The Forgotten Princess Rose-Chapter 248

Zayne managed to separate Rose from his mother to speak in private. "You don’t have to go if you are not ready. Weren’t you the one who spoke about us resting?"

"I did but she is being so kind as to host a celebration for us and I am starting to feel bad that she wasn’t present to see us wed. It was only my family and your soldiers so we should give her this. She says it will be small," Rose replied.

"Rose, small in my mother’s world is a ball. It will not be as small as you think, so you can reconsider it for when you are ready. For now, I prefer it to be just the two of us. That is how we should enjoy our time now as it is not known when I will be busy," said Zayne.

Rose wanted to enjoy her time with Zayne before he had to leave but she also wanted to make Catherine happy since she had not been present.

An idea struck Rose. "What if we were to hold a small dinner here? We may invite your friends and family. If it is here, we will be in control of who attends and you may send them away when you no longer want to host."

Zayne preferred Rose’s idea. He could seat his family for a few minutes and then get rid of them. "If that is what you want, so be it but I will not have dinner with anyone tonight. I am looking forward to continuing where we left off in the carriage."

Rose looked down to avoid his gaze. "I cannot bring myself to tell your mother to leave. This is my time to win her over."

"Don’t worry about it. I will tell her when it is time for her to go. She isn’t a stranger to me asking her to leave and trust me, she is quite eager to inform my brother and sister about you. We might receive an invite to the palace from my brother but I will reject it. Do not let her convince you to go there. Rose," he placed his finger under her chin to make her look up at him.

"Tell me," Zayne started. "What is on your mind?"

"It is nothing important. Our gifts from the ships have arrived. When you are ready to open them to see what the others gave us, I am ready. I told your mother about the brothel but not about me needing a tutor. My reading has gotten better but there is still much to learn. We must find one soon," Rose said, wanting one before a big event came.

"I will find one to come tomorrow. This is why I planned for us to be here alone. For you to settle in and find the people you need then we would think of going around the kingdom. We will do the dinner and then go back to it being the two of us. There is something on your mind," Zayne noticed.

"Well, you speaking about the two of us reminded me of what your mother said. She thought the reason we wed so fast was because I was pregnant. Many will assume that, won’t they?" Rose asked, knowing a few rumours must have started. "It is a bit funny they think that is the only reason why you would get married. You must have been so against it."

"We can’t escape ridiculous gossip here. I am not the first man who has returned with a partner and I will not be the last. Do you feel at home yet?" Zayne asked, pulling Rose close to have her pressed against his chest.

"I do. It is quite comfortable here and everyone is nice so far. I think anywhere we go will feel like home for me. I felt that way at your camps, my parents’ home, and now here. Would you be so kind as to join me for a walk in the garden? I wanted to see it," Rose said, finding the weather the perfect time for a stroll.

They had to take advantage of this peace before it started to spread around that the woman he arrived with was his wife.

"I will," Zayne kissed Rose’s hand.

Rose had that feeling again. The thought of staying inside with Zayne was there but again, there was something that concerned her.

His mother.

How long would it be before she came back to them? The last thing she wanted was for Catherine to walk in on them holding each other.

"You wish we were alone, don’t you?" Zayne asked, knowing what was on her mind.

Rose nodded her head. "But don’t have her leave yet. I shall try my best to make it up to you for finding many reasons to wait. Perhaps later you should stop the servants from coming up to this floor. I will need my clothes placed here first. There are night dresses I know Charlotte placed for me but I was too nervous to wear them on the ship."

"I will inform the head maid to start sending them up. We should move fast before the weather changes. If we are lucky, my mother will leave without me needing to tell her. Now that you are here, she will want to busy herself with decorating," said Zayne.

That was when they would bump heads since Catherine wanted to remove the weapons he had scattered around the estate for when he trained but Zayne liked them where they were.

Rose wouldn’t mind Catherine taking the lead since she didn’t know the first thing about decorating an estate. "Your mother is a wonderful woman. I will learn much from her so you must be kind when she comes. She worries about you so it would be good for you to tell her that you are fine."

Zayne returned in one piece but Rose knew it would comfort Catherine more if he told her that he wasn’t injured.

"Don’t tell me that I will have to deal with the two of you teaming up against me. I will not have that but I will speak to her before she leaves. I should speak to her now before she worries too much. I will be back shortly," Zayne said, letting go of Rose’s hand.

Rose didn’t mind it as she wanted Catherine to be at ease. She would better understand Catherine’s when it came time for Zayne to be away from her.

Zayne left in search of his mother. When she was out of sight for too long like this she was either troubling something, sending word to his siblings, or trying to hide her emotions.

"Mother," Zayne found her in a small library thanks to the door being open. "You are looking to read a book?"

"No," Catherine turned away from him to wipe her face. "I was just looking around to see that the estate is in order for Rose. The servants didn’t have any notice to make a good welcome for her and she shouldn’t concern herself with her duties so soon."

Zayne leaned on the wall. "You were not here crying your eyes out happy that I have returned safely? I try to pretend not to notice each time you do it. We all know when you hide to cry alone."

"Crying? When did I cry?" Catherine smiled.

"You are not in the palace for someone to place you as emotional because you are a woman. You may cry here as much as you like. Well, as long as you do not ask me to join you. I am home safe and sound, mother. You don’t need to worry anymore," said Zayne.

Catherine thought it was kind of him to worry about her but after losing one son, it wasn’t easy to not worry.

"I am your mother. My worrying is never-ending. Tell me now that it is just the two of us, do you love her?" Catherine asked, wanting to hear it from him.

"I do. I love her. And you?" Zayne asked.

"Well, I will need time to get to know her. You know I don’t just say I love anyone but she looks like a fine choice for you. Well done, Zayne."