Forever for Rose

Chapter Eighteen.

"I've got a surprise for you." Pedro wakes me up bright and early, or I guess it's dark and late. "Wake up, Rosie."

I roll and stretch beneath the blankets, waking with a smile on my face. Fallon and Pedro had kept me up so late that falling asleep and staying asleep was an actual possibility.

"Surprise?" I ask sleepily. Sitting up and I see him standing at the foot of the bed, a vision in a thick deep royal blue tuxedo, a matching bow-tie, and a long fur lined cape tied over his wide shoulders. "Wow." I nod at him. "You look so..."

"Kingly?" He laughs, doing a slow spin in his shiny black shoes. "And you're about to look like a true princess if you can manage to roll your lazy bones out of that bed and follow me to your surprise."

I hop up and go to get some clothes but he shakes his head "Come as you are." He waves me forward.

I loop my arm with his, glad he isn't making me wear shoes like everyone else does, and he escorts me to the elevator with a huge smile on his face. "Where's your crown, Your Majesty?"

He tisks his tongue and makes a sour face. "Dreadful thing." He tells me. "It's so damn heavy, I always have a crick in the neck after a few hours of wearing it." He rubs at his neck absently as if he already feels the annoyance. "I wait until the last possible moment to put on that travesty."

The doors open and we exit onto a busy floor. People, mostly service members, bustle around carrying large flower displays, or trays stacked with glasses. They all stop to bow as Pedro and I walk by, murmuring their praises to their king. I suddenly feel extremely underdressed as we cut through crowds of busy workers in my pajamas.

The corridor gets a little less crowded when we take a right up a another passage, this one's floor is lined with white marble, and the drab stone walls are painted in a glossy white, giving the semblance of an actual castle passage instead of the underground tunnels through an ant hill of vampires. A door a few yards away opens up and Dalton walks out. I sigh in relief when I notice he isn't dressed for the ball yet either. He still has on his usual uniform of black pants, shirt, and dark worn combat boots.

He bows his head to Pedro as he approaches. "Looking good, Highness." He winks and Pedro shakes his head at him.

"I've had your things sent up to your room." Pedro tells him, clapping a hand on Dalton's wide shoulder. "Go get ready. Is...?"

Dalton nods. "Everything is ready." He assures him and I furrow my brows. He cuts his eyes to me slightly, and I pretend not to notice, examining one of the golden torch light fixtures to my right instead. "See you both in a few hours." He says as he walks past us and I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"Arguing again?" Pedro whispers in my ear and I give him a look. "A shame, two people so dead set in their stubbornness."

"What are you talking about?" I play dumb, and he doesn't fall for it.

He purses his lips and shakes his head once. "Right, this way then."

"Where are we going?" I sigh, seeing Dalton threw off my mood. Now I am right back to being stuck in a confused state with him and with Lance too I guess. I haven't even had time to think much about him either, and I feel crappy about it.

"We're here." He smiles, standing in front of the room Dalton had come out of and I slowly turn the nob and push open the door, looking down as it slides over the thick carpeting.

"Is this?"

"It is."

I take a step into my mom's first room here. The giant four poster bed with the blue duvets and plush feather pillows, the vanity over flowing with makeup and hair products, the back of the room with three different racks overflowing with dresses and shoes lining the front of them. I run my hand absently over the beautiful blue silk that hangs down from the ceiling and covers the stone walls as I walk in.