. She frowned and put it back on its shelf.
There was a quietclickas the book was put back into place. Rose turned and saw a portion of the shelves had shifted. It was only an inch or two, but it was clearly noticeable. She pulled on the edge of the shelf and it swung open, revealing a hidden room. There was a chest against one wall and a couple shelves along another, filled with scrolls, letters, and a few books. A cushioned rocking chair also sat in the corner of the room.
One hundred seconds had been up for some time now and she would easily be found if she kept the hidden door open like that. She pulled on the silver handle on the inside of the door sealing it shut once again.
Adrien was confident he would find her when he reached the number one hundred he began. He knew the castle in its entirety. He checked about his chambers first. Then proceeded through numerous hiding places within the West Wing. The hallway. The suits of armor. The tapestries. The hidden passages. Although he didn't not think Chandler knew how to get into those yet. He resumed his normal search. Once the West Wing was thoroughly searched he went to the East Wing. She was not hiding there.
Next he searched the ballroom. He made his way to the library. She was not their either. He went to the dining hall and found Chandler helping out his mother with house keeping.
"Have you seen Miss Rosalyn?" he asked the lad. Chandler shook his head. "I have not, Master. Is she supposed to be seen? Can I help you look for her? Is it a game?" he asked to which Mrs. Pom said, "No, you cannot. You have lots of chores to finish." Chandler had a pout on his face but did as his mother said.
It was well over an hour maybe even more before Adrien had figured he searched the whole castle. Even the kitchens, asking if anyone had seen her. Nobody had. He ventured outside and figured that wasn't a hiding place. They hadn't strictly said keep it in the castle but with only one hundred seconds to work with she surely was still indoors.
He recounted and estimated how far her legs could have physically carried her within the time from he had allotted and rechecked those areas once more. It was then he revisited each room a third time and finally spoke out loud, "Alright, I concede. Are you in here, Rose?" She certainly deserved a reward for this excellent hiding game that even he could not find her. He reached the library and spoke out loud standing in the middle of the room, "Alright, I concede. Are you in here, Rose?"
Rose had no idea how long it had been since she stepped foot into the hidden room, but it felt like an eternity. She had tried to read some of the parchment on the shelves, but it was pitch black in the room, so she patiently waited in the rocking chair instead. Everything was dusty and she would probably run out of air if she waited to long.
The king called out from the entrance of the library and Rosalyn sighed in relief. He had given up and she could finally get out of this room. She turned the handle on the door and pushed it open, revealing herself to Adrien. "I thought you knew every place in the palace, your majesty?" She teased. She rested her elbows on the railing and looked down at him, a smile on her face.
Adrien was surprised when he heard Rose voice from above. He had checked the upper level on his second rounds. "I stand corrected. Congratulations on your victory. Surely you deserve a reward for besting me." He said as he climbed the spiral staircase to the upper level to join her.
The smile that he had on his face transformed into a facial expression of curiosity when he saw a bookcase ajar. It served as a door into a dusty room with many scrolls and parchment papers piled together. A rocking chair. He exited a moment and grabbed a moveable candelabra off the wall and re entered.
As he carried the light about he gingerly searchered though a stack of canvas. They were painted portraits of his parents. "Come, take a look Rose." He encouraged as he began to look through the paintings.
"This is my father, his name was Adam. This is my mother, her name was Bella."
"This must be a portrait of them on their wedding day." They appeared be in their early 20's. "This must be from my father's coronation day." He noted out loud, having the same crown that Adrien now bore in his chambers.
Several others followed of just his parents every few years. How many years had passed before . . . Then he came upon one of him as a baby with his parents! Another of him with them as a infant, and so forth. They portraits stopped when he realized the last one to match the pattern of progression was hanging in his chambers. The one done just before his mother fell ill and died.
