Born the only biological child of her father, the King of Rose Mountain. Rosella grew up under her mother's overprotective nature and high expectations, knowing that she would one day be queen. While her parents and older half-brothers were born without magical abilities, Rosella showed powerful magical skills from an early age and learned how to use and control them from both of her grandmothers, Lady Margaret and Queen Lea. At eighteen, she inherited the Staff of Light from Lady Margaret and the Amulet of Rose Mountain from Queen Lea at twenty-one, the two most powerful magical artifacts in all the realm.
Unfortunately, when an evil warlock named Mugwort Octavius Nidhoggr petrified her parents and the royal court. The twenty-two-year-old princess was forced to flee with her friends and remaining family and live in exile, traveling from kingdom to kingdom in search of military aid without success. Three years later, when Rosella arrived in the realm of Magnolia, she met Prince Julian. Through him and his friend and royal page, Elias, who is secretly in love with the palace maid, Eliza, Rosella, learned about the tyrannical rule of Julian's older brother, Prince Robert, with their widowed mother, Queen Catrina.
Born the only biological child of her father, the King of Rose Mountain. Rosella grew up under her mother's overprotective nature and high expectations, knowing that she would one day be queen. While her parents and older half-brothers were born without magical abilities, Rosella showed powerful magical skills from an early age and learned how to use and control them from both of her grandmothers, Lady Margaret and Queen Lea. At eighteen, she inherited the Staff of Light from Lady Margaret and the Amulet of Rose Mountain from Queen Lea at twenty-one, the two most powerful magical artifacts in all the realm.
Unfortunately, when an evil warlock named Mugwort Octavius Nidhoggr petrified her parents and the royal court. The twenty-two-year-old princess was forced to flee with her friends and remaining family and live in exile, traveling from kingdom to kingdom in search of military aid without success. Three years later, when Rosella arrived in the realm of Magnolia, she met Prince Julian. Through him and his friend and royal page, Elias, who is secretly in love with the palace maid, Eliza, Rosella, learned about the tyrannical rule of Julian's older brother, Prince Robert, with their widowed mother, Queen Catrina.
Once upon a time, a beautiful young princess named Rosella lived in a kingdom called Rose Mountain. Not only was she beautiful to look at with her lovely blue eyes, long red hair, fair porcelain skin, and curvy robust figure, but she was beautiful on the inside as well. She was kind, brave, loving, selfless, loyal, and extremely intelligent. Even though she had a kind and gentle nature, she could also be an extremely stubborn, temperamental, and unforgiving person. However, she would only use violent measures when the situation called for it and only on those who truly deserved to feel her wrath. Because of her inner beauty, rather than her being a princess, Rosella was much beloved and popular.
Since early childhood, Rosella had many talents she acquired through hours of dedication, hard work, and practice. She sang with the most beautiful voice, danced with grace and elegance, and by her twelfth birthday, she knew several languages fluently. In addition, Rosella was a talented cook and many of the treats she made were always given to the poor. She could also knit, sew, and embroider, ride horseback, fight with a sword, and shoot a bow and arrow. Her most extraordinary skill was that she had inherited the ability to do magic from the moment she was born. She was a magical princess and had to begin learning to use and control her powers early through intense training and studying.
Through her dedication to her studies and willingness to keep practicing, Rosella cast powerful magic spells and successfully brewed very complicated potions by her tenth birthday. Rosella was powerful when wielding magic, but she was pure and good at heart. She made a vow to herself that she would only use her powers to help others and protect her people and her friends' families.
Rosella lived in a large golden palace with her parents, the king and queen, her half-brothers, her sister-in-law, her maternal grandparents, and her paternal grandmother, the Dowager Queen. Rosella's mother, Queen Estrella, was once married to a minor noble, despite her parents, Lord William and Lady Margaret's objections to the match based on their eldest daughter's personality and upbringing. Unfortunately, Estrella did not listen to her parents' warnings. Hence, her marriage to Lord Robert went ahead, and over the course of eleven years together, they had two sons, Christopher and Alexander. However, Estrella's first marriage was not to last. Two years after her second son's birth, Estrella had learned that Lord Robert had been unfaithful to her for years and that he had recently fallen in love with another woman. Soon afterward, Estrella was granted a divorce, and she left her ex-husband's estate with their sons and returned to her parents with little thought about remarrying until fate intervened.
