Chapter 9: The Trial and the Sentence
"...And if you EVER pull something like that again young lady, I will make you quit your archery and white magic lessons, AND I will ground you for the rest of your LIFE!"
"Yes Mother, of course..." Rosa trailed off as she sipped at her hot chocolate. She had been listening to her mother scream at her for nearly an hour straight, ever since she had been taken back home by Kain. (Cecil had requested Kain do it since he was going to be very busy with blackmailing Baigan.)
"But do you understand that you could have been hurt even worse than you are now, possibly KILLED?!" Alexia cried, leaning over Rosa's body in her bed so that they were face to face. "All for a silly hunt in the woods?! Rosa, I don't know what's become of you, to do something like that!" Tears had begun to form in her eyes, and Rosa let out a little sigh as she reached up and gently flicked a falling tear from her mother's cheek.
"I know, and I'm very sorry for it...It was irresponsible of me, and very stupid...But just know that I didn't do it to try to hurt you Mother...alright? I would never do anything like that on purpose."
"Oh Rosa...I'm just scared because you're all I have left..." Alexia sniffled a little and gently wrapped her arms around her daughter. "If I lost you... I wouldn't know what to do..."
"...I understand..." Rosa sniffled a little herself and hugged her mother back, resting her chin on her shoulder. "But I promise to be more wise with my decisions from now on."
I have to be more wise... Rosa thought silently to herself. If I want to continue seeing Cecil... I wonder if Lance has gotten ahold of Mother to tell her what I did to him the other day...Hopefully Cecil will take care of that for me.
"That's good, dear." Alexia stood up and took Rosa's now-empty hot chocolate mug from her hand. "Let me get you some more of this, and you relax, ok? I let the King know that you wouldn't be coming to lessons for a few weeks, alright?"
"Wha?!" Rosa blinked worriedly. "What exactly did you tell him?!"
"I just told him you had gotten hurt in a small accident." Alexia said confusedly. "I didn't think it would make you look too good to announce that you had been crawling about in the woods hunting monsters...I mean, come on Rosa, he probably wouldn't even believe me." Rosa let out a happy sigh of relief and was suddenly very greatful for her mother being the way she was. As long as the King had no way of linking her accident to Cecil and Kain, she would be happy.
"Alright, that's fine." Rosa smiled. "Thanks."
"I'll be back in a little while." Alexia said, and with that, left Rosa's room, shutting the door behind her quietly. Rosa leaned back against her barrage of pillows and sighed as she reached up to pull out her dirty hair ribbon, letting the remains of her hair that had been held up tumble to her shoulders.
"I won't be able to go anywhere for weeks, Mother said..." Rosa trailed off. "How will I get to see Cecil? He probably forgot where I lived, so he won't be able to come and see me...Not only that, but I'm not so sure of what Mother might say about him." Rosa felt her face blush a little as she remembered the kisses they had shared, making her bruised and broken body feel as if it were light as air and warm with desire. She wanted more of that...more of Cecil's lips and hands on her body. The feeling she got from it was indescribable, and insatiable.
"What a wonderful summer it's turning out to be..." Rosa smiled to herself as she leaned back more and slowly slid her eyes shut. "I never thought...that I could ever feel like this..."
**********
June became a lonely month as the days and weeks past without Rosa seeing Cecil once. Her leg had begun to heal considerably thanks to the help of her mother's white magic, but Rosa was still not permitted to waunder anywhere too far incase she hurt herself again. Rosa was greatful that she could at least leave her bed, she needed the exercise badly as she was becoming a little soft around the middle from eating and sleeping for days on end. She tried practicing her magic since she had nothing better to do, but alas, she did not master one new spell.
"This is getting depressing." Rosa noted to herself dryly as another Cure spell went up from her fingers in a tiny spark and disappeared. "Makes me wish I had friends right now to reassure me and lie to make me feel better." She pulled herself up from the floor of her room and brushed off her white nightgown, grabbing ahold of her crutches to hobble into the parlor, and growling a little at her long hair that was flopping in her eyes. Her mother was sitting there, reading a book quietly to herself, and didn't look up from it until Rosa had cleared her throat. Alexia blinked and set the book down in her lap, a small smile on her face from the particullarly romantic passage she had just read.
"Yes dear?" She asked, and Rosa reached up to finger one of the long tendrils that trailed down past her mid-arm.
"I think I need a haircut." Rosa said, not too thrilled at the prospect of having hair so long you could drown in it. Although Alexia just loved it, she just knew that Rosa would end up trying to cut it off herself and get disasterous results, so it was best to keep her happy and cut it for her.
"Oh, alright dear." Alexia sighed a little and set the book aside. "Let me try to find my cutting shears...in the mean time, will you go outside and see if the milk has been delivered yet? It's been late for the past few days, although I am sure the one day I do not check for it at a normal time will be the day it comes early and goes sour in the sun."
