I do not own the WWE or any of the characters associated with it. I only own Rose and her family.
Chapter 2
The next morning Rose found herself entangled in a man's arms. It was strange, not just because she had never been with a man before, but because that man was known as the Reaper. Would she be a victim? She could not help but wonder. She tried not to disturb him and succeeded in her quest as she got out of bed slowly.
She saw her clothes already laid out for the feasting. The black cote was shinier to her than most things she had ever seen. The purple gown was beautiful and soft; the shoes were gorgeous, though only a step up from what she was used to. She decided to wash her face and saw a cloth next to a bucket. She touched the pool in the bucket and felt it was still a bit warm.
Sticking her face next to it, she took the cloth and washed her face quietly, not wishing to disturb the man in her bed. She dried her face with her bed clothes and decided to dress. She wanted to be as quiet as possible and she hoped she would succeed.
When she still hadn't woken him, she slipped out in her new garments into the hall. Taking a sigh, she wandered down the hall to see if she could help with the festivities. She found Duke Kane in the throne room putting flowers around the head table. He looked up to see her and looked confused.
"Where is Lord Marcus?" He asked her.
"He was still sleeping when I left our room. I wanted to help with the decorating for the feast. I thought it would please my lord." She replied rather timidly.
"If you wish, you may help with the flowers." He answered handing her some of the bouquets he had in his hands.
"Thank you." She said with a smile.
It was a full hour of decoration before Lord Marcus appeared looking for her. She had found her way through all the bouquets and was setting the tables with the finer dining utensils when he found her there.
"I was worried you had run off." He said, taking the plates she was holding.
"Of course not. I just didn't wish to wake you. You looked peaceful and I wanted to help with the decorations." She explained, hoping not to upset him.
"That was a beautiful gesture, but we have servants for that, my dear one." He said, setting the plates on the table and taking her hand.
"I didn't want to upset you." She answered.
"You didn't. Let's go to the joust. That will be starting soon and I have to go talk to the jousters beforehand. Would you like to choose one as your champion?" He asked.
"I would love too." She took his arm with a smile.
He led her to the stables where the knights were assembled, taking all of them in. The polished armor shone in the morning sun. He stopped when he was in the middle of the line and looked at each one, sizing them up.
"Most of you know that I have longed to take combat beside you, but because of my new bride I will refrain from combat so as to not upset her if I had injured one of you." He smiled sinisterly. "I wanted to introduce all of you to her and she will choose a champion to give a favor to."
"What's in it for us?" Duke Kane came up in his black hulking armor, smiling just as menacing.
"Well, she already knows you Lord Kane." His brother smiled wryly.
She seemed to be shyly holding his arm and her lord finally looked at her. He gestured to her and she looked at him. She nodded and he nodded back, signaling the first of the eight men in the line to introduce themselves.
"My lady, I am Lord Kane, as you well know." He said, putting on his helmet.
"I am Sir Christian, my lady." The blond man with silver polished armor said to her.
"My lady, I am Sir Hunter." A golden haired Viking said with a wonderfully gorgeous great sword in hand with insignia.
"I am Sir John of Cena Hills in Yorkshire." A hulking man with short brown hair answered.
"I am Sir Sheamus of Ireland." A tall red head with very white skin and a green hilted sword said to her and nodded at his Lord.
"I am Dave of Batista Hills in Nottingham." A big man that gave Rose a sense of unease answered to his summons.
"I am Lord Adam, my lady." Another blond-haired man with sultry brown eyes said to her, kissing the lady's hands.
"I am Sir Drew of the Scottish Highlands, my lady." A golden haired man said with a bit of swagger in his voice.
"Lady Rose, choose your champion." Lord Marcus commanded.
"My lord, I… I choose Lord Adam as my champion." She said as she timidly stepped forward to the man she chose as her champion. She held out her hand and gave him a small blue ribbon. "It belonged to my sister. She died in the war."
"I will bring it back to you, my lady Rose, safe and sound." He smiled as he kissed her hand once more.
Lord Marcus took her arm once more as he turned to the men in line. "Be as safe as you can, men. My lady and I look forward to inviting the winner to dine with us at the head table for the wedding feast we have later on."
He led Rose to the dais in the middle of the joust field looking out on the masses gathered. Lord Marcus stood up and everyone was on their knees immediately. Lady Rose was taken aback and was unsure of what to do until he took her hand and stood her up.
"We honor my wife, Lady Rose today with this joust. She is near and dear to my heart and I expect to you to treat her with the same reverence you show me. Now, up on your feet as we have a joust!" His voice boomed through the crowd.
