"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."
The ranker turned away, trying to tune it out and get lost in her book. "And do you know what the headmaster said?" the girl continued. "That the scraggly flea bag is one of her guardians," she scoffed. Ro could feel Twila tense on her shoulders. The cat's tail was flicking angrily and hitting Elwood in the face. "How could a cat, especially one like that, guard our future queen? It's ridiculous."
Professor Roman, who the girls didn't notice standing in front of their desk, cleared his throat. "Miss MacNamara. Miss Ethel. Miss Noel. I don't suppose you're talking ill of Twila, are you?" he said. His hands were relaxed in his front pockets, and he sported a frightening smile.
'Miss MacNamara', the first girl, cocked an eyebrow at him. "Uh, who?"
"Miss Celesté, Twila, will you two come here for a moment?"
Rosalie stood, making sure Twila didn't fall off her shoulders, and made her way to the table. Twila landed on the table in front of the girls and sat proudly with her nose turned up slightly, as if she were looking down at the girls. "Hello, ladies," Twila said. The three girls looked shocked as Twila spoke.
"Now, I'm sure this has been a misunderstanding," Professor Roman said. "Twila, if you will explain what you're doing here with Miss Celesté."
Twila smiled at him and nodded. "It'd be my pleasure." She turned back to the awestruck girls. Ro noticed the rest of the class falling silent to watch. "Well, I am a protector. Obviously most or all of you haven't heard of what I am, and I am here to set the record straight," she started. "I am one of twelve cats in the service of the crowns, including those of the Fae. We do various things, one of which is protecting heirs to the throne.
"We are akin to your group of elite knights. The hardest jobs are what I do on a daily basis. Protectors do what the knights and Fae honor guard cannot." A boy in the front raised his hand like it was a normal lecture. Twila fixed her cool green eyes on him. "Yes, young one?"
He shuffled around in his seat at her intense gaze. "Uh, what can't the knights and Fae guard do? And why did you call me young one?"
Twila chuckled darkly. "To answer your first question: I hope you never find out." The boy shrunk back at her answer. "And I call most people 'young one' because, to me, you are young."
Another hand was raised. "But you're a cat. Since you couldn't be older than any of us, but I guess there's something else to do with it," the girl sitting next to him asked. Twila laughed heartily at that.
"I am four hundred and seventeen years old." She was rewarded with gasps and shocked faces. "I know; I look quite good for my age." Twila glanced back at the professor. "Do you think that would be enough for them to stop calling me a 'mangy flea bag'?" she asked, giving the three girls a predatory smile.
"Twila! Do the thing!" Alicia called out.
"Yea! The thing where you turn and do the other thing!" Elwood agreed.
Twila sighed and jumped down to the front of the classroom. She glared up at the expectant students. "I'm only going to do this once, so watch carefully," she said. A dark blue ring of fire opened up in front of her. She stepped through, changing into her natural form and bringing another round of gasps from the attentive class.
Elwood and Alicia cheered in the back of the room, causing Twila to roll her eyes. "Quiet down, you two," she snapped at them. "This, dear children, is my natural form and the body I was born in. Before you ask, I stay in my smaller form most of the time because it's easier to be in public," she said cooly. "Charles, I believe the bell will ring in a moment. You may have your class back."
Professor Roman chuckled. "I'd say you can keep them, but I like having a job. Now," he said clapping his hands together. "You've been graced with an explanation of the fearless protectors. I hope you all appreciate what Twila has shared. Now hand up your assignments from last week." The class groaned. "What, you didn't think I'd forget about it, did you?" Twila and Rosalie returned to her table once the cat went back to her smaller form.
"Nice one, Twi," Alicia praised.
"Thank you, young one, but please pay attention to your teacher," Twila responded, going back to drape herself over Ro's shoulders. Elwood snickered while Alicia muttered something about a wet blanket.
ε
The rest of Rosalie's classes moved in a blur. She was too excited to care much about the work; it didn't matter much to her teachers, since she did so much work anyway, and they let it slide for the day. She met up with Lilith for lunch that day in the dining hall. They had worked out an agreement when Ro first joined the rankers that she would eat lunch with Lilith three out of the five days of school they had.
Lilith snapped her fingers in front of Rosalie's face. "Girl, snap out of it," she grouched. "Lunch is halfway over and you've barely said a word to me." Ro gave her friend a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, Lil." She glanced around to see if anyone was listening, and leaned in. "I'm going on a date into town after classes end today," she said quietly. Her friend's eyes went wide with an ecstatic smile.
"My little rosebud is going on a date!" Lilith yelled. Ro sighed and tried to hide her face when most of the dining hall quieted to look at the two girls, which Lilith ignored. "I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner!"
"Lilith," Ro hissed.
"Who's it with? Is he cute?" She continued to ramble.
"Lil."
"Is he even a he? If it isn't that's totally okay, as long as you're happy."
"Lilith!"
"Where are you guys planning on-"
"Lilith!" Ro yelled.
"You don't need to yell, rosebud."
Ro sighed again, trying to hold back her temper. The other students in the dining hall tried to go back to what they were doing, but many still listened in. By the gods, I have no privacy here. She let out a deep breath. "I'm going with Corvin to-"
"You're going on a date with Corvin?" Lilith asked loudly. More heads turned to the two when she said it. Ro blushed, trying to salvage the situation, but Lilith cut her off. "Of course, you two are practically glued to each other half the time, always being lovey and making cute faces at each other," she rambled. "You two are so in love that cupid got jealous. Hell, even I'm-"
"Oh for fucks sake, Lilith! Let me speak," Ro cried, immediately regretting saying it loudly. There were a few gasps from the princess's strong language, causing her to groan and drop her head to the table. "You're ridiculo-"
"My little rosebud is swearing like a sailor, too! Oh, they grow up so fast," Lilith said, wiping a nonexistent tear from her eye and clasping her hands in front of her. She leaned down close to Ro's head. "How about we go back to my room and talk about this in private?" Lifting her head again, she glared around the near-silent dining hall. "What are you looking at?" she snapped.
