Alyss tried to give it back and pulled on their hands to keep them where they were. Soon they gave her a final hug and left. "Don't come sneaking in here unannounced," she said as soon as the door swept past the threshold and closed with a soft click. "It's bad enough when friends don't observe the rules of polite society, but it can be forgiven," she said. "But you are not a friend so you certainly don't qualify for that level of leniency," she sneered. He sat down on the edge of the bed regardless. She got up abruptly, clearing away the girls` abandoned mugs and putting them on the tray in the food cabinet on the storage wall. New dishes appeared there every hour, and old dishes disappeared instantly. Nevertheless, she ignored the additional table setting that had been set for Aeron, and closed the door with a decided thump. She pointedly ignored him and walked to a chair that was furthest away from him in the room. "I don't have the time to discuss how obnoxious you are right now, so it would be best if you left," she said, pointedly staring out the currently opaque window.
"I just wanted to warn you," he said quietly. "Bad things, scary things, are going down, and you are bound to be caught up in all of it." He smiled. "Also, feel free to thank me for bringing you company from one world to another; not everyone would go that far, but I'm willing to just for your benefit," he said.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, no. It's your fault I'm here, the least you can do is to let me go. Since you can't manage that, making sure I don't die of boredom should also be a concern." She laughed. "You know, I managed to get out of this place once. Sure I had help, but I could do it again. I could get out of here whenever I wanted, and one of these times I'd be able to escape so far away you'd never find me again," she said. She relished this, having power over him, challenging him, when she'd felt so very powerless and weak after spending so much time cooped up in this dratted place.
Aeron smiled. "I can leave you with something very interesting indeed if you'd like," he said. Holding up his hand he added, "Look at this." She looked, and an orange lotus bloomed on his palm before her eyes. The tips of each petal caught on fire, slowly moving to cover the whole mass. He fisted it, winding his arm up in a pitcher`s move, and hurled the flower at a silk screen standing in the corner of the room. The flames hungrily gobbled the delicate fabric and lit ablaze the painted flame of a dragon printed on the screen. He crooked his finger to it, and it happily danced over to him to leave the blackened remains behind. It hovered in the middle of the room, awaiting its master's call. He then waved it over to Alyss. She shrieked as the flames engulfed her in their substance but held back all of its heat. Her shrieks slowly quieted as she realized this last part, her eyes dilating to their normal iris size. He flicked his fingers, and all of the flames galloped to him like puppies summoned by their master.
Alyss shivered some more, still recovering from the shock of the experience. Somehow it seemed she didn't find fireballs a particularly entertaining pastime. "Hmm," Aeron mused. She used to like playing with the flames, chasing and catching them like fireflies. Perhaps it's the shock of seeing the screen get burned first? Perhaps she has had a run in with fire on Earth and is now scared of it? Still, it's no excuse! he thought indignantly. He thought about it a moment longer, then unconcernedly brushed the whole matter aside.
"No matter." She looked up, eyes shadowy with uncertainty and fear. "I`ll need to get my squire to fix this as well," he muttered. Jackie hadn't been the best squire anyone had ever had, but she was the first one he'd ever been in charge of, and he could still trust her with his most secret projects, unlike all the backstabbers that had grown up in court. He flicked his fingers again, but this time it was to banish the flames completely.
She looked at him angrily. "I don't think much of your little announcement, either. All of you people are always so obsessed with the secrets and vague words," she snapped. "Why can't you speak plainly for once?" she demanded. "Tell me what you mean. Tell me the secret all of you have been keeping quiet about. Tell me who you think I am," she commanded. He looked at her quietly, measuring her with his eyes. She growled and flung a pillow at him.
"I am not so sure how to say this," he said quietly. "I am not so sure it is all so true, so real, but you are so clueless about the whole thing. I'm still not always sure you are the person we think you are." He stayed quiet. They both did, really. The air between them was charged with tension, and both were loath to risk breaking it, and the possible consequences that would come with that.
She kept her arms crossed. Her eyes were hard. He sighed and summoned the wall chair out of its niche so he could sit and talk to her.
"You know, you aren't meant to be a prisoner here. Didn't I send Murray in to spend time with you and lead you around the place?"
She rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't have to lead me around if you would allow me to just go out of this room by myself. Besides,
