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Chapter Two

Trouble and Love

(Rose's POV)

"Rose…ROSE!" I turned around only to see Elaine, a young village woman, come running up to me calling my name.

"What is it Elaine? Is something wrong?" I asked in a worried tone. She merely shook her head,

"Oh I'm fine, but Gaston wants to talk to you right away."

I sighed, Gaston was the town hunk. Of course the entire village girls drooled over him. He wants to marry me though, and the only problem is that I just don't love him. I wanted to find someone who loves a lady besides her looks.

"Elaine, I've already told you, I don't want to talk to him." But Elaine wasn't faltered. She grabbed my hand and begged,

"Please Rose, just give him a chance."

I shook my hand from her grip, "NO! I will not talk to Gaston. He doesn't care about anything except hunting and how women look. I don't want to marry, let alone talk to him and that's final!"

I turned around and was about to walk away but instead bumped into a muscular chest.

"Did someone say my name?"

I looked up only to see the face of Gaston Alveire, just the man I 'didn't' want to see right now. "Why hello Rose, pleasant meeting you here."

I wanted to say it was an unpleasant meeting, but I held my tongue and replied, "Uh…hello Gaston. As much as I would like to stay and chat, I must be heading home soon. My father might get worried."

I tried to walk past him, but as always Gaston wouldn't let me go that easy.

"Hold it right there Rose. Wouldn't you like to have lunch with me?" he said in his casual voice.

"I'm sorry Gaston. I must go to the library and then head home to help Papa."

I knew Gaston would say something about my father. My father is an inventor, but his inventions don't always work and end up exploding. So to the villagers my father is a crazy old man and should be put into the asylum.

"You mean that old wacko? Why would anyone want to go home to him? Hahahahaha!"

Right then and there I lost my temper and yelled to Gaston,

"My father is not CRAZY! The only person crazy in this town is you. You're crazy about hunting, about women, and of course YOURSELF!"

I grabbed his shirt and pushed him into the passing herd of sheep. He tripped and then fell into the fountain that lay in the middle of the small village. Many townsfolk laughed at his sudden embarrassment, but Gaston was not pleased one bit. He sat in the fountain thinking why the one woman he like refused to be his wife or at least acknowledge him.

"Humph, served him right" I mumbled as I made my way to 'Le Carters Book Store'. I loved books, any kind and any type. I would read them day and night about dragons, or magic anything really. But my favorite books to read were stories about princesses hoping to meet their prince charming. I too wanted to find my prince charming one day but reality always held me back against my hope. As I walked into the store, I accidentally bumped into another muscular figure.

Oh why does this keep happening, I do hope it's not Gaston again. Though I highly doubt I he wouldn't go anywhere near a book store. It would hurt his head.

"Oomph!" a masculine voice let out, as I bumped into a man while still fuming about Gaston. The monsieur dropped all of his books as we both fell to the ground. The man started to say something, but stopped when he looked at me. I of course didn't notice. I was trying to pick up all of the books for the man,

"Oh, I'm sorry monsieur; I should have been watching where I was going." I said, trying hard not to embarrass myself.

"No, it was my fault mademoiselle. I had too many books to see where I was going." The monsieur said, he had a deep voice, but it sounded so soft on something so deep.

He then bent down beside me. I looked at him with curiosity, only to be astounded. He was very handsome, tall, had light brown hair in a ponytail, and the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen. I felt shy about my appearance, I was just a plain girl with only dark brown hair, green emerald eyes and came up to the man's shoulders.

I wasn't near as pretty as any of the other girls in the village. I was surprised that such a handsome man as him would talk to someone like me, who was considered weird because I loved books.

We finished picking up the books earlier on and then somehow got caught up talking for hours about each other. The conversation itself was calming and we didn't seem the least bit nervous talking about what we liked, what books we liked, and what we liked and didn't like about the world. We were very much in common and I found out that the monsieur wanted the exactly same thing in life, love. I found out that the man also lost his parents when he was very young, so he has been living by himself since then. He wanted to know if I had family, so I told him about my father and how he was an inventor. I kinda knew what his next question would be,

"How about your mother?"

Father told me when I was young, that mother died from a sickness that was going around that time, and that it took many lives over the winter when it started. I never knew her because she died when I was still at a young age, but father says I look almost exactly like her.

It was getting late, but at the last moment I realized that we never told each other our names. He must have been thinking the same thing because he then asked "Mademoiselle, if I may kindly ask what your name is?"

I shyly answered "Rose. May I ask what your name is?"

He seemed to have to think then said in a very low whisper, almost as if he was trying to be sure that was his name. "Calostire."

We sat on a hill far away from the village for a while just staring out on the sunset in a comfortable silence. Calostire's voice cut through the silent moment.

"Rose?" I looked at him. He said in such a soft voice I could almost barley hear it.

"Yes Calostire?" he looked at me with those blue eyes.

"Would you…would you like to meet up again tomorrow?" I was so surprised that my answer came out exasperated,

"Yes, I would love to see you tomorrow!"

He smiled. I couldn't wait.

"Alright then, where would you like to meet?" he asked. I thought for a moment.

Where is the best place to meet Calostire?

