Chapter 2: Curse: Poison Kiss; Rose

Once there was a common lady who lived in a lively village. This lady was the most beautiful woman in the village. She won over many men and women with her charms, some of them were even married. She was also truly kind towards everyone. But she never liked any of the men or women who loved her. She hated love. Though she looked nice and pretty her backstory was different. At her old village, she had an abusive dad and a gold digger as a mother. Both parents never looked after her. She had no love from anybody. But she did have some feelings for the most popular boy in town. But when one day she got the confidence to confess to him he said "What!? Ew! You have marks all over you and you're so quiet! Go away, weirdo!". She was devastated. She had never been more embarrassed in her life. That experience changed her. She left home for a new village and changed the way she looked. She thought that no one cared for her past self and only her present "pretty" self. She despised the people that would fall in love with her without trying to know her. Her curse was not given to her until a month after she arrived in the new village. She found out she had this curse because a man was harassing her and kissed her. And he turned into stone. She was terrified. What did she do? Why did that happen? She had so many questions, but none could be answered. There was no magic or sorcery involved. At least she hoped. She was traumatized and never left her house. Until one day when knights from the capital stormed in and raided the village. When they got to Rose's house, they saw her crying in her sleep. The leader of the knights came into the house wondering why they were not raiding it. But when he saw her, he fell in love instantly. "Take this girl with us! And make sure she doesn't wake up!" shouted the knight.

After they raided the village, they went back to the capital and put her in a cell. They put her in the cell in the most delicate way. After a few hours, she woke up. "Where....Where am I?" said Rose confused. The guard sitting by her cell looked over and said, "You're in the capital little lady". He looked like he was in battle quite a lot, looked around fifty years old, and had a western accent. "Why am I here?" said Rose cautiously. "We raided your little stubby village," said the knight with confidence. "Wait what!?" shouted Rose "You didn't kill any of them did you?!". He looked over to her with a glare on his face. That glare made Rose have a shiver down her spine. "We didn't KILL anyone," said the knight "We don't kill anyone without a good reason". Rose still had a confused face, "Well why am I here then?!". He looked over at the knights who were sleeping on the job and then looked back to Rose. "They came back with you, so I don't got no clue why they snatched you, little lady," said the knight. Rose was stuck in that cell for a few weeks, she got to know the knight more and more and enjoyed his company. The knight's name was Kyle, Kyle Loster and apparently, he was only 20 years old. "Say how old are you little lady?" said Kyle one day out of nowhere. She looked over at him and said, "I'm 19 and turning 20 in a few days". Kyle began to blush randomly whenever they were talking. After a few days they fell in love with each other. But one day Kyle tried to kiss her, but she pushed him away. "Little lady? Sorry did I go too far?" said Kyle nervously. "No... you didn't.... it's just that I have a curse... and if I kiss you.... you'll turn into stone," said Rose sadly as she moved toward the back of the cell. Kyle was shocked but he didn't know if she was telling the truth.

