1771, the sea between Appolonia and Antalya
It was becoming very clear to Rosella that her parents were not coming to get her. She'd been stuck on this island for God knows how long, and so far there had been no signs of ships, or "floating islands" as the peacock - Azure? Azul? She wasn't sure what he'd told her- called them.
And that was another thing. She could understand what the animals were saying to her. Not like it had been back home, where she just liked animals. Absent-mindedly, she hoped her pet canary was being fed still. Quite honestly, she couldn't remember its name anymore.
She was remembering less and less from her old life. Occasionally she would wake up from a dream about home, and wondered whether something like that had actually ever happened.
Like right now, in fact, she was remembering a ball given in honour of her mother's churching after her brother Peter was born. What was his name anyway?
She jumped down from her spot in the tree house, grabbed a stick and began to write her list in the sand again.
My nam iz Rosella. I am 6 yearz old.
"Am I even six anymore? I have to be, no one here has said happy birthday."
I hav 5 bruthers and sisters. Maman has a babie in her stumak. Geny and Derek r twins. Pierre -that was his name!-, then Dominique, then Henri. I picked out the new babies name.
She stopped. That was all she could remember. The letters didn't look right, but she barely remembered her lessons anymore.
"Ro? Why are you awake?" It was Sagi, the only one of her companions who showed her any kindness, or addressed her by name.
"Couldn't sleep. I'm trying to remember everything. Do you know anything else about me? Is my family looking for me?"
"You came from the sea, with bits of broken trees all around you. Just like the rest of us. I was a prisoner of a sort, perhaps you are too."
She shook her head. She may not remember her full name, but she knew she was no common prisoner.
"I'm very important where I come from, like Azul is."
He nodded.
"Then I don't know, Ro. I'm sorry. We don't know where our families are either."
She looked down at the scratchy words in the sand. Fat load of good they were doing her. With a deep breath, she swiped sand around with her foot, erasing her writing. Finally, she took the stick and tossed it angrily into the darkness. It landed in the ocean with a splash.
Wiping the last of her tears away, she said,
"Let's make our own family then."
Palladia, 1776
Anneliese thought that the hardest part about Rosella's death was seeing her other children grow up, older than she ever got the chance to.
The twins had just reached twelve, Pierre ten, Dominique nine, Henri at eight, and Erik at seven.
Isabella was the only one who hadn't totally outlived Rosella, and it was almost as though she was an echo of her. It was remarkable how much one could resemble a sister they never knew, both in looks and temperament. She seemed to be able to forget most easily that she had an older sister she never knew. In her five year old mind, Genevieve was her oldest sister.
Genevieve took it the hardest, she thought. For one thing, she and Rosella weren't even a year apart in age, took all of their lessons together, and slept in the same bed when one of them had nightmares. She also "gained" the most from Rosella's death. She became the Dauphine of Palladia, Albemont was merged with Surac, making her the highest ranked woman in the country after her mother. She carried all these assets with guilt, Anneliese noticed, as though it didn't seem right to get anything that had been Rosella's first.
Gen, who was usually the picture of royal composure, had burst into tears when an Apollonian ambassador suggested promising her to Prince Antonio so that their two kingdoms could still unite, not even a year after Rosella's death. When they'd refused, he'd asked about Dominique and Isabella (she really hated King Peter).
Derek was a little better, but not much. While he once played in rivers and lakes almost every day, he now hyperventilated every time he had to take a bath, insisting on having two extra manservants in the room in case he almost drowned.
Pierre, Dominique, and Henri seemed trapped between guilt that they did not miss her enough, and anger that they couldn't remember their older sister.
Erik only knew her through stories, telling his nurse before he went to sleep every night to, "tell me a story about my sister". He knew all of her good and none of her flaws, and he almost liked it better that way. To him, Rosella was a guardian angel who made him invincible.
No, contrary to what Rosella thought, her family did miss her terribly. They just, like her, had given up hope.