The Drifting (42 page)

After showering, we face our first dilemma.  We didn’t know how to turn off the rain, or close the dome ceiling.  It was soon remedied when Julia sat on one of the rocky benches.  The ceiling closes, cutting off the natural downpour and we watch in awe when the lagoon area starts to drain.  As the water descends, round dark rocks and a pebble footpad lift from the bottom allowing us to walk back to the entrance nice and dry. 

We enter back into the bedroom area to find two long beautiful nightgowns on the bed.  Julia automatically goes to the longer of the two, a beautiful soft rose-colored piece.  She lifts it to her shoulder twisting back and forth to let the skirt swirl at her feet.  I lift the muted gold-colored one, displaying it before me, admiring the beauty in its simplicity.  We quickly remove our robes and put the dresses on.  We look down at ourselves before looking at each other
appreciating how the gowns makes
us look older, more sophisticated…more like women.  We then twirled around in the nightgowns like little girls, never having worn anything like them.

Julia stops twirling and looks at me saying, “These are nightgowns right?  We sleep in these?”

I nod giving her a smile, feeling clean and fresh for the very first time since coming through the doorway with Ziri.  I move to the bed and Julia does a running leap to land right in the middle, facedown.  I laugh at her as I climb on.  “Move over,” I say nudging at her side.

She lifts her head slightly without looking at me, “No. Go find somewhere else to sleep, I’m taking over the bed.”

“No you’re not.  This is a huge bed and you can be comfortable on your own side,” I say as I shove
at
her
again
.  She turns over on her back, stretching her arms above her as I move the pillows around trying to adjust myself so that my gown doesn’t get caught under me.  And for a moment we say nothing, just looking up at the leafy ceiling.  All of a sudden, the branches above shake and a thick blanket of leaves drops on us.  We both scream and laugh as we dig ourselves from underneath.  We sit up, staring at each other with our mouths open, and then fall back pulling the foliage comforter over us. 

For the first time since arriving in Velesi I slept soundly.  Until in the middle of the night a serpent came to call on me.

~
* ~

Chapter
Thirty

~
Lily
~

When she came to me I was in a deep sleep.  At first, I thought it was Julia, but the mystery voice was soft and gentle, nothing like the loud snoring coming from beside me. 

“Lilianethia, wake daughter of Senestra
,”
calls
the
distant voice
softly
. 

My eyes fly open, my heart in my throat and I grip at my pillow.  I slowly peek over the leafy comforter, scanning the dark room, but
I
don’t see anything or anyone.  I move closer to Julia, trying not to make too much movement and shake her arm. She grumbles in her sleep
,
abruptly cutting off her snoring and she turns her back to me.  Seconds later the snoring starts again.  I nudge at her back, but the snoring continues.  “Julia!”  I whisper harshly as I nudge her harder.

“Ugh…Lily, go to sleep,” she grumbles sleepily.

“Wake up!  Someone’s in the room with us.”  Julia comes instantly awake.  I look at her bare chest surprise
d
to see her naked, asking, “Where’s your gown?”

She whispers back over her shoulder
,
not bothering to cover herself.  “It kept getting caught up under me so I took it off,” she answers as she continues to scan the dark room.  “Screw this,” she mutters as she throws the cover off and quickly makes her way to her bag near the door.  I jump out of the bed too, going for my own bag when the voice comes again, “Lilianethia,
come to me
.”

“Like hell she is,” says Julia out loud.  I look her way, seeing that she already has her pants on and is now quickly slipping her top over her head.  She grabs her boot and hops on one leg as she puts it on.  All the while
,
I’m standing like an idiot watching her.  A pans
wa flickers on and floats to us giving
enough light, but by now Julia is completely dressed.  She looks over at me, saying “Lily, what the hell?  Hurry up and get dress
ed
.  I’ll keep an eye out for whoever the creepy voice belongs to.”

Suddenly, the doors burst open causing both Julia a
nd me to drop to low crouches, a
blade as big as one of Alorn’s appears in Julia’s hand
.  Where the hell
did she get that?  Milina comes in with her own blades at the ready, followed by Glynnis. 
They’re b
oth dressed and ready for battle.  How are they able to get dressed so quickly?  Fear tosses out any shyness I may have about dressing in front of the sisters.  Like Julia, they stand alert in a circle, shielding me from the voice.

Julia turns slightly toward Milina, “Did you hear the voice, too?”  Milina nods, not saying a word but keeping her eyes on the shadowed corners.  “Damn it,” says Julia under her breath and then finally out loud, “Lights.”

All the panswas in the rooms light up, chasing the shadows away.  I’m now fully dressed and I step between Julia and Milina.  “Who’s there?”  I call out.  No answer.  “What do you want?  Why won’t you show yourself?”

