Royal Rebels

It seemed that any time someone told Rose to “get some rest,” her mind refused to let her actually do it. She tossed and turned restlessly after Eli left. There was some lingering pain where the arrows had struck her, and she was angry that someone had gotten the drop on her. And even if she insisted to Eli that it wasn’t a big deal, she was nervous. She knew there were plenty of people who didn’t like her ascension to the throne, but she didn’t think anyone would want to actually kill her.

Rose sighed and gave up on sleeping, just pacing the full length of the room over and over again, until her leg throbbed slightly. Then she sat down and went over all the reasons people had for not wanting her to be queen, giving herself a headache. People had a lot of reasons to doubt her and some days it made it very hard not to doubt herself. She bit back a shriek of surprise when the door opened, quickly relaxing the tension that had formed in her shoulders when Eli stepped into the room. She refused to act jumpy.

“I thought I said get some rest,” Eli said.

“I am resting.” Rose gestured to the chair she was sitting in. Then she frowned as a young woman with red hair followed him into the room.

“And you are…sneaking strange women into the castle during the night?” Rose asked.

“This is Christine,” Eli said.

“I’m going to need a little more information than that.”

“I met her in Deris. I was in the pub, and she came over to offer to spend the night, and-“

“Excuse me?” Rose jerked in shock, and her expression must have turned into a glare because Eli flushed and hurried to finish explaining.

“And I said I wasn’t interested because I’m married,” he said. “But it turns out she’s a shapeshifter and so I thought she could help us. I offered to let her stay in the castle posing as your lady’s maid, if she’ll act as a spy and try to find out who might be trying to murder you.”

“Um, hello. It’s nice to meet you. Your Majesty,” Christine added quickly, dipping into an awkward curtsy. “May I just say, now that I see you, I really understand why your husband rejected my offer.”

Rose rolled her eyes, her attention still mostly focused on Eli.

“Eli, I’m not trying to make it common knowledge that I was shot while out for my ride,” she grumbled. “And precisely who is she supposed to spy on? We have a slew of visiting nobles and foreign royals, not to mention extra servants on staff right now, and some of our visitors aren’t even staying in the castle, and whoever attacked me may not even have been sent by any of them.”

“But if it was someone who’s staying in the castle or visiting, Christine can help us find out who,” Eli insisted.

“She’s under no obligation to try and help us with anything.”

Christine cleared her throat quietly. “Not to interrupt, Your Highness. But I promise not to mention the assassination attempt to anyone. And, um, this spy thing frankly sounds a lot better than the job I was doing. And he said no one besides the two of you needed to know about my ability. So, I’d be happy to help.”

Rose sighed. “I'm not going to throw you out and make you go back, so you can stay. I’ll show you to a room.”

Rose didn’t keep as extensive a staff as Lorena had, and since she had opted to go without a designated lady’s maid there was a perfectly suitable room that wasn’t currently being used. It was nicely furnished with a large bed and a fireplace and Christine’s eyes went wide at the sight of it.

“I can really stay in here?” she asked. “This’ll be my room?”

“As long as you want it,” Rose shrugged. “We’ll get you some clothes and show you around tomorrow.”

She tensed in surprise when the girl hugged her and Christine quickly stepped back.

“Sorry, I guess that’s not appropriate lady’s maid behavior.”

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Rose said, turning to go back to her room.

“I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t already have a lady in waiting,” Eli remarked.

“I am running out of spare rooms though, in case you were planning on bringing home any other strangers who solicit you in pubs,” Rose quipped, arching her eyebrow. Eli winced.

“I admit I didn’t really think about how it might sound bad,” he said sheepishly. “But I’m worried about you, and I realized her abilities could be helpful and she didn’t seem to like her job, so I thought I’d offer her a better one.”

Rose took off the robe she’d been wearing, draping it over a chair. Eli stepped closer to her, tilting her face up.

“You’re not mad at me, are you?” he asked quietly. Rose let out a breath and shook her head.

“No, I’m not mad at you,” she said. “It’s just been a…long day. But next time you hire a spy, maybe consult me first?”

He cracked a tiny smile and nodded. “Okay, that’s fair.” He reached down to take her hand. “I love you, Rose.”

Despite her inner turmoil, Rose managed to smile. “I love you too.”

She finally managed to get some sleep, though she woke before the sun was even up. She was shivering and vaguely remembered having a bad dream. Eli was still asleep but Rose was now wide awake and she could hear Felicity start to fuss in the next room anyway.