The next day he came with a new recruit and asked Rose to kiss him. "What?!" Why do I have to kiss him?! He'll turn into stone!" said Rose exclaiming. "Prove to me that you actually have that curse," said Kyle seriously "Please little lady, just prove it and I'll believe you I promise". She bit her bottom lip contemplating if she should do it or not. "Fine but we're never doing this again," said Rose. Rose then pulls the new recruit and kisses him. Slowly he started turning into stone starting from his lips. The kiss lasted a few seconds and then she pulled away shaking. "You were really serious...," said Kyle. He then pushes aside the stone statue of the new recruit and opens her cell and hugs her. "K-Kyle?" said Rose hugging back "Why are you? -" she gets interrupted by Kyle "I'm sorry...". Kyle then knocks her out and carries her to an abandoned house in the woods. Rose wakes up chained to a bed frame. "What the-?!" she then looks over to see Kyle sleeping beside her "Kyle!" she shouted as she sat up, he then woke straight up and turned to Rose. "What did you do?!" yelped Rose as she had a look of horror on her face. Kyle then grabbed Rose's shoulders. "I'm only trying to protect you until I break your curse" said Kyle lovingly. "You're crazy!" screamed Rose as she slapped his hand off her shoulders. "No one can break the curse, Kyle. Surely you must know that..." said Rose as she grabbed her arms and biting on her bottom lip while shaking. "What if I could cure the curse?" said Kyle reassuringly. She looked over at him still shaking "Are you really joking with me right now?!" she said as she tried to stand up "And why am I chained up?!". Kyle held her hand, kissed it, and said, "I love you too much to let anyone else have you, little lady". Rose kept thinking 'He's gone mad!'. He then got up and out of bed and got dressed. But Rose noticed that he dressed more formally than the knights would. "Who...who a-are you?" said Rose. He looked back at her and said, "You'll find out soon, little lady". Then he started walking out of the house and locked the door. Rose sat back down, she felt hopeless. She had no idea where she was and there were no windows around the house so she couldn't see outside either. "Why...I always fall in love with the wrong people," she said weakly. But then she heard a sound like someone bumped the outside of the house. She tried to get up and to the door to knock but the chains kept her back. She then pulled so hard that the chains yanked off the bedside frame and onto the floor. So, she then knocked and said in desperation "Hello?! Is anyone there?!". After a few moments of silence, someone responded. "Be quiet, no one will help you when I'm guarding you," said the knight. Rose had an idea to escape. On the door, there was a peeping hole about the size of a person's fist. She then said when she went towards the peeping hole "I know I'm going to be stuck here for a while, but can I at least see your face?". He did what she said to do very cautiously. But what he didn't know was that she was cursed. Kyle didn't tell him anything since he came near Rose. He got close enough for Rose to kiss him. And then he started turning into stone. Once she stopped kissing him, he fell on the wooden door, and made a hole in the door. "Yes! I'm a genius!" said Rose excitedly. She then started running out of the house, to the sound of a festival.

Once she made it there, there were knights all around the house just watching all the commoner's dance. Rose managed to sneak past them and into one of the open houses. Rose looked to see if there were any belongings that a person would leave in their house, but she concluded that no one lived in the house. So, she closed the door to the house and crawled up on the floor and then fell asleep. She woke up the next day and saw a bunch of knights looking at her while drooling. "Ew!!" she said as she backed up "You perverts! How can you call yourselves knights!?". Their lustful looks didn't go away. She tried to run out the back door of the house, but the knights stopped her in her tracks. "Let me go!" shouted Rose "Don't even think of touching me!". But then she heard a voice say, "Let me through!". She then looked over at the entrance to the house and saw a woman wearing the knights' uniform. The woman looked around at the other knights and said "Go back to your stations! If I see you all off your post again, I'm going to chop off your legs!". They then snapped out of whatever trance they were in and went back to their posts. "T-Thank you...miss," said Rose. She then looked at Rose. "I wasn't doing that to save you or anything!" said the woman with a little blush of embarrassment on her face. Rose then wondered. "Hey miss? Is there someone named Kyle among the knights?". She then had a face of anger. It made Rose have shivers down her spine. "You don't even know who the prince is?!" shouted the woman "Where are you from?!". Rose stood there in shock. She thought "The 'knight' she fell in love with was a prince?! Why did he pretend to be a knight?! Has he gone completely crazy?!". Rose then looked over to the woman and asked, "Has the prince been looking for someone?". The woman looked at Rose again and said, "Yeah why?". Rose kept thinking that she can't let this woman knight stop her from escaping so she grabbed her face lightly, closed her eyes, and kissed her.

