The Traitor's Heir

Chapter Nine

 "Wake up Quara, we have the adventure of a lifetime ahead of us and it isn't a short road to get there." Quara squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to pull her thickly woven blanket up over her shoulder as she rolled towards the wall. "I'm serious, let's go. I have everything ready. I've packed lunches. But we need to get out of here before everyone wakes up and starts asking questions and you spill the beans like we both know that you would have done last night if you'd opened your mouth. We were lucky that Iggy felt the need to tell Mom about their plans to join the guard last night, but if it had been a normal dinner where everyone was talking and asking questions about the day, it would have been all over."

Quara pulled the covers over her head to block out the sound of her sister's voice, her barely conscious mind already questioning the wisdom of her decision to agree to go along with Lina on this particular adventure. Why had she said yes to begin with? She rolled the question around in her head as her mind roused more completely from her short slumber.

"Quara Kalena, if you don't get out of bed right this instant I am going to dump this entire jar of water over your head." Quara likely wouldn't have moved quite as quickly if she hadn't heard the slosh of water near her ear that let her know that Lina was quite serious about the threat.

"Lina, no!" She whispered the words back angrily, but Lina was already pushing her outfit from the previous day into her hands. She had picked up the washing bowl that was kept in their bedroom, but had quickly put it back in its place once her sister started to move.

"We don't have time to argue Quara. We need to go. I want to make it down past the third level before anyone is up and about and it's almost five. The miners will be getting up soon and Father will be up with them. I packed last night before I went to sleep so that we would just be able to get up and go. Take this," she tossed her sister's bag onto the floor next to her and Quara noticed that it looked oddly misshapen as if it were carrying far more than her slate and papers, "and pull your boots on. We've got to get out of here." Quara shook her head and pulled on her soft leather boots, slinging the bag over her shoulder as she stood. "And be totally quiet Dad's sleeping in the common area on the pillows." Quara raised her eyebrows in alarm but Lina shook her head and put her finger to her mouth.

They were silent until they were halfway down the staircase and were able to see the silent Heart below them. Even so they continued to speak in whispers. "What was that all about?" Quara cast a hurried look back over her shoulder in the direction of their little home.

"Were you not there last night?" Quara frowned at the response as she continued. "You were even more distracted fretting about all of this than I thought. Mom was not happy that Dad didn't forbid the boys from joining the guard before they've come of age. And I don't think that Dad wanted to deal with the dark looks that Mom would have been giving him all night long. It was bad enough how she combined being totally silent with banging the dishes and pots around as she cleaned up after dinner. So he stayed out in the common room, reading I think, and scribbling away in some small book I'd never noticed before, and he finally fell asleep out there."

"Were you snooping?" Lina shook her head as her sister asked the question.

"Of course not. I don't need to snoop. I know everything that goes on in the house." Quara's expression let her sister know that she wasn't impressed with her answer, but Lina continued with her explanation as if she hadn't seen the disapproving glance. "I had to pack. And do you know how much harder that was with Dad in the common room? I finally had to tell him that I was packing a picnic for the two of us to eat," she held up her hand to hold off Quara's response, "and don't start with me and tell me that I shouldn't lie, because it isn't a lie. We are going to have a picnic today. Just not at any of the regular places that a person in the Caverns might picnic at."