The students turned around, not wanting to get on the wrong side of Lilith the Lion. The two girls stood up and made their way to the girls dorm with Twila following close behind. Once they were safely inside Lilith's room, the ranker collapsed on the extra bed to shove her face in a pillow. "I swear to god, Lilith, if someone ruins me and Corvin's date tonight, I'm going to come back here and smother you," she grumbled into the pillow.
Lilith laughed and sat next to her on the bed, patting Ro's back. "Sorry, rosebud, but I couldn't pass up the chance to tease you," she said. "So...give me the hot gos', girly." Ro sat up laughing.
"Never say that ever again," she laughed. "You sound like a mom trying to use 'hip lingo' like the kids these days. It's so terrible."
"Fine, but spill the beans, princess," Lilith said, rolling her eyes and flipping her flaming red hair over her shoulder.
"Since you asked so nicely." Lilith smirked. "Last night Corvin and I, well..."
Lilith's eyes went wide. "Oh my god you guys did the frickle frackle."
"What?" Ro screeched. "No! By the gods, no! We got into fight!"
"Oh."
Ro cocked an incredulous eyebrow. "'Oh'?" she parroted. "Is that it?" Lilith shrugged.
"I'm just a little disappointed is all," she answered. "You two desperately need to get laid."
"What?!" Ro screeched again.
Twila hissed and lifted her head. "It would be nice if you'd stop that infernal screeching, Rosalie. You're a princess, not a bird," she said, flicking her tail in irritation.
"Sorry Twila," the two girls chorused before falling into a fit of giggles.
"Seriously though," Lilith said, placing a hand on Ro's shoulder. "You need to get laid. Bad. Corvin does, too." She held a finger to Ro's lips to keep her from speaking. "Ah ah ah. You're both so uptight and stressed that it would be some much needed relief." Ro could feel her face getting hot at what Lilith was implying.
She brushed the hand off her shoulder. "Uh, thanks, but no thanks, Lil. I'm just going to pretend we didn't talk about this and try to tell you what's going on."
"She's not wrong," Twila said, keeping her eyes closed, but taking on an impish tone. "Both of you are young. You might as well-"
"Don't finish that sentence," Ro said threateningly. "I am done with this conversation." She turned back to Lilith, who was holding back laughter. "Like I was saying, Corvin and I got into a fight. Uncle G thinks it's best that I leave the school and go...well, somewhere safer." She hugged herself as the harsh reality finally set in. "Corvin kept insisting that he come with me wherever I go, but that's the whole reason I'm going. It's not safe for me or anyone I love. We ended up stomping away from each other. He left the dorm, and I went back to my room and showered. After a while, I just went to the training arena to blow off some steam, but I guess he had the same idea." She sighed again, laying back on the bed. "Obviously we made up, and I asked if we could go see the town that kids talk about sometimes.
"For all the time that I've been here, I've never really left campus." Ro scoffed at herself. "I don't even know what Aera looks like since I kept to my room, the library, and the training yard the entire time I was there, even when I went back to visit uncle G."
Lilith sighed deeply, patting Ro on the arm. "Rosalie, you need to live a little." Ro cocked an amused eyebrow.
"Yea, between the several attempts on my life, I figured staying alive took priority," she snarked. "But you're right, which is why I wanna do this."
"I'm guessing you wanna keep it on the down low?"
"That would be nice," Twila piped up. "I'd rather not deal with another attack tonight. Or ever again, really." That made the three chuckle. "The lunch hour is almost up. Rosalie, we need to get to your next class."
The two girls groaned. "Ugh, fine," Ro grumbled, pulling herself up. A knock landed on the door. "Coming," Ro called, since she was already standing.
She swung the door open to reveal Corvin. "Hello, love," he said, hugging her. Ro blushed at the term since Lilith was listening, but returned the hug eagerly. "You look beautiful today as always."
She rolled her eyes. "You saw me a few hours ago, dork," she replied, leaning on the doorframe. "Why'd you come here? Me and Twila were about to go back to class anyway."
"Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to go to town earlier. We're both extremely secure in our studies, so missing a few classes shouldn't hurt," he said, giving her his lopsided grin and leaning with her.
"Only if Twila says-"
"Go ahead," the cat said. "Remember, I'll be following you in the shadows."
Lilith decided to walk up at that moment, pretend gagging. "Dear lord, the loving gazes are too much," she said dramatically, making Ro snicker. "You two need to get a room already."
Corvin gave her a confused look. "Get a room? What does that have to do with anything? We both already have rooms, so I'm assuming you don't mean literally get a room." Ro and Lilith shared a look before bursting into loud laughter, both clutching their stomachs. After a minute, they started to calm down. "So?" he asked impatiently.
"I'm saying 'get a room' because you two need to go to a room, lock the door behind you, and get freaky," Lilith said.
"'Get freaky'?" he parroted.
"Have sex."
"What?!" the couple sputtered. Corvin's face lit up with a furious blush, nearly on par with Rosalie's own. "We don't need to-" they stopped, realizing they were speaking at the same time.
"Aw, Twila look! They match," Lilith cooed.
Ro shuffled awkwardly on her feet before grabbing Corvin's arm to tug him away. "We're just gonna go now and pretend you didn't just say that," she said hastily.
Lilith waved as they practically ran away from her. "Bye my little rosebud! Don't do anything I would do!" she called after them. She wiped another fake tear off her face as she caught Rosalie's backwards glance. "They grow up so fast," Lilith sighed.