| Phase 54 � Where is that boy?� Sigurd demanded angrily. � He should�ve been down here two hours ago!� � I haven�t seen him,� Analore said with a shrug. Everyone else gave similar answers. Sigurd growled and stormed up the stairs. Besides Kris and Maison, who was busy trying to keep that Alycia girl entertained, Sigurd was the only one who could wake Bart up without getting socked in the face. He expected to find Bart and Kris nestled together, since Kris hadn�t gotten up either and that was almost unheard of from her, but aside from Bart, the bed was empty. And good thing too, because he�d knocked several pillows off the bed and was working on the sheets, which were currently wrapped around him tightly and had already gotten him to pin his arm under himself. Sigurd moved around the bed, picking up the pillows as he went just out of pure habit. He stopped for a moment and watched his half-brother sleep, curious at how vicious he�d been through the night. Bart was pretty bad about that, but never like this. Then he heard it; a tiny whimper of panic. � . . . Kris . . .� Well of course. What had he been thinking? In a place mostly or completely unknown to him, Bart would rather have Kris by his side than anyone else. And she�d done the job well . . . until that noble girl arrived and made her mad. � Bartholomew. Wake up, you stupid moron.� There was a groan of disbelief and then Bart reluctantly opened his eyes to the later morning. � . . . What is it now?� Sigurd rolled his eyes. More incoherent babble. � What do you mean �now�? This is the first time I�ve come to get you!� � . . . What time is it?� � Eight-thirty.� Bart sat up and rubbed at his eyes. � . . . Really? . . . God, I thought it was only five . . .� Sigurd threw the pillows onto the bed. � Well it�s not. Get up.� Bart yawned and stretched and got to his feet. Sigurd waited outside and when the younger man came out, still rubbing at his eyes, he pushed away from the wall and headed down the hall. He waited for Bart to catch up, then said, � Where�s Kris?� � . . . I don�t know. Where?� � That�s what I was asking you, idiot!� � . . . She�s not in her room?� � I�m afraid to look.� � Why?� � Well unlike you, I�d rather not walk in on ladies.� � Kris isn�t a lady,� was the matter-of-fact tone. � She�s Queen.� Sigurd turned his head to look at the ex-prince. �Is he being sarcastic or is he serious?� With Bart, one couldn�t always tell. Upon reaching the door to Kris� room, Bart opened it and peeked in without even knocking. Sigurd hid his face in his hand and shook his head. �I can teach him to not yell at a lady, but I can�t make him knock first before going into their room. Where did I go wrong?� � . . . She�s not in here. Anywhere.� � Are you sure she didn�t tell you that she would be somewhere else?� � Yes, I�m sure! I watched her go through the wall, damn it!� Bart suddenly froze and turned to the doorway, beating his forehead against it. � Stupid, stupid, stupid!� Sigurd would have laughed, since Bart had just given himself away, but he was too surprised. � You told Kris about the passageways?� � Yeah. Why?� � It�s just . . . No one is supposed to know for safety reasons.� As expected, Bart bristled. � Kris isn�t a spy and if I ever hear anyone say anything that alludes to that I�ll tear their throat out!� Sigurd jerked back. � . . . Isn�t that a little much?� � Kris isn�t a spy,� was the ground-out answer. �Nice job. Now he�s going to go on a killing spree because of you going on like you did.� Bart shook himself into sense. � Has anybody else seen her?� � Not that I know of.� His features went immediately from angry to worried. � She isn�t anywhere in the castle?� � I don�t believe so.� Bart raced off, taking the stairs five and six at a time. � Don�t run down the stairs!� Sigurd snapped automatically. Most of the rest of the morning was spent just looking for Kris. Dintime was spent on planning the second Gate�s destruction and though he was obviously tr- ying, Bart couldn�t concentrate on the conversation. He wondered only where Kris had gone and prayed she hadn�t been taken from him again. Alycia, who had been sitting back before, suddenly spoke up. � You can�t destroy the Ethos Headquarters!� Sigurd watched Bart tremble with rage. �There he goes.� Bart slammed his hands on the table as he stood and glared over at the girl. � Be quiet!� �Still Mr. Polite. Why won�t he just tell her to shut up like he does with Kris? It would serve the little blue-blood right.� Alycia jumped in surprise. Bart growled. � I�m sick of hearing about how �righteous� the �Ethos� are! I was just there hardly a month ago and saw exactly what they were! They�re a branch of Solaris and aren�t worth a rat�s---� � Young Master!� Maison reprimanded sharply. � ---tail!� Bart finished without pausing. � Their religion is no better than everyone else�s because it�s the exact same thing! Now if you�re going to continue to spout about how great they are, get out of my castle!� �It�s about time he did that.� Alycia looked stunned. Bart let out a snarl. � I�m going to be on the ship.� Everyone watched him leave, then looked at each other. Fei shrugged. � I guess the planning�s over, right? We might as well get going, in that case.� They all stood up to leave as well and Alycia finally gained her voice. � May I go along?� She shrank back at the answer from everyone else in the room. � No!� � Why not?� Sigurd sighed. � It�s very dangerous and besides, you�d have nothing to do the whole time. You�d only be bored.� Silently, he added �And then you�d start whining and it would only take a moment for Bartholomew to rip your lungs out and force them down your skinny throat and/or gut your tiny carcass.� � Do remain, Miss Alycia,� Maison added. � We shall be back soon.� � Oh . . . all right.