"Sure thing." Rosa said, and hobbled to the doorway, throwing it open and blinking considerably at the bright sun for that day, making her eyes sting. When she looked down at the walkway, she saw no signs of any milk bottles, however, she did spot someone walking down the road approaching her house, whom was hopefully the milk man. Rosa leaned her crutches against the side of her house and sat down in the cool grass to wait, idly plucking out a thick blade to whistle on. However, as the figure got closer and closer, she realized that he was far too short to be their normal milkman, and besides that, he was only carrying one bottle in his hand. Rosa blinked and tried to look past the sun to get a better glimpse of who it was, but she had no luck.
"Well damn!" Rosa cursed to herself, and reached back to grab her crutches as she pulled herself out of the grass. However, she suddenly stopped at the sound of her name, and when she looked up, saw that the figure was now at the end of her walkway, staring right at her. Rosa gasped in surprise and waved happily.
"Cecil!!!"
"Rosa!" Cecil smiled happily and ran up her walkway to the part of the yard Rosa had been sitting in, and threw his arms around her before he could stop himself. Rosa hugged back and pulled away a little, resting her hands on his hips to keep her balance on her good foot.
"What are you doing here?" Rosa asked. "Not that I'm complaining or anything..."
"Well, I didn't come here on purpose." Cecil admitted. "I was actually just taking a walk around town, and I got a drink while I was out." He held up the bottle in his hand, which was filled with a cherry- red liquid. "I guess I got lucky to find you! Where on Earth have you been?!"
"Trapped in my house." Rosa sighed a little. "Mother has been keeping me inside and will continue to do so until I can walk on my own again without struggling. I'm sorry, I've had no way to tell you."
"It's alright, I'm sorry for not coming over, I was just worried about your Mom not wanting me over or something. I didn't know if she knew about Kain and I being with you that night..."
"No, she has no idea, greatfully." Rosa smiled. "But it was good you kept away, just in case. I haven't told her about you yet."
"Alright." Cecil smiled more. "Want a sip of this?" He adjusted the straw in his bottle so that it pointed towards Rosa's lips, and she nodded thirstily as she leaned in and gently sucked on the tip of the straw, smiling brightly at the sweet liquid that filled her mouth. It tasted like a rich cherry soda. She swallowed and pulled back a little, licking her lips.
"That's good!" Rosa exclaimed. "I wish I had some of my own..."
"I can bring you some tonight, if you want." Cecil smiled a little deviously, and Rosa blinked.
"Oh Cecil, haven't you had enough of sneaking out for the summer?" Rosa asked worriedly.
"This is a little different, don't you think?" Cecil replied. "Besides...I really miss you...I'll come to you, you won't have to do anything. I just really want to talk to you again...and stuff..." Cecil began to get flustered and blushed a little, and Rosa smiled at this, deciding that there was nothing wrong with two people wanting to visit for a little while. Besides, she knew that if she turned him down, she would be regretting it until the time she could see him again on her own, which could be forever from now.
"Alright, alright." Rosa agreed. "You can come over tonight around 11. My mother will definately be asleep by then, and I'll meet you outside, right here. This is the place farthest from her bedroom window."
"I can't wait." Cecil smiled a little, and leaned in, kissing Rosa softly on the lips. Rosa smiled more and kissed back, reaching up to stroke Cecil's hair when...
"Rosa! Did you get the milk?"
"Ack, it's my Mother!" Rosa cried against Cecil's lips, and with a hard shove, pushed Cecil backwards into a pile of tall shrubbery. Cecil cried out in protest as he crashed in the bushes and fell backwards, being completely hidden from view when the door opened and Alexia popped her head out, shears in hand.
"The milk hasn't come yet." Rosa said quickly, and Alexia sighed, putting her hand on her hip.
"Oh well...come on inside then, if you want that haircut." With that she turned and shut the door, much to Rosa's relief. Cecil slowly popped his head out of the bushes and glared at Rosa as he reached up to pull a twig out of his hair. Rosa laughed nervously and tried to cover her mouth to keep her laughter muffled.
"Sorry Cecil." She apoligized.
"I didn't know girls could push so hard." Cecil admitted with a smile, and Rosa was relieved to see that he wasn't mad. He jumped out of the bushes and ran over to her, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her once more before pulling away.
"Until tonight." He said, and with that, bent down to grab his soda and took off running down the walkway and out of Rosa's sight. Rosa felt her face glow with happiness as she watched him go and subconciously reached back to grab her crutches, taking in a sharp breath.
The thrill of their pre-meditated nightime meeting was beginning to set itself in her heart, making it beat faster and harder in anticipation...