The crowd came to life as the knights took to the field and went to their respective areas on the immense field. The knights charged at each other down the field, but it was Lord Adam who was victorious in the end with Sir Drew sustaining an injury to the arm and Duke Kane sustaining a concussion from being thrown off his horse.
Lord Marcus was impressed with this Lord Adam and he calmly looked on as the Lady Rose's champion presented the trinket he had received from her in the most pristine condition. She looked back at her lord who came over.
"Very good showing, Lord Adam. I am impressed and you will be dining at the head table with my lady tonight." He said as the man came down off his horse.
"I would request some time to clean off the dirt from myself as I do not want to insult the lady." Lord Adam requested politely.
Lord Marcus nodded, and then turned to Rose. "Are you ready for dinner, my lady? Or would you like to change?"
"I am fine, my lord." She replied timidly. "I would like to ask that you sit between Duke Kane and myself though. I would like to be closer to you." She blushed.
"As you wish, Rose." He said gently, taking her arm. "Dinner will be a wonderful feast in honor of our wedding and I will introduce you to some of the court ladies as you already know the gentlemen."
He led her into the hall and sat her in the second largest chair which was next to his. The court filed in slowly, and made their way to the head table where the couple sat. "Lady Rose has been a gift to me in such a short time. If I had not known, the gods would have smiled on me with such a treasure."
The court applauded as the women looked on with jealousy. "Now, on with the feast. I hope you are all hungry because our hunters shot down 3 deer for this festival."
The dish was brought out and everyone was impressed with the killing for the meal. One of the women, a lady with brown hair came up to Lady Rose while Lord Marcus was talking to Lord Adam, began speaking to her. "I bet you think that you can use your charms with everyone can't you?"
"I'm sorry?" Lady Rose asked puzzled.
"You might have won over Lord Marcus, but he will see through your innocent act soon enough, my dear." The woman said. "My name is Lady Evelyn and I would watch what you say to me. I am a favorite of Lord Marcus."
"Not if you continue to insult his wife, Lady Evelyn." Duke Kane answered coming up behind her. "I would not if I were you. You know what happened when you tried to go after Sir John."
She got a sour look on her face and walked away. Duke Kane saw the fear in her eyes. "Don't worry, I'll tell my brother that she was threatening you. I assure you, he won't stand for that."
She nodded and excused herself. Finding her way to the courtyard, she sighed and began to look at the flowers. Lord Marcus watched her before stepping from the doorway. "Kane told me that you took off in a huff. What's wrong?"
"That woman, Lady Evelyn said she was your favorite and that I had better watch myself." She said quickly.
"Lady Evelyn is a lying whore, my dear. You are my favorite. That is why I married you and I promise you that I will always do my best to take care of you."
"Why?" She shivered as he hovered over her. "Why do you have so much interest in me? I am a peasant that is paying off a debt."
"Not any longer, my dear one. You are Lady Rose and my wife. You are not a peasant and you needn't feel like one in these walls."
"Thank you. That makes me happy." She took his offered arm and he led her back to the hall where some ten masked men and women were tied to stakes. They looked terrified with cloth in their mouths and Kane standing beside them.
"Lords and ladies, let me present to you the English traitors that Lord Marcus defeated. They have been sentenced to death by the decree of Lord Marcus and of English law handed down from the time of the Romans." Kane said as he nodded to a man with a torch in hand. "They are to be burned at the stake in front of all of us here in the hall as a reminder of what happens to those who cross the English."
The torch touched the straw and the burning started. Seeing as the straw was carefully placed around only the traitors, there was no need for worry of a fire burning throughout the castle. But there were several servants with buckets of water in case it got out of hand. The burning continued for an hour as Lady Rose watched the flames dance around the charring corpses.
After the burning had ceased, the bodies were all carried out and buried. Rose wondered what they had done to deserve such a punishment. She decided it wasn't her place and if that is what English law required then she would be obedient and ensure that it didn't happen to her.
Taking Lord Marcus' arm, they retired to their bedchamber. She looked at his hulking form and immediately felt intimidated. Was she to bear his children? She shivered as she took off her gown and climbed into the bed.
"I'll make sure you don't freeze with the cold tonight, my dear." Lord Marcus said, climbing in beside her. "Are you ready to be my wife?"
"I am your wife, my lord." She said, timidly.
"I mean, are you ready to be my possession as well? I gave you a night to yourself because I knew you were in a new environment, but now it is time to belong to me." Before she could respond, he got on top of her and began to enter her.
Rose, knowing nothing but innocence, screamed as the castle fell dark. She was being put into hell and Lord Marcus was going to keep her here. Her world faded to black as she could still feel him pumping into her small body.