About a year after the divorce, one of Estrella's friends introduced her to the man who would become the love of her life. Prince Edward was the eldest son of King Alfred and Queen Lea of Rose Mountain and heir to the throne. Like Estrella, Edward had once been married to a noblewoman named Lady Solaria, except their marriage was childless. Unfortunately, to make matters worse, Lady Solaria had been an unfaithful wife to her husband. Once Lady Solaria's affair with one of her guards had been discovered, Edward had his marriage to her annulled and had his ex-wife and her lover exiled from the kingdom. Lady Solaria's sister, Lady Lily, felt guilty about what had happened and helped her former brother-in-law find a new wife. She introduced him to her friend, a young, divorced woman with two young sons, Lady Estrella.
Prince Edward and Lady Estrella fell in love in due time, and Edward began building a relationship with Estrella's sons by treating them as if they were his children. After a two-year courtship, Prince Edward and Lady Estrella were married. Although the prince and his new princess wanted to have a child of their own, they had doubts if they could have one, so Edward decided that if his wife could not have a child before she was past childbearing age, he would make his eldest stepson, Christopher, his legitimate heir. One day in late summer during the fifth year of their marriage, Estrella, much to her delight, discovered that she, a woman in her late thirties, was pregnant. With the news that an heir would soon be born, the kingdom rejoiced, and as the months passed, everyone hoped and prayed that the child would be born strong and healthy.
A few days before the beginning of spring, Estrella gave birth to a strong and healthy baby girl with beautiful red hair. The minute Rosella was born, Edward began taking pride in his lovely daughter, and both Christopher and Alexander found endless joy in their new baby sister. Rosella showed she had strong magical abilities from an early age, and so did her grandmothers, Queen Lea and Lady Margaret. Both powerful sorceresses took it upon themselves to teach their granddaughter how to use her powers, control them, and use them for good. Even from an early age, Rosella showed her father and grandfather during her lessons that she could rule and govern the kingdom one day when she was ready and old enough to step into her father and grandfather's shoes.
This is how Princess Rosella grew up; she was loved and adored by her parents, grandparents, and the rest of her family. She also excelled in her studies and made friends with everyone she met. When she wasn't studying or practicing magic, Rosella was out with her friends exploring the Enchanted Forest or the villages surrounding the palace. Sometimes Rosella and her friends were out horseback riding or exploring and playing in the palace gardens while pretending to be queens of their tiny kingdoms. But, unfortunately, Rosella's happy and carefree life with her friends and family was not to last.
Shortly after Rosella's thirteenth birthday, her grandfather, King Alfred, fell dangerously ill, and as he laid on his deathbed, he called for his wife, children, and grandchildren to be with him one last time.
"Edward, my son," King Alfred said hoarsely as he held his first-born son's hand in his. "I leave this kingdom in your hands, hoping you will rule this land with kindness and wisdom."
"Of course, Father," Edward said as he looked at his dying father and king. "I will rule this kingdom by the example you have set for us all."
"I know you will," King Alfred said, smiling. "Now, where is my darling granddaughter?"
Immediately, Rosella walked up to her grandfather and held his hand. "Grandfather, please get better," Rosella pleaded softly to her beloved grandfather as he smiled at her.
"I'm sorry, Rosella, but I believe that my time here is up," King Alfred said forlornly as he tried to comfort his granddaughter. "Rosella, my darling grandchild, promise me that no matter what happens, you will remain true to yourself and always follow your heart, for I know you will one day do wonderful things in your way. Also, remember that the rest of our family and I will always be with you in your heart."
"Of course, Grandfather, I promise, and I will remember," Rosella said as she looked at her grandfather with tears in her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck as her grandfather knocked on death's door.
"I know you will, and I know you will persevere over all the trials that may come in your life, and I know you will be a great queen one day," King Alfred said as he held his favorite grandchild in his arms one last time.
Once he had said his goodbyes to his wife, children, and grandchildren, King Alfred gave his last breath and departed from the living world.
"King Alfred is dead," the Royal Herald proclaimed as he and everyone else kneeled before Rosella's father and mother. "Long live King Edward and Queen Estrella!"
