✧The Earthe of the Elves✧

42

Mia's POV

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"Unfortunately, we should get up."

I glance at the clock, it reads 8:30. I sigh and nod, sitting up from where I was cuddled against Knox and stretching. Knox sits up and slides his legs off the bed, the sheets falling down to reveal his bare top. I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Ho-ly.

His back muscles flex as he stretches his arms out, then gets up to head to his bed. He turns to say something to me, then notices me staring.

"What?" He smirks. His skin is so smooth, his abs clearly visible. With reluctance I tear my gaze away from him and roll my eyes, grabbing his shirt from the foot of his bed to toss at him.

"Don't distract me," I say, smiling.

-

At nine, after we've gotten our stuff together, I plop down on the bed and turn on the T.V, not really sure what the point is. To do something normal, I guess.

"Televisions are so weird," Knox says as he stands next to me, watching the channels skip with each press of my finger on the remote. "So many shows, all fake, made for human entertainment. There's plenty to do in real life."

"Agreed," I respond, stopping my tapping as the channel hits the news. I sit up a little straighter, the bed cover ruffling under me as I pull my good leg up to my chest, resting my arm on it.

"...Caught fire this morning," The news lady continues in her nasally voice, "burning down most of the building. Fire fighters got to the scene in time to save most of the residents, but two fatalities were reported..."

My eyebrows furrow and I change the channel quickly. David Bromstad pops up next, showing a couple a log cabin on a lake for their lottery dream home. I keep it on that, letting the familiarity settle over me like a warm blanket. Protecting me. But a thought does wriggle under the blanket, triggered by the news. One I had forgotten about in light of recent events. I guess my mind deemed it as not as important as other thoughts, but now that I'm thinking about it I have to wonder. It's something Rose had claimed she would deal with, I think.

"Knox, do you think they found out who killed Fin yet?"

Knox swallows, his eyes not leaving the t.v, although it doesn't look like he's really watching.

"I think we would be told, somehow, if something that important was found."

"Is it, thought? I just thought of it, but is it really that important?"

"Yeah. I mean, it means someone inside the Bhailewood walls killed them, so someone inside is working for the Cin. My mother and Andor started to keep their eyes out the moment we found the bodies in the throne room."

"Do you have any clue who might have done it?"

Knox sighs, and I can practically see the gears turning in his head. He shakes his head eventually, his hair gleaming in the early morning light coming from the windows. "No. Why do you want to know now?"

I open my mouth, but shut it again. I don't know. Fully.

Finally I say, "maybe I just want to take my mind off of the current stuff. Solve a different puzzle."

"Fair enough. Well, it has to be someone who has knowledge. I mean, it very well may be the person who helped the Cin get into Bhailewood for the other attacks."

I nod, feeling better already. Doing something like this, something I can accomplish by simply thinking, but solving something important, makes me feel useful in a more political sense, a more thoughtful sense. Not just a girl running around on Earth. Plus it gives me a reason to not think about the real problems for just a few minutes more.