Rosalyn followed the king back into the hidden room and watched as he looked through the paintings. King Adam and Queen Bella, then later Prince Adrien. The portraits were lovely. She turned away from the pictures and took a few steps over to the shelves. She picked up one of the handful of leather books and unwrapped the leather strip keeping it closed.
"It is a journal," Rose said and flipped through the pages. "All of them probably are." At the end of every entry, there was a beautifully written signature. "They are the queen's." She checked the dates at the top, but they did not specify a year, just a month and a day, but what she was reading on the pages, this was all written before the birth of Adrien.
Adrien approached a cedar chest beside the journal entries. He opened it and found baby objects. In a shadow box was a embroidered blanket, his first lock of hair, a tooth, and other small trinkets. He grinned. He loved his mother dearly. Clearly she had loved him too.
He closed the chest and began to open a few of the journal parchments, reading a few lines outloud,
"Even though we have been betrothed for many years, Adam and I are finally deep in the feelings of love. We will be wed..."
Adrien moved onto another. "Coronation day arrived. Being queen will be challenging, but with Adam as King I will support him. I know he can do well and just for the realm of Amouria."
Adrien moved onto another, this one not so cheerful. "Adam desires an heir. I prove unable to produce an heir. He belittles me for this, blames me if the royal family line ends due to no successor. I am riddled with guilt for my incapability..." Adrien stopped reading outloud as his eyes trailed down the page.
He picked up the next one, making sure the day was lined up correctly, he read slowly,
"I reduced the castle staff and deceive them few remaining into the false notion that I have become ill with child. I encouraged my husband to take a woman of lower status, of my chosing, as his mistress. She wears cloth over her head every fornication. I pray she has a boutiful womb, so that my emotional torment to see my husband bed another ends quickly."
Adrien scrambled several pages ahead, no longer reading outloud but skimming snippets of calligraphy with his eyes. He stopped when he came upon a entry that confirmed the fears growing inside him as read,
"Today I become a mother to a beautiful baby boy! He looks just like his father. Except his eyes. He has his birth mothers summer blue sky eyes. I presented him to his father. The kingdom will rejoice in their prince. I love him with all my heart, as of he were born from my own womb."
Adrien dropped the page and took a step back. His whole body began to tremble. The candle he held weavered in his grasp. He wanted to drop it and burn it all.
Rose watched as the king began to read the passages. After a few brief sentences, he grew quiet and his face became distorted with concern. "Adrien, my love, what is wrong?" She asked quietly. He dropped the book and his body started to quake.
Rosalyn quickly approached and carefully pried the candle from his grasp. They could easily get trapped in here and she did not wish either of them to burn. She then bent down and picked up the journal, turning through the pages to find what had worried him so. When she had found it, she closed the book and set it down in the rocking chair.
Rosalyn turned back to the king and reached out to hold his hand. "I am so sorry..." she said quietly.
"Why? . . . Why didn't they tell me? Why didn'tshetell me?. . . " He spoke although it was more to himself then Rose. He felt Rose take a hold of his hand. Even that did not bring him the comfort it once would have. He felt nothing, yet he felt everything. Everything around him felt like a dark curse. The only gleam of hope and light in his life was the woman that now stood at his side.
"I want to go for a ride. Would you come with me?" he asked of her. He knew not where he wanted to go. Just that he wanted to get as far away as swiftly as a horse would carry him and her.
"Of course," Rose said. She pulled on his hand and led him out of the room, leaving everything behind them. She could not imagine the pain Adrien was experiencing at his time and would do everything she could to comfort him. "It is getting late though. The sun will set soon and we shouldn't stay out too long after dark, especially in the woods." She put the candle holder back in its place and pushed the hidden door back into place.
Her words were a mere echo of nonsense in his mind, as they made their way to the stables. He didn't even give time to ready a horse for each of them. He placed her on the bare back of largest horse in the stable, the brown Clydesdale. He got on behind her and wrapped his arm around her. His hands grasped the creatures mane, a click of his tongue and a urging kick he guiding the massive horse out of the stables and into a gallop.
