The world is not as safe as it seems. That is the lesson Rosalie Gray learned after crossing the sea with her sister, Tessa. The world is also full of dark, mysterious secrets.
With her world turned upside down, Rosalie Gray feels as if she has now...
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Rosalie's eyes were burning with tears as she and Tessa left their brother's sickroom. When the door had clicked securely shut behind them, she rounded on her sister. "What on Earth was what?!" she demanded. "Why would you try to stop them from helping Nate? Do you wish for him to die?" "No!" Tessa snapped before punching the wall behind her. "You saw what he was like in there, Rose! Nate is absolutely petrified! I thought you, of all people, would have protected him!" "Protected him?" Rosalie scoffed, "From what? Brother Enoch? Charlotte? Enlighten me, Tessa, who does our brother need protection from?" she was absolutely livid with her sister; too angry to even notice the way Tessa was clutching her hand. "You and I both know that he is in safe hands; Brother Enoch only wishes to help heal our brother, and rid him of whatever those wretched vampires may have done to him. But if you would like me to go in there and ruin everything, I shall!" "I just..." Tessa sighed, "I feel like I've failed him, Rose. So, now I need to make it up to him somehow." "Keeping him from getting the care he desperately needs is not helping him, Tessie, and deep down you know that." the edge to her voice had lessened as Rosalie reached out to squeeze her sister's shoulder. "And let me make one thing perfectly clear: you have not failed our brother. Now, I think it would be best if you went to sleep. You have had a very long day, and you need your rest." "But Nate-" "Let me worry about him right now." Rosalie said. "You know I would never let anything happen to him." Tessa sighed again, but nodded. She bid her sister goodnight before retreating to her own bedroom. When she had vanished from sight, Rosalie allowed herself to collapse against the wall. She was emotionally drained after everything they had been through; yet the weight of things had just now come to full fruition. Seeing Nate in such a state had been the final straw, and now she felt numb. But she could not let her siblings, nor anyone else in the Institute, see her this way. What her family needed right now was someone strong to support them; Nate obviously could not be that person, and neither could Tessa. Rosalie had to be the one that ensured they would survive this mess; she had to be the one to protect them. Her moments of weakness could only be shown when she was alone, otherwise Tessa would feel the need to step in. And I have just seen firsthand how well that goes. Rosalie slid down the wall to sit on the floor, the skirt of her dress pooling messily around her. She was prepared to spend hours on this floor if she had to; she would wait as long as it took to hear about Nate's condition. The door of Nate's room opened, and Rosalie leapt to her feet with a smile. That smile faltered when Charlotte emerged, looking exhausted, and told her that they would not know more about Nate until tomorrow. "You ought to go to sleep, Rosalie." Charlotte said, "staying out here all night won't do Nathaniel any good." "You're certain there will be no news tonight?" Rosalie asked with a frown. She couldn't say that she was surprised; Nate had suffered a great deal, so, his injuries were surely substantial.
Rosalie found herself unable to retire for the evening; her mind was still attempting to process the night's events, and walking had always helped her to think more clearly. She hadn't the faintest idea as to how long she had been wandering around the Institute, but it had certainly been a while. Her feet had started to ache, and the witchlights lining the halls had begun to dim themselves. Sophie, looking angrier than ever before, rounded the corner with two metal pails held in her small hands. "His Highness is in a right foul mood this evening!" she seethed when she reached Rosalie. "He threw one of these," she lifted one of the pails, "at my head!" "Someone threw a pail at you?" Rosalie's eyes widened in surprise. "Who?!" "Master Herondale." Sophie said through her teeth. "Will?" she gaped, "What has gotten into him?!" Sophie shrugged once, her eyes jetting to look anywhere beside Rosalie's face. "I'd best be off; I need to fetch Mrs. Branwell... maybe she can get him to take the cure." "Cure?" Rosalie caught Sophie by the arm, "What are you talking about? Is he ill?" "Not if he takes the cure, miss." Sophie said. "But he's refusing to take it." Rosalie visibly stiffened. Of course, he would refuse it, why should she expect anything else from him? But she couldn't allow Sophie to bother Charlotte; she needed Charlotte's focus to be on Nate. Not Will. "Perhaps you'd allow me to take it to him?" "I wouldn't if I were you." Sophie sighed, "He's particularly nasty when he's like this." "Oh, please." Rosalie waved her off with a faint laugh, "I have two very stubborn siblings, Sophie, I think I can manage Will just fine." "Master Herondale is up in the attic." Sophie said and handed the pails over. The pails, filled to the brim, were a lot heavier than she had imagined they would be. Sophie had handled them with such ease that they had almost seemed empty! But that was probably because Sophie was used to doing such heavy lifting, whereas Rosalie was not. She had never been expected to do any form of manual labor- it was not befitting for a lady to do such things. That's what Nate was for.