After a few seconds, she stopped kissing and opened her eyes to see a flushed woman with a hot red face. Rose was shocked. 'Why isn't she turning into stone?!' thought Rose 'Many women have kissed me by force but how come she isn't turning into stone?!'. "Why would you do that lady!?" shouted the woman. "Uhm just cause?" said Rose winking. The woman then said, "Don't you know the tradition in the capital?!". Rose tilted her head and said, "What tradition?". The woman looked infuriated by Rose, "The tradition is that whoever your first kiss is you must marry them unless a royal opposes". Rose had a confused face. "Wait...does that mean I have to marry you?!" said Rose coming to a realization. "Yes," said the woman sighing "Well my name is Tatiana. I would say it was nice to meet you, but I have my doubts". Rose then said nervously, "Yeah...well my name is Rose and it's kind of nice to meet you as well". As much as Rose wanted to forget about Kyle, she couldn't help but worry if one day he would come and find her again. They got married a few days after, but it was a small wedding so only family members were there. But Rose had no family at all. Fortunately, Tatiana's family was genuinely nice and understanding about the situation. So, Rose felt that she finally had a family. As for Rose's relationship with Tatiana, they were growing closer and closer, they had a love-hate relationship. A few days after the wedding there was a knock at their door. It was Kyle and a few knights. "Can I help you your majesty?" said Tatiana answering the door, bowing. He then ordered his knights to search the house for Rose. One of the knights grabbed Rose by her arm and pulled her towards Kyle. "At last, I found my princess," said Kyle. "KYLE?!" said Rose "Let me go!!". "What are you doing to my wife, your majesty?!" shouted Tatiana "Let her go!!". "She has committed treason to the crown; therefore, she's being taken into custody," said one of the knights. Kyle then looked at Rose and smirked. He then walked over to Rose and grabbed her face gently and then whispered, "You'll never leave me again, little lady...". Rose gritted her teeth and said, "You're crazy!". "That may be so," said Kyle as he looked over at Tatiana "As for you". Kyle walked over to Tatiana and whispered "How dare you steal her away from me. You must have a death wish". He then shouted, "Take this woman with us!". One of the knights then knocked out Tatiana. "Stop! She has nothing to do with this so let her go!!" screamed Rose "I can turn you to stone right now you son of a-", one of the knights then put a chain mask on her face that went up to her nose, blocking half of her face. She was being treated like an animal. It was like she was a wild dog that was muzzled so they couldn't hurt anyone.

Soon after that Tatiana got put in jail and was tortured every day. Rose was forced to marry Kyle, but the marriage was in secret, so they didn't kiss. She still wore the muzzle because she couldn't take it off without a key that Kyle had. After a week of being married to Kyle, she tried to go to the jail and see Tatiana but none of the guards would let her. But Rose noticed one thing from going to the jail at various times. Most of the guards would be asleep around 10pm because they usually work a lot during the day since most of them work in the capital. So, she snuck into the jail one day and saw Tatiana was hanging from her arms and soaked in blood. Rose was horrified. "Tatiana!" said Rose "Please look at me!". Tatiana looked emotionless. But when she saw Rose, she had a look of joy on her face. "Rose!" said Tatiana "Oh I'm so glad to see you! Can you help me get out of this cell?". Rose looked around and then left without saying a word. "Rose?!" said Tatiana, thinking that Rose had abandoned her. But then she heard footsteps getting closer and closer. "Sorry I needed to get the key!" said Rose. After Rose let Tatiana out Tatiana said "You saved me" said Tatiana with loving eyes. Tatiana then kissed Rose's cheek and said, "I wish I could kiss you right now, but we need to get that thing off you". (They found the key in his bedroom when he wasn't there). After living in hiding for a few days Kyle realized that Rose was gone (They found the key in his bedroom when he wasn't there). He was furious. He made his knights go search for her day in and day out but no luck. Rose and Tatiana knew that most of the villages in the kingdom hated the prince, and mostly all the villagers were kind and nice. So, they would ask to stay at one of the villagers' houses and told them their situation. So, every night they would be at a new house planning to escape the kingdom together. The only problem was that they were wanted everywhere. And the whole kingdom knew what they looked like. So, if they walked to the outside of the kingdom trying to escape the knights would recognize them and would turn them in. So, they made fake names and were living with one of the families as their children. They started to get packed to leave the kingdom a few days later.