He didn't know exactly where they were going. Just that they were going away. They were headed away from the castle, away from the village, and away from his fathers hunting cabin. After a three mile gallop he eased the horse into a smooth trot for another 7 miles before they came acrossed a stream that the beast slowed to drink from on his own accord.
"Why don't we run away? Right now. Leave everything behind and find a way to truly escape." He finally spoke to her.
They had gone much, much farther than Rosalyn thought they would go. Her heart pounded in her chest as the king urged the horse to keep going. Finally, the Clydesdale slowed and drank from a stream. While the horse was stopped, Adrien finally spoke to her.
"You want to run away? Adrien, you have a kingdom to care for and protect. Without someone here, Amouria will crumble," Rose explained. She turned to face the king, her face paler than usual. She knew this was not easy on the man, but he couldn't just abandon his title.
"The one person I care about is with me. Nothing else feels like it matters. I want to keep going and never look back. If anyone else finds out about my...half origins, I would be claimed a bastard child, probably unfit to rule. Another full legitimate king can claim the throne. I would rather pretend to be a nobody, than be something I am not." He stated, unable to meet her gaze completely.
Rosalyn shook her head. "You can't, Adrien. I know you are worried, but no one else has to know what we found in that room. We can keep it hidden." The palace staff would lose their jobs, their home. Without a proper ruler, the kingdom would be invaded by another and risk war with the commoners like herself. Even if they did run away, they would have nothing.
"It's not just that, Rose..." he said wrapping his arms around her. He laid his head against the side of hers. He took in a deep breath, taking in her essence willing it to calm him like nothing else could.
He tried to find the right words, "It's not just that...It's everything. The damage I caused to the village folk with the Chosen dances, the winters, the short spring. Being the person everyone counts on to know what is best. The lies. The secrets. The responsibilities. The wrongs I am trying to right, but end up causing further harm. It feels foolish to even continue trying to gain the people's respect. I watched my father rule from the shadows. My...mom was the sole public face of what should have been their rule together. It took a great toll on her and saddened her at times. I will not put that burden on you. But I fear I will rule the same as my father did if I continue this duty, that I feel truly unfit for. Now more than ever."
Rosalyn took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. "Adrien, even if I wanted to, I can't leave. I-I..." her voice faltered when she tried to come up with a reason for staying. As hard as she thought, she had no reason to stay if he did leave. She had no family, no friends. It was getting harder and harder living in the village by herself. What did she have to lose?
She had no reason to truly stay. Her father was gone. She had no particular friendships within the village. The castle staff were as close to family as either of them had anymore, but even Adrien would not look back if he left.
If they left, where would they go? What would he do? He knew not a craft or skill that would provide a modest living for her. A life out in the woods, just them, would that be enough? They would have each other, but a life of hunger and poverty is not a life Rose deserved. He truly was trapped.
It was getting darker by the minute. Being out at night, even if he forced the steed to keep moving, held a risk of being attackes by wild predators or found by bandits roaming the woods. He wasn't ready to return to the castle. He wasn't ready to let her return to the village. He wasn't ready to sleep and hope for better tomorrow. He wasn't ready to even get off this horse and have her be out of his embrace.
He clicked his tongue the horses ears turned up at attention. He gave the horse a gentle kick of his heel and the beast to walk alongside the stream. Adrien was certain this was the same stream that would lead into the river that passed by his father's old hunting cabin.
The hour was well into the wee hours of the morning before they came upon his destination. They had but a few hours left of night before the sun would rise. He guided the horse to the small corral before he got off. His legs felt sore after so many hours of riding. His stomach wanted to complain about missing supper but even that felt like a minor nuisance compared to the rest of his emotional state.
"We will rest here." Adrien explained, as he helped Rose off the horse and they headed inside. They had been here once before. Although he couldn't recall if they had gone inside the cabin on that first visit or merely ate their picnic outside.
