Rose, Age 10

I sat by the fence, watching the kids on the other side play. I sighed. Why can't I play with the other kids? I thought. I turned around, "Why can't I play with them?"

Miss Ann, the caretaker glared at me. "Because you don't have a family, so you cannot play with the other children!" She snapped.

I stood up and stamped my foot, "But it's not fair! How come I don't even have a name?" I yelled, "I want a name! I want friends! I want a fa –" She struck me across the face.

"Then how about you give yourself a name?" She cackled, "Then after that, clean the bathrooms, you little brat!"

I sighed and turned around, "Oh!" I jumped back.

"She's not very nice, isn't she?" A boy asked.

I was still in shock, "Uh, um…"

"Hey are you okay?"

"Yes!" I blurted out.

"Okay… You wanna play?" He held up a ball.

"I can't or Miss Ann will punish me." I whispered, "I'm sorry…"

"Oh… I'm Lewis, what's your name?"

"I don't have one." But I looked at him, determined, "But I will get one!"

"Rose."

"What?"

"Can I call you Rose?"

I paused to think, "Okay!" I smiled.

"The bathrooms aren't going to clean themselves." Miss Ann sang evilly.

"I have to go." I smiled sadly, "Sorry."

I ran off, grinning. At least I have a new friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Months passed by, and still I had no family. I watched the children go off with their new families as my bond with Lewis grew stronger. Until one day…

"Miss Ann, I finished cleaning the kitchen." I announced, "May I go outside?"

"No. You and that boy spend too much together." She snapped. "Today, you can stay inside."

"But –" She pinched my arm to keep me from protesting.

"You be quiet, you little –"

A rich couple walked in.

"How may I help you?"

"We recently found out that one of the children here is our long-lost child." The woman said.

"Wow." I whispered, "The lady's so pretty."

"Go upstairs." Mary whispered in my ear.

"Yes Miss Mary." I ran upstairs to my room.

All the other kids stared at me.

"There she is. The girl no one ever wants." One girl teased.

"She's been here so long; she should just become the next caretaker!" Another girl threw a pillow at me.

I sighed and flopped onto my bed. Maybe they're right. No one will adopt me.

I stared at the crudely drawn pictures stuck around my bed. There was one of me and my 'family' holding hands.

"Here are the girls." Mary smiled sweetly, "This one's Lisa, Amy, Elizabeth…" She pointed at each little girl until she looked at me, "And this one's… This one has no name."

The rich lady knelt in front of me, "What's your name sweetheart?"

"…Rose." I muttered.

"Rose? Honey, she could be our daughter." She looked at her husband, who nodded silently. She looked at Miss Ann, "We would like to adopt out daughter, Princess Rosalie Urwin."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's huge!" I gasped and ran around, "This is where I'm gonna live like a princess like in the story and I'm gonna own a kingdom one day? And burn down the villages!" I began to rant about how I would one day take over the world.

"Well, not like that…"

I spun around with my arms open wide until I crashed into someone.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"Lewis?" I gasped, "You live here too?"

"Actually, I'm a servant here."

"Aren't you kinda young?" I asked.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

I squeezed his hand, "Then we can play some more!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rose, Age 18

A few years passed and a war broke out. Many kingdoms began to attack each other for more land and resources. My family began to worry about their only heir to the throne.

I woke up to the sound of swords clashing and people beating against the door.

"The castle's under attack?" I sat up rubbing my eyes, "Can't this wait?"

"Milady, where are you?" Lewis yelled.

"Lewis, don't –"

Lewis opened the door and slammed it shut, "Sorry!"

"Next time, knock!" I put on a dress, "You can come in now!"

"A proper young lady sleeps in a gown, not her –"

"No need to worry about that! Come on!" I grabbed his hand, "People are coming in the castle to attack us and you're nagging me!"

"What about your parents? Don't you even care about them?" Lewis asked.

"I prefer to live right now than worry!" I turned a corner, "Daddy can handle it!"

"We can't leave them behind! They're your own family for god's sake!"

I stopped running and turned around, "Will you calm down?" I held his shoulders, "Relax…"

"I'm actually feeling a little b – Ahhhhh!" I shoved him out the window and jumped after him.

Lewis helped me up, "Don't ever do that again!"

"I have more power than you; I can do anything I want." I put my hands on my hips, "Now, I want you to run!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you tired?" I asked impatiently. I slowed to a stop, "It's only been, what? Like twenty minutes.

"We lost them… two hours… ago…" Lewis gasped.

"Oh, we did? We can take a break." I sat on a rock, "Where are we? We've been running for awhile."

He sighed and sat next to me, "It looks like I've failed to protect you."

I burst out laughing, "Failed? Ha! We're alive, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…"

I punched his shoulder, "Then it's all good…" I trailed off and stared into the woods. It's not that scary. The scary, dark, dangerous woods…

"IT'S NOT ALL GOOD!!!!!" I screamed, "We're lost!" I began to panic, "What do we do? We're gonna need, food, water…"

"Is that a castle?"

"What?" I gasped, "A castle means…. Let's go Lewis!" I ran ahead, "We can tell them I'm a princess and you're my fiancé!"

"But I'm not." He protested.

"I know, but just in case it's some mean guy and they make me marry them or somethin'…" I banged on the door, "Open up!"

"Milady! At least don't tell them I'm your fiancé." He begged.

"Okay." I turned around and banged on the door, "Greatness has arrived!"

We waited for a few minutes.

"Must be another salesperson… Might as well get this over with…"

"Who does he think I am?" I muttered.

"If it's not important, then go away."

"That little son of a –!"

