The melody escaping the violin flooded the hallway. The closer Rosalind came to Troy's chamber, the sweeter the sound got. Before she could raise her hand to knock on the door, it opened and welcomed her inside with a gentle light filling the room.

Stepping inside, she saw the room was filled with candles. Some on tall candle-holders, some on tables, yet many were on the floor as if the chance of burning down the manor never occurred to Troy.

The music came to a gradual end, leaving her with a welcomed shiver. In the pale orange light, the room felt cosy. Though, when Rosalind looked around to find Troy, she could not see him. What she did see was his violin resting in the opened case. She found it odd that master and instrument were not together for the song that had led her inside ended a few seconds ago.

Furrowing her brows, Rosalind stepped deeper into the room and called for the red-haired lord. "Troy?"

From the adjacent bathing area, Troy emerged clad in nothing but his plum robe. The raspberry trim came into deep contrast with his copper hair. "Rosalind." He smiled as he tightened the belt around his narrow hips. "You are always welcome here."

Clasping her hands in front of her, she tried to smile. "I felt the need to come."

Troy noticed her smile did not reach her eyes. Furrowing his brows, he addressed her, "Has anything happened?"

As he stepped closer to her, she pointed to the violin and spoke, yet ignored his query. "I heard you play."

Standing nearly toe to toe, Troy frowned. "I have not played all day." He hooked his finger under her chin and tilted her head up. "Something has happened, has it not?"

Her mind felt shattered. In the shards, Caspian's face reflected. "No..." Rosalind lied. "I think I just needed to be with you... to speak with someone who I feel as an anchor in this storm."

Troy lowered his hand but when he did, Rosalind reached for it and brought it to her cheek.

"I am and always will be here when you need me," he said and softly caressed her.

Troy's touch was feathers upon her skin. Briefly closing her eyes, Rosalind felt the son but saw the father. "I do need you," she whispered. Yet is it for the right reason? She pursed her lips and winced. I am a monster! I should not be running from one to the other. It is not right! Troy does not deserve this. Caspian does not deserve it! Good God above, neither do I... do I? Opening her eyes, they glistened with unshed tears.

"No one hurt you, did they?" Troy asked gingerly. When Rosalind shook her head he sighed. "Good."

Bowing her head into the softness of the robe, Rosalind wondered why she should not just stay in her room until it was time for her to go. Because you want them both! Her mind screamed. You cannot stand it if you are not with one or another! "Maybe I should leave," she said sadly as she looked up at him. "You were about to bathe."

Troy gave her a crooked smile. "You saw me bathe before. I will not mind if you stay again."

Rosalind blushed and giggled. His beautiful soul was a balm on every wound Caspian inflicted.

"Will you join me?" he asked and extended his hand to her.

Rosalind's brows jerked up and she chuckled. "In the bathtu –?"

Troy gave her hand a gentle tug and interrupted her. "In the room. You do not have to bathe with me."

On his lips was an impish smile, one Rosalind could not help but adore. "You want me in the tub with you, do you not?" she asked as he began to walk backward, pulling her by her hands.

"I do, but..." Troy stopped when they entered the bathing room and neared the tub. "we would not both fit." He gave her a wink and began to unfasten his belt.

Feeling giddy and briefly forgetting about Caspian, Rosalind brought her hands to her eyes with a squeal and covered them. "I cannot!"

"Are you certain?" Leaning into the crook of her neck, Troy brushed his lips along her skin, upwards until he found her ear. "One peek?" When he flicked his tongue along her earlobe, Rosalind squeaked.

She parted her fingers and peeked through them just in time to see Troy step back and drop the belt.

He smiled at her as she opened the part between her fingers wider. Troy slowly pulled open his robe and let it drop on the floor.

Rosalind's gaze slid all the way from his eyes to his feet which made the young lord suddenly feel shy as he felt something twitch south of his navel. Before his body gave him away, he slid into the steaming water of the bathtub.

