Rosalie's Kingdom {OLD VERSION- INCOMPLETE}

Chapter 13

"I love it," she said, wiping a tear from her face. Ro brought them both into a bear hug. Lilith chuckled and patted her back, just as Corvin did the same. She pulled away.

"Well, I walked you to your dorm. I assume loverboy here can help you unpack," Lilith said with a wink. Ro blushed and tried to say something, but was stopped by her friend. "No, really. I didn't think it'd take this long just to get you here, and I had an appointment anyway."

"An appointment?" Corvin asked, clearly not used to Lilith's codewords. Ro shook her head, still blushing. He shrugged.

Ro gave Lilith one last hug. "Okay, but come back later, alright? Unless you're still having your, uh, appointment." Lilith laughed and left after another round of goodbyes, shutting the door behind her.

She flopped onto the couch, letting her cast float things away to their proper place. Corvin sat next to her, letting her lean on him. "We find ourselves like this a lot, don't we?" he commented. She laughed and curled up next to him.

"Yea," she replied. "Now that I think about it, we do. You're just really good for leaning on." They both laughed. Outside, they could hear people in the yard going about their business. The summer breeze ruffled the leaves of trees planted in a border surrounding the main green area. Sitting in a comfortable silence, they watched as Ro floated the last of her stuff away. She sighed and got up. "As nice as it is up here, I should probably work on dinner."

"It's only two o'clock," he said. "Why would you start so early?"

"Well, as delicious as gołąbki is, it takes about an hour to prepare everything and another two hours to cook all the way," she explained. "It's a Polish dish, and totally worth the effort." He shrugged and got up as well.

"I guess I'll help you," he said. "I know enough about cooking to make sure you don't burn down the school grounds," he teased.

ε

Three hours later, the other rankers had assembled in the dining room, waiting for the food to come out. "I had my doubts, but that smells delicious," commented Elwood. Alicia nodded, excited for what was coming.

"Alright, here it comes!" came Ro's voice. Her and Corvin pushed open the door from the kitchen holding four trays each. They set them down along the middle of the table, along with two bowls of tomato sauce.

Alicia's face fell. "Uh, what is this?" she pointed disdainfully at the rolls.

"Ground beef and rice stuffed cabbage rolls covered with tomato sauce," Ro said. "Gołąbki, also known as my favorite dish in the world." Everyone else looked at each other, skeptical of her claims. Elwood shrugged and piled on six rolls to his plate, dumping more sauce on top.

Taking a bite, he gasped. His eyes went wide and looked at Ro in disbelief. "This. This is amazing." She smiled at his reaction and took some for herself.

The others gave up and dug in reluctantly. Rosalie couldn't help but laugh at their differing levels of shock once they ate some. "And here I was thinking you weren't gonna be able to cook," said Elwood, not bothering to swallow before speaking. Byron nodded along with his friend.

"I didn't expect it to be eatable," said Vida, probably meaning it as a compliment. Ro smiled and began eating.

Once everyone's plates were clear and hardly any rolls were left, Diedra smiled and stood up to address the group. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that was delicious," she started. Murmured agreement went around the table. She turned to Rosalie. "Rosalie, it is an honor to have one as skilled as yourself counted among our ranks. Welcome to the top."