The Prince's Rose

Since as long as he could remember Harry had always taken his job seriously, but he enjoyed the social side of things more. He liked to be down in the village talking with the people and joining in with the festivities during special holidays. He wanted them to know that he didn’t forget about them and that they were his priority.

Princess Rosalie was the same way, though she was across the English Channel in France instead of England where Harry lived. She had always been kind to everyone she met so the people adored her, which made her disappearance so heartbreaking.

During her trip to visit Harry over the holidays she vanished on the voyage to England. Her parents were getting restless, sending out a majority of their army to search the entire country for her but came up empty handed for weeks. They sent messages to all nearby countries asking for help in their search, most of which agreed to help their ally while others just didn’t care.

When Prince Harry had heard the news he felt upset because he had met the princess a few times when he was young. Their parents had met to rework treaties and whatnot while the children played, becoming great friends. They had been writing each other since then, but it had been years since he had seen her in person so even if he did want to look he had no idea what she looked like as a young adult.

Weeks after her disappearance he had asked his guards to accompany him on a morning ride through the surrounding land, hoping to clear his head. It had been a stressful few weeks so he needed a breath of fresh air and to be away for a few hours.

“You seem to be a bit tense, Harry. Everything alright?” Liam, one of his most trusted friends, asked him.

“I'm fine… it's just… Rosalie has been missing for nearly two months now and I'm starting to think she'll never be found.” Harry sighed.

“She’s a strong girl. I'm sure wherever she is she’ll be fine.” Niall, his other friend and guard, assured him.

Harry simply nodded, about to speak again but a rustling among the trees made him stop instantly. The group came to a halt and the guards immediately put themselves around the prince to protect him if they needed to. Louis was about to draw his sword when Harry ordered him to stop.

His eyes landed on a barefoot girl as she stumbled out of the trees and into the path in front of them. She wore a torn dress that barely covered her body and was covered in mud and what looked like blood which seeped out of wounds from her forehead as well as her side where a deep cut was.

“Please. Help me.” She breathed out before collapsing in exhaustion.

Harry had already dismounted his horse and rushed to catch her before her head hit the ground and caused her more injuries. He immediately took off his jacket and wrapped it around the frail girl to keep her warm in the cool morning air.

“Liam help me get her on my horse.” Harry said as he lifted her into his arms and carried her towards the group.

“But Harry-” he started, thinking this was some sort of trap because the country knew how kind the prince was so they could easily use this girl as a distraction or she could be the one using his kindness against him.

“That's an order.” Harry said firmly.

Liam glanced at his friends and sighed before doing as he was told. They got the girl up onto the horse then Harry climbed up to sit behind her, holding her steady with his arm around her waist while the other held the reins. Her lead fell back against his shoulder limply as she slept and he couldn't help but wonder what the hell happened to her.

When they arrived back at the castle he ordered Niall to fetch the doctor while he carried the girl up to his bedroom, ignoring the stares he received from the other people who worked in the castle. The doctor rushed in a moment later as Harry was cleaning the girl’s face and around the cut to give the doctor some space to work with. He stepped back to allow him to do his job, sighing as his mother walked in.

“Harry what were you thinking? Bringing a girl like that into the castle. What if she’s a spy?” she asked him.

“Look at her, mum. She needs help and no spy is going to do that to themselves. She looks like she’s been starved and beaten judging by those old bruises on her body. I couldn't just leave her.” he argued.

“If you don't mind could the two of you speak outside please?” The doctor asked.

The two nodded and stepped out to let the man do his work, arguing for a few more minutes until his mother finally let out a sigh and cupped her son’s cheeks.

“Be careful, please. Don't let her get to your head.” she said as she kissed his forehead then walked away to speak with her husband.

Harry sighed and sat against the wall outside his bedroom door waiting for the doctor to finish. When he finally did he asked the maids to clean her and dress her in something a little more appropriate so she wasn’t so exposed. After that was done he stepped inside and took a seat next to the girl who laid peacefully on his bed, taking in how beautiful she looked. She was still quite dirty due to the fact that the maids couldn’t properly bathe her, but from what he could see she was beautiful.

What worried him was how thin she was. It was like she hadn’t eaten in weeks and there were bruises on her arms that didn’t seem more than a few days old. The poor girl must have been through hell to escape wherever she came from. He gently brushed some hair from her face then left the room to use one next door so the girl could get some rest. The whole time he was gone he couldn’t help but think about how familiar she seemed, but he couldn’t quite figure out why.

Notes