Rosalie's Kingdom {OLD VERSION- INCOMPLETE}

Chapter 27

"No."

Rosalie's face fell as she heard Twila's answer. "But-!"

"Absolutely not, Rosalie," Twila said sternly. They were sitting on her bed when Ro asked about visiting the nearby town. "You've been attacked twice in the past month. I won't be able to protect you as well as I need to in such a large town. Not to mention the common criminals that enjoy preying on visitors."

"Twila, please. I'm skilled enough to take on demons. A petty criminal is nothing to me," the girl reasoned.

"No."

Ro sighed and flopped onto her bed. "This isn't fair and you know it," Ro grumbled.

Twila scoffed. "Compromising your level of safety isn't fair." Ro sighed again and rolled over, turning her back to the cat with a huff. "Rosalie, please." She stayed silent. Twila stepped over to put her face close to Ro's. The girl huffed once more and rolled over again. "Really, are you going to be like this?" the cat said with a sigh, getting no response. "Gaius is going to turn me into a hat," she grumbled. "Oh, alright."

Ro rolled over with a goofy smile on her face. "Thank you Twila!" she said cheerfully. Twila narrowed her eyes, tucking her tail neatly over her front paws.

"But there will be rules." Ro nodded. "You won't leave Corvin's side the entire night."

"That's going to be a hard one to follow," she replied sarcastically.

"I'm not finished, you daft girl. I'll be following you in the shadows. The second I think the situation becomes dangerous, you will leave. No complaining, no moping, no arguing." Ro frowned slightly, but nodded anyway. Twila sighed. "I might think of something else, but for now, that's it."

"Yes!" she cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

Twila rolled her eyes at the enthusiastic response, but smiled anyway. "You're welcome, young one. Now go to sleep!" she snapped, getting comfortable once more on her pillow. "Goodnight."

"'Night, Twila!"

ε

Rosalie knew a large grin was plastered on her face, but she couldn't help it as she practically skipped into her first class of the day. Alicia and Elwood, who were sitting in their normal seats, gave her strange looks. Twila sighed, hanging on for dear life onto Ro's shoulders.

She plopped her bag down and took out a book, ignoring the snickers coming from the table two rows away from them. "She's still letting that mangy cat on her shoulders," one girl whispered loudly. "Why does she do that, anyway? And that stupid smile she has. I wonder who could make our stone faced princess smile like that..."

"Lord Corvin, duh! They're totally an item," another replied, not bothering to hide the fact that they were gossiping. "I saw them at the Peace Day Ball. They could hardly keep their hands off." That brought another round of snickers and a blush to Ro's face. She tried not to listen, but they still had another three minutes until the bell rang. "Stephan said he saw them walking around at midnight last night. Alone."

"I guess our princess isn't as virtuous as she acts," a third girl hissed. Ro's grin faded.

"Back to that weird cat," the first girl said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I asked my dad if he could talk to Headmaster Karnbauch about letting me bring my dog. I mean, if the princess gets her cat, why can't the other students bring their own pets? It's such a ratty cat, too. Too bad she doesn't have as good a taste in pets as she does in men."