Ellora's Sun

Chapter Seven

Growing up, Adelaide had only flown on a plane one time. When she was five, and James was three, their parents flew them down to Disney World for Christmas. She was terrified to get on the plane, but she remembered her parents brought them each a stuffed animal to squeeze whenever the plane took off.

When the plane was about to take off, her dad held her hand and they squeezed the stuffed elephant together. Once they were in the air he showed her the view from the window, and laughed as they imagined her stuffed elephant flying through the clouds.

That was probably the last time Adelaide could remember her dad laughing with them.

Now that she had grown up, she still hadn't fully conquered the nervous feeling in her stomach when she got onto a plane. When Christoph had told them they were going to Prague, she half expected him to summon a magical portal or teleport them there.

Instead, he bought three tickets to fly across the Atlantic, and escorted Adelaide and James to the Philadelphia International Airport.

Frankly, Adelaide would have preferred to take the magic portal.

"How long is the flight?" She asked, leaning her elbows onto her knees as she tapped her foot anxiously. She'd made it onto the plane and into her seat, but they were sitting around waiting for the plane to take off. She heard James groan in the seat across the aisle.

The plane was small, for an international flight. There were two pairs of chairs on either side of the plane, with an aisle next to them, and a row of single chairs in between. James had been quick to claim the single chair for himself. He'd never been very good at sharing. 

Christoph had been able to get them all first class seats, despite Adelaide's protests. She had insisted to help pay for the motel and the airplane tickets, but he refused. He claimed that his family had been around for centuries, so money wasn't really an issue.

"For the fifth time, Adela, it's a twelve hour flight. Now stop asking." He leaned back in the chair and put his headphones in, turning his music up as he closed his eyes and prepared for an in-flight nap. James, as always, had been entirely too eager to jump on a plane and fly across the world. Adelaide tried to argue for him to stay home, but it was too risky.

"Are you nervous?' Christoph asked next to her. Adelaide instinctively stopped tapping her foot in a weak attempt to hide her anxiety. Instead, her nervous energy came out in her fingers, as she dug her nails into her palm. She felt a twinge as she scratched at the scab forming from when she'd dug into her palms two days before.

"No, I'm fine." Adelaide answered a little too quickly. She gave him a quick smile, and then turned her head towards the window to avoid eye contact.

"It's okay to be a little nervous," Christoph chuckled at her obvious lie, leaning forward in his seat towards her, "But you don't need to worry; nothing's going to happen."

"Yeah, I know." Adelaide responded, moving restlessly in her seat. She knew her anxiety was obvious, but she didn't want to admit it to Christoph. Where he was strong and collected, Adelaide was weak and a bundle of nerves.

"Do you think you could show me some of that music you were telling me about?" Christoph asked. Adelaide looked up at him, curious about the sudden change of subject. She realized he was trying to distract her, getting her to focus on something else. She was more than happy to think about anything other than the plane about to fly over an ocean.

"Yeah, uh, sure," Adelaide responded, clumsily digging into her backpack for some headphones. She plugged them into her phone, put one in her left ear, and handed the other one to Christoph, "here."