From Marley, with Love.

Chapter 7: Last goodbye

"A Farewell"

Dear Sir,

I know that this is an odd letter, coming from an Eldian and an orphan of a traitor to the state. But before you ship off to the east on your mission, I would like to thank you for your courteous behaviour towards me and my family. I wish you good health and safe travels in the far away regions of our state."

Kind regards,

Rosanna Bauer

A letter to officer Karrman

It was past midnight, mid-July. Rosanna was leaned over on her desk, her forehead resting in a medical science book. Her fingers covered in ink. On her lap there rested a finished letter, still in need of an envelope and stamp. But she questioned posting it at all, it would be odd for the receiver to receive her letter specifically. She groaned and leaned her head on her arms, she felt her stomach growl. She sighed, "I stayed awake too long..." She mumbled. She stretched, her joints popping painfully. She got up from her chair and desk and stretched again. Touching her toes with her fingers, before twisting her neck and shoulders to pop the joints. She stood in the middle of her room, debating with herself if she would make a midnight snack. She searched for her slippers, spotting them underneath her window sill. She walked over to the window, stooping to get the slippers and then getting up again to peer through the curtains at the main road outside. It was terrifyingly quiet, only the shadows of stray dogs were projected on the wall opposite of Rosanna's house. "Yeah." She thought to herself as she put on her slippers, "I need a snack."

The young girl scuffed down the steps, hearing a soft whine come from beside the stairs. Dozer had heard her and had woken up. "Hey, sweetie." Rosanna whispered, scratching the dog's ears. She continued to the kitchen, lighting a candle and looking around for something good. Her eyes fell on a basket with fruit, she hummed and grabbed an apple. Spinning it around in her hand, looking for rotting spots. When the apple was proclaimed edible, Rosanna took a big bite. She hummed at the taste, fresh sweetness washing over her tongue. She scouted the kitchen a little longer, the apple stuck in her mouth like a suckling pig. She came onto a pile of milk bread rolls, she picked two and walked out of the kitchen. Feeding Dozer, a piece of the mellow sweet bread. The old pointer whined as his owner walked back up the steps to her room. Rosanna threw herself onto her cot and kept eating her apple and bread rolls. She looked at books on her desk, she sighed. She could see the endless pages of anatomy, cures and solutions drift in front of her eyes. It all was too much to memorize at the moment, besides, she had to remember the Eldian history as well. She had a report to write for the programme tomorrow. "Fall of Lago..." she whispered to herself, she rubbed her eyes, before falling asleep. The apple falling onto the ground with a thud, the two bread rolls lay next to her pillow, untouched.

"It is quite absurd for her to not know the history by heart." Rosanna heard as she walked down the hall of the Marleyan headquarters. "It is odd, a student with such potential... and yet she shows so little atonement over the sins of her ancestors." An officer says to his friend, "I don't expect anything else from the orphan of a traitor." Rosanna looked up at the men who audibly talked about her, they glared down at her. Their eyes made invisible by what seemed to be a dark veil. Rosanna gulped and continued walking, the hallway she walked in seemed to only become longer... and darker. "I am... going to die down here." Rosanna thought to herself. As she walked, her eyes downcast, she saw the leather boots of Marleyan soldiers. All looking down at her, whispering about her. She cringed when she felt painful stings around her head. She raised her hand to feel what had been put on her head, they were thorns. Digging into her tender skin, sending drops of blood down her face. She was crowned like a doomed king, send off to a painful and slow death.