AN: Warning for mentions of Child abuse and neglect in this chapter

Chapter 17

Small rosy lips trembled as they tried to avoid the angry stare directed at them. The seven-year-old child looked anywhere but up at her mother. "I-I-I'm sorry mother," The young girl said hesitantly as she kept her head down and wrung her little hands together.

"Rosalinda why do you keep disappointing me so," Esmeralda said angrily as her eyes were trained on her mud-covered daughter. The young girl's hair was in disarray, with some small twigs sticking out, there were scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs, her dress was torn, and she was clutching her stomach while standing in the candle-lit kitchen of their small house.

"Mommy... it... it wasn't my fault!" The seven-year-old girl pleaded.

"I don't care whose fault it is. The dress your father sent got torn," Esmeralda muttered angrily while crossing her arms. "What should I tell him now? He's going to think you don't like the dresses he sends!"

"But mommy... the boys at the school... They...." Rosalinda was now sniffing.

"I don't wanna hear it Rosey," Esmeralda grumbled. "You're the only one that comes home with torn clothing. Just look at your brother! He's never had a scuffle. You want to be good for your daddy when he comes to get us, right?"

The young girl nodded as she wiped some tears with her torn sleeve. "Good girl," Esmeralda said as she hugged her. "You don't want to be a nuisance for daddy, right?"

"No mommy," A tiny dejected voice murmured.

--oOo--

A young Rosalinda, age eight, stared at her brother while clinging to an old stuffed animal. It had been the only present her mother had given her on her fifth birthday. The young raven-haired boy was clutching a small bouquet of daffodils and held it out for his sister. The child was confused why she didn't accept it.

"Sis?" Edwin asked innocently not seeing her tiny lips purse and her hand tremble around the worn stuffed animal. "These really are for you...."

The girl bit her lower lip as Edwin continued; too naive to understand the inner turmoil brewing under the surface that was Rosalinda. Her red hair was pulled into a braided ponytail and while she loved daffodils the more Edwin talked the more on her nerves he got. His innocent demeanor, those eyes filled with hope; never having seen the ugly side of their mother. Rosalinda was young, yes, but she was wise to the true nature of the world. More mature for her age, people said.

"Happy Birthday sis," Edwin continued and Rosalinda willed the tears welling up in her eyes away as she finally lashed out. Years of pent-up frustration, too much for a child to endure. She knocked the bouquet out of Edwin's hands and lunged for him.

"WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!" Rosalinda yelled in their small house still situated in the Hymir district. "WHY DO I HAVE TO SHARE A BIRTHDAY WITH YOU!" She continued to yell as she yanked Edwin's hair, stepping on the discarded bouquet of daffodils in the process. The children fell towards the creaky wooden floor as Rose began pounding her little hands against Edwin's chest.

Esmeralda who heard the commotion came rushing in from the kitchen, hands covered in flour. "What in Thor's name is happening here?!" She shouted as she pried her two children off of each other.

"Rosalinda you do not hit your brother like that!" Esmeralda rebuked.

"I don't want an idiot brother!" Rosy shouted back as she tried to yank her hands out of her mother's grip. "Idiot, Idiot, Idiot!"

"Rosy that's enough!" Esmeralda was growing irritated.

"WHY DO I HAVE TO SHARE A BIRTHDAY WITH HIM?!" Rosalinda blurted out as she was struggling against her mother's grip. "Why can't I have my own again!" I don't want a brother! He's not my brother!"

The child was getting quite erratic and Esmeralda was at her wit's end. A slap could be heard through the small house as Esmeralda's hand had moved automatically. Rosalinda held her now reddening cheek before she started sobbing much more.

"Mummy?" Edwin asked, clearly not understanding the fight. He tried to console his sister but his attempts were rebuffed as the girl smacked his hands away.

Esmeralda gripped her daughter's shoulders and then said "This is not how a lady should behave!"

"Mommy," Rosalinda snicked as tears ran down her cheeks. "Mommy, why can't I have my own birthday?"

"You know why, sweety," Esmeralda muttered. "If anyone finds out you aren't twins....."

Esmeralda was going to say something else but then there was a knock on the door. She left the still sobbing child to open it and her eyes widened. On the other side of the door stood Samuel. They hadn't seen each other in months and she was suddenly nervous. What if he had overheard Rose's exclamation. Surely not.

