A Wild Roseby SYLVIA KACZMAREK

A WILD ROSE

Sylvia Kaczmarek

Rose and all characters copyright © 2010 by Sylvia

Kaczmarek

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

reproduced in any form without written permission from

the author.

Designed by Sylvia Kaczmarek

Dedication

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

You know who you are,

This book is for you.

nce upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a

young princess named Rose. Princess Rose lived in the

castle along with her father, King William and her mother,

Queen Gloria, as well as their servants.

O

Princess Rose was kind and fair, and attracted all of the

men from the neighboring kingdoms with her unmatched

beauty. However, none of these men could catch her eye,

for Rose wished to marry only for true love.

With time, the girl’s heart became filled with sorrow,

because although the princes and nobles were all very

handsome, they were also very selfish, caring only for

themselves.

“I cannot hope to find love among princes”, the princess

said to her parents. “I will only marry for true love.”

“TRUE LOVE?” barked the Queen. “What a foolish thought!

Forget it at once, you silly girl. You will marry a prince, and

you shall marry rich, just as a princess should. Love is a

novelty among peasant girls, but you are of royal birth.”

Rose tried to argue but the King and Queen refused to

listen, and as she went to her room to weep, the King

arranged for suitors to come with gifts for his daughter.

Princes poured in from distant lands in hopes of wooing

sweet Rose, each more handsome than the last, but her

heart grew sadder with each proposal. Despite the wishes

of her mother and father, she could not live her life

unhappily married.

King William saw how sad his normally radiant daughter

had become, so he called on his messenger. “Find me the

greatest jester in the land, and bring him to the castle”,

the King instructed, “Because as long Rose cannot smile,

my heart will be heavy with sadness.”

So the next day, after seeing all her suitors, Princess Rose

retired once again to her room to weep. Once she got

there she was surprised by a man in strange clothes and a

silly hat.

“Hello there, I’m Frederick, and I’m a jester! Good to meet

you Princess Rose”, he said in a loud cheery voice, and

produced flowers from his sleeve. Rose smiled for the first

time in days.

Each day after that, Rose would return to her chambers to

be delighted by Frederick’s tricks and gags. Her heart’s

sorrow had been replaced by joy, and also by love for this

strange man who made her smile and laugh. No prince

ever made her laugh or feel this happy.

To the King’s delight, his daughter was smiling much like

her old self again. However, Queen Gloria felt that

Frederick was growing much too close to Rose. Since he

was just distracting her from her goal of finding a

husband, the Queen ordered the captain of the royal

guard, Sir Richard, to execute him the next day.

When Rose found out the terrible news, she could do

nothing but cry in her room, for she could not prevent the

execution. Sir Richard heard her weeping and entered her

chamber, asking what was the matter. “Oh Richard, it’s

horrible!” Rose cried. “They wish to kill my true love,

Frederick!”

When Sir Richard realized that the princess was in love

with the jester Frederick, he knew that he should help her,

and said, “Sweet Rose, weep no more. I will take care of

everything, so long as you swear to attend the execution

with your father and mother.” Rose agreed to do what he

asked.

So the very next day, Rose entered the execution

chamber with the King and Queen, as well as their royal

guards. In the center of the chamber was Frederick, bound

in ropes and held by two of Sir Richard’s men next to the

drop to the crocodile pit. As soon as Rose saw her love,

she started to cry, and she could not bear to watch.

But as the order was given, “Let this man now be

executed for his crimes!”, Sir Richard gave the slightest of

nods, and the two men holding Frederick cut his restraints

in a second. Every onlooker was astonished as the jester

fled, most of all the Kind and Queen. “Treachery!” shouted

the Queen to her guards. “Seize them!”

The bodyguards of the royal family surged forward to

capture the traitors, but Richard and his men sidestepped

them easily, and in just a few minutes the guards all

tumbled into the pit.

The King and Queen stood petrified as their daughter ran

after the jester, with Sir Richard and his men close behind.

“I’ll never marry a prince! Frederick is the man I choose,

for he is the only man who has ever made me smile”,

shouted the princess before the group left the castle.

Queen Gloria shrieked angrily as the bunch left the castle.

“Treachery! Betrayal! TREASON!”

However, the King realized the wrong he had done in

trying to force his daughter to marry a prince, and decided

to let his daughter go.

Once they were outside the castle, Sir Richard and his

men all wished Rose and Frederick the best. The pair ran

far from the castle into the wilderness, where it is said that

they are still living happily to this day.

THE END