Chapter 11 Liliana

"Rose, wakey wakey! Time for trainey." Ren and Dan sang happily as they knocked on my door. I was a bit grumpy when their knocking did not stop. I got up and glared daggers at the door. Custard was stirring beside me, not happy to be woken up either. I rubbed sleep from my eyes when the twins suddenly burst into the room and I screamed bloody murder when they decided to open the curtains.

I hissed like a feline and hid under the sheets. Custard must have sensed my distress and was on full alert. When he saw no danger, he just gave me a look that says 'seriously?' and went back to sleep.

Well at least he's alert.

"Rose, the sun is barely rising. And you are not a vampire. You are a tamer so act like it." Ren says. I couldn't see him through the covers but I could sense that he was smiling.

"Oh yeah? Then how does a should a tamer act then?" I retorted and then followed by a very long silence since Ren couldn't think of a response. Custard stirred beside me and I glared at the sleeping little wolf. Some spirit he is. Lazy bum.

Well he is my spirit animal.

Dan snorted. "She got you there, brother."

"Shut up, Dan. You are not helping." Ren growled at his brother. "Rose, I will count up to 5 and if you won't get up willingly then I will have to bring you with me. By force."

"Well that's something I would like to see." I heard Dan sigh dreamily so I uncovered my head to give Dan a disgusted look.

"One." Ren started to count and earned a glare from me.

"Two." I rolled my eyes. He was a pussy. He would never resort to kidnapping.

"Three." He continued. I stuck my tongue out at him and went back into the covers of my bed.

"Four." I hope they'll give up soon. I just want to go to bed.

"Five. Okay that's it." Suddenly I was wrapped like a cocoon in my own blanket when Ren rolled me. Then I was thrown over his shoulders as he carried me to God knows where. In my cocoon I could feel Custard grunting unhappily at being kidnapped along with me.

Ren was now carrying two struggling fugitives in a single cocoon blanket. "Must you be dramatic every morning?"

"Must you all have to be such an early person?" I retorted and when I felt where his ears were, I let out a high pitched scream.

Ren yelped in pain as his sensitive hearing got a full blast of my scream. Suddenly someone uncovered the cover from my face and stuffed my mouth with an apple.

"There. Now that pig is ready for roasting." It was PRINCE Ace. His hair was disheveled as if he had just woken up. He was glaring at all of us as if we were mere peasants. But truth be told, it was the first time that I have seen him this tired. "If you're trying to kidnap someone at least do it right." He said grumpily and turned to return back to the library.

In turn I spit the apple in my mouth. "Hey, you can't simply shove an apple into someone's mouth you stupid bookworm!"

"I just did. Now I don't see why you make a big deal out of this. Honestly, first order of business and I get to see your face." He sighed.

"Oh no you did not. Let me at him, Ren! Let me at him!" I screamed and started squirming making me look like a worm.

"Rose, hold still." Ren said. Struggling to keep me up his shoulders.

"Don't even try to bother me." PRINCE Ace says without turning back. "You should focus on your training, because as you are now, you can't even touch me. Not with those heavy legs of yours." And then he was gone into the doors of his beloved library. Such a bookworm indeed.

"Well that was anticlimactic." Dan said.

"One of these days." I gritted my teeth. "One of these days I will make him bend the knee to respect me."

"I totally agree with you, Rose. But I hope you do not mean a proposal with 'bend the knee'." Ren and I both turned to look at Dan who had a worried look on his face. Since I was still in a cocoon, it was Ren who slapped him behind his head. "Stop talking nonsense." Ren said.

"Ren, please let me down. I can walk on my own." I said and earned a doubting look from him. "Yeah right. You're just gonna run away again."

"Nope. I am eager to make that PRINCE pay for all the bullying he did." Ren looked at me. He must have seen the eagerness in my eyes enough to trust me. "Okay then." He says and gently lowered me down.

"Alright." I stood up. The blanket falling from my body and onto custard. "Come on. It's time to train." When I looked at the two, their eyes were avoiding me. Well, Dan was looking at his brother amusingly while Ren was covering his red face with one hand. "Ren? What's wrong?"

Dan simply chuckled when Ren did not respond. "You two should save that outfit for your honeymoon." He commented. Eyes still focused on his red faced brother.

It was then that I took notice of what I was currently wearing. It was a nightgown with a very low neckline that exposed too much cleavage for my liking. And the hem, well it's pretty normal in my era but in this era? Well, let's just say that it is a no go. I quickly grabbed the blanket and used it to cover my body. I could feel my cheeks reddening in embarrassment at being caught in this outfit. Custard was finally awake and was looking at us curiously. "Meet us downstairs by the stables when you are ready. 10 minutes or I'll come and pick you up." Was all Ren said before he dragged a beaming Dan behind him.

When they left all I could think of was that Dan is a very weird person and Ren is the normal one.

It all but took me 8 minutes to run to my room, brush my teeth, face and then change into some clean clothes. I chose a shorter length dress and wished that I had a few pants or leggings since this day is supposed to be for training. I could only imagine what kind of torture I'll have ahead of me once the training starts. Custard stifled a yawn and I could only imagine that he would rather take a nap than accompany me on my training. Unlucky for him because I am a Tamer, it means that he also has to undergo the training with me.