“Shhh, child
…y
ou will upset her.  Tell your ladies to stand down.”
  The woman in my head whispers as if the others would hear her.  Stand down?  I look at each of the girls with me and realize that all of them, including Julia, are ready to fight
– to
protect me.  A sense of pride comes over me.

Julia glances
my way
, giving me a
wary
look.  “What’s wrong?  Do you hear something?”

I know
the woman
wants me to keep her to myself for now, so I shake my head at Julia.  “No, just thinking.”  God, I hate lying to her. 

“Now what?”
I ask the woman.  Okay, I can’t keep calling her “the
woman in my head.”
 
“I’m sorry I didn’t ask before, but what’s your name?”
  Silence. 
“Hello?”

Julia moves to stand just behind me leaning forward and whispers, “What are you doing?  Is someone here?”

I throw her a look and she backs up, hands up as if warding off any trouble. 
“Hello?  What kind of game are you playing?  Was that you who woke us?”

“No, Lily, it was not me, but I do know who the voice belongs to.  But first, you must leave your ladies in arms behind.  She has called Phoris to help you this night.  He is waiting for you now near the city gates.”

“Julia goes with me,”
I say determinedly. 

Again silence, then,
“All right
,
Lily, if that is what you want.”

I sigh, understanding my role as princess a bit clearer each day.  I turn to face Milina, “I want you to stay here and don’t leave until I get back.  That goes for you, too,” I tell Glynnis.  Milina moves to protest, but I raise my hand at her and she stops immediately.  “Don’t worry, Milina.  Julia will be with me.”  Milina looks at Julia sizing her up for the millionth time since their first meeting.  She gives me a reluctant look, obviously disappointed, “Yes, my princess.”

I walk up to her and put my hand on her shoulder the way Tharin does with the others when they
weren’t
please
d
with his orders.  “I’ll be back.  We’re connected, Milina
,
and if anything goes wrong I will call for you.  Besides, Cessa is always with me.”  This seems to appease her a bit and she bows her head, resigning to my wishes.  I walk over to Julia who’s been waiting patiently.  She gives me a raised brow and then moves to follow me when I head toward the door.

We make our way out of the room, past the living area and finally out to the hallway.  After the doors to the suite close
,
we pause to look at each other.  Whispering, I say, “You know, they have more experience than we do
and
they have
probably
killed people.”

Julia purses her lips, nodding thoughtfully.  She looks up at me saying, “You might be right, but I’m not going back in there and admitting it to them.  We can do this, Lily.  Obviously, you think we can or we wouldn’t be standing out here
with
them in there.”

I squint at her purposely, “When did you become a badass?”

“The day you died.  Come on.” 

She grabs my hand and we quickly, but quietly
,
make our way down the hall.  I trust Julia to find our way to the main gates as a mixture of excitement and fear runs through me.
When the hall panswas brighten
as we near, I mentally dim them without effort.  We make it to the back of the foyer and Julia takes me down a flight of stairs like the one Ka used to take us to the war room last night.  After what seems like hours of stairways and passing numerous doors at each level, we finally make it
to
the bottom floor.  However, by the time we make it to the bottom, we’re winded and we sit on the last step to catch our breath. 

“So, where we going?” asks a conspiratorial whisper. We nearly jump out of our skins, both up in a flash facing Mellis who’s sitting two steps above us.  He sits with his elbows on his knees grinning at us with an excited look.  Leaning forward, giving us a suspicious look, “
Do
your princes know what you two are doing?”

“Tolan is not my prince,” whispers Julia vehemently, perhaps a bit too harshly.

“How did you sneak up on us like that?  We didn’t even hear you,” I whisper, but not as harsh as Julia.

He lifts one of his
feet and points to it, “Hello?  Elfin
feet
…?
”  

“Mellis,” I warn, “if you so much as say a word to Tharin or Tolan
,
I’ll do something really dangerous and tell them you made me do it.”

He leans back putting his hands up, “You don’t need to threaten me, cousin.  I know how to keep a secret.
Besides, I’m coming with you.  Because, you know, I would hate to accidentally run into them while they’re sleeping.  If that happens I would have no choice but let them know you’re out and about causing havoc in our city.”

“I said Tolan is not my prince,” repeats Julia whispering through clench
ed
teeth.  “I don’t answer to him.”

Mellis gives her an arched look saying, “Yes, he is and you do.  You’re with the king’s guards, right?”  She reluctantly nods.  “Then he’s your prince,” states Mellis ignoring her heated face.

“Damn it, fine.  But keep quiet,” I say as I turn from him.

“Please, cousin.  You’re trying to tiptoe through a tower of elves with hearing like bats.  I heard you coming out of your suites a mile away.”

I turn my head to catch his eye, “Yeah, right.  You were standing near the door hiding
,
hoping Milina would come out, weren’t you?”