--oOo--

"Just what are you doing?" Astrid, now thirteen years old, asked Rosalinda whom she saw hunched over the fortepiano in the drawing room.

Rosalinda yelped out of shock, holding a hand to her heart as she turned towards Astrid who was entering the drawing room and walking closer to her. Once Rosey caught her breath she shot back "Why do you care what I do? Are you going to laugh at me too because I don't know how to play?" She glared at Astrid. A week ago she had made a laughing stock of herself when her father and mother had been entertaining guests in the drawing room. There had been a request for some light music due to the jovial mood and Rosalinda had to admit before the guests that she did not know how to play the fortepiano. The scandalous and incredulous looks she got were all too telling that she'd just made a fool of herself. Luckily Astrid had managed to salvage the situation by playing the instrument herself. And Rosalinda, green with envy, had subtly glared at her stepsister for the rest of the evening.

Later that night at dinner her father had mentioned at the table "No cultured house should be without a fortepiano and no Lady, who wishes to be a Lady, can admit to not being able to play. It was an oversight of mine. I will immediately arrange a tutor for you."

"Perhaps I could teach her," Astrid commented.

"Absolutely not," Esmeralda spoke up. "I will not have you lording your skill over my daughter. Samuel tell her, what if that girl teaches Rosey something unladylike!"

"That was not my intention," Rosey remembered Astrid muttering. The rest of the conversation was more a blur to Rosalinda.

Back to the present, she stared at Astrid who had come in wearing a riding outfit. "Do you like your tutor?"

"He's fine," Rosey mumbled but deep down she groaned. Her fingers ached from all the practicing and her head hurt from all the musical notes she had to memorize.

"You know, you can just take a break when you want to, right. The tutor is being paid to help you, not to stress you out," Astrid could be heard saying.

"No! I have to learn this! I have to get this right! Mother always said I have to be a proper lady!" Rosey uttered.

"Or what? Father won't like you?" Astrid said while quirking a brow at Rosalinda who turned slightly red in the face.

"Like you?!" The words left Rosalinda's mouth before she could think and she saw Astrid's eyes widen for a fraction of a second before they narrowed once more.

As Astrid left the room with an angry stride Rosey pondered if perhaps she had been too harsh. Yet her mother had always told her that Astrid hated her and thus, by association, would hate Rosalinda as well.

--oOo--

Rosalinda, age fifteen though really already sixteen, saw her mother call after father just to be ignored. He was walking out of one of the dining hall's side doors after Astrid had bid her family adieu after dinner.

"Mother, what are we going to do now?" she asked as she placed a calming hand on her mother's shoulder.

"We still have a chance," her mother muttered with a hardened look in her eyes. "Yes, we still have a chance,"

"We do?" Rosalinda asked with a bit of worry in her voice. She didn't know what to think of in this situation, especially with all the information Astrid had revealed during dinner.

"Yes! All you have to do is become the Crown Princess." Esmeralda declared as she grabbed her daughter's shoulders frantically. Rosalinda was quite surprised by the look in her mother's eyes. "Even if that brat becomes the Marchioness she would still have to bow down to the Crown princess and future Queen."

"Mother... I think... me being the Crown princess...." Rosalinda wasn't so certain. She fumbled her words before uttering "The Prince and I have been writing letters to each other these past few months but...."

"But what?" Esmeralda now asked as mother and daughter too left the dining room.

"I'm uncertain. The letters are curt and propper but I have a distinct feeling that the Crown Prince has little interest in me." She mentioned. "I'm not naive, even I have heard talk of him wanting Lady Arkas as his future wife. Besides, we have never even met yet. He hardly attends any social gatherings."

"Nonsense child." Esmeralda stated as she turned to her daughter. "Once the Prince sees you he'll have no choice but to only have eyes for you! Besides, Lady Arkas is as good as a ruined Noble. The only reason she still has some respect in the Social circles is because the king took pity on her. She has absolutely no political support while we are affiliated with a prestigious house."

"But mother... I...." Rosalinda spoke softly.

"Listen to mother darling. Didn't I promise you and Edwin that you would have better lives than that hovel?" Esmeralda asked. "Didn't I deliver on that promise?"

