COBALT: The Sovereign's Stratagem (Book Two)

Chapter 3: Mr. Bunny (Part 1/3)

          She hit the first flight of stairs, polished crimsonwood and golden handrails a beacon of her halfway marker. The air was still fresh, and given the way smoke sank in her lumience practice, that was a good sign already. Still, her feet made quick work of the staircase, the hollowed drum of her indoor sandals giving away her position to one man in particular.

          Hands grabbed her as she crossed the doorway at the top of the stairs, a scream ripping from her throat as her knees buckled to hang in the man's hold. She laughed before the fear could settle out of her, planting her feet to spring back up and wrap her arms around the attacker's waist in a poorly executed tackle, barely budging him as he let out his own chuckle. 

          She felt him bend down a little, eyes widening as an arm hooked her legs.

          Uh oh.

          With a short yelp she was upside down, flailing through her tangles of red hair while the two guards posted to the door tried to keep a proper straight face at the sight.

           She could feel the blood rushing to her head, a few choked giggles clogging at her nose. The man didn't keep her upside down for long, slowly lowering her to squirm onto the floor with a short cough.

          "It's never a good idea to run up a flight of stairs miss."

          Vera grinned, sticking her arms into a defiant fold as she stared up at Mr. Jackling. She swore he could walk through walls with the way he could track her and her siblings down in a blink. Late for classical readings to foreign etiquette to even dinner, he was always there to pull them back in. Like a third, yet fun, parent.

          His eyes twinkled at the verbal snare he'd caught Vera with. "Your mother said you were looking for something to do."

          He was in his usual white jacket, a small brown bookbag next to his feet and filled with the history texts he usually gave off to Mariel at this hour. Vera could certainly wait for her turn on them. "No, I'm busy. I locked Cinder in my closet."

          His smile dipped. "Again? Let's hope your room isn't on fire."

          Vera looked at the ground with a stubborn frown, his words resounding with the worry that was already haunting her. "She wanted to take a nap in there... do you really think she'll burn my room down Mr. Jackling?"

          He gave her a playful smile, slinging his bag back onto his shoulder as he matched her pace. "I'm not sure. Maybe we should run, just in case." Vera stopped as he started jogging, purposefully slow to show off the comical grin plastering his face. "Last one there gets a bucket of water on their head!"

          "Hey!" Vera yelled, burning red with irritation as she ran after him. He slowed down, watching her tear up the broad set of stairs to her room, giggling victoriously the whole way. She stopped at the door, smacking it so hard she retracted her hand and waved it in the air to cool the pain. "Hah!"

          "Aw, come on! I almost had you!" Mr. Jackling chuckled, opening the door to Vera's room for her to run inside. "You'd better apologize to Cinder."

          "After I get to dump a bucket of water on your head!" Vera whipped open her closet and grabbed the small Phoenix from a stack of scarves. She ran up to Mr. Jackling, yanking on his sleeve and leading him into a corner. "You wait there until I find one okay?"

          "Alright miss."

          "Promise!"

          He dipped his head courteously. "You have my word miss."