Rose got up, still feeling cold. She went into the nursery and collected Felicity, changing her and putting her into a warm outfit. Eli stirred awake as she came back into their room.

“You should still be resting,” he said. “You almost died yesterday.”

“Well, I’m still alive, and that means I have things to do,” Rose said, keeping her tone light. Eli sighed and got up, holding Felicity while Rose sat in front of the mirror and carefully pinned her hair up. She could see him watching her in the mirror.

“Eli, I’m really fine,” she insisted. “Please stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?“

“Like you’re worried I’ll shatter into a million pieces. Come on, we have a spy who needs a castle tour, remember?”

Rose still wasn’t sure how she felt about having a “lady’s maid,” but she made sure Christine had some nice dresses and a big breakfast all the same. She had just wrapped up her quick tour of the castle and was going into her study to finally get some work done when she found herself accosted by Tobias, Maria, Fillius and Tobert. They all crammed inside with her, Eli and Christine.

“Who’s this?” Tobias asked.

“That’s Christine. She’s a spy posing as a lady in waiting…it’s a long story. What can I do for you, Tobias?”

Rose sank warily into her chair, shuffling around the assorted things she needed to read or sign.

“I think you need to increase your personal security,” Tobias replied. “You don’t even really have any right now, and after yesterday you really should.”

Rose scoffed before she could stop herself. “I will do no such thing.”

“Rose, an attempt on your life cannot be taken lightly,” Tobias insisted, frowning at her refusal.

“Tobias I am not going to start walking around with a small army. I have no intention of alerting the entire world about what happened.”

“If the culprit is within the castle-“

“Then I don’t want them thinking they’ve frightened me,” Rose interrupted. “And I don’t want to give any of our other guests reason to think I don’t trust them. If I start walking around with a swarm of guards people are going to think something is amiss.”

“Something is amiss,” Tobias argued.

“In case you haven’t noticed I’m alive and well,” Rose said. “Which means that, technically, everything is fine.”

“It technically means that whoever tried to kill you will likely try again.”

“I am trying to convince our own nobles as well as a bunch of foreign royalty that I’m a capable ruler. I’m not going to do that by acting afraid in my own castle and appearing like I can’t handle myself,” Rose snapped.

“If you want the Norterran nobles to trust you, you could just ask Eadric Standish to vouch for you,” Fillius said. Rose shot him an annoyed look and he laughed.

“Oh, come on, Rosalie. That boy has been lovesick for you since he was eight years old.”

“This is a nightmare,” Rose muttered. “Quite frankly, if Eadric has never gotten over his childhood crush then that could just as easily make him less than trustworthy,” she pointed out. “I can’t know yet who is really my ally and who isn’t, outside of the people in this room.”

The thought didn’t exactly put her mind at ease. She’d been queen for two years and this was still very much an uphill battle.

“All the more reason you should have a proper personal guard,” Tobias said. “All the members of your family had a small retinue of trusted guards, as well as their own personal one. Even your mother had Sir Dewer. You are the only monarch not to have a personal guard. It wouldn’t be suspicious for you to assemble one. If anyone asks, you can say you’ve simply been searching for the proper candidates.”

Rose resisted the urge to bang her head on the desk. This was quickly becoming the big deal she hadn’t wanted it to be.

“And,” Tobias went on, “one of us should really be with you at all times as well.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Rose said, trying not to sound too peevish. “I have a million things a day to do, and everyone else in this room has their own responsibilities to attend to. You can’t possibly babysit me all day.”

“You are our responsibility,” Tobias said. “You were attacked yesterday because you were alone.”

“They could have attacked me even if I wasn’t.”

“They’d be far less likely to, and your safety is a top priority.”

“Tobias-“

“You’re not just our queen, Rose. You matter to us on a far deeper level than that, and none of us want to see you hurt again.”

Rose swallowed her arguments, though she still wanted to refuse.

“Fine,” she said finally. “If it will get you all to stop worrying so much, I will consent to a very small private guard. I still want to try and be as discreet as possible. You may choose a few guards you deem suitable, Tobias.”

“And you won’t go off on your own, especially beyond castle grounds,” Tobias said. Rose pursed her lips and they stared each other down stubbornly for a moment.

“For now, I won’t venture outside the castle walls alone,” Rose replied stiffly. Tobias nodded, seeming satisfied and she resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him.