"We might not have time to wait for Auntie," Elena whispered, afraid of drawing attention now that they were near their destination. "I overheard the generals talking. Their spies are due to check in. They might have discovered something."
If that happened, Elena would be in danger.
The lu-ong tensed against Elena's neck. "Someone's coming."
Elena darted toward the other side of the hallway as the sound of footsteps came from behind her. She rounded the corner just as the owner of those footsteps turned theirs.
Fleeing as quickly and quietly as she could, she followed Uncle Jin's terse instructions.
There! Up ahead. Her room. Just a little further.
Elena dashed toward it, sliding inside with seconds to spare.
She flew toward the bed, throwing herself into it and pulling the sheet over her body.
Elena had barely settled herself when Fyr appeared in the doorway.
"You're awake," he said, surprised.
"Where's Ajix?" Elena asked, trying to control the heavy breathing that was a result of her sudden activity.
"He had other business to attend."
"What kind of business?"
"The kind you don't ask questions about."
"Ah. Right." Elena gave a sage nod. "The whole asking invites death thing."
Fyr's eyes narrowed. "You've grown bold. Did my staff knock your senses loose?"
Elena closed her mouth. Maybe pushing him wasn't such a great idea.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught something small crawling up the sheets. It looked like a lady bug, its carapace the same salmon blush color as Uncle Jin's spawn.
Elena made a choked sound as it reached her arm and crawled up it.
This must be the spawn Uncle Jin had left for her. No wonder she hadn’t noticed it. It was tiny.
Elena went as still as a statue, checking on Fyr out of the corner of her eye. To her relief, she found him not paying any attention to her as he searched the room for her boots. Taking advantage of his distraction, she tilted her head down to allow her shoulder length hair to sweep forward to cover the lady bug's presence as it climbed up her neck.
"Almost there," Uncle Jin whispered in a tiny voice.
The lady bug made its way toward her ear, crawling into the canal once it reached it.
Elena's boots hitting the bed startled her. She jumped, staring at the boots like she'd never seen them before.
While she was distracted, the lady bug finally lodged itself against her ear drum.
Seeing Elena wasn't moving, Fyr gestured at her boots. "Aren't you going to wear them?"
Elena slowly reached for them. "Of course."
Grabbing the boots, she stuffed her feet into them one-by-one.
"Testing, testing. One. Two. Three," Uncle Jin said, sounding like he was right next to her. "There we go. Now, we can talk freely."
At least he could, anyway.