By the time I got there, the princes were already doing some stretches. I watched in envy as I saw them wearing their hunting outfits. The twins wore matching forest green tees, some slacks and hunting boots. Nate was wearing a maroon v-neck tee that hugged his form, which was outlining his muscles underneath. Unlike the twins, he tucked his shirt under his brown cargo pants. They waved me over as I approached. Nate grinned. "Well I thought you'd never come."

"The bed was tempting me. But I figured that you guys won't even let me sleep in peace even if I ditched you guys." I yawned.

"You're right. After all, this is sort of our punishment for what we did with the weapons room. Though Ren was supposed to come after you to deliver you your uniform, but he kept blushing and looking away for some time. I even tried to bring your uniform for you but his twin was giving me a rather menacing look." Nate shrugged.

"Uniform?" I asked and it was only then that I noticed the neatly folded clothing that Nate was carrying.

"I also brought you your shoes. Sorry if you have to go back and change. I'll come with you and carry your stuff." Nate offered and he was being weirdly nice to me today.

"It's okay. I can change in the stables. Assuming that no one's inside?"

"Just the horses. And the smell of horse dung."

"I'll take my chances. Come along, Custard. You keep watch just in case these guys get any ideas." With my fresh pair of clothing in hand, I headed for the stables to change. They weren't kidding when they said that this place is full of horse dung.

"Oh my gosh. This smell." Even poor Custard kept sneezing by just being in here. I quickly stripped off of my dress and quickly wore the long sleeved white shirt and brown slacks that Nate brought me. I also kicked off my sandals and placed my riding boots on, all the while holding my breath because the place was giving me the headache. "Come on, Custard. Before we faint." Grabbing my discarded dress and sandals, he quickly got out of the stables. "Never again will I change in that place. Ever." I declared to no one in particular.

The princes laughed at me as I coughed and wheezed to get some clean air into my lungs. "Just leave your clothes on that crate over there so we can start." Dan ordered so I did what he said and quietly followed him. Ren stood beside me and told me to do some stretches, but since I am not that familiar with doing muscle stretches, Ren was leading for me to follow him.

He started by rotating his neck, then the shoulders, hips, knees and even our ankles. Once we were done, Nate called us so we could begin.

"Okay, Rose. Before we can teach you proper self defense, we want you to build your endurance. For a week, all we're going to do is running and a bit of muscle workout." Nate said, giving me a smile. "Today is our first day so we will go easy on you. But tomorrow, if you are late, or if you even think about not showing up, then you will be punished accordingly."

"What? I thought this was just training. Why is there a punishment!?" I asked incredulously.

"Sorry, Rose. It's for your own good. You need discipline as much as you need training. Though my brother can make sure that you are not late by coming to your room to pick you up." At the mention of him coming to pick me every dawn, Ren's face turned bright red and slapped the back of Dan's head. "Stop talking nonsense!"

"Enough. We are about to begin. For this day we shall take it east and run a full 10 laps around the castles' property."

"Take it easy? Are you friggin kidding me? 10 laps?" The castles' property and it's lawn alone are equivalent to 5 of the world's largest arenas and they want us to do 10 laps?! "You guys are joking!"

"Hmm....too much?" Ren asked, looking concerned as my face turned pale white. These guys are monsters!

"Of course it is! Do you really need to ask me that?"

Ren rubbed his chin for a moment before looking at the other two princes. "Should we do 3 lapses first? I don't think Rose can survive 5 runs around the perimeter either. "

"Oh well, we can make adjustments. No pressure though. Then....start!" At Nate's command we started running.

It wasn't easy. I keep getting left behind. The trail that we are following isn't always flat. This run was nothing like my normal running at the school gym. This was more like hiking and a marathon combined into one. We had to go through the forest, which is part of the castle's perimeter, through rocky paths, and even little rivers in the garden just to finish one lap. It doesn't help the fact that the princes were too fast for me to catch up, so from time to time they would slow down to wait for me. To say that I was embarrassed was an understatement. Custard didn't seem bothered by running. In fact, I felt his excitement through our bond and I am somewhat happy that at least one of us was having fun.

The second lap, I was already panting and gasping for hair. One lap was like running a full 15 laps in the school's track field. Or maybe more. I couldn't say since I never finished a full run of 15 around the track field. I was halfway through my second lap when my knees gave in. Custard yelped and started sniffing my face in concern. "Boy, just leave me here to die." I huffed and fell on the ground. You thought having all those adventures out in the woods helped me build my endurance, but I guess it's different when you actually do the running instead of horseback riding.

I don't know how long I stayed there, but I could feel Custard tugging at my hair, urging me to keep going. "Go away, Custard. Leave me alone." I moaned and let out a yelp when someone nudged my arm. I know that it wasn't Custard since it was too forceful for him. And there is only one being who is d!ck enough to do that. "Watch it!" I glared at PRINCE Ace.

"I thought you were dead." He said. Equally as annoyed.

"Nice to see that you care."

"I was actually planning to bury you if you were dead. But I can still bury you alive if you want."

