In Blood and Battle

Summary- When the Queen's and her young daughter's lives are put in danger by a new dark entity, Rose goes to the only person she knows will help them, despite their relationship being less than perfect.

Warnings- Not been Beta

Bowerstone Castle stood in front of a lone figure that was climbing the steps to the front door. In the moonlight it loomed hauntingly over the land, almost terrifying. It would be such if it wasn't for the figure currently making her way into the castle.

Rose, Queen of Albion, Hero, and younger sister to the fallen king was home. Just because she became queen didn't mean she ceased being a Hero and found herself called away from the castle often to deal with a problem that required a Hero's hand. She was kind, benevolent, practically an angel, the kind of ruler people dreamed about for a kingdom. Three years ago another title was added to the many she already bore, Mummy. She gave Albion an heir, a princess she named Olivia. Rose managed to juggle her life as a queen, Hero, and mother quite well but it still broke her heart when she had to leave her daughter. She wished she could stay with her daughter all the time but alas she couldn't.

Tonight when she walked into the castle, that wish would never be more prominent then now.

Rose pushed open the main door of the castle, the door creaking eerily in the silence of the castle. Rose frowned as she stepped into the foyer. It was late but there should be the last minute shuffle of the servants and guards but there was nothing. Rose held out her palm and a flame appeared in her palm granting light in the darkness and what Rose saw horrified her.

Bodies of the guards and servants lay on the floor, some were torn apart and other showed no signs of being nothing but fast asleep. Red blood now tainted the blue of the carpets. Rose let out a gasp and closed her palm, getting rid of the light.

"Olivia!" she screamed as she bustled up her skirt in her hands.

If anyone was alive to see it, one would say the young queen never ran faster in all of her life. Rose dodged and jumped over the bodies of her fallen guards and staff as she made her way to the bedroom she once occupied as a princess.

"Olivia!" She screamed again as she pushed open the door to her old bedroom.

Her young daughter was sitting on her bed, holding on her teddy bear tightly as she whimpered. Rose became horrified as she saw what was causing her daughter distress. A shadowy figure loomed over the bed, dark claws extended to the princess.

Rose growled as her palms glowed with charged up will, they became brighter until she let out a ball of flame towards the figure. The fire did as she hoped and the figure fell to the ground writhing in agony.

Rose quickly ran to her daughter's side and picked up the young child, holding her safely against her chest. Olivia held on tightly to her teddy bear as her mother took her true Hero form and her mother's white wings wrapped around her body, shielding her daughter. The pure and ethereal light Rose was emitting kept the creature on the ground in pain.

Rose reached into her pocket and became even more terrified as her guild seal failed to transport her to the sanctuary. Whatever this thing was, it was blocking the guild seal. Rose shot off more fire to the creature as she ran out of the room making her way to the stables. Her wings had disappeared but she kept on glowing as she ran with her daughter in her arms through the gardens.

Rose pushed open the door and quickly mounted her riding horse, Midnight. Holding on tightly to the mare of the horse with one hand and her daughter in the other, they left the stables and Bowerstone Castle started to fall away behind them.

"You can run Queen, but we will have her blood" The figure cried out in a dark and cold voice behind her.

Rose didn't look back and simply kicked her horse's side again urging him to go faster. There was only one place she could think of going where she would be offered protection.

Miles away from Bowerstone and its castle was an estate. Not to most extravagant estate of the Royal Family but to its single occupant it was good enough. It was a simple two bedroom home with fields surrounding the home and surrounding the fields was a forest. It was secluded and private and no one bothered the person who lived there.

Logan, fallen king of Albion, called the estate home. After leaving Albion five years ago, knowing that The Crawler was defeated and Albion was left in good hands, Logan returned to Albion once again. What he had said those years ago was true. Albion had healed better without him and flourished under his sister's gentle and kind but firm reign. He had also healed better without Albion but three years into his travels he found himself missing the green of Albion and returned, living in his mother's favorite estate, which was allowed by Rose.

The act of allowing him to live in one of her estates surprised him, seeing as they left each other on less the perfect terms. She hadn't forgiven him, why should she? And he had turned his back on her when he was sure she needed family the most, another reason to add to her hatred.

Logan, like most nights, found himself unable to sleep. He groaned and rolled over in his bed before falling silent and listening to the rain pattering on the roof. His thoughts were once again on his sister. How much had she changed over these past five years and reasons why she should never forgive him swirled around his head. They hadn't spoken since Walter's memorial and the only thing remotely resembling a letter was her elegant signature and her Royal Crest on a piece of paper that granted him the rights to live at the estate.

Logan's frown deepened as a pounding was heard at the front door. He ignored it; it was most likely the wind. The front door was a bit loose on it hinges. However when the pounding didn't stop, Logan rolled over and got out of bed, wondering who could possibly be at the front door. One it was ridiculously late and two he never got any visitors day or night.