Despite being a hunting cabin there were no animal trophies on the wall. No fur rugs. It appeared very much like a study then anything else. There was a bed in one corner and a sofa near the fireplace. He went to the fireplace and brought it to life within a few minutes.
Once the sun dipped below the horizon, cold crept underneath her skin and Rosalyn began to shiver in the king's arms. They had left in such a hurry that she hadn't had time to grab her cloak. The horse trotted along the stream, but Rose was unfamiliar with the woods and wasn't sure where they were going, until they came to the hunting cabin Adrien's father used.
She had been here once before with Adrien, on a picnic. It is where he told her the reason she had been chosen and what had to be done to break his curse. It was nearly a week after that she would eat again, and the following week was their dance. Those weeks were slow and she felt the following months of her marriage would never end. But they did and now she was back here in Adrien's arms. For how long though?
Adrien dismounted the horse, helped Rosalyn down, and the two went into the cabin. She was worried she would find animal heads decorating the walls and furs everywhere, like Gustave's home had been, but was pleasantly surprised when it was bare.
Rosalyn stood near the closed door as Adrien started a fire to warm them. She had her arms wrapped around herself to help keep warm. "This decision is ultimately yours, Adrien. But no matter what you chose, I will always be by your side."
Once the fire was roaring and the chill from the room dispelled. He needed to see her lay resting somewhere. If she was asleep, giving into the idea of waking her up to run away with him seemed less appealing.
"Where do you wish to rest the bed or the sofa? I won't be joining you. I'll simply be near." He informed allowing her to choose.
Rosalyn shook her head and walked over to him. "I'm not going to sleep without you. It would break my heart if I woke and you weren't here..." Would he really leave without her though? She didn't find the idea plausible, but she wasn't going to risk anything. She took booth of his hands, intertwining their fingers. She was scared and it showed clearly on her face.
"I can't imagine the pain you are going through right now, and I will never know such a pain, but this is not a time to be irrational. This decision could mean life or death for an entire kingdom and everything your father worked to make it. Please, Adrien, make the right one," Rose begged. The thought of him leaving her in the night crept to the forefront of her mind again, causing a tear to cascade down her cheek.
The way he felt, anything was possible. He did not think he would be capable of leaving her behind if he chose to run away from his life in Amouria. Then again, he wasn't all that rational in this state of turmoil. He was simply going through the motions of bare necessity, feeling like a ghost almost.
He finally looked at her face when she intertwined their fingers. She was scared. She had every right to be. He was scared too, he was simply better at surpressing it.
Everything external influence about him felt numb. Shock was set into his being. But there was something about the tear he saw fall from her eye and roll down her cheek that broke through the numbness. This wasn't just about his desires, needs, or obligations. Hers were valid. She was scared and despite thst fear she was willing to follow him through his, whether he made the right choice or not.
"Thank you." He said, his voice barely above a whisper. He kissed her cheek, taking away the tear. The salt on his lips a dull reminder that he too had tears he was holding back.
With their hands still clasped he took careful steps toward the bed. Not bothering to move the cover blanket. There was one folded at the foot of the bed they could use. "Rest in my arms, if you please? I could use the company."
Rose followed Adrien to the bed, which was barely big enough for the two of them. "Of course," she said. A small smile appeared on her face, but it was hard to tell if it was forced or not. At least if they shared a bed, she would know if he left. Together the two laid on the bed, Rose nestled in the king's arms.
"I love you, Adrien. Nothing will change that." And nothing ever would. She would never love another man as much as she did him.
"I love you, Rose. Sleep well." Adrien replied, relaxing more and more with each breath he took. His chest rising and falling in rhythm with her own. Maybe sleep would find him after all.
His worries, his fears, his desires, his duties, his disappointments did not disappear when sleep finally claimed him. They remained present in his mind, but at least for what felt like a moment he had peace.