The Girl in the Water

Chapter 7

Felix stumbled out of the Council Chambers and smack into a wall of pure muscle. Looking up warily, his silver eyes instantly met the yellow eyed gaze of a calm but menacing looking mongool. When he simply stared back, the shifter cleared his throat.

"Excuse me." He said gruffly, moving to walk around the hulking mongool.

"Oh no you don't." Eisla stepped gracefully around her partner, her pale face grim as she blocked Felix's path.

The shifter blinked at her. "Eisla Eronghilis. I haven't seen you in years."

"Nice to see you too." She flashed a smile at him, but it held no warmth. "We need to talk."

"I'd love to catch up, but I've got quite a lot on my plate." Felix told her firmly, his eyes wandering past her. The streets around the Council Chambers of Feloix Felaii were chaos; it was a stark copy of the streets outside the Commerce Building just a few days earlier. People hurried around, unsure of what to do, as the magnificent building Felix had just exited loomed forebodingly. Felix wondered vaguely if he should inform everyone that the man in the fire ball had gone.

"Yeah, we know." Eisla matched her pace to his as he strode past. Felix ignored her, his smart shoes clicking against the street as he hurried away from the scene of the crime. "Full plate, right, Guo?" She tossed a look at the mongool following obediently behind them, and he nodded courteously back at her. "Must be horrible for you, Felix, what with Stone Assassins and floating fire balls crowding that fancy plate of yours."

Felix came to an abrupt stop, his face suddenly as hard as stone. He looked down at Eisla, clenching his jaw, and she stared back up with an eyebrow raised. She was two heads shorter than him, a hip popped to the side as she crossed her arms over her slim chest.

Felix lost the staring contest. "How do you know about that?" His whisper was low and urgent.

"We work for Hiegrin." She replied. Her blue eyes flashed at something remembered. "Well, we did."

"Hiegrin's soul has risen." Guo expanded for Felix.

Felix looked back at him, thinking of the aged elf. "I hope his travel is peaceful." He said softly before turning back to Eisla. "I'm assuming you're his best employees."

Eisla nodded back. "Can we go somewhere that isn't reeking of fear? The masses make me sick."

Felix looked around; the crowd had grown as more and more people heard about what had transpired in the Council Chambers. The looks on their faces echoed the ones he'd seen the day his sister died; people looked afraid.

He took Eisla's elbow. "Come with me."

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It had been hours since we'd arrived in Gorlan Fay, but I was still in awe of the great underwater city. It was a lot like Feloix Felaii, except their buildings were stone, and windows and doorways weren't obstructed by glass. Merpeople swam leisurely through every opening, their rainbow tails reflecting the light that tiny glowing sea urchins encased in some kind of membranous globe gave off. The buildings had intricate pictures and stories carved into them; clean stone showed the freshest carvings, and algae covered ones hid the older ones.

Jed had gotten us rooms in the royal palace, and it was unlike anything I'd ever seen. My room was cavernous and round, swirling smaller and smaller so that the ceiling was tapered high in the middle. The bed mystified me; it was round as well, the mattress a swelling bubble of the same membranous material that housed the glowing urchins that floated high above my head. An oval mirror was built right into the wall, and the coral that sprouted from its surface housed tiny yellow and blue fish that lit up if you came close.