Painted Roses

~ Epilogue ~ The Uncollected Tale of The Frog Prince

Rosalia stood on the steps of her family home, watching a procession of horse riders ride away along the carriage track, smart uniforms all matching in the summer sunlight. At the front of the group, his blonde hair hidden beneath his officer's cap, was Beldon, his head turned to speak to the man beside him.

It had been some months since the chaos and tragedy at The Play Castle. In that time, some things had changed for the better, some things hadn't.

Beldon had graduated from university, top of his year, pride of his school and he was now riding away from her with other young men, off to the army. Because of who he was and his rank in society, it was instantly placed as an officer of rank, and Rosalia knew he would continue to gain rank at rapid speed.

But it wouldn't keep him safe.

There was no way to keep him safe anymore.

Cliffwood was gone. He had left, taken his brother and returned to his regiment overseas. The trauma of losing his sister had been too much for him and it had been impossible for him to even think of marriage at that time.

Or so everyone was told.

The story that had been crafted for the courts was one of drama, action, adventure and tragedy. Rosalia and Lucinda had left Miss Rosemary's party together to travel to the Cliffwood estate, to spend more time together seeing as they would soon be sisters. They had been attacked on the road, ambushed by highwaymen, bloodthirsty braggarts who only lived to rob and murder. The young women had managed to run, to escape but had become separated and, while Rosalia had found her way back to the road and help, Lucinda had disappeared.

It was a story ludicrous to Rosalia's mind but it was believable to everyone else. The courts believed it, the police believed it, and Lucinda's body had been found some time later in the woods, near a lake. In fact it had been servants of Rose Castle who had been tasked with the horrific job of hauled Lucinda's body out of the well and placing it for the police to find.

The madness of the whole thing seemed even more extreme then the reality of the true story. But the ton loved their drama so they believed it without a second thought.

Poor Rosalia. Both kidnapped and attacked within a few short months, such misfortune for one young lady.

She then of course had to attend Lucinda's funeral, to keep face in front of everyone. The body was then taken away and she was buried at the Cliffwood Estate – the burial kept private. As it turned out, no one was entirely sure where the Cliffwood Estate was and Lucinda wasn't really buried at any estate or family site.

She was buried in the forests, tucked away into a grove in Stammer Woods, hidden from the rest of the world. Cliffwood had overseen the proceedings, producing servants Rosalia hadn't known existed to deal with the grave. He did invite Rosalia to the burial – perhaps as a way of bring closure to the whole affair, to show that Lucinda was well and truly gone – as Rosalia decided to attend.

And she bought something with her. The black burial gown. She threw it down into the grave, over the coffin and let it suffocate under six feet of earth.

And after that, Cliffwood had left.

The break up of their engagement was announced, everyone very sympathetic to the pair for the situations they found themselves in.

And then he was gone.

As quickly as he had come into her life, Cliffwood left it.

And her brother was now leaving it to.