Then the day finally came for them to sneak out. Rose was nervous and Tatiana saw how nervous she was and said seriously "Don't worry Rose. I promise I will protect you". That gave Rose a little reassurance. When they got to the walls of the kingdom the guards inspected the carriage they were in and since Rose's and Tatiana's disguises looked like the parents, all that the guards saw was a married couple and two teenagers. So, the guards let them past and soon they were out of range of the kingdom. After a few days, the family dropped off Rose and Tatiana at a shop in the kingdom of Zalis. It was famous for its scenery and their king. The king was only 20 years old at the time, but rumors say that the king killed his family just to obtain the title of the king. Sure, most people didn't believe that since it's not guaranteed. After saying goodbye to the family and taking off the disguises, Tatiana and Rose looked for a place to work and a house for them to live in because they thought that Zalis was going to be their final home. After a few years in Zalis, they got to know everyone in their village. Tatiana's work was to train knights for the kingdom. Rose worked as a bartender and as a teacher. One day Rose got the news that the king punished a few knights just because they mispronounced his name. Rose thought of the king as a nice and respectful man. Because that was just who he was. The only bad part about him is that he's an egotistical flirt. And since he's king, you can't refuse him. So, when he walked in to see Rose catering some of his knights drinking on the job, he came over to the table and sat down. "Y' know a drunk-on duty knight is going to make trouble~," said the King. Rose looked over at the man not realizing who he was. She then saw his eyes and looked shocked. He then looked over at Rose and saw that she recognized him and stood up and whispered to her "You've got a good memory princess". He then sat up and pulled off his hood for everyone to see who he was.

The whole bar stopped what they were doing. No one was moving and no one was talking. He then grabbed Rose's arm, held it up, and said "This woman was the first person to realize who I was when I was wearing the hood, and for that I wish you all will have profound respect for her". He then walked out of the bar dragging Rose along with him. "Why are you pulling me your majesty?!" said Rose pulling her arm out of his grasp. "Your feisty I like it~" said the King "Name your price and you'll have a wonderful night with the king~". Rose looked at the King with disgust and said, "I'm in a relationship your highness, so I will have to reject you". Rose then started walking back towards the bar but then the King said, "Well are you married?". Rose stopped walking and turned her face to say "Yes in fact I am. But I don't see how that is any of your business your majesty". The King grinned and said mockingly "Do you know who you're talking to peasant?". Rose then glared at him and said, "Yes and I want nothing to do with you so leave this 'peasant' alone". Rose then walked back into the bar with a disgusted look. But by this the King became more interested in her, so he kept coming to the bar and had a hobby of annoying her when she was trying to waiter. One day she just had enough and kicked THE king out of the bar, or per-say, banned him. But the more she tried to drive the king away, the more interested he became of her. So, he played a little trick on her. He followed her home waiting to play the trick when he saw her open a house door and kiss the person who was in front of the door. From the king's point of view, he could not see who she was kissing. The only thing he cared about was finding out who she kissed and once he did, he was going to end them. He never felt such rage before. It was an overwhelming feeling that he grew fond of. After a few days he followed Rose again and managed to see the person's face. He thought "Why does he look so much like a girl?", but then it hit him. "She chose a GIRL over a KING?!" thought the king "Has she gone mad?!". But after Rose and Tatiana got inside the king peaked at the window and saw a child.