Then I got the perfect idea.

"How about the village fountain? It's the perfect spot in the village around noon! The townsfolk are always busy and don't hover around there, so it will be all to ourselves."

His smile got even bigger,

"That sounds perfect!"

I ran home to father as soon as I bid Calostire a farewell. My home was shared with my father because I never wanted to leave him. The house itself wasn't the best thing in the world or the worst. It was just a tile roofed, white bricked, and small little home. We also had some live stock like chickens, goats, and a horse named Philippe. It was a roof over my head, and my home since I was born, it was home.

I wanted to tell father of the day's events and how I meet Calostire.

"Father?" I yelled as I came through the door,

"I'm in here Rose. Just working on this brand new invention, it is supposed to chop wood and then calibrate the angle on the direction that the wood shall be stacked. Then this little gear, should click on the radiator…" father trailed off while explaining the invention. "To sum it all up, no more cutting wood and stacking for us!" He smiled cheerfully at his invention.

I was surprised and confused at the same time but brushed it off.

"Father, I met this amazing man today while heading to the library. His name is Calostire! He loves books, the same kind I do, and he loves almost everything I do!"

Father put down his working tools; he coughed for a while and faced me,

"That's greats Rose! When will you be seeing this Calostire again?" This time I couldn't hold back my laughter any longer.

"TOMORROW!" my father smiled. Behind my excitement I was worried for my father. Winter was here and my father has gotten sick, and it seemed as though it was getting worse. I tried to get him to go to a doctor, but being as my father is, he refuses to go saying,

"A scientist never gives up on inventing, so if I went to a silly doctor, I would lose many hours of thinking and building." He was as stubborn as a mule.

"Father are you ok?"

He smiled after another coughing fit,

"Of course Rose. It's just a little cold; it'll be gone in a while. Anyway, I think I'll head off to bed. It's been a long day." He then looked at me with one of those mischievous grins,

"I think you should as well, after all you don't want to keep that Calostire fellow waiting for your sleepy head." I laughed, and then kissed my father good, night.

That night all I dreamed of were me and Calostire together…

My heart leaped, it was Calostire; Gaston, seeing my smile, turned to face Calostire, his arms still around me.

"Who are you and how do you now MY Rose?"

I instantly frowned at his tone of 'MY' Rose and yelled at him,

"I am not YOUR Rose now let me go!"

Gaston only continued to laugh when Calostire got a very threatening voice, almost like a growl.

"I am Calostire, and if you don't mind letting her go, her and I have a date to go to."

My face must have resembled a tomato, because I turned as red as my dress when he said that I was on a date with him. Not that I don't want to go on a date with him, but as soon as the words left Calostires mouth, I felt Gaston's grip on me falter. Not wanting to lose the opportunity to escape, I used this moment to run towards Calostire and give him the biggest hug I could manage. For two reasons, one to make Gaston know for sure that I was with Calostire, and two because I was thankful that Calostire came and helped me.

Calostire was surprised at first but hugged me back warmly, making me turn red even more.

Gaston, who was still slack-jawed, had had enough.

"Who do you think you are? Rose is my girl!" he tried to grab me from Calostire, but Calostire somehow moved swiftly and was behind Gaston in an instant.

I stared in awe at how quick Calostire was on his feet; from what Calostire told me he had been trained to fight as a child. Apparently he wasn't lying (not that I thought he was), and was no amateur when it came to combat.

Gaston whipped around and tried to take a swing at Calostire, but somehow he easily avoided what so many others got hit by. Gaston, after several other tries of knocking Calostire's face off, was slowing losing this battle. Somehow though, I could see something flicker in Calostires eyes, rage, after Gaston mumbled about me being his and his alone. With tremendous speed Gaston was then thrown to the ground. I saw him try and get up and regain composure, but Calostire then punched Gaston in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. To then finish it off, he punched him in the face; knocking Gaston out cold. Calostire walked over to me, asking if I was alright, I merely nodded. Calostire was not hit once by the 'hunk' of the town, and I just made me smile at how Calostire had done it with ease.

Wow, I never thought that I would see the day that Gaston would get beaten so badly. Calostire really amazing!

Later that day after things had settled down, Calostire asked who Gaston was.

"He is the villages' best hunter and the town's ladies man. Everyone adores him and thinks he's the greatest."

He nodded and then asked why he was giving me trouble and grabbing me. I told him, "He wants me to marry him."

As I said that I saw Calostire look down and frown.

"But I don't to be married to him; there is someone else I care for. He's strong, smart, caring, and loves to read as much as I do."

I almost couldn't say it because I was afraid of what he might say, but I finally managed to say it.

"You."

He looked down at me with those blue eyes. For a moment I thought he was going to say he didn't feel the same way, but then he came closer and kissed me.

Oh my gosh! He kissed me, what do I do? This is my first kiss…I guess...I kiss back.

He broke away from me only to find me blushing like mad.

"I know we haven't known each other very long, but I feel the same about you Rose."

We sat in yet another comfortable silence for a while. Then Calostire faced me and said.

"Well I guess we can finish our…date, if that's ok with you Rose?"

I nodded still too stunned from the kiss.