She couldn't help but be upset about that oversight. Only a few minutes in and she'd already endangered her cover. She needed to be better than this.
"If she knows a little, it's probably due to the Phoenix's influence. She was obsessed with studying the Tsavitee and everything about them," Elise answered, sounding bored.
The comment offered a way for Elena to "learn" the Tsavitee language faster than if she was newly exposed to it.
A door appeared in the same place it had earlier. A second general stepped inside, pausing at the sight of the dead mantis before continuing.
Possessing a smaller stature than Lothos, the newcomer still towered over Elise by nearly three feet. His horns weren't as impressive or as well developed as Lothos's, placing him lower than the other general in the hierarchy. His face was impassive as he stopped a few feet away, clasping his hands behind his back as he waited to be acknowledged.
"Speak," Lothos ordered.
"The masters are aware of her return and have asked for her presence."
Elise's chin lifted. There was a note of fear before it was gone.
"I can't protect you from this," Lothos informed her.
"I didn't ask you to."
Lothos sighed. "Do what you can to appease them and hurry back."
Elise sauntered toward the door. "You don't have to tell me that."
Her hands moved briefly. A bare flutter of movement that was hardly noticeable. Only someone who'd grown up learning the self-developed sign language of the forty three would have recognized the motions as something other than a nervous tick.
It was a message. A brief one.
"Beware."
That's all Elena got before the wall reformed.
"She's hiding something," the second general announced in Tsavitee.
"Probably."
"What do you want to do?"
"For now, we'll wait."
"The girl?"
Elena allowed fear to form on her face. They'd expect a scared little girl so that's exactly what she'd give them.
The fact she really was terrified made the deception easier.
"Throw her to the pits," Lothos said after a moment of consideration. "We'll see if she survives long enough to be worth protecting."
Two
Kira – Ta Sa’Riel
A storm was forming off the coast. A harbinger of things to come. The wind and waves set to reshape everything that had once been. Already, thin ribbons of clouds partially veiled the night sky. Infrequent pockets appearing to offer a glimpse of the vast expanse waiting beyond.
Such a big universe. So easy to get lost in.
That was where Kira needed to be. Searching for her niece and Jin. Not on a planet with a sky that matched Kira's mood. A little bit dark. A touch forbidding. With the promise of misfortune on the horizon.
How very apt, considering her current situation.