"...And if you EVER pull something like that again young lady, I will make you quit your archery and white magic lessons, AND I will ground you for the rest of your LIFE!"
"Yes Mother, of course..." Rosa trailed off as she sipped at her hot chocolate. She had been listening to her mother scream at her for nearly an hour straight, ever since she had been taken back home by Kain. (Cecil had requested Kain do it since he was going to be very busy with blackmailing Baigan.)
"But do you understand that you could have been hurt even worse than you are now, possibly KILLED?!" Alexia cried, leaning over Rosa's body in her bed so that they were face to face. "All for a silly hunt in the woods?! Rosa, I don't know what's become of you, to do something like that!" Tears had begun to form in her eyes, and Rosa let out a little sigh as she reached up and gently flicked a falling tear from her mother's cheek.
"I know, and I'm very sorry for it...It was irresponsible of me, and very stupid...But just know that I didn't do it to try to hurt you Mother...alright? I would never do anything like that on purpose."
"Oh Rosa...I'm just scared because you're all I have left..." Alexia sniffled a little and gently wrapped her arms around her daughter. "If I lost you... I wouldn't know what to do..."
"...I understand..." Rosa sniffled a little herself and hugged her mother back, resting her chin on her shoulder. "But I promise to be more wise with my decisions from now on."
I have to be more wise... Rosa thought silently to herself. If I want to continue seeing Cecil... I wonder if Lance has gotten ahold of Mother to tell her what I did to him the other day...Hopefully Cecil will take care of that for me.
"That's good, dear." Alexia stood up and took Rosa's now-empty hot chocolate mug from her hand. "Let me get you some more of this, and you relax, ok? I let the King know that you wouldn't be coming to lessons for a few weeks, alright?"
"Wha?!" Rosa blinked worriedly. "What exactly did you tell him?!"
"I just told him you had gotten hurt in a small accident." Alexia said confusedly. "I didn't think it would make you look too good to announce that you had been crawling about in the woods hunting monsters...I mean, come on Rosa, he probably wouldn't even believe me." Rosa let out a happy sigh of relief and was suddenly very greatful for her mother being the way she was. As long as the King had no way of linking her accident to Cecil and Kain, she would be happy.
"Alright, that's fine." Rosa smiled. "Thanks."
"I'll be back in a little while." Alexia said, and with that, left Rosa's room, shutting the door behind her quietly. Rosa leaned back against her barrage of pillows and sighed as she reached up to pull out her dirty hair ribbon, letting the remains of her hair that had been held up tumble to her shoulders.
"I won't be able to go anywhere for weeks, Mother said..." Rosa trailed off. "How will I get to see Cecil? He probably forgot where I lived, so he won't be able to come and see me...Not only that, but I'm not so sure of what Mother might say about him." Rosa felt her face blush a little as she remembered the kisses they had shared, making her bruised and broken body feel as if it were light as air and warm with desire. She wanted more of that...more of Cecil's lips and hands on her body. The feeling she got from it was indescribable, and insatiable.
"What a wonderful summer it's turning out to be..." Rosa smiled to herself as she leaned back more and slowly slid her eyes shut. "I never thought...that I could ever feel like this..."
**********
June became a lonely month as the days and weeks past without Rosa seeing Cecil once. Her leg had begun to heal considerably thanks to the help of her mother's white magic, but Rosa was still not permitted to waunder anywhere too far incase she hurt herself again. Rosa was greatful that she could at least leave her bed, she needed the exercise badly as she was becoming a little soft around the middle from eating and sleeping for days on end. She tried practicing her magic since she had nothing better to do, but alas, she did not master one new spell.
"This is getting depressing." Rosa noted to herself dryly as another Cure spell went up from her fingers in a tiny spark and disappeared. "Makes me wish I had friends right now to reassure me and lie to make me feel better." She pulled herself up from the floor of her room and brushed off her white nightgown, grabbing ahold of her crutches to hobble into the parlor, and growling a little at her long hair that was flopping in her eyes. Her mother was sitting there, reading a book quietly to herself, and didn't look up from it until Rosa had cleared her throat. Alexia blinked and set the book down in her lap, a small smile on her face from the particullarly romantic passage she had just read.
"Yes dear?" She asked, and Rosa reached up to finger one of the long tendrils that trailed down past her mid-arm.
"I think I need a haircut." Rosa said, not too thrilled at the prospect of having hair so long you could drown in it. Although Alexia just loved it, she just knew that Rosa would end up trying to cut it off herself and get disasterous results, so it was best to keep her happy and cut it for her.
"Oh, alright dear." Alexia sighed a little and set the book aside. "Let me try to find my cutting shears...in the mean time, will you go outside and see if the milk has been delivered yet? It's been late for the past few days, although I am sure the one day I do not check for it at a normal time will be the day it comes early and goes sour in the sun."
