Rosalind - Beauty and the Beast meets Dracula retelling

53 - Never Look Back

In the solitude of her room, the rest of the days passed like she was waiting for the world to end. Rosalind stayed in her seclusion, watching the snowstorm grow tremendous until she could barely see more than a few feet. There were no hoof prints, no wolf. Nothing but a veil of thick white.

Twenty-nine days ago, when her father had come to her and said she was to stay in the home of the Borgo Beast for a month, her fear had been raw. When Harlan, with tears in his eyes, took hold of Rosalind's hand and swore that the beast had vowed no harm would come to her, she had felt very little calm.

Rosalind's thoughts drifted away from her beloved family. Around her, it felt as though a violent storm was approaching. One which would sweep her into its eye and pick her apart, leaving nothing for her kin to mourn but dust and bone.

Thirty-six hours left, nothing but a bean of time. She soon would be returning home. It was a time she had longed for during her first few weeks. But as the minutes morphed into hours, she found herself being pulled deeper into Caspian and Troy's dark world and foolishly longed to stay. Rosalind felt her soul splintering. It is not the body that breaks as bad as one's soul does. Had she suffered in the hands of the two men, pain would have been justified, this ache she was feeling now though was not.

Rosalind kept Troy's plum robe hidden under her bed during the day, afraid Agnes would find it and realize what she and the young lord had been up to all this time. It was only during the night when she would slide the robe out, drape it around herself, and fall asleep dreaming of the young lord's gentle eyes and copper hair. Yet, when day broke and she opened her eyes, her first thought was Caspian, where he invaded her brain like a parasitic worm. Rosalind would slither out of the robe, shedding it like a snake does its skin, and return it to its hiding spot with a heavy heart.

Agnes brought the breakfast tray in on the morning of what was to be Rosalind's last full day. The maid bid her a good morning yet nearly dropped the raisin and cinnamon-scented food when she caught sight of Troy's familiar plum robe with its raspberry trim under the bed.

"Good maid, is something the matter?" Rosalind asked as she leaped to her feet to keep the tray from crashing down.

Agnes snapped her head to the young woman and prayed Rosalind and the young lord had not done anything regrettable. "I see that you found the other resident." Agnes set the tray down with Rosalind's help then gestured to the robe with a look of a terrified mother hen on her face.

A blush bloomed on Rosalind's cheeks. Agnes hoped it was merely from the roaring fire. If the two have... the maid touched her forehead feeling faint, had relations they are doomed.

"Troy and I have met," Rosalind said softly.

"Troy?" Agnes asked, taken aback by the lack of his formal title. "You mean the young lord."

Rosalind looked up and shook her head. "We do not use titles."

Agnes' eyes became round as plates. Such informalities are unwise unless they have become...close. "Why is his robe in your chamber?" she asked in a hushed tone. The maid wrung her apron, fearsome of Rosalind's reply.

"It is not a story I wish to share, good maid. Although to put your mind at ease, I will say that nothing has been done without the best of intentions in regards to our happiness in this miserable place."

"Have you and he...?" Agnes asked, ignoring the fact that Rosalind did not want to share her secret. Grabbing her cross, she brought it to her lips. "Please tell me you are not lovers."

Rosalind looked up at the handmaid and sighed.

"Lord Caspian will kill you both," she said tearfully.

Rosalind rushed to the maid and took hold of her hands. "No. We have not done anything wrong. Troy and I needed companionship. That is all." Yet it had not been just Troy she had looked for companionship with, it had been the lord, as well and that made Rosalind ashamed.

"We think we are free to do as we wish but some lines should never be crossed...not even contemplated." Agnes gave Rosalind's hand a gentle squeeze. Worry lines creased her forehead. "Whatever has been done is done, do not carry it back home. When you leave this place, never look back. Never think of this manor. Never return. Never think of Lord Caspian or the young lord Troy. They must never exist in your life past tomorrow. Above all, never let the lord know you and his son ever met" Agnes paused and signed heavily. "Will you do that, my lady?"

Rosalind slipped her hands out of Agnes'. She would not be able to do that. Caspian and Troy would be carried back home with her. But she gave the maid a ghost of a smile and lied, "Yes, good maid. I will."

Agnes poured a cup of hot tea for Rosalind, the spoon making no sound as she stirred in some honey. All the while her eyes lingered on their guest, the maid's mind burning with thoughts as to how to save them were Lord Caspian to find out. One does just leave a robe in someone else's room. Agnes thought as she handed Rosalind her tea. The way she casts looks at it indicates they are not simple acquaintances. Good God, I thank you that she is leaving for her home tomorrow unscathed. Let her never ever come back. But Agnes' wishes did not reach the heavens, they never found God or his ear. Little did the maid know that even after she had advised Rosalind to never look back, never think of the men of the manor, and never return, that none of these things would happen.

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