"Yes mother...." Rosalinda said as she watched her mother walk away, presumably to the Master Bedroom to try and make up with father.

--oOo--

Back in the present Rosalinda lay on her plush bed clutching the area of her stomach Astrid had punched mercilessly. Her heels that had matched her dress had been discarded on the floor and she kept muttering "Why.... why.... Why..." as her eyes were hazy from all the crying. She just couldn't understand how the engagement had been broken. Her father had promised her a good life and a sizable dowry for when she got married. Her chosen marriage partner had been a prince for Thor's sake. He had a status that was any woman's dream and every man's envy. At Lady Heather's party he had shown an interest in her and though she had been sad that he had not attended her sister's coming of age ball last week so that she may have danced with him she had been in happy spirits when his missive had arrived. That was until she had opened it and read the contents.

She would confess, she hadn't been in her right mind then and there. Who would be when reading that their marriage partner was calling off the engagement ceremony and wanted nothing to do with her person. Though his letters might have been cold at times it had seemed to her that he had truly listened to her worries even when they hadn't met yet. Had she been played like a fool? 'Surely not' her thoughts answered back but even there the uncertainty lingered. Mother might know what to do, if only she could ask her. But mother wasn't there at the moment. She and father had taken a three week vacation at the urging of Astrid to one of the Southern estates. For the first time Rosalinda was truly alone when she needed advice the most she realized. The thought of talking to Astrid hadn't even crossed her mind.

The same Astrid that had just opened the door and casually waltzed into her rooms. "Shouldn't you knock?" Rosalinda grumbled as she glared at the blond from where she lay on the bed.

"Knocking would imply that I respect you right now." Astrid stated as didn't take a seat. "But seeing as you can't respect my home, my property or myself I don't feel the need to."

"You did something, didn't you?!" Rosalinda sat up and glared. "You're the reason Prince Grimmel broke off the engagement!"

"I did nothing of the sort. I only took back some mismanaged property attached to your dowry," Astrid stated while not showing much emotion. It seemed she didn't care to offer any platitudes.

"What are you talking about!" Rosalinda now uttered.

"Do you even have any idea what your dowry contained?" Astrid then asked and as Rosalinda kept silent she had her answer. "You might think our father just put aside some properties for you to manage but one of those properties is the largest diamond mine in the kingdom."

"A mine that your father had no business giving away as a dowry. He wasn't the Marquis and while he was in charge of managing the estate affairs until I came of age he still had no right to even touch that property without my consent, no matter what age I was." Astrid stated dryly. "You can imagine my surprise when going over the books for the past seven years and finding out about this."

"I.... I... I.." Rosalinda was at a loss for words.

"Honestly, it makes so much sense now why the Crown Prince would be interested in you." She sighed. "Oh you poor naive girl,"

"T-That's not true!" Rosalinda shot back.

"Isn't it?" Astrid asked and she knew she was rubbing salt in an open wound but if reality didn't get through this girl right here and now she'd have more trouble along the way. "Your engagement was broken once the mine was removed from the dowry." She stated. "I, as Marchioness, did you a favour and kept every other property and money in your dowry as was. I could have removed those too given that they were placed there without my authorization. Think for a moment you insipid girl. The Crown Prince was only marrying you for the rights to that mine! Once he had those do you know how easy it would be to dispose of you?! Without any special provisions set up all the wife's properties will belong to the husband upon marriage."

New tears welled up in Rosalinda's face as she looked at her Step-sister but Astrid wasn't done yet. She still had to get to the punishment. "Since you injured one of the staff, threatened your own brother with a weapon and destroyed numerous valuable furniture pieces, I have no choice but to put you on probation. Until I return from the fief within the coming two weeks you are not to set foot out of this room. Your meals will be brought to you and you are required to write a sincere apology letter to both the maid you injured and your brother."

"You... You can't be serious!" Rosalinda uttered. It was soon to be the height of the social season. Missing out on any events would not just put Rosalinda in a bad spot but it would also spark rumors about her person. Furthermore, writing an apology to a maid was an insult in itself. The Nobles never apologized to Commoners.

"I am very serious," Astrid stated. "It's only four in the afternoon and I've had to deal with you."

With that said Astrid left the room, leaving Rosalinda conflicted and seething.