Logan placed on his dressing gown and started the journey down the stairs. The pounding on the door was starting to annoy him.

"I'm coming!" he barked out and the pounding ceased, the prominent sound of rain returned to the empty house.

"Don't you have anything better…" he started to say but trailed off when he opened the door.

Logan wasn't sure what he was expecting to find at the front door but when he opened it, the last thing he ever expected to see again stood in the doorway.

Rose was standing in the doorway as rain poured around her. Logan took in her tattered state. She was wearing a working gown and a traveling cloak, meaning she was out adventuring. The gold crown of Albion peeked out from the hood of her black cloak and a few stands of wet black hair was stuck to her face. Logan, already in shock from seeing Rose, was in for more of a shock when he noticed the bundle resting in her arms was a child.

"Are you going to let me in or am I going to have to stand out here all night?" she barked at him with a tone of voice that told Logan there was other places she would rather be.

Logan didn't say anything and merely stepped to the side. Rose hurried in and Logan shut the door behind her. The air was tense and neither one of them said anything.

Rose frowned as she noticed the child in her arms was shivering. They were both soaking wet from the rain and there was a chill in the house.

"Do you mind if I put her down in the spare bedroom?" Rose asked as she looked to Logan

Logan shook his head and watched as she turned on her heel and made her way up the stairs. He didn't say anything and was still in slight shock. His little sister was in his house and she had a child in her arms. Logan being out of the loop of Rose's daughter's birth had no idea that the child in Rose's arms was his niece.

Rose walked into the spare bedroom and place Olivia down on the bed. She was fast asleep but Rose was worried. Her lips were blue and she was pale. Rose quickly got to sheading the wet clothes from her daughter and threw them off to the side before placing the child under the heavy blankets. Olivia shifted around in the sudden but comfortable warmth. Rose smiled softly and placed the teddy bear in her arms and leaned down, kissing her forehead softly.

Rose looked around before noticing a fireplace was in the bedroom. She walked over to it and threw in some firewood before a fireball appeared in her hand and was shot into the fire place. The fire roared to life and quickly got to work on removing the chilly air from the bedroom.

Once she believed everything was settled and her daughter clothes were rested in front of the fire to dry out, she returned to her side and hummed to her sleeping daughter the tune of her music box. She lifted her fingers up and brushed away a few strands of black hair from her daughter's face.

As the haunting melody filled the empty room, Rose questioned herself if it was the best idea to come here. Logan was still her older brother and she knew deep down that she had made the right choice but her anger and resentment towards him made it hard to realize that.

Rose didn't notice she had an audience but when the sound of a throat being cleared behind caused her to jump, she realized she did.

Logan stood in the doorway, his arms were crossed over his chest and he was leaning aloofly on the door frame. However his eyes told Rose that he had questions.

Rose stood up and tucked the blankets tighter around her sleeping child before turning and leaving the bedroom and heading downstairs. Logan was following quietly behind her. As they made their way into the kitchen and Rose got to work making teas, Logan finally spoke.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned, Rose was waiting to hear 'The war room is no place for a child' he was using the same tone of voice he did that day and it make her think he didn't want her there.

"Something happened in the castle and this was the first place that came to mind" she managed to say and she shrugged her shoulders slightly.

Logan's frown deepened and he raised an eyebrow to Rose. Her tone of voice was one that he was expecting to hear. It was filled with anger, resentment, and plain boredom but Logan being one to observe the way people acted and spoke noticed that despite her attitude there was a small amount of fear laced into her voice and with it brought the sound of a younger Rose looking for her older brother's protection.

Silence remained between the two of them for a few moments until the kettle started to whistle from the fireplace. Rose being busy with the work of fixing the tea decided to speak.

"I don't know why I came here. I mean you're the last person who would ever want to help me. You proved that to me at Walter's memorial. I'm sorry I bothered you it was just I didn't have a clear head when I thought about coming here and…" Rose babbled on.

"Rose, stop it" Logan commanded to her.

Rose paused what she was doing and turned to Logan. Logan saw the fear that was laced in her voice was the most prominent feature in her emerald green eyes. For a moment, time seemed to shift and a younger Rose was standing in front of him after having a nightmare, clutching a teddy bear, and asking if it was alright if she slept in his bed. He blinked and the illusion shattered, they were back to being the rebel queen and the fallen king. He was angry but not at her but more so from the fact that she had assumed he didn't want to help here with whatever was going on. If Rose was seeking the last person she ever wanted to see then whatever happened must have been terrible.

Rose" He said again, it was softer then the order he had barked at her a few moments ago but it was no less commanding.

"By the Gods Logan!" she yelled slamming the kettle on to the table "Are you going to tell me that you want to help because honestly I don't believe it."