Rosalind knelt by the tub and rested her arms on the edge. The heat was divine. It seeped under her clothes and tickled her skin. "It is very hot here."

Troy leaned his head next to her arms and playfully tugged at her sleeve. "You wear too many pieces of clothing to be comfortable in a bathing chamber."

When she laughed, Rosalind realized it was the most she had done in a very long time. Where Caspian made her feel like explosions were occurring inside her, Troy made her feel as though she was coming home. "I am, am I not?" she said looking at his sleeve-tugging fingers. "Alas, if I were to disrobe, I would catch a cold sitting here in the altogether."

The water made delicate rippling sounds as Troy moved closer to her. "You could share my tub."

"I thought you said there was not enough room for two," she said and splashed his face with a handful of water.

"My lady!" Troy sputtered and turned down his lower lip. Droplets clinging onto his auburn hair like diamonds. "That is unfair."

Rosalind gasped at his pout. Believing she upset him, she was all apologies. "I am truly sorry, Tro –" Before she could finish her words, she felt a splash of water come clear across her face. Water rushed from her hair onto her chest. It was not a delicate splash as she had given, this was calls for revenge! "Now you have done it!" With a giggle, Rosalind dipped both hands into the tub and hurled the water into Troy's eyes leaving him sputtering and coughing from a mouthful he had just swallowed.

When he was able to breathe again, he pushed wet strands of hair out of his eyes and looked at her open-mouthed. "I declare war," he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Before Rosalind could do more than yelp, she was seized by the wrists and pulled into the bath. Buckets of water rushed out the sides of the tub and splashed into the floor sending the surrounding candles sizzling as they went out.

The pair fell back in a tangle of limbs and hair, sputtering and laughing. Rosalind tried to wriggle up when she noticed Troy's head had gone underwater, but her gown made the task difficult. When she tried to grab onto the sides of the tub she slipped and fell back down over him. Panic came over her when she realized Troy's eyes were closed and his head was still under the water. "Troy!" she yowled. When she managed to hoist herself up partially, she cupped her hand around the back of his head and lifted it over the surface. "Troy? Are you alright?"

The young lord remained silent and still which set Rosalind off into a deeper upset. Shaking him, she called out his name over and again until she felt tears sting her eyes. "Troy, please wake up. Dear God!"

Slowly, one eye opened, followed by another. She noticed how warm and comforting they were. "Boo," he said with a chuckle.

"You bastard," Rosalind hissed realizing he was teasing her. "You scared me half to death." Angrily, she struggled to get out of the tub but Troy pulled her back.

"I am so sorry..." he whispered. remorsefully "I thought you would laugh."

She wanted to smack him, yell at him. Tell him how foolish he had been. But all she could do was toss her arms around his neck and hold him as if she were holding onto a life-raft. "I do not want you to die," her voice cracked and hot tears spilled down her face.

Troy wriggled to his knees. He hooked his arms under her and lifted her out of the tub. "I cannot die," he uttered sadly, "not now, not ever." Setting her on the ground, Troy reached for his robe and handed it to her. "I will be waiting outside," he said almost inaudibly, leaving Rosalind alone.

She wiped her tears away and wrung out her hair. Images of Troy's lifeless face flashed before her as she stepped out of her clothes and into his warm robe. Her heart felt as if someone had tried to slice it open. He is not a distraction from Caspian. Good God... I want them both so very much.

Rosalind tied the belt and made a bow. On her, the robe was too big and it trailed behind like a wedding gown. Entering Troy's bedroom, she saw him sitting on his bed, his lower body wrapped in a white wolf's hide and his head in his hands.

When she touched his arm he let out a small cry. "It is alright. You were not trying to scare me like that. You were just being..."

"A fool," he said, finishing the sentence for her.

She shook her head and sat by him. "No. You are not." Turning to him, she placed her hand on his cheek. "I just realized how much I care about you. That is why I was frightened. You have become a part of me I do not want to let go, and yet in a few days I must return home."

Troy leaned into her touch yet his eyes were downcast. "Tell me about your home."