"Sure thing." Rosa said, and hobbled to the doorway, throwing it open and blinking considerably at the bright sun for that day, making her eyes sting. When she looked down at the walkway, she saw no signs of any milk bottles, however, she did spot someone walking down the road approaching her house, whom was hopefully the milk man. Rosa leaned her crutches against the side of her house and sat down in the cool grass to wait, idly plucking out a thick blade to whistle on. However, as the figure got closer and closer, she realized that he was far too short to be their normal milkman, and besides that, he was only carrying one bottle in his hand. Rosa blinked and tried to look past the sun to get a better glimpse of who it was, but she had no luck.
"Well damn!" Rosa cursed to herself, and reached back to grab her crutches as she pulled herself out of the grass. However, she suddenly stopped at the sound of her name, and when she looked up, saw that the figure was now at the end of her walkway, staring right at her. Rosa gasped in surprise and waved happily.
"Cecil!!!"
"Rosa!" Cecil smiled happily and ran up her walkway to the part of the yard Rosa had been sitting in, and threw his arms around her before he could stop himself. Rosa hugged back and pulled away a little, resting her hands on his hips to keep her balance on her good foot.
"What are you doing here?" Rosa asked. "Not that I'm complaining or anything..."
"Well, I didn't come here on purpose." Cecil admitted. "I was actually just taking a walk around town, and I got a drink while I was out." He held up the bottle in his hand, which was filled with a cherry- red liquid. "I guess I got lucky to find you! Where on Earth have you been?!"
"Trapped in my house." Rosa sighed a little. "Mother has been keeping me inside and will continue to do so until I can walk on my own again without struggling. I'm sorry, I've had no way to tell you."
"It's alright, I'm sorry for not coming over, I was just worried about your Mom not wanting me over or something. I didn't know if she knew about Kain and I being with you that night..."
"No, she has no idea, greatfully." Rosa smiled. "But it was good you kept away, just in case. I haven't told her about you yet."
"Alright." Cecil smiled more. "Want a sip of this?" He adjusted the straw in his bottle so that it pointed towards Rosa's lips, and she nodded thirstily as she leaned in and gently sucked on the tip of the straw, smiling brightly at the sweet liquid that filled her mouth. It tasted like a rich cherry soda. She swallowed and pulled back a little, licking her lips.
"That's good!" Rosa exclaimed. "I wish I had some of my own..."
"I can bring you some tonight, if you want." Cecil smiled a little deviously, and Rosa blinked.
"Oh Cecil, haven't you had enough of sneaking out for the summer?" Rosa asked worriedly.
"This is a little different, don't you think?" Cecil replied. "Besides...I really miss you...I'll come to you, you won't have to do anything. I just really want to talk to you again...and stuff..." Cecil began to get flustered and blushed a little, and Rosa smiled at this, deciding that there was nothing wrong with two people wanting to visit for a little while. Besides, she knew that if she turned him down, she would be regretting it until the time she could see him again on her own, which could be forever from now.
"Alright, alright." Rosa agreed. "You can come over tonight around 11. My mother will definately be asleep by then, and I'll meet you outside, right here. This is the place farthest from her bedroom window."
"I can't wait." Cecil smiled a little, and leaned in, kissing Rosa softly on the lips. Rosa smiled more and kissed back, reaching up to stroke Cecil's hair when...
"Rosa! Did you get the milk?"
"Ack, it's my Mother!" Rosa cried against Cecil's lips, and with a hard shove, pushed Cecil backwards into a pile of tall shrubbery. Cecil cried out in protest as he crashed in the bushes and fell backwards, being completely hidden from view when the door opened and Alexia popped her head out, shears in hand.
"The milk hasn't come yet." Rosa said quickly, and Alexia sighed, putting her hand on her hip.
"Oh well...come on inside then, if you want that haircut." With that she turned and shut the door, much to Rosa's relief. Cecil slowly popped his head out of the bushes and glared at Rosa as he reached up to pull a twig out of his hair. Rosa laughed nervously and tried to cover her mouth to keep her laughter muffled.
"Sorry Cecil." She apoligized.
"I didn't know girls could push so hard." Cecil admitted with a smile, and Rosa was relieved to see that he wasn't mad. He jumped out of the bushes and ran over to her, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her once more before pulling away.
"Until tonight." He said, and with that, bent down to grab his soda and took off running down the walkway and out of Rosa's sight. Rosa felt her face glow with happiness as she watched him go and subconciously reached back to grab her crutches, taking in a sharp breath.
The thrill of their pre-meditated nightime meeting was beginning to set itself in her heart, making it beat faster and harder in anticipation...
