Allies of the Sun

Chapter 19

Aspen sprinted out of Sasha's room to the healer's quarters. Jay and Gabe followed behind, but about halfway there, Jay disappeared. Aspen assumed they teleported there but didn't linger on it. She burst through the doors and ran right over to Lexie. Lexie yelped in surprise. "Aspen! You scared me."
Gabe came in shortly after and Lexie got the weird look again, the same one from when she first met him and when they had gone into the village. Whenever she got this look it reminded her of the time she saw Alina walk down the hall and stop to look at herself in a mirror.
Aspen decided to ignore the face she was making. "Lexie!! How are you feeling?" She asked, hugging her. "Yeah, I'm fine," Lexie said in a tone that made Aspen think she wasn't really listening. "Are you sure..?" Aspen asked, breaking from the hug, she was still making that weird face so it concerned her. Aspen let go of her and turned to the healer. She was drinking coffee and reading something on her computer.
"Are you sure she is all better? She isn't acting like she is. Did she have too much blood loss or something?" The healer spit out her coffee and was now bursting with laughter, Aspen didn't see what was so funny. When she had calmed down enough to answer she said, "You see, when someone has-" Lexie interrupted the healer, "Aspen how are you?" She seemed in a hurry to change the subject.
"Oh I'm doing fine, I was attacked only a few minutes after I woke up this morning but Jay protected me so everything is good," Aspen responded. "And what were you guys doing before you got here?" Lexie asked, concerned.
"Oh, Sasha was about to give Gabe and Jay a makeover!" Aspen said excitedly. "I just wanted to see Jay looking all pretty and dressed up," Gabe complained. "Jay got blood on their shirt so Sasha helped pick something out for them and was about to do their makeup when the healer came in and said you were awake, so the makeover has sadly been postponed."
Lexie burst out laughing, probably imagining Jay and Gabe in matching dresses. "Well it seems you guys have been enjoying yourselves while I was out," she said through her laughter. "Did I miss anything else interesting?"
"I don't know," Aspen said and she thought about how Conner hadn't come to see her yet, when Sasha burst through the door and locked her gaze with Gabe. "We haven't finished your makeover yet," she said threateningly, holding makeup brushes in one hand and products in the other.
Gabe backed away from her and Aspen realized why she hadn't seen Jay, they were probably trying to avoid the makeover! Aspen would have been doing the same as well. She wouldn't mind being dressed up though, it would be like having the older sister she always wanted instead of the one she had.
"Where's Jay?"
"I haven't seen them since we came over here."
"Ughhh"
"I have a question for you though."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Why hasn't Conner come to see me yet?"
Sasha didn't answer right away, she just stared dumbfounded. Eventually, she pointed up. "You mean like on a higher level or on the surface?" Aspen asked. Sasha didn't respond, she grabbed Gabe by the back of his shirt and left to find Jay.
Aspen was still confused so she helped Lexie up. They hurried off to go find them and maybe witness a fantastic makeover! She was a little concerned that Sasha didn't give her an answer though.

Hiding in the underground was easier than Jay had thought it would be. Hiding from Sasha on the other hand, was a complete nightmare. They had hidden in a dark room but of course, they had left their phone somewhere, it was either in the healer's quarters or in Sasha's bathroom.
It sounded like something was moving around in here with them. They couldn't sense anyone so it must have just been a rat. Jay might have believed that if a feminine voice hadn't called out, "Who are you and what are you doing in my room?"
"Ummm... Sorry, I didn't think this was anyone's room," they answered. Why can't I sense her? They turned around but their eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark yet. "Well this is my room so again, who are you?" the voice called out again. "Why?" they asked.
"Uh, because I blinked once and here you are!" she exclaimed. "And I don't recognize you. So again, Who. Are. You?" Jay's eyes finally adjusted and they saw the figure of a woman, but she had wings and antlers. Could that be Alina? No, she would have recognized me and started saying... weird things.
Jay scanned the room looking for a light switch. They didn't see it at first but when they turned around they saw it right next to the door and felt stupid for not looking there in the first place. They flipped the light on to make sure they were right about Alina not being here. She wasn't. The woman was older than they were but looked exactly like Aspen and Alina. Somehow they were related, but Jay had never heard of a third princess born to this royal family.
"What?" she demanded, and Jay realized they were staring. "Why do you look like that?" She stared at them making it very clear that she was mad. "A Borena," they added. She glared, "BECAUSE I AM ONE!"
"Then what are you doing here?" Before she could say anything there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" she called out to whoever was on the other side of the door. Jay had a bad feeling about it, and they were right because Sasha came in dragging Gabe behind her. She seemed surprised to actually find them there but she got over it fast.
"Get over here before Aspen comes, she can't know about Estella yet!" she said urgently. They had a feeling there wasn't gonna be a makeover anytime soon because she had a lot of explaining to do.

Uploaded: March 25, 2022