The Lion Princess

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When Reanna returned to her room that night and nothing bad happened, she assumed that maybe she had gotten away with everything. It really might have been an animal and Aurelius had just misheard. Maybe it was a person and they just thought they had stumbled upon two secret lovers and ran off without recognizing their princess.

She should have known better.

When she opened her eyes that morning - after sleeping for a decent amount of time - she jumped and froze. Her eyes were the only things that moved as she looked around. Nat was on her left, looking down at her. Larissa was on her right, looking down at her. Andromeda had climbed up onto the food of her bed and was looking down at her. All three of them had wicked grins on their faces.

"Good morning, Rae," Larissa beamed.

"Sleep well?" Andromeda asked sweetly.

"Well enough to not notice you climbing onto my bed," Reanna said neutrally, sitting up. Her sisters leaned in closer.

"I suppose it's easier to fall asleep when you stay out all night," Nat smirked.

"Again," Larissa snickered.

"For the fourth night in a row," Andromeda added.

Reanna's mouth shut. She was saying nothing. She had given her word. But her lack of admission was an admission in and of itself.

All three of her sisters squealed as they jumped into her bed with her. A hailstorm of questions began falling over her head as they all spoke over each other trying to get their question heard and answered first. It was such a cacophony that Reanna couldn't even distinguish a single word, though the looks on their faces was enough.

"Hold on, hold on!" Nat finally said over the other two, holding out her hands to get their attention so she could silence them. "One question at a time. Rae, who was he?"

Larissa and Andromeda nodded in agreement. All three of them leaned forward eagerly. Reanna just kind of looked between their faces for a moment. They all appeared as though they were waiting for her to unload a whole host of dirty secrets onto them.

Which she would, but...

"He's just a friend," she said at last, hoping that didn't sound as lame as she knew it did. Even she could see through that excuse.

"A friend you were about to kiss?" Larissa smirked, leaning closer. "Hmm...? Come on, tell the truth. Who is he?"

"He's a friend," Reanna repeated, more firmly. It wasn't like it was untrue. That was what they both agreed he was just last night.

"A friend you sneak off to meet in the middle of the night? While he's naked?" Andromeda grinned.

"He was half naked..."

"A friend you try to kiss? A friend that you stay out all night long for?"

"Wait a minute. Did you two let Andy go out into the Black Woods? At night?!"

"Of course not!" Larissa frowned. "What kind of sisters do you think we are?"

"Don't change the subject," Nat grinned, sitting down next to her. "Who was he? What was his name? How did you meet him?"

"Can I get up?" Reanna asked, deliberately not answering.

Larissa gave her a look but stood from the bed so Reanna could swing her feet over the edge. She still kept her silence as she ran her fingers through her hair, attempting to straighten it slightly. It still smelled like the forest.