A few days after her grandfather's funeral, Rosella stood close to her parents as they were crowned the new king and queen of Rose Mountain. Once her father and mother were crowned, Rosella walked up to her parents and kneeled before them as her father spoke to the onlookers. "My people, now that my wife and I have been made your new rulers with the death of my father, the late king. I shall now present to you my daughter and your future Queen, Rosella, the Crown Princess of Rose Mountain," King Edward proclaimed.
He then placed a small golden crown inlaid with jewels atop his daughter's head, making her his legitimate heir.
After her father had finished, Rosella rose to her feet as the people cheered. "Long Live King Edward! Long Live Queen Estrella! Long Live Princess Rosella!"
Throughout the ball that followed the Coronation, Rosella spent her time with her cousins, who were also in attendance. In addition, her parents, grandmother, Queen Mother Lea, and her older brother, Alexander, mingled with the other guests.
"I wish Christopher could have made it, but both he and Esteria are busy planning their wedding this summer," Rosella said as she thought about her eldest brother's upcoming marriage to his fiancée, whom Rosella both trusted and loved like a sister.
"I know you wish he was here," said Catherine, Rosella's paternal cousin and the daughter of Princess Bella, her father's younger sister.
"But Rosella, that is not the only thing that is bothering you, is it?" Catherine asked as she looked at her cousin, who was only two days older than herself.
Rosella nodded as Catherine's younger brother, James, came over to them with their older cousin, Ruby, and her stepsister, Elizabeth.
"Now, with Grandfather gone, I believe our lives are going to change, and all of you will be granted the freedom that I can only dream of having," Rosella said as her cousins looked at her, thinking she was only paranoid.
Rosella's cousins were soon proven that she had been right. Not long after the coronation, Queen Estrella placed more restrictions on her daughter's freedom. Now Rosella could not leave the palace grounds without an armed escort company and not without her mother's knowledge and permission. Despite her confinement, Rosella dedicated her time to her studies in subjects that interested her and subjects that would highly benefit her when she became queen and her magic studies. However, her dedication to her studies made her unable to attend her eldest brother's wedding. Rosella knew he understood her absence because she was determined to be a worthy queen someday, and their mother's overprotective nature towards her.
Princess Rosella is beautiful, kind, wise, graceful and magical. She is talented, and everything that she tries to do, with hard work and dedication, she excels at. Everyone loves her; not just her close knit family and friends - but the entire kingdom of Rose Mountain. Her magic is strong, and as her inherited powers skipped her parents generation (on both her mother and her father's sides), she is set to inherit the most powerfully magical objects in the realm - the Staff of Light and the Amulet of Rose Mountain. With these artefacts in her possession, the princess is the target for an evil warlock named Mugwort. She barely escapes his clutches when he attacks Rose Mountain, freezing her entire family except for her brothers in retaliation for refusing his marriage proposal. With only her two inherited artefacts and her half brothers, she flees - determined to find the resources she needs to defeat him.
Although this is a charming story, unfortunately, it falls short in its telling. The prose is basic, with a lot of needless repetition of names and information; for example, Rosella's many, many attributes are explained within the first few paragraphs - and then the reader is reminded of them before the end of the next page. And several more times over the chapter. Although her characteristics are important and central to the plot - the reader knows this, and doesn't need to be told multiple times before they've even finished reading the first few pages. The speech between characters is clumsy, often sounding somewhat unnatural and forced. Frequent uses of names within speech, or reminders of the speaker's various thoughts don't flow as a conversation between friends, family and lovers would.
The initial trope of the good, kind, magically powerful, beautiful princess is somewhat overused in The Rose Princess. She's a little bit too good, a little too kind. Rosella is said to have a bit of a bad temper, but it's very rarely seen. Indeed, a little bit more anger would have made her character more palatable and it would have been nice to see her struggle with more moral dilemmas. It's the same with all of the characters within the book. They're all either good, or they're bad. There is no middle ground, no moral greyness; which would have definitely elevated the plot.
The target audience of The Rose Princess is also somewhat confusing. It's aimed towards the Young Adult market - so the age range from 12 upwards. However, it seems more to be aimed at the Middle-Grade market. There's merely hints of romance, action and fight scenes - with anything even remotely graphic glossed over in more flowery prose.
As already mentioned, this is a charming tale that has great potential for further instalments.
S. A.