Chapter 2 - The War Before the War

      Rosie stormed into the court room. By this point she was furious because no one would tell her who had attacked that palace. Furthermore, she wanted to know why she was not consulted about the plan of attack. She was young, but her father had trained her well to be a princess that could be a military leader as well as a political leader. She was insulted that she was being kept out of the loop, when she should be kept informed and consulted.

      Rosie marched right up to her seat at the head of the court, but she did not sit down, instead she stood in such a way that it looked as if her fury was rolling off her in waves. The court was silent. Every man in that room feared the fury of the young teenage ruler. Finally, the head of palace security stood up and spoke. He apologized to the princess and begged for her forgiveness. He told her he had been following her father's final orders of protection for the princess. He had known someone would attack his daughter once he died and he wanted her to be taken care of. This statement vanquished all of Rosie's anger, because it had been her father's protection.

      Rosie then asked who had attacked her kingdom, for the why was clear. She was told the Eastern Kingdom had been behind the assault. This did not surprise Rosie because the Eastern Kingdom was not far and was very powerful, but would need the power of the Northern Kingdom to have a chance at defeating the Southern Kingdom. The Eastern Kingdom was a kingdom of earth and wind. It was a kingdom with fertile lands and large crop fields, but its army was strong. Rosie's general asked her what she wanted to do as a counter attack. Rosie told him that they wouldn't attack the Eastern Kingdom. When the general asked Rosie why she wasn't going to launch a counterattack, Rosie told him that the Eastern Kingdom would be expecting an attack when the 75 survivors of the two hundred soldiers sent to attack the Northern Kingdom arrived to the Eastern Kingdom to inform the ruler of their defeat, and that she didn't want war. The general understood and did not push the topic any further.

      The next several months were peaceful in the Ice Kingdom. The people of the land were settling into their new ruler. As she proved herself, the people loved her even more. They had loved her before her father had died, but now they also respected as a ruler. During these months, Rosie did send a secret assassination team to kill the king of the Eastern Kingdom. The assassination was successful; the Eastern Kingdom had no idea who had killed their ruler. With the king dead, his daughter was put in charge of running the kingdom. She was a ruthless princess at the age of sixteen. Rosie had known the girl when they were small, her name was Alice. She had been Rosie's best friend, but they could no longer be friends, since they were rulers of their respective countries.

     Within the next several months, tension grew between the Eastern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The Southern Kingdom was growing annoyed that the Eastern Kingdom wasn't producing as much food. This annoyance led to a full scale argument. That one argument led to the Southern Kingdom accusing the Eastern Kingdom of withholding food from them, so they decided to just take it. When they attacked, war was declared between the two kingdoms.

     After three years of war, both were tired, hungry, and losing but both were too stubborn to call a truce. Both kingdoms, however, knew they needed help. The South was the first to admit a need for help. They sent a small party to Rosie's capitol where they requested an audience with Rosie. She agreed to meet them in her court. When they met, the ambassador begged Rosie for aid in the war. Rosie refused to help; she told him that she was to remain neutral in the war and that she would no offer aid to either side, sending the party back to their kingdom. Shortly after, the Eastern Kingdom requested Rosie's aid. Once again Rosie refused to aid either side.

      Sometime in June, the Western Kingdom was pulled into the war. This happened because the kingdom tried to bring peace between both the Southern and Eastern Kingdoms. That plan backfired horribly. Neither kingdom wanted the Western Kingdom to try to force a truce, so they both attacked independently of the other. This left the Western Kingdom with no choice but to join the war. At this point, 3 of the 4 kingdoms were at war with each other, Rosie being the only one to stay out of the war. All Rosie wanted was for the war to end.

      In October Rosie received word that a small village on the southern border of her kingdom had been attacked. This shocked Rosie because she had stayed completely out of the war. Somewhere in the back of her mind, however, she had expected this to happen. She ordered that the army be readied for battle, but did not give them any orders to attack. That night Rosie went to bed confident in her troops to defend her people. Four nights later, Rosie was awakened by screaming just as she had three years prior. She was now sixteen and was more mature then she was back then. Once again she ran to her window to see what was disturbing her night's peace. She was horrified at the sight before her. People were destroying the capitol. Blood was everywhere and several buildings were on fire. People were being executed in the street with no regard to who was being killed; women, children, anyone who was in the way, butchered without a second thought.

      Rosie ran from the window and headed toward the General's room. He was already awake and in full armor. He was surprised to see the princess at his door in nothing but her nightgown. It was a beautiful white, but it was so light it was almost sheer. After a quick assessment of the current situation, the General left to launch the first attack while the princess went to the stable to mount her horse and ready the troops for the second attack.

      The first attack was launched and focused on the enemies that were in the heart of the capitol. Rosie then launched the second wave which focused on the enemies on the outer parts of the capitol. Rosie rode through the night shooting her bows at the enemies that surrounded her. Her bows looked as beautiful as long-stemmed red roses, but they proved to be as deadly as a viper attack. Rosie fought until she had no more arrows. Once her quiver was empty, she went into a dark ally so she could see, but couldn't be seen. As she watched the soldiers fight, Rosie thought they looked like dancers. They were graceful and beautiful in their own way. They spun, twirled, and danced their deadly dance until one fell to the ground bleeding from numerous parts of his body. Then without even a pause, the victor of the fight turned and began a new dance with another partner. He gave no thought that it may be him that would not complete this dance.

      This pattern continued for what felt like hours. Finally when it was safe, Rosie rode from the ally and into the early morning. The streets around her were stained red from the blood that had spilled on them. Body parts were scattered about as if they were confetti. People lay everywhere moaning, begging for help, then lay silent. Rosie felt helpless and powerless to help her people. She saw a small girl, no older then seven. She was bleeding from both arms and one of her legs. Rosie dismounted her horse and picked up the small child. The girl clamped onto Rosie wanting the comfort of a loving notion. Rosie could feel the girl's grip loosening, and the girl died in Rosie's arms. Rosie placed the child down next to a woman that she assumed was the little girl's mother considering they looked so much alike. Rosie then once again mounted Sunshine and rode back to the palace.

      When she got back, her General was waiting for her in the stable. He informed her that they had won the battle. He also told her it had been the Southern troops. Rosie then told him to ready a counterattack since it appeared that they could stay neutral no longer. Rosie ordered that Sunshine be taken care of because she was spotted with blood. Rosie excused herself to her room since her nightgown was stained as well. Her white nightgown, as well as her arms, was now a deep red. She walked back to her room with no feeling in her heart and no thoughts in her head.

     She was numb.