� So they went to the ship, where Bart was doing inventory and such; things that someone else should be doing. When he saw them coming he finished up and gave everything to a mechanic. � You all ready to go?� Fei nodded. � We�re ready.� The Yggdrasil was under way just minutes after. Bart yawned widely. � I�m tired still. I�m going to get some more sleep. Wake me when we get there, would you, Sig?� � Of course.� � Thanks.� Bart went down to his room and watched Devon and Matik sleep. They�d been wrestling the whole morning and now were snuggled together, napping. �I wish I could do the same with Kris . . . Where is she, anyway?� He then turned to his bed and gasped. Kris was lying in his bed and had nosed into the sheets and blanket. �Of course! Why didn�t I think of that before? She can�t sleep in new places! I should have made her stay with me.� He went over and knelt by the side of the bed, touching her face lightly. She murmured and wriggled, but didn�t wake. Then he noticed something odd and ran his fingers over her upper chest. �Is she sleeping . . . naked?� Swallowing nervously, he stuck his arm under the covers and ran his hand down her side. Upon reaching the smooth curve of her hip where her shorts should have been, he swallowed again. �She is.� He let his hand slide down to her stomach. �Man, I don�t believe this! Kris is sleeping naked in my bed and I wasn�t here to enjoy it! I miss everything!� But if he closed his eyes, he could see her entire body clearly, as if he already knew what she looked like unclothed. Then he remembered what had happened early that morning. �But I just held her! I never touched anything besides her arms! What the hell is wrong with me?!� He ran his hand up and down her stomach as he thought, trying very hard to keep from touching any other part of her. �I just want to run my hands over her, let her writhe and gasp . . . What am I thinking?! I�m losing my mind!� Then, to his immense horror, Kris woke. He never even had time to pull his hand away. She just opened her eyes and looked at him. *>*<* He was blushing terribly--as he should�ve been--and ducked his head as his hand slid off my lower ribs and started to inch back toward him. I caught his hand and jerked it back toward me, automatically clutching it to my chest. His blush deepened and I realized I�d pinned it between my breasts. Oh well. The damage is already done. I stretched my neck toward him and growled low so he knew I wasn�t happy. � Do you know what they do to thieves who get caught stealing?� I reached up under my pillow and drew my knife out. His eyes followed it fearfully, but he didn�t try to pull his hand away. And that�s when I let him go. Because he didn�t fight, I knew that he knew what he�d done wrong and it was going to be very unlikely this would ever happen again without my knowing. If he had fought, I would�ve cut the back of his hand as warning (Sig and Maison would kill me if I actually cut his hand off). He flopped back into a sit and drew his knees up to his chest, resting his elbows on them and hiding his face in his forearms. � . . . Kris, I . . . I�m sorry. I was just . . . I mean . . .� � You were just curious,� I answered for him. � And that�s fine.� He jerked his head up and stared at me, surprised. � Just don�t be so curious while I�m asleep. I was ready to slit your throat, you know. I didn�t recognize your touch at first, it was so careful.� � I didn�t want to wake you.� � That�s sweet, but it almost got you killed. All the others were careful like that and I don�t care much for the feeling.� He knew what I meant by �all the others�. � I�m sorry,� he repeated. � It�s all right. Come here.� He leaned toward me and I gave him a short kiss. � You scared me,� I finally confessed. He looked as if he was in pain and hugged me gently. � I didn�t mean it,� he whispered. I laughed quietly. � Enough already, Princeling. I forgive you.� He began to kiss me tentatively. His lips were soft and warm and I found that without even thinking about it I was giving up to him; submitting wholly. It was the only thing I could think of to do that proved my trust in him. Especially now, when I was in the perfect position for him to just pin me down and do as he pleased. I tried to lure him onto the bed with small kisses, but it was the one thing he wouldn�t do no matter how much I coaxed him. So I let it go and inched down his neck, delivering little nips to his skin and leaving tiny red marks. Then I remembered how much he liked gentle bites and lunged abruptly, knocking him to the floor and using my own body as a weight to keep him down. He was momentarily surprised, but that look was soon replaced with one of passion as he twisted and bit at the skin just behind and below my jaw. He pulled and made a quiet growling noise and I had to laugh. When he let go I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes. His arms locked around me and I knew that nothing would hurt me now. He would protect me, no matter what the odds. And he knew that I would fight by his side if he wished it, as I always had. � . . . I guess I should fill you in on what we�re doing.� I tilted my head back to look at him to show I was listening. � The second Gate is under the �Ethos� Headquarters. We�re going to fire Fort Jasper�s cannon at the giant mirror on the Babel Tower, which will be aimed at the Headquarters. We have two groups set to go; one will be at the Tower to adjust the mirror and one will be at Fort Jasper to fire the cannon.� � I�m not going, am I?� � Well, no. I�d like you to stay here as back-up just in case we need it.� � You�re going?� � Yeah.� � Who else is going, anyway?� � Fei, Citan, and Elly are going to the Tower. The brat, Fuzzball, and I are going to the Fort.� I snorted at his use of �brat� to describe Billy. � Well don�t get into a fight with him. You should be more mature than that.� <--Phase 53 Phase 55--> |