As she was carried deeper by the River Of Death, all of the singular memories that made Rowena herself were vanishing, disappearing without a trace into the waters.
She cried out and tried to fight it, unwilling to let go.
No! They were precious parts of her life!
How could they simply take it all away and make it amount to nothing? She struggled helplessly and yet she didn't even have a body to move in at all. There was no way for her to fight it at all.
Rowena started freaking out but the bubbles that left her soul started to increase in number and filled the entire river with a froth of them. Each of them was crystal clear at first but then some of them were colorful and bright and others were dark and mundane.
A happy memory of herself shooting her first game? Gone. A terrible memory of losing something important? It vanished. A senseless memory that showed her eating lunch? Now popped.
And so… the good and the bad disappeared just like that.
Rowena saw more of these bubbles and among them were useless and inane memories too, of a child that wept alone in her room, of a young woman gazed upon by countless gentlemen and the harsh lectures she received.
They didn't matter to her that much because there was only one thing she wanted to hold on.
There!
A beautiful and bright golden bubble appeared and Rowena saw it come closer to her and revealed her one and only love. His handsome visage beamed at her and then popped out of existence.
Countless other bubbles started to evaporate and clear themselves while Rowena concentrated on the image she saw. She was forgetting who she was but that bright and beautiful smile from that stranger seemed to draw her closer.
Rowena gasped.
How could she forget about that handsome stranger?
No? It wasn't a stranger!
Several bubbles appeared and showed more recent memories of a husband and wife together. Of a merry couple that spent each day with one another. She heard her own voice call him by name and his name was Raphael!
If Rowena could have cried out at that moment, she would have done it already.
She loved him.
It wasn't easy to simply wipe these memories away because Raphael was such a huge part of her life. Even as one bubble popped out of existence, another showed the woman another image of Raphael and it reminded her of how much she loved the man.
She didn't want him erased and she tried to capture it with her hands.
Several more bubbles escaped and showed a large hunting boar with freaking tusks, the sound of laughter, of water, and countless more beautiful scenarios that were important parts of herself pulled out mercilessly by the waters.
And then before she knew it… it was finally over.
***
<Twenty three human years ago>
In a lonely and tall dark tower, the cry of a baby was heard all throughout the place. The midwife carefully wrapped the baby in a swaddle and smiled sadly. She took one last look at the mother before the midwife left to deliver the news to their king.
"Your Majesty, congratulations on the birth of your child."
The midwife carefully presented the child to a young and handsome man that stood coldly by the window outside the queen's chamber. King Draco Roseland was once a brave knight that saved a kingdom and became the ruler of the land.
The king tapped impatiently on the window frame and narrowed his eyes, looking out the window. He didn't even spare the midwife a glance. It seemed, the grey mist outside was more interesting than the baby on the midwife's lap.
He said flatly, "My servant, you have failed to inform me of its gender. Is it a boy?"
"…It is a girl, Your Majesty," the midwife replied with a low voice.
So it seemed that King Draco had one daughter. He shook his head. "No need to bring her to me."
"O-of course, Your Majesty." The midwife held on to the baby uncertainly.
"Where is the child's mother?" King Draco asked.
The face of the midwife became saddened. "Her Majesty is…"
She couldn't continue her words. It was such a sad thing to say when a mother didn't survive childbirth. Even though she had seen this happen far too many times, she still couldn't get used to it. Informing the spouse of their wife's death was always a difficult thing to do.
King Draco sighed inwardly and waved a hand. "Assign two nannies to look after the girl and let her occupy the tower of her mother."
Even if the midwife couldn't say the word, King Draco could tell his no-good wife died during childbirth. She died of… broken heart.
Draco would never forgive her for it. With her death, now he was stuck here and could never go back to the elven realm to get that magic closet as he planned.
His jaws clenched when he thought about how he had lost his chance forever. He would never see her again. The woman he loved.
Draco didn't love his wife. He married her because she was an elven princess. She was head over heels for him after she met him that one time and he saved her.
She didn't know his heart was fixated on another woman. A woman he could never reach because he was just a lowly human.
When he proposed, she was over the moon. It was already too late when she realized he was only using her to get closer to the treasure that the elven king stored in his palace. The magic closet.
She was devastated and her health was soon failing rapidly. She couldn't even stay strong for the baby she was carrying in her womb. And now she died.
Just like that.
Such a waste.
King Draco pursed his lips in annoyance.
Not only did she ruin his plans, but she also left behind a daughter. A baggage.
What a nuisance.
Even though the midwife knew that King Draco was frightening and depending on his mood could punish a servant severely, she bravely said. "Her Majesty wasn't able to provide a name for her baby, Your Majesty."
King Draco turned to her and looked at the baby in her arms without an ounce of emotion. Finally, he said, "If it had been a boy, I would have liked to name the child Rowan. I suppose she will be called Rowena."
Rowena Roseland.
That's how she would be called from that day onward.
.
.
_______________________
From Missrealitybits:
Now, we will see the story from Rowena's perspective. What do you think about it so far?