At first, he thought it was theirs, but he then took a good look at the child's features, and they looked nothing alike. Meanwhile Rose and Tatiana are eating dinner with their daughter. "Why do you look so stressed-out Rose?" asked Tatiana. Rose flinched. Rose thought "Oh right I didn't even tell her". Tatiana looked at Rose with a worried face. "The king came to the bar a few days ago" said Rose guilt fully "And he has kept coming to the bar to mess with me. Like, specifically me. One time he even asked me if I had a lover, and of course I said yes. I just didn't mention this to you because I thought you would be mad". Tatiana knew that Rose had no say in the matter so she said, "You do know that he can marry you whenever you want without your say, right?". Rose flinched in shock since she never thought of that. "You would try to stop him, right?" said Rose nervously. Tatiana said "I would obviously but you must know that he is probably more skilled than I am at sword fighting. So, it is a great possibility that he could defeat me or worse. Kill me". Rose looked over at Aurora (their daughter) with a worried face. "Hopefully, he has some mercy" said Rose leaning on Tatiana. "We can only hope" said Tatiana in response. The king overheard their conversation. But the king was very jealous and then it turned into anger, he wanted to win Rose over. The goal was to embarrass Rose enough to where Tatiana would be so embarrassed of Rose that she would leave her. And then the king would comfort her and then she would fall in love with him. That was his main goal. The only thing he would have to hide is that he's trying to embarrass Rose. The last thing he would want is for Rose to hate him.

So, a few days later he knocked on their door. Tatiana, Rose and Aurora were eating their dinner. They heard a knock from the door. "I'll get it" said Rose as she was getting up. She went to open the door and saw the king. "Your majesty?!" said Rose, "What are you doing here?!". "I'm here to talk to your spouse, buttercup," said the king. "My spouse? – "Rose got interrupted by the king pushing her out of the way. "Rose who was- "Tatiana was interrupted by the king saying, "I'm here for Tatiana!". "Your majesty?!" said Tatiana, "What are you doing in my house?!". "I'm here personally to ask you if you're willing to become captain of the Royal Guards," said the king. "Captain?!" said Rose. "Royal Guard?!" said Tatiana. "I'm not that skilled or trained enough for the Royal Guard" said Tatiana in disbelief. "Nevertheless, it does not matter. I am the king, and you will do as I say," said the king. Tatiana looked at Rose with a confused face. "Sorry Tatiana" mouthed Rose. Tatiana looks back at the king and says, "Very well your majesty". So, then a few days later Tatiana became the captain of the royal knights but afterwards she got more and more busy to where she couldn't make it home because of her work. And the king would give her attention and distract her from her work. So, Rose and Aurora were very lonely. After a year passed but nothing changed. Rose had to cry herself to sleep every night. Rose threw up almost every single day and was very moody.

But one day Tatiana came home and saw how Aurora was eating at the dinner table all alone. She walked over to her and said "Hey sweety, where's mommy?". Aurora looked over to Tatiana and then looked at their bedroom." Mommy's been in there for a few hours" said Aurora. Tatiana kissed her forehead and then walked to their bedroom. "Rose?" said Tatiana, opening the door. She went into the room and immediately saw Rose staring at the knife in her hand. "Rose!" screamed Tatiana. Rose came out of her trance and saw Tatiana and then flinched when she screamed. Tatiana ran over to her and took the knife away and put it in the kitchen and then came back into the room. "Rose are you ok?" said Tatiana. "Ok? ok?!" said Rose "Are you kidding me?! You left me for so long that I thought you didn't love me anymore! Or worse. You died.". "Rose…" said Tatiana "The king was giving me more and more work, so I was extremely busy. But never once did I stop thinking about you" said Tatiana as she put her hand on Rose's cheek. Rose nuzzled into Tatiana's hand. She felt so warm. Rose forgot what warmth was until now. "I'm sorry" said Tatiana "I never meant to hurt you Rose". "It's fine but please at least send me a letter each day if you can," said Rose. "Ok Rose," said Tatiana. After a few days everything went great. Until the king delivered news to Rose. "She what? - "said Rose in disbelief. "She died on the battlefield. I'm so sorry for your loss," said the king. Rose sobbed and cried and yelled. The king was with her the whole time comforting her, (it's not like it helped though).