Logan only moved to cross his arms over his chest, knowing Rose better then she thought, knew that she needed to get this out of her system if they were going to have any progress at the matter at hand.

"You turned you back on me when I needed you the most. The man I thought of as a father was killed by my own hand and you just turn away!" Her loud voice filled the kitchen "Because 'Albion would heal better without you'" her hands were thrown up and she made quotation signs with her fingers "Well did you ever think to sod Albion for a moment and consider what your family, YOUR SISTER, needed."

Rose took a deep breath and turned away from him before continuing.

"I spent nine months as a rebel, I hated you, I despised you and everything you had done but when it came down to it I couldn't order you to be killed" She turned to face him again, various emotions flickering in her eyes "Because you were not the tyrant, you were Logan. You were, are" she corrected herself "My big brother. You were the one I went to when I had a nightmare, you were the one that was by my side when mother died, you were the one that would find time away from his studies to play with me even when I annoyed you to no end."

Her hands started to play with the loose strings of her gown and she started to pace in the kitchen.

"Maybe I was still too much of a child when I took the throne, maybe I didn't grow up enough on my travels but when I heard you explain why you did what you did I thought that maybe Logan was still there, my brother was still there and I couldn't kill you thinking that, no matter what you did."

She stopped pacing and turned to him; anger the prominent feature in her eyes.

"But I was wrong. When I needed my big brother, when I needed the only family I had left, you proved to me how much you cared. You turned you back and left me alone."

She stalked up to him and stared him in the eyes.

"So don't you dare, after everything you have done, tell me that you want to help." She lifted a hand and jabbed a finger into his chest. "Don't" jab "you" jab "dare"

Logan reached up and grabbed her wrist before she poked the area again, he was sure it was bruising. A rose she may be but she had no problem letting people know that roses have thorns. Logan knew that his grip on her wrist was powerful and slightly painful but he knew if he let go, she would lash out at him.

"You always did have a problem assuming things without all the facts" Logan stated coolly.

"Assuming things? Five years without so much as a bloody letter just a note asking my permission to live in one of the royal properties. What facts could I possibly be missing?" She snapped at him trying to tug her wrist out of Logan's grasp but he wouldn't let go.

"That for a year you proved to me time and time again that you were the better monarch." He stated, explaining it to her. "You were no longer a child, you had the ability to rule Albion that way it should have been and you did so without becoming a tyrant. You kept all of your promises and still managed to save everyone. Think about it for a moment; think about that from my point of view."

The air was still and tense between the two of them until Rose finally broke the silence.

"I did what you were trying to do" She whispered softly "and what you wanted to do"

Logan nodded his head slightly and let go of her wrist, knowing that she finally understood, even if only a little bit, of why he did what he did.

Rose turned away from him, not being able to look at him as her mind processed what she had finally figured out. However, not being a dull one, her mind made more connections and she slumped down into a chair, cradling her head in her hands.

"I will never forgive you for this". She never did.

A knock at the door to her study and Logan walking in. "What is it Logan, I'm busy" A short pause and "Just bringing you the reports of the soldiers, M'lady" before he bowed and left her with the reports.

Just because she was queen, she didn't cease being a Hero, hurrying out of the castle without so much as a good morning to her brother or a good evening when she returned.

Rose took a deep shuttering breath as she realized everything she was blaming Logan for was because of her. She felt her eyes start to water and the tears trailing down her face. She was glad her back was to Logan. She didn't want him to see her and she couldn't even look at him as her mind and heart was spinning with guilt.

It was because of her that he had left. She had made no attempt to show him that she wanted him around, taking him for granted until it was too late. She was always brushing him aside, childishly thinking he would always be there until he wasn't. She put the blame on him because of the hatred she felt, realizing that she wanted her brother only when it was too late.

Rose didn't look up as she heard the chair across from her sliding away, nor when a body sat down in it.

"I'll leave in the morning" She stated, lifting her head up but not looking at him "I understand now"

"You always have a place here, this is after all your house" Logan stated nonchalantly as he leaned back, his arms crossing over his chest again. He knew she had figured something out but he wouldn't press her on the matter. "However, I would like to know who the child is"

Rose snapped her head to him in shock; he didn't know who Olivia was. Everyone knew of the princess. She reminded herself that Logan had only been back in Albion for two years, meaning the buzz of the princess's birth had died down.

"Olivia is..." Rose started.

"Mummy!" a small voice of a child rang out through the house and Rose stopped speaking.

"MUMMY!" The voice yelled again louder than before.

"Coming Love!" Rose yelled over her shoulder.

Rose turned a looked at Logan for a moment before standing up and leaving the kitchen. Logan only stared at her and watched as she walked off. He was in shock despite that he didn't show it.

Rose, his little sister, was a mother.