I used my elbows to push myself up so I wouldn't have to keep looking up at him. "Well I-" I started to say but my knees were still tired and they gave out. I started to fall forward and guess who's the lucky guy in front of me? Yes, that's right. It's his royal pain in the butt.

But instead of catching me, PRINCE Ace actually stepped sideways to avoid me and I fell face first on the ground. "Don't do that cliché move on me." Was what he said after I spat a few dirt off of my mouth.

"Trust me. If I was planning a move on you it wouldn't be to charm you, but to kill you." I was pretty annoyed about the dirt in my mouth since a certain PRINCE was too arrogant to help a damsel!

"Try standing up first. Otherwise I would feel like I'm being threatened by an ugly mermaid."

"Ahh. That one you brutally threw? Yeah I remember her."

"Yes. But her face is more bearable than yours. Don't get ahead of yourself."

At that comment I felt the urge to punch him, but I was too weak. Even thinking about it made my head spin and I groaned in pain.

"You have been out in the sun for too long and you seem dehydrated. Try crawling to that tree shade over there." He said pointed to the spot.

"Wow cool idea." I said. "But as you can see I can't even move!" I was really frustrated at how physically weak I was outdoors.

"You really are a pain." I heard him mumbled and I felt him grabbing me by the back of my shirt and he started dragging me over to the tree.

"Dude, at least carry me and be gentle!" I yelped when he threw me under the shade. "Hey! I'm fragile." I yelled at him. He ignored my comment and threw something at me which hit me in the face before it fell on my lap. It was a bota bag filled with water. "Drink up before you die." He said before walking away.

I was actually speechless. Why did he have a bota bag with him? Did he actually care? I mean he did drag me under the shade and all.

"Don't get the wrong idea." He said halfway. "You are still to choose the future king and I'll be damned if you die before you crown one of us as the king!" And then he was gone.

Yeah. What was I thinking? An arse PRINCE like him doesn't care about anyone except for himself and his own gain. I sighed and started to drink the water. Immediately my body started to cool down. Having the cold liquid touch my lips felt so good that the pain in my head started to recede. Custard nuzzled beside me as I started to feel well enough to fall into a peaceful sleep.

******

"She's dead! My sister-in-law is dead." I could feel someone crying over my head.

"Brother, what are you talking about? Sister-in-law?"

"You! You good for nothing sibling. How can you be so....so blind! Now she's dead and you don't even feel anything?"

"No....?"

"She's not dead. I can hear her he-"

"Oh shut up, vampire." Dan cut him off. "Don't you see her as more than a friend?!" I can only assume that Dan was talking to his twin.

"Of course I see her as more than a friend. She's been my best friend. Though I was sure I thought of her as a sister before but the thought makes me cringe."

There was a pretty long silence after that and after a while I started crying. I opened my eyes and saw the princes staring at me. I looked at Ren through tear filled eyes. "You really mean it? I'm your best friend?"

Dan looked at me with sympathy. He kneeled down beside me and carefully rubbed my back to comfort me. "Rose, I'm so sorry for my brother. I really am. I tried but my brother is too dense. I have known for a while about you two and-"

"You're my best friend too! I am so happy that you and I feel the same way." I beamed at Ren and he beamed at me too.

"Awe. Come here you!" He opened his arms and invited me for a hug.

Feeling better after the short nap, I leaped straight into his chest for embrace. "Best friends!" We both yelled happily and Ren started to spin us both in delight.

"OH MY GOODNESS!!" Dan yelled in sheer frustration. "I FORGOT HOW PERFECTLY DENSE YOU TWO ARE. YOU GUYS ARE REALLY SOULMATES INDEED!!!" Dan yelled some more and started kicking rocks everywhere. He was acting like a child having a tantrum.

"Geez, what's his problem?" I said.

"No idea." Ren replied.

Since none of us knew what was happening we looked at Nate. "As much as I hate seeing you two hugging each other, it's better if you guys figure it out. And it would feel so much better if you guys are serious about being best friends."

"Of course!" Ren and I said at the same time, which irritated Dan more as he kicked the bota bag.

"Ow! Hey watch it." Someone yelped when the bota bag hit the strangers face. "I came here to see how you two were doing and this is the welcoming I get? Geez. You guys never change." A maiden in a lavender dress strolled towards us. Her short dark curls swayed as she did.

I was confused and when I looked at the princes, only Ren and Dan gave the expression that they know this person. The pretty lady stopped right in front of us. Her yellow eyes sparkled and she was curtsy. "You must be Princess Rose."

"I-um....I'm sorry but I am not familiar with you." I said apologetically. Hoping that she wouldn't be offended that I do not know her.

"She's our childhood friend." Dan said. And weird enough, he sounded troubled. Beside me I could see that Ren stiffened at the sight of her. It only doubled my confusion. I mean, they were supposed to be happy right? She is their childhood friend.

Despite the tension in the air, she still smiled politely. "My name is Liliana Nightshade. As you can guess I am from Sanver as well." She said.

"Nice to meet you." I said. "You came here to visit the twins?"

"Yes. But more so I came here to visit Renevier Rutledge. My fiancé."