Lewis covered my mouth, "My name is Lewis Ashton and I'm here with the princess of Lunar Kingdom."

"Princess?" The voice snorted, "Sounds more of a prince if you ask me."

"Some one's being a little girl," I teased, "I can kick your ass like no one could!"

"Milady!" Lewis hissed, "Shhh!" he turned to the door, "It would be grateful if you were to let us stay here."

There was an awkward silence.

"Are you still there?" Lewis asked.

"…I'm thinking. Don't rush me. If you're so impatient, then come in!" The voice snapped.

"Some one's a little bit grouchy." I muttered as we walked inside.

"No one's here. That means we could take all their –"

"Can't you just be quiet for one second?" A man with black hair and gray eyes strode in.

"Total douche bag." I whispered. Lewis replied by stepping on my foot. "What's you're name?" I growled.

"Joseph Knight. You may refer to me as 'your Majesty' or 'sir' from now on."

I raised my hand, "Is 'douchebag' one of those words?" I shoved him playfully; "I'm just kiddin'."

"I'm not amused." He said flatly.

"Sorry, geez… You're Joseph Knight, the youngest king in the country. King of Hepcatsis Kingdom. Am I correct?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Yes, you are. And you are the annoying girl and her friend who would be at the monthly meetings annoying everyone, claiming to be 'practicing for the future.'" He looked at me in disgust, "Am I right?"

"Nuh, uh…" I trailed off, trying to remember what happened. "Oh, yeah…" I crossed my arms and stuck out my tongue, "Meanie."

"Where is your father right now?"

"He's fine." I bragged.

"Then where is he?"

"Well…he's…somewhere…?" I tried to know what I was talking about, "I don't know."

"He probably escaped safely." Lewis replied casually.

"We jumped out a window, escaped from invading troops, and continuously ran for two hours." I said, smirking.

He gave me an unamused look and then closed his eyes and didn't speak for a few minutes.

"I think we hurt his feelings." I whispered, "He's crying." I giggled.

"Please leave and never return to this kingdom. I don't want to see your faces ever again."

"WHAT!?" I screamed and stamped my foot, "That's not fair!" I ran towards him, but Lewis managed to hold me back. "I'm gonna kill that bastard!"

"And if any of you refuse to leave, I'll have you killed."

"We have no where else to go! Please!" Lewis begged.

"I've decided I don't like you two." Joseph said flatly, "The only thing I could gain is if I had relations with the Lunar Kingdom family." He turned around, "Now please leave."

"Wait!" Lewis paused, "She'll…marry you."

"What?" I yelled, "You can't –"

"Will you take the princess's hand in marriage?"

"You idiot! I don't wanna marry this –"

"…Fine."

"I don't want to marry you! I never said that! It's not fair!" I stamped my foot, "Lewis, let's go. We can find somewhere else to stay!"

"I can and I will. If you disagree then leave." He said smugly.

"Come on, Lewis! This guy is a total buttface!" I turned around, but Lewis stopped me.

"He's right there! Think a little bit more before you think, milady." Lewis hissed in my ear.

"The wedding will take place a month from now. If don't want to go through this, then leave with your little elf servant."

Lewis looked at me and mouthed, "I'm sorry."

"You can stay at the houses on the west side of the village. We're done now. Good night." He turned and walked away.

I clenched my fist as we silently walked out the castle. I glared at Lewis on the way to the houses.

He opened the door and let me walk in.

"This house is pretty nice." He grinned, "Wasn't it nice of the king to let us stay?" He flopped onto the bed.

I glared at him.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Get out." I pointed to the door, "Now."

"But –"

I shoved him outside, "Go away!"

"Milady!"

I slammed the door in his face, "I never wanna talk to you again!"

I sighed and fell onto the bed. That idiot… Why did he say that? Ugh, I hate that douchebag. No, I hate Lewis and that douche bag. What's his name again? Meh, I don't care… I dozed off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up again because of another nightmare.

"What time is it?" I groaned and got out of bed, "I wish I had clean clothes…" I sighed, "Maybe I'll get Lewis to – No, I'll just do it myself."

I opened the door to see Lewis fully dressed in clean clothes.

"These are for you –"

I snatched the dress and slammed the door shut. I stared at the dress. It was pink. Ew. I opened the door and dragged him inside.

"Pink?" I held up the dress, "You know I HATE pink!" I glared at him, "Where'd you get it?"

"I ran into very kind people. I even got you that dress." He smiled at his accomplishment.

"So you didn't even think about me, huh?" I crossed my arms, "I'm not in the castle anymore, and so can I just wear some pants?"

"It's fuchsia! You are a princess and must dress appropriately!"

I sighed, "Fine, but aren't pink and fuchsia the same color?"

"It doesn't matter milady. It'll look good on you."

I rolled my eyes. It's friggin' PINK, you idiot!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do I have to go?" I whined.

"At least give him a chance." Lewis sighed. "Maybe he was in a bad mood."

"Yeah right…" I muttered as he dragged me into the castle.

"Hello? King Joseph, where are you?" I said in a singsong voice. "Oh well, he's not here." I turned around but Lewis grabbed me by the collar.

"There's a note…" He picked up a piece of paper, "'I went to go take care of some business. I'll be back before the wedding.'" He read aloud.

I turned around, "Yesss…" I whispered.

He looked at me frowning.

"At least he's not dead." I strained on dead for emphasis.

'But now you can't get to know him!" I sighed, "Oh well…"

"Whatever." I waved my hand, "I'm going for a walk." I began to leave the castle.

"Be careful, milady!" Lewis called.
~~~End of Ch.1~~~