Alternate Dream

22. Boiling Point

Nina stood up and walked across the room. Pea just watched, not sure what to say, as Nina gathered up all the books she could carry and then turned to her sister. "Please, grab the rest of those, if you don't mind." Pea silently did as asked and the. Followed Nina to the library. Neither saying a word as Nina spent the better part of an hour putting the books back where they belonged.

"There. One thing done." Nina said and walked out of the room. As she turned the corner, Nina ran right into a hard chest.

"Nina." Nina looked up to find Fulton staring down at her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She took a step to go around him but he countered her movement.

"Meece said you passed out, is everything alright?"

"She had no need to inform you, I'm sure you are too busy to care about such trivial matters."

His eyes rounded but then his brows furrowed. Nina managed to step around him and continue down the hall. "Of course I care, I want to know if you're alright."

"No, you don't care. Now leave me alone, your highness."  Nina's numb emotional state caused her words to come out very cold and unfeeling. But she was beginning to feel some type of emotion in the back of her chest, she just wasn't sure what it was yet.

"Nina!" She imagined that commanding voice would stop most people in their tracks.  But not her. Not now.  He didn't follow her.

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Anger. The feeling she couldn't place earlier was impossible to ignore now. She was so angry.

"Nina, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like, Pea? All of this belongs to him, so I'm returning it."  She had half the items in her closet back into the boxes they had arrived in.

She had changed back into the jeans she arrived in but had to settle for a tunic style top since hers had been shredded. He would just have to live with her keeping that one item.

"Nina, I'm sure he doesn't want those back."

"Fine, they can stay in this closet then, for whoever needs them next." She grabbed her backpack and her boots, sitting them in the floor beside her as she sat to put on her socks.

"And where are you going?"

"We are leaving, Pea." Her sister just raised a brow at her. "There's a check-in group heading out to visit the stations this morning. We're going with them, and along the way we're going to search for any clues that will lead us to a portal home."

"Nina..."

"Change your clothes and get your bag."

"Nina we can't just-"

"Hurry Pea, they'll be leaving soon. And I will be with them." Pea seemed to get what Nina was implying. She was leaving whether Pea came with her or not.

Nina nodded and smiled when Pea turned and walked out of the room. Good. Pea will go to her room to get her things, and then we'll go. She put on her boots and didn't look back as she walked out of her room.

She stood on the steps outside, watching as the men loaded up their carts and saddled the horses. Where was Pea? She thought.

"What do you think you're doing?" An angry voice said behind her. She turned around to find Fulton at the top of the steps, a nervous Pea practically hiding behind him.  Traitor.

"I'm leaving." She turned back around and sat down.

"Why?" Came his curt response as he stepped down in front of her so she had to look at him.