The Dawsons

Chapter 7 - Evangeline High

The next day, a large, white, gold-rimmed carriage arrived a block away from Evangeline High School, the only high school situated between Catania and Calatabiano. A coachman hopped down and placed himself in front of the door. Three palace guards jumped down after him, two of them positioning themselves at the back of the vehicle, and the other on the opposite side where the coachman was positioned. The palace guards held a sphere in one hand, the points dangerously sharp. The coachman then opened the door and Rose, Rosa, and Alexander stepped out, one after the other and turned to face him.

The coachman bowed and then hopped back up onto his seat. "Thank you, Louie," Rose said to him, nodding her head in appreciation.

"Yes. Thank you," Rosa stated, before eyeing the palace guards with frustration and wishing they would disappear. Not that she would say it aloud because they would disappear and end up god knows where. Wishes were mostly always granted if spoken aloud. Rosa really wanted them to not be there. They were embarrassing and humiliating, and she blamed her grandfather for their pressense. "You may leave now," Rosa told the four men standing out around the carriage, looking like pieces in a puzzle.

"The king has commanded that we stay with you, your highness. You are not to leave our sight. We'll be invisible. You won't even know we are there." The palace guard standing farthest away from them all replied, his posture high and firm.

Rosa glared at him going red in the face. "I will know you are there. I order you to leave!" she demanded, her eyes changing from bright green to a burning red.

The palace guards stared at her fretfully, and Rose leaned in over her shoulder. "Rosa, they are only here to protect us," she said gently, praying that no one was watching any of this. She was too afraid to check.

Rosa gave her sister a look of shock. "No, Rose! Do you not see how degrading this would be? How embarrassing? We are not going to attend school this way. I will not have it. We would not have our freedom at all. We would still be in prison!"

"I agree with Rosa," Alexander told Rose, crossing his arms. He knew this wouldn't end well, but he didn't care. He loved stirring the king up, and he wanted his freedom just as badly. Being in the ocean was prison enough. His father, King Tritan, was also very overprotective. He wasn't allowed to go anywhere without protection and was also homeschooled. It was actually worse for him in the sea because his father was a bit of a tyrant; Alexander and Tritan fought all the time, never agreeing on anything. Alexander knew that, one day, when he was old enough to make his own decisions, he would stay on land for good.

Rose looked at both of them in distress; she didn't want to be followed around either, to always be watched. But she didn't know what to do. She knew the king would never allow them to be left on their own, especially when he thought there was some threat in the school. Rose felt like suddenly the solution had been put on her, and she didn't like it one bit. She didn't want to do anything else to disobey the king and her grandmother, to make the king cranky, to feel the guilt she still felt for leaving the palace the day before without permission.

Rosa read her sister's dilemma and decided to take matters into her own hands, without anyone's help. "We will see you this afternoon," Rosa informed the palace guards and Louie quite plainly and waited for them to leave.

But they didn't. The palace guard who had spoken before stepped forward and bravely said, "We're sorry, your highness, but we only take orders from the king."

Rosa's hair immediately flew harshly around her, her eyes red and slightly glowing. "Do you know what kind of witch I am!" she told the brave palace guard, her tone threatening. And it wasn't a question.