Snippet #1610774

Satariel had to hide a smile as Alice somehow managed to knock over a shelf and destroy a whole batch of priceless potions. He'd never told her this, but he found it charming the way she could be so clumsy sometimes. For an instant he'd been worried, because some of those objects were quite dangerous, and he didn't want Alice accidentally setting off a deadly spell or spraying herself with poison, but fortunately she'd managed to pick a shelf stocked with healing potions. Afterwards she left the room and Satariel threw a longing glance after her, wanting to follow, but deciding not to right away, because Alice probably wouldn't want him following her like a shadow. Besides, Taura was asking him a question, the last question he had wanted to hear.

"The royal family..." he hesitated. Taura was pretty sharp and she would probably sense it if he hid too much, so he decided to tell her part of the truth at least. "The royal family will be very surprised to have three human guests. We rarely get humans down here. But I know the king and queen personally, and I will speak to them to make sure they extend their hospitality to you girls." Then he realised that Taura was still wearing the hospital gown, which looked very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Taura, I didn't notice or I would have said something earlier. I believe there are some clothes around here." He went behind a shelf for a few minutes and emerged dragging a big wooden chest. Throwing it open, he revealed a bundle of rich gowns in many colours. "These are probably old fashioned by Earth standards. Well, they're old fashioned even by our standards, but one of them must be all right for you. These are noble gowns, so they have lots of impractical designs that'll make it hard to travel in, so try to choose something a little plainer. If you need some privacy, you can use one of the rooms off these corridors, but please remember not to leave the castle."

After that he left the room to search for Alice. He found her in the library, seated at a desk and going through a pile of books. For a minute he hesitated to disturb her, but they would have to be on their way soon anyway, so he stepped forward and stood next to her.

"I didn't know you were such a bookworm," he said. He hadn't had that much of a chance to get to know her. They'd just had a couple of days together and now they were already in the Dark Kingdom. Things were happening much more quickly than he'd expected, and he wasn't sure what would happen next. There was going to be so much trouble to come with his parents, and he really didn't want to think about that. He'd loved being on Earth where he could just be with Alice and forget about his troubles here in the Dark Kingdom. But now Earth wasn't safe for them, either. He just wished he could stay here in this room with Alice forever, and forget about everything else.