The Tangle of Blood

Chapter Nine: The New Guard

Rowena buried her face in her pillow and muffled out, "Make it stop!" Rosalyn jolted awake at the sound of a bell ringing somewhere from within the west wing.

Rosalyn jumped up and donned a robe to find the source of the noise. She met Alex in their common room. The room was dark, the only light coming from the dying fire in the hearth.

"What's going on?" Rosalyn asked.

"No idea. I will check it out." Alex unlocked their door and entered the hall.

Sleepily Rosalyn walked to the sofa and stared into the embers, wrapping her robe tighter around herself.

"Well," Alex said as he reentered the room, "time for drill." He flashed a grin at her.

"What?" she asked groggily. "What does that even mean?"

"It means," he lifted his eyebrows in amusement, "go get dressed, maggot." He laughed and disappeared into his room.

Rosalyn rolled her head back and closed her eyes. With a yawn, she rose and walked back to their bedroom. "Rowena will love this."

"Up and at it, sister." Rosalyn perused the outfit laid out for her in the night by a stealthy Beatrice. She smiled back at Rowena's snarling face, "Apparently, we have drill."

"No way." She threw the covers back over her head.

Rosalyn just shook her head. She stripped off her shorts and tank and studied the outfit. "Hmm, where to start?"

From under her heap of blankets, Rowena huffed, before throwing them off to glare at Rosalyn.

"Good morning, Sunshine."

Rowena grunted.

Rosalyn laughed and slid on the pants. "Geez, these are tight." She wiggled around and squatted and was surprised at the stretch of the thick, tan material.

She looked back down at the heap of clothes. She put on the socks and pulled them up over her pants. "Well, this looks semi-normal." She picked up the cream colored cotton long-sleeved shirt and slid it over her head.

Finding the boots under the settee, she put them on. They laced up nearly to her knees. The last article was made of thick leather. Holding it up, she realized it was a corseted vest. With difficulty she pulled it over her head. Unlike the pants, the leather had no give, and she realized it was a protective layer.

Rowena walked back in from the bathroom and laughed loudly. "This aesthetic, though."

"Shut up, and lace me up." She held her hair out of the way while Rowena laced her up. She stared into the mirror. The vest had a high neckline and was tight to her waist where it flared down to her hip.

"All done. You missed these." Rowena picked up two more stiff leather articles and tossed them to her.

"What are they?" She turned them over in her hands.

"I don't know. Maybe cuffs?"

Rosalyn slid them over her hands. "Ahhh."

"I'm not going to lie, Roz. You're looking like a baddie right now."

She laughed, "I know, right? We will see how long that last. Now, come on. Let's get you dressed."

They walked across the hall to see if Astrid needed any help. After lacing her up they checked in with Layla, who was struggling in the mirror. Her long red hair was split into two French braids.