The Women of Rose Palace

The sudden appearance of the rose bush was enough to startle the two young women, but it could not be said that it was completely unexpected, as such a sight was not uncommon at The Rose Palace, where they currently resided. The Rose palace housed a total of seven women, all of whom were survivors of the pandemic that had eliminated the majority of the women of the world. Not only had all of these women contracted the virus and survived, but they also each bore a sparkling, crescent shape on their foreheads and magical powers that varied among the women. Initially they were separated from the other women out of fear, but over the years that had followed the end of the pandemic it was discovered that these powers were also passed down to their children. This changed what had begun as something to be feared into something that was desired, particularly by those in power. As the desire to obtain these powers for themselves grew so too did the status of the women who wielded them, making the women of The Rose Palace the most treasured possessions of the country in which they resided. Even the name of The Rose Palace was a direct reference to the women who resided there, or more accurately it was a reference to the first woman who had taken up residency there. This woman was a 30 year old woman by the name of Janice Blackwell.

Janice was a tall slender woman with narrow features. She had long, silky, black hair and large, brown, almond shaped eyes. when dealing with the younger girls of The Rose Palace she often wore a stern expression upon her countenance, more akin to a mother scolding her child than that of a friend. This was by no means an accident, as she had very intentionally taken on a motherly role. This was not only because she was the eldest of women there, but also a result of a sincere longing for her own children, whom she would never be able to know. As harsh as she could come across, the young women before her were very well aware that this came from a place of love. While they may not have always appreciated her interference in the moment they always benefited from it in the long run. As a result of both this and her general gentle demeanor, she was loved by all who knew her.

This is not a fact that anyone watching this scene would have guessed. Janice had chosen to separate Elisabeth and Sara with the rose bush when she heard their argument from the next room over. While with one look at the reactions of the two girls one could easily see the anger they felt at having their argument interrupted in such a manner, Janice paid no attention to the icy glares that were now pointed in her direction. Instead, she immediately began to reprimand the two girls. "What do you think you are doing?" she asked coldly. "You are the closest in age of any one here, and yet instead of sharing the joys that can only be found in your youth you're fighting so loudly that I'm certain that they can hear your spat miles away. Heaven knows it must be about something extremely important. So, why don't you take a moment and fill me in on the details that I've missed." She stood there silently waiting for them to open up, feeling increasingly frustrated at their silence as time passed.

In truth it was only a few minutes, but for Sara, who had repeatedly been on the wrong end of such looks from Janice, it was entirely uncomfortable. Finally, unable to withstand it any longer, Sara began to speak. Once she started all the details leading up to the moment began to pour out of her. In the end, she may have embellished her own perceived slights, but she also admitted to her own flaws as well. Elisabeth wasn't at all happy to have her wrongdoings so exaggerated, but at the same time she could see the courage that it took to tell Janice about what had happened in the first place. After all, this courage was something that she did not possess. This was enough to begin to calm the storm of emotions that was growing inside her. She looked down, collected her thoughts, and let out a big sigh before responding. "I'm sorry, if I offended you. I understand why you are so excited about your prospects, for this mating season. I just didn't expect to be so torn by my own potential prospects." She looked down, suddenly feeling embarrassed by her own words and thoughts. "I've liked Dr. Thompson ever since he treated me during the Plague, but Leopold took me by surprise. There's just something about him that draws me in, and I have no idea how to handle that." She paused. The embarrassment she felt at revealing such a sensitive truth brought a scarlet blush to her cheeks.

It was at this point that Janice finally understood what was really going on. In her understanding she couldn't help but feel pity for Elisabeth. Sara was acting the way that she was because she was thinking of the perspective benefits and cost of her perspective mates, but Elisabeth was concerned with something far more complex, and more importantly far more dangerous, romantic desires. It wasn't exactly something most women would dare to aspire to, as it was something that was almost certain to end in despair. Because of the way that the mating process was regulated any feelings that developed between a woman and her mate couldn't progress beyond the mating process. Once the child was born the two would likely never see each other again. In most cases this was something that helped ease the transition from one mating season to the next, but once romantic feelings entered the equation it almost always ended in heartbreak. There were rare cases in which the man's position made it possible for the couple to continue seeing each other, but even in these cases there were always plenty of obstacles for them to face. Just from Elisabeth's words and the way she said them Janice could tell that there was no real way that Elisabeth would get past this mating season without facing the challenges brought on by such desires. Of her two potential mates one of them was someone she had an emotional attachment to before they were matched and the other had managed to plant the seeds of attachment in one night. Given this information all Janice could do was pass on the best advice that she had. She took a deep breath, and with the best smile she could muster, she said "I'm sure you'll both make the best choice that you can. Just remember it's just one year then you'll have to start all over again during your next mating season."

Janice said this as gently as she could, but it really only made the two girls feel worse. Sara felt as if she were being told that she was acting childish, and she wasn't exactly wrong. Elisabeth took her words in a different way, however. It reminded her of just how short lived this decision would really be, and her heart dropped at the very thought. Her reaction didn't go unnoticed, either, much to her dismay. At some point in their conversation the other women of The Rose Palace had come to see the commotion was about, most of them any way. Lillith had no real interest in involving herself in the drama. The other three women who had gathered reacted to the news in their own ways.

Jane Osman a 26 year old woman with wavy, dark brown hair and deep brown eyes that bore distinctive golden golden flecks leaned in closely and gave a wide grin as she said "Looks like this season's going to be interesting."

28 year old Maria Sanchez gave a big pout with her full lips and pushed her long black curls out of her eyes as she responded by saying "You shouldn't tease her. She didn't choose to have such feelings."

"Of course you'd say that" Jane scoffed. "Your relationship with the king is like something out of a fairytale. Not everyone can have that."

"Still," Maria said, as she dragged her foot around in circles on the floor. "Everyone should have the chance."

It was at this point that the third of the three women stepped in. Alice Johnson, a shy 24 year old woman with shoulder length, ash blonde hair, bright green eyes, and freckles stepped forward and quickly began to defuse the situation. "Please!" She exclaimed, nervously. "I'm sure that we're all blowing this out of proportion, and even if we're not it's not our decision to make. why don't we all back off and let Elisabeth and Sara make their own choices."

Jane let out a heavy sigh and said "Fine by me." and turned around and walked away. The rest of the women looked at each other in turn and each in turn came up with a reason to leave. It was so rare for Alice to assert herself, so when she did it became very difficult for anyone to contradict her. Janice felt rather relieved for Alice's contribution to the conversation, as she had no idea that she was opening such a can of worms when she entered the room and was glad to that Alice was able to difuse the situation.

Once everyone had left the room Sara and Elisabeth were left alone in the room, but rather than continue the conversation they both elected to leave things as they were. It wasn't exactly that they harbored no resentment for the events that had transpired, but rather that they no longer seemed so important. It wouldn't be for a few more days that they would really start speaking again, but at the end of the day they both knew that they couldn't carry a grudge for long as avoiding each other wasn't really a possibility.