XII. Epilogue: Two Years Later | armine's Blog

Herr and Frau Barkhausen set out from their home in Pirna one fair spring morning, destination Schloss Esenwein. It had been well over two years since either had stepped foot in the area of Hohnstein; they took a small pack of provisions with them, and walked among chirping birds and brightly-colored flowers blooming everywhere. In addition to the two of them, they also brought along a special gift that they hoped would please Klarissa's father - their main reason for trekking out to the castle in the first place.

For the first year, Klarissa had attempted to correspond with her father through letter-writing; but she was disappointed to only receive response letters from her mother (none of which Klarissa answered). After a year had gone by Klarissa finally received her first letter from Alger, who told her things were improving between himself and Marelda (he'd been given 'privileged time away from the dungeon' several days of the week). Even so, it was still made clear that he was not allowed to leave... and so after some writing back and forth it was decided that Klarissa and Zamiel would visit Alger at the castle. Klarissa was reluctant to do this for quite some time, as she saw going to see him under her mother's thumb as a form of acceptance of her father's unfair situation; but when it became obvious to her that this would be the only way to see him, she decided she would drop in to see him, if only for a few days.

They arrived at the castle entrance, and were immediately ushered in by a lookout guard that had been specially posted to watch for their arrival. They were escorted into the lavish palace sitting room; there they found Alger happily expecting them, and Marelda was waiting there too. Marelda sat a short distance away from Alger and his guests; she knew that Klarissa had made the trip only to see her father and not her. As Klarissa and her husband took seats across from Alger, Marelda was again painfully reminded that establishing a relationship with her daughter would never be easy to do.

Nevertheless, she put her personal feelings aside for the sake of her daughter, took a seat by a window and looked on as the reunion unfolded.

"So what did you bring for me to see?" asked Alger, after the routine polite small talking was out of the way.

"We've brought along something special", replied Klarissa, and lifted the content of the basket she'd toted along for the journey.

Her father stared at the darling little being resting comfortably in Klarissa's arms; and even Marelda's heart swelled with tenderness and pride upon seeing the new little face.

"Who is she?" asked Alger.

"She's your granddaughter", answered Klarissa, turning the infant girl around to face him.

"She looks so much like you did when you were that small", mused Alger, leaning closer to the child and peering into the pretty little face. Klarissa stole a glance at Zamiel, who was looking like the proud papa he'd become.

"We wanted her to be a surprise", said Klarissa.

"And indeed she is!" Alger agreed. "What have you decided to name her?"

Klarissa looked down at the precious little girl she held in her arms, and would always hold in her heart.

"Her name is Zelda", she replied with a little pixie's grin.

...And the band played on.

End of the story.

;)