The Rosewood Prophecy

Chapter 53

                                                                       Katherine

Melanie Elswood gave us the most coherent explanation she could. Even as Martha's sister, she didn't know all the pieces to the story. "Martha did a good job hiding her secrets from me," Melanie smiled bitterly. "I still have questions that I ponder over at night. Martha always wanted to take on everything herself, to spare me the pain. But she didn't know that by doing so, she was hurting me the most..."

According to Melanie, the Wymonds and Hamlyns were ancient bloodlines rumored to have descended from the first kings and queens of Crystallea. The feudal order had long since broken down after centuries of warfare, but the royal descendants were scattered across the land. Christina and Charles's mother, Rose Hamlyn, was an intelligent and resourceful woman. Around the same time the Rosewood Academy sent out its brightest students to take a stand against the Evils, Rose was struggling to stay alive with her family. Even after the war, after the Evils retreated to the edges of Crystallea, Rose knew that they would return one day. She dedicated herself to learning all that she could about them so that when they returned, she would be ready.

Tristan Wymond was a young, adventurous swordsman. He traveled the land, helping the poor, aiding the helpless, and gathering information about Lord Victor's whereabouts. He met Rose on an underground mission and promptly fell in love with her witty remarks and sharp thinking. Together, the couple undertook tasks to uncover as much information about Lord Victor as they could—and had apparently found Lord Victor's greatest weakness within the yellowed pages of ancient scrolls.

"Do you know—?" Aaron asked breathlessly.

Melanie shook her head. "Only Tristan and Rose knew. Their work was entirely lost that fateful night."

Of course, Lord Victor couldn't have people knowing how to defeat him. Tristan and Rose knew this. They planned to move somewhere far away and safe from Lord Victor so that they can continue their work and raise their children. Matthew and Martha, both veterans of battles against Evils, were going to go with them.

But no one expected Lord Victor to get word of their discoveries so quickly. He sent an army in the dead of night to their village with the orders to kill the entire village. This is where Christina's story came in.

"I remember the fire, and the shouting, and the killing," she whispered with haunted eyes. "I saw both Dad and Mom die in front of me. If it weren't for Grandpa and Grandma, I would've died in there too."

Melanie looked at her grandniece sadly. "No one expected Lord Victor to attack so soon. The entire village burned down to the ground. By the time I led reinforcements to the village, the army was long gone."

"You were also a revolutionary?" I inquired. Melanie nodded.

"Back then, nearly everyone was, just in varying degrees of passion. Our father had an entire underground organization dedicated to fighting against Lord Victor, which I led after he retired."

Melanie told us how they only found the bodies of Tristan and Rose in the wreckage, with no signs of the children or Martha and Matthew. That led them to speculate that maybe, just maybe, they got away. Lord Victor wouldn't have taken captives; he would've killed the entire lineage to ensure no one survived.

"It's only been what? Four years? But it felt like decades. Our father, already weak from heartbreak after losing our mother a couple of months before, died of grief after hearing the news. I nearly went along with him. In just a span of few months, I lost both parents and my sister. I was the only one left." Melanie stared off into the distance, her eyes misty as she relived the memories. "I didn't believe that my sister was dead. She was a smart woman, someone who appeared to be nice but will cut your throat if needed. If she was with the children, then they were safe. But as the days dragged on, even I was beginning to lose hope."