𝑺𝒎𝒐𝒌𝒆 | 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝑲𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒙 𝑶𝑪

Fourteen

Jolana woke up much earlier than normal, the sun had yet to rise. She wandered around. She had never seen the palace this early. It was colder than expected. She was wearing just her sleeping gown and a jacket with some slippers. She thought it was a little early for a full formal kefta. 

The slippers were thin, she could feel the hard wooden floors. They were smoother than the wooden floors she was accustom to. Considering how she had been living in the palace for almost a month, a lot of the details were still foreign to her.

There were few guards on duty. Only a few at the entrances to certain rooms but Jolana just avoided those rooms.

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice asked her. Jolana turned to see it was Genya

"Just a little exploring, what are you doing here so early? I thought you slept at the Grand Palace,"

"I do, I just woke up early to treat Alina, they always expect the Sun Summoner to look her best," Genya's eyes kept loving up, "I haven't seen her in a few days,"

"Oh, okay," Jolana said a bit awkwardly, "I'm just going to continue looking around,"

"Okay, I'll see you," Genya said and Jolana turned around to walk away but Genya stopped her, "One second, your hair. It bugs me. Let me just..." Genya turned Jolana around but kept her stationary, Genya did something, Jolana didn't know what exactly but she could feel her hand in her hair. "That's better. It really is beautiful you just don't treat it right,"

"Well thank you," Jolana grabbed her hair and felt it, it felt thicker and healthier. 

"Goodbye," Genya walked away

Jolana continued on, she walked around the corner and found herself in a nook of the castle she had never been. There were two doors on the left of the hall and one on the right, the one on the right was ajar. Open doors are easier to explore than closed doors so Jolana entered very quietly. She found herself in a planning room of sort. There was a large map of the countries on the table, not just a map but also a bunch of clutter. The walls were covered in pieces of paper that were probably important but to Jolana they just looked random. 

The room suddenly grew dark.

"Whoever you are, leave this room now," a deep voice commanded. It startled Jolana, she unintentionally caused the fire from the candles to grow, though the flames were small, they bent to her and they turned the color of irises. Jolana ran out of the room quickly, never getting to see the owner of the voice.

General Kirigan walked out of his bedroom and into the war room. He looked at the stuff on the table, checking to see if it had been tampered with or stolen. He looked over at the candle, the sides were lined by candle wax that had dripped too quickly and it was half of its original size. There was one more dead giveaway, the flame was still blue. 

Jolana ran back to her room, she had explored too far and did not want to get in trouble for it. She noticed from a distance that her guards were already at their post so she ran down the hall toward Alina's room. She stopped running at a point and made a point to act extra dignified as she walked toward the door.

"Good Morning, Sunny!" Jolana announced

"I feel like normally I'm the one who comes to you to disturb the peace,"

"Well it's barely dawn and I've already gotten into trouble, if I go missing, I was definitely sniped out by whoever was in that planning room,"

"What planning room?"

"The one that is on the right side of the hall if you make two lefts and a right,"

Genya entered the room and greeted the both of them, "Hello ladies,"

"Hi Genya!" Jolana and Alina chimed

Genya walked over to Jolana, "I just fixed your hair and it's already all messy and windswept,"

"Sorry, running through the castle can do that to a girl," Jolana said as she flipped her hair

Genya sat down beside Alina, "What should we do with your hair today?"

"Whatever you pick will be great," Alina said to Genya.

A guard walked in, "The General would like a word with Miss Sokolov,"

"What did you do?" Alina asked Jolana with wide eyes

Jolana wordlessly got up and exited Alina's room where the guards escorted her back to her own room. A dark figure was there waiting for her. 

"You've had quite the morning,"

"I don't know what you're talking about General Kirigan,"

"Last time we spoke it was Aleksander," she turned a little red, and he smirked

"I still don't know what you're talking about," she said as confidently as she could

"Well that would be a perfectly fine card to play if you hadn't come to my private war room that is directly outside my bedroom," he said as though it was obvious, "Blue flames were also a dead giveaway,"

"I didn't know that was your room, genuinely," she looked up at him, "Sorry for the invasion of privacy. I was just exploring and found a room with an open door, my fault,"

"You can come into the war room when you want, just maybe announce yourself next time?"

"Okay, will do," she chuckled, "Next time..."

"Next time."