Winter's Rose ~A Beauty and the Beast Retelling~

The Return Home

~Four Months Later~

Rosalind was trapped here. Two months prior Andrew had stolen her away from town and brought her to live with their Aunt Aggie. Aggie was her mother's older sister. After her mother had married her father, her grandparents disowned her mother. Sometime later when her mother was pregnant with Andrew did Aunt Aggie make contact. She had been widowed at a young age and was left with her only son, Steven. She took care of the estate until Steven was old enough to marry--seeing that Steven seemed to be the oldest living bachelor; Aggie had been taking care of the estate far longer than one would have thought she would be.

Their estate was located in a small province, over a three-day journey from town. It was a dark looming manor where Rosalind was never able to find an inch of sunlight. The grounds were expansive, but they were dead due to the winter's frost. It rained often leaving the land flooded and muddy. It disgusted her aunt that Rosalind insisted on taking a walk on the grounds every morning. Rosalind couldn't stand the dusty old rooms with its dank air and irritating company. Andrew, the smart man he was, left Rosalind to her own devices. Surely her aunt could feel the tension between the siblings, but she inquired about it.

Her presumptions about her aunt were partially accurate. She was not adventurous in any sense of the word. She was interested in dull societal matters which included needle-point and tea. But for the first time in her life, someone was willing to tell her about her mother. According to Aggie, Rosalind looked like her. She told her of her mother growing up; how she used to climb trees and sail out on the lake over the hill. Aggie didn't treat her any different just because of her eyes either. Despite her distain for the estate, Rosalind began to enjoy her afternoon talked with her aunt.

Steven was rarely home-- he was often away on business in neighboring towns. Aggie was a lonely soul--it was quite obvious. As the past two months here progressed, Rosalind found herself willing to smile again. She still was ambushed by her grief, but not nearly as often as she had been before. Still there would be times at night where she would dream of his death and cry out for him. None of her house mates would mention her screams the next morning at breakfast, but she could feel their worried stares.

Rosalind was getting better at dealing with her grief. She had feared that she would never be able to feel anything again, but her she was allowing herself to smile. She had promised him she'd be happy. She wasn't yet, but she was working at it. Rosalind now, didn't let her sadness cripple her. The weight of her grief no longer crushed her--it was still there but she was getting stronger. She missed him, still. She missed him horribly.

She had made a friend here at least. Annalise Karey, a chamber maid that waited on her. Annalise was a sweet girl, who was a few years younger than Rosalind. She reminded her of Selene--Annalise was headstrong and stubborn. Their first interaction, Rosalind wasn't sure if she like her or not; only to later find her a loyal friend. Annalise had no problem with describing very little detail to Rosalind. They would often sit out on the balcony connect to Rosalind's room and Annalise would describe the day or what the gardens looked like. Rosalind was grateful to not be left in the dark about her surroundings.

At night, Annalise would come and they would talk like a couple of gossiping school girls. Annalise had become her confidante-- she told her everything. She told her about her time at the castle. Her time with William. She was grateful she had someone that she could tell her secrets too--they had nearly become too much of a burden to bare alone. Annalise would come to her whenever she had the nightmare of William's death and calm her like Selene had calmed her before. Annalise was a saving grace--she had agreed to inquire in secret about where Silas and the rest of her family resided.