Chapter 14:
The Rose that Grew


"Did you hear about the rose that grew,
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it
learned to walk with out having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared."


In the village of Liliforth, winter had arrived in grander fashion than usual – the snow came down heavier, and each house smoked copious amounts of black vapours, as sheets of white raised their pearl-white arms to wrap roofs in their ice-like embrace. The scarlet of autumn gave way to grey-white with little protest, and children ran into the streets, comforters round their necks as they raised snowmen and castles.

“Do you know,” asked Guinevere. “That I have waited twenty years for you to ask me this question?” Her eyes were bright with happiness, and her cheeks red, not with cold, but joy apparent.

“I would have asked earlier,” Al Keith said, sincerely. “Had I been certain of yours feelings. You know, Guinevere, how many complications they have set in the paths of lovers such as we are. I do not –”

“Do not be afraid!” she cut through, and she took his hands in hers. They were hardened, his hands, by years of toil, and hard work, but she liked the feel of them, for it did not seem – as it might have ot many – crude, but lovely. “If we can love, we can overcome obstacles, Al Keith! We shall wed!”

“You know we can not wed now,” he said. His sigh, though small, felt weighed down. “It is ever my wish, but I am practical, and do not make uncessary castles in the air. You are an elf-maiden, and I am human, and our union shall never be appreciated. I have no large family, only a mother, and she shall be overjoyed in my decision, but your family would not look at the twop of us kindly.”

“Long, they have loved you,” Guinevere said slowly. When his mother had moved into their lands, an ill, young girl who had escaped the clutches of a marriage she had been forced into against her will, Al Keith had had been a little child. The village elders, suspicious of their intentions, had not welcomed the humans; but Guinever’s parents had seen the eyes of the young mother, and realized that she meant no harm, only sought sanctuary – and sanctuary they had provided, taking her under their wing, and raising her son as their own. “They shall not want their daughter to wed a human, you are right –” For in the realm of elves, it was taboo to wed humans - “But you are an exception.”

“How so?” he asked, with quiet eyes. “They have loved me, I know – first out of pity, and then out of truer things – but the rules of the Land make clear that it is exile for those who dare to break tradition, and marry out of turn – elves for elves, and humans for humans. There is no other way. They would not let you marry me, Guinevere, for such a thing means they will be banned from the land, perhaps even persecuted and punished.”

Guinevere’s face fell. “Is there no other way, Al Keith?”

“I do not want to bring misfortune upon your family,” he said quietly. “If your parents grant us permission, we can run away, and start a life for our humble selves in a land where no laws persecute us, or your family.”

“But such a land would be laden with troubles!” she said, quietly. “There shall be creatures, and little shelter, and food will be hard to come by.”

“These are risks we must take, if our hearts are true. I vow to protect you every living second, Guinevere, but you must vow, too, to stand by my side. If so you can not vow, then our paths must part, fo there is no other honourable way that we can be together.”

“I understand,” she said slowly. “I will talk to my parents, and my good friend Atara. They shall understand, I am sure, Al Keith – I think, too that they have, within their hearts, seen our union arrive. They know me, Al Keith!”

Under the cloak of winter time, he kissed her, and Guinevere laughed and placed her arms around him. They were happy in each other’s company, content to face troubles if that was, indeed, the only way to be together, in honour; and it seemed to them that, if they persisted, no man or woman, no elf-lord or elf-lady, could prevent their happiness, tilt their basket of quiet joys, crush their dreams.

Time would prove them wrong.

*

[] Reference:

+ "Did you hear about the rose that grew -" - Tupac Shakur, The Rose that Grew from Concrete.