The king said that she could have anything that would make her feel better and even let Rose and Aurora stay in the palace. Rose didn't eat nor did she sleep. The king visited her every day, insisting that she'd eat. It never worked. It was like this every day for a few months. She stopped caring for Aurora. Aurora never knew why her mother was so upset. She adapted to never having a mother considering how old she was at the time. After a few months Aurora explored the palace and found a library. She walked in but made sure no one was in the library so she wouldn't get in trouble. She walked around looking at the shelves filled with books. When she went to the final shelf of the library, she took a book out and then the shelf began to glow, and then the bookshelf opened to another room. Aurora walked in and the shelf closed behind her. The room was dark and what looked abandoned considering how there were some skeletons in the cells. She was in an abandoned prison. She heard coughing coming from one of the cells. It was a woman. The woman had long sliver hair and beautiful green eyes. She looked too young to be in prison, let alone in an abandoned prison.

The woman looked up and saw Aurora. She immediately began mumbling but Aurora couldn't understand what she was saying. "Miss I can't understand what you're saying," said Aurora. "Tatiana" said the woman weakly. Aurora flinched at the name with joy. "That's my mother's name!" said Aurora "Do you know her?". The woman said, "She was in here w-with me a few weeks ago". Aurora was confused. "The king said that my mother was dead and that she died in battle," said Aurora. The woman looked at Aurora like she was crazy. "The king lied to you, honey" said the woman not surprised. "He wouldn't do that" said Aurora "He's a nice man who I see as somewhat of a father". The woman said "He is no father. He took me from my family and put me in here for 10 years. Is that the type of father you want?" said the woman. Aurora, now re-thinking her life after her mother "died", was wondering what she should do. "Do you know where the key to your cell is?" said Aurora. The woman looked at Aurora with hope. "It should be under the carpet in front of the bookshelf that you came in from," said the woman. Aurora goes and gets the key and unlocks the cell. The woman ran out and hugged Aurora. "Thank you, sweet child" said the woman "My name is Evangeline". "Hi Evangeline, I'm Aurora" said Aurora with a smile.

Aurora sneaked out of the library with Evangeline and made it to her mother's room. "Mom?" said Aurora "I need to tell you something". Aurora told Rose everything that had happened in the library including their conversations." But one thing doesn't add up" said Rose "Why did the king lie?". That was something no one at the time knew how to answer. A few days later Rose, Aurora, and Evangeline packed what they had and were ready to tell the king that they were ready to leave. But there was only one problem. The king knew what Evangeline looked like. If he sees her, she'll be locked up again. So, they made a plan that Evangeline would hide in one of their bags until they were away from the palace (She was very slim and short). So, Rose scheduled to see the king soon. Once it was time the king, Rose went into a separate room to talk about things. Aurora is nervous that something might go wrong. Meanwhile, in the room, "You wanted to see me?" said the king. "Yes, I have something I need to tell you, "said Rose. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something," said the king. "Let's say what we need to say at the same time," said Rose. The king inhales and then exhales," Ok" said the king. "3,2,1" they both said. Then Rose said, "I'm ready to leave the palace!" and the king said, "Will you marry me?!". They both look at each other will surprised faces. "You…want to marry me?!" said Rose. "You want to leave the palace?!" said the king. It was silent for a few seconds and then Rose said "I'm sorry. I just need time with my daughter alone, maybe go to the countryside or go to a different kingdom". The king looked furious. "I'm not going to let you leave," said the king. Rose got out of her chair and yelled "I've had enough with all the lies you tell me! And forcing me to stay here?!" screamed Rose "telling me my wife died on the battlefield when really, she was here in your prison serving time she does not deserve!! I want to know where my wife is, and I want to know now or else I will leave for good!". The last thing the king wanted was for Rose to leave the kingdom. So, he told her where Tatiana was and then they all left. Rose and Tatiana decided to adopt Evangeline since she was only 19. They went to live in the countryside for a few years. After that Rose died of an illness and so did Tatiana. They died holding hands with the last words "I love you"