The following evening Rosalina received a letter from her betrothed. He told her that the war campaign would take quite some time and he asked her to stay faithful and wait for him. She did not know how to respond. She could not bring herself to tell him that she was looking forward to the marriage and that she would be willing to wait as long as it would take. She actually hoped that this would make her father change his mind and find her someone closer to where she was happy. Instead he encouraged her to respond to the letter and start looking forward to marrying this man. Edmund and Maximo tried to intervene on her behalf over the next few days but Fenris would not budge.
Rosalina's emerald eyes grew dull and more and more shadowed as the days and weeks passed. Few things brought her joy. She spent all of her time with the children. Maximo and Bethany had great concern for the young lady. Rosette found it harder and harder to get her to open up. Rosalina refused to appear at any public outings or meals. She would only appear if the children were requested. The King would request her presence and she would go but she would just sit staring into the fire or out the window.
No one could break through the thick clouds of despair that surrounded her and she was doing nothing to fight them. Fenris got fed up with her mood so he visited the castle. "You will stop this childish silent treatment of everyone. You will not change what I have decided." he yelled at her. " I am not acting like a child. I am not giving anyone a silent treatment. I just have nothing to say. I am not happy and you do not seem to care. You never cared about me when you made this arrangement. Tell me, father, What are you getting out of this? You would not be pushing this so far and allowing the wait to extent as long as it is. What did you sell me for?" she spat. ' How dare you. I found you a good match. I wanted to get you away from this place." he responded. " Away from a place that has helped me grow strong, independent and happy?" she asked. " Away from a place that has repeatedly threatened your life," he answered. " That was one family and I did nothing to them, I brought joy and good health to the Queen. The King finds me intriguing. What the King saw in the Queen again was her true self. That family wanted to tear the country apart and have a claim to the throne. They saw me as a threat because the King made choices they did not like and they saw me as too much of an influence against them. That family has been removed. Rosette and Edmund are protecting me as if I was their daughter. They will not allow anyone to hurt me ever again." she explained. " That is not the point, you are MY daughter and I decide what happens with you and who you will marry," he yelled. " Mother would never have allowed this." she cried. He was so angry he slapped her saying, " Do not bring your mother into this. She is not here so I have to decide for the both of us."
" She is not here because of you." she cried and ran from the room before he could catch her.
Rosalina ran into the Queen's chambers, passed the Queen and the other ladies and into the nursemaid's bedchamber. The Queen followed and found her in the same spot as the night she was threatened by Lionel Ivrea. The redhead looked at her aunt and the Queen saw that her lip was bleeding. " What happened?" she asked. " My father hit me during our talk." Rosalina explained. " Why would he strike you?" she asked. "Because I told him my mother would never allow him to do this to me." she responded, " Then he slapped me and said never to bring her into this and that she was gone. I told him it was his fault she was gone and ran here." Rosalina cried and buried her face into the Queen. " Probably not the best response." The Queen said holding her niece.
At that moment a very angry Fenris burst into the chambers. " Where is she?' he demanded. The ladies said that she was with the Queen. He ignored all protocol and went into the room where the Queen was comforting Rosalina. " Rosalina, you will come with me right now!" he commanded. " No, she will stay with me, she needs medical attention because of you. I demand that you leave my chambers right now." The Queen demanded. " I am not leaving without my daughter," he said. Just as the King walked in. " What is going on?" he asked.
Rosalina looked up at him and explained, " My father and I had a fight." he saw the blood smeared on her face and on the Queen's gown. Edmund turned to Fenris questioningly. " I had to do what was necessary to remind her of her place." he said glaring at his daughter. " She has a place, she knows it and you have no right to strike her in such a way." Edmund said. " She is my daughter. I decide what is to be done with her." Fenris growled. " Not when she is under my protection and in my home. You will yield to the Kings will while you reside in my Kingdom." The King commanded. " Then My daughter and I will be leaving your Kingdom." Fenris announced. Rosalina gasped and started to panic. " Edmund." Rosette called the King's attention to the young lady. Seeing the panic in her eyes angered him. " She is not going anywhere. I can not break the marriage contract that you have for her. However, she is one of my advisers. She will remain her until she has to marry. However, you will amend the contract. She will be required to travel back to Mercia when I order it and for as long as it pleases me. She is also the Queen's niece, therefore she is family and under the protection afforded to a princess of Mercia. If you or anyone harms her again they will face a trial and possible execution or imprisonment. Am I clear?" Edmund ordered. " The kings of Alcantara and Jutland will hear of this over reach of your power." Fenris gritted his teeth. " The King of Alcantara just down the hall and remember is Rosalina's uncle and the Queen of Alcantara is my sister. The treatment of Rosalina would not be acceptable to the King of Jutland either. Be my guest, report my so-called overreach of power to my counterparts.
Just remember it will not get you far." the king pointed out. Fenris was angry but knew that he could do nothing within the confines of the palace. He left to pen a letter to the King of Jutland. Edmund went over to Lady Rosalina, " Are you alright?" he asked, kneeling in front of her. " Yes, your majesty. Did you mean what you said about me being an adviser?" she questioned. " Of course and not just to keep you here until you marry or just to force your husband to allow you to visit. You have become one of the few here at court that I can truly trust. I know that I can trust what you say because you have never used what influence you may have over me to advance your own interests. Never did you ask me to intervene with your father on your behalf about your marriage. You took a step forward and fought him for your own sake. You brought me back from a dark hole and reintroduced me to Rosette. Our love is stronger than ever and I can see how she is one of maybe four that I can trust with my very life and with my Kingdom. You will receive an income to advise me and you will be given a house just outside the city to call your own. I will also make arrangements for a title and estates. You have truly earned it and you will have it." Edmund answered. " I really do not want any of that. However I am honored that you appreciate my advice, if it can really be called that." she answered with a smile. " Come, we will get that wound treated and we can discuss what estates you like." Edmund helped the lady off the floor. The three of them left the room and joined the ladies in the sitting room, who had already sent for her personal healers. They did not know what had happened but knew the healers would at least need to bring some tea. The healers were shocked to see their Lady's face.
" What happened?" Juniper asked. " My father and I did not see eye to eye in a discussion." Rosalina answered. " Was it about the marriage, again?" Iris questioned. " That was the root, yes. I have not been very happy lately and he was angry because I will not embrace the idea." Rosalina explained. " He just can not see that this is not your path. He wants to push you down a blind path that I have a feeling will not end well for you." Violet admitted as she cleaned the young lady's face. " He wants me to be open to new paths." Rosalina said. " New paths are good but not forced paths. You were apprehensive about moving to Mercia and into the palace. You did not fight it though. You saw the potential in spite of the fear and doubt. Now look, you are well loved by nearly everyone at court. The Queen would put herself in harm's way to protect you. The King will kill anyone who even thinks about hurting you. Princess Bethany found in you a best friend. Then there are the little ones, whose faces light up when they hear your voice, especially little Graci. You have found your true home. You can not force happiness or destinies." Violet explained while brewing tea in the fireplace. " Unfortunately, it takes something drastic to have a man realize they were wrong." Edmund spoke up. " It only took a green eyed girl to make you see." Rosette joked. " Those eyes are drastic." Edmund laughed. The exchange made Rosaline laugh along. The healers finished fixing Rosalina up and left the room. A meal was prepared and shared with the royal children and the Royal family of Alcantara.
The next day Maximo and Queen left, with their children, for their home in Alcantara. Princess Rosaline remained in Mercia to get to know her parents and siblings. Rosaline and Rosalina connected very quickly. They bonded while taking care of the babies. The mood in the place seemed to return to normal.