Thinking of her father, brothers, and the house staff was bittersweet. Rosalind spoke of her family, how the men treated her like a princess, fearing for her safety. "They have forgotten, I have grown up and can take care of myself," Rosalind told Troy about the staff, especially about Clairie who she was close to. "She has been my dearest companion." Even though the two young women came from very different backgrounds, their love for each other was pure and honest.

"Have you a lover?" Troy asked shyly. "Someone who has stolen your heart?"

Rosalind smiled when she thought of Stefan. He had never been her lover, not in the way many people would say defines lovers. But they had been close...more than once. "My heart has been stolen," she began. When she pauses she saw Troy bite his lip. "And it will remain in this house for a very long time." She cupped his face and felt emotions rip through her, some painfully, some wonderfully. It was not long before that she had longed for Caspian, now, feeling this closeness with Troy she knew was just as dangerous. When Troy gave her a small smile she asked, "Tell me about your mother."

It was then that Troy told Rosalind what happened the night the curse was brought to their house. How his mother lay in a glass coffin. How his father mourned her every second of the day. "He often reminds me that it should have been me taken and her spared. It would have been better that way for all of us." Sorrow flooded his words. "I believe Agnes was left behind to keep him from tearing me apart. I also believe I was spared to be a reminder to him of what he lost. He never loved me, he never will. I used to wish he would, now all I want it to break free from him. But we are bound to this house for eternity."

Rosalind listened intently. Troy's story was one made of nightmares. There was no one who would ever be able to save him. Her heart wept for him like a lost child trying to find sanctuary in a gloomy corner where salvation would only be met with more sorrow. Placing her hand on his arm, she stroked him in a comforting manner. Her eyes drifted to the welts on his back, marks that would stay with him till Kingdom Come. A reminded that he was hated by his father. Without a word, she wriggled onto the bed and came up behind him. "I am glad you were spared," she uttered. "My heart cries for yours." Rosalind leaned into his back and kissed him. She ran her fingertips along his scars and felt him shudder under her touch.

"And mine cries for yours," Troy admitted. He arched into her touch; desperate and longing.

When she slipped her arms around his waist, Troy took her by the wrist and led her hands under the wolf's hide. "I need you," he pleaded.

She felt him under the blanket, warm and waiting.

As she slipped her hands around him, Troy bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. He licked the coppery blood off as it spread over his mouth. He felt his ribcage threatening to crack, his heart longed to escape. Nothing in the world now mattered but her. The way she pleasured him made him want to cry. When Rosalind kissed that spot where shoulder meets neck, Troy grabbed her hands and stopped her. He turned to face her, the wolf's hide threatening to expose every bit of him. "I want to look at you," he said softly.

Rosalind nodded. She pulled the cover off him fully and heard him hold his breath. As she slid her hand back around him, he tensed. "Does it not feel good?"

Troy closed his eyes and said, "It feels too good." 

Rosalind purposely slowed the movement of her hand. With a small smile, she watched as he winced and squeezed his eyes even tighter. Before speaking, she ran the ball of her finger over his tip, smearing precum over it, "This?"

"Are you teasing me?"

Rosalind replied, "I am."

"I love it," he admitted breathlessly.

She alternated between her slow motions and quicker thrusts, reveling in the way he would bite his lip then cry out.

"Look at me," she commanded after he had failed to reopen his eyes.

Long auburn lashes fluttered open as Troy did as he was asked to do.

The collar of the robe had slipped over Rosalind's left shoulder exposing alabaster flesh. When Troy leaned in to kiss her neck, she thought of the way Caspian had grazed his teeth over her skin. She had begged him to bite her. "Do that again, but harder." Rosalind suppressed a sound, something between a cry and a moan. In her mind's eye, Caspian came to her with his glacier-blue eyes and slipped into the core of her existence. For a wondrous moment in time, it had just been her and Troy in the world. But as Troy cried out and came into her hand, the thought of Caspian ravished her thoughts, like a hammer upon a mirror, and destroyed everything.