Blinding Light: A Sleeping Beauty and Snow Queen Remix

Chapter 9

A/N: Preisha, Viviana's familiar^

Viviana forced herself to appear cheerful and unconcerned at breakfast the next morning.

She had waited for 8 to wake Jeanette up and find Santiago before walking down to the hotel lobby for breakfast. They chose a circular table in a corner so Viviana could hide her bag with Preisha in it beneath the table.

Yaquir was not Nazeen. Witches were not prominent at all. If anything, Yaquir's practically nonexistent magical community was ruled by fey... which Viviana would have to carefully avoid.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the fey kept to themselves. They didn't bother anyone, and in return, they asked to be left alone. In the unlikely event that Viviana met another fey, she would have to be careful. After her brief interaction with Princess Luna's decidedly inhuman boyfriend, she was not looking forward to meeting another fey again.

But then again, Princess Luna seemed to figure out instantly that she was a witch which should not have been possible. And that was part of what made the encounter so awkward. The point remained that she would rather avoid any and all fey unless she didn't have a choice.

Anyway, breakfast at the hotel at 8 was busy, but not too bad. The low hum of different conversations would cover up their own voices if Viviana, Jeanette, and Santiago didn't talk too loud. So at least Viviana did not have to worry about being secretive if Santiago or Jeanette brought up a magic subject.

Speaking of her friends, both Santiago and Jeanette looked collectively more well rested than she did. But Preisha did not.

Viviana wondered if her emotions and exhaustion were affecting her familiar. It wasn't unheard of. Due to the telepathic connections all familiars held with their respective witch or warlock, they often channeled each other's habits and emotional states. But that didn't mean that they always knew why they were feeling so strongly about something.

The hard part would be explaining the stress and sudden fear. Viviana knew she would be unable to hide her fears and problems from Preisha, if only because Preisha would overhear her thoughts at some point. And then she had to make sure Preisha didn't tell Jeanette or Santiago anything.

Her stress levels heightened just thinking about it, which of course, Preisha felt. The familiar stuck her nose out of Viviana's shoulder bag underneath the table and nudged Viviana's leg, like she had done last night.

Viviana glanced down reflexively, and met her familiar's piercing gaze.

"I can feel you panicking from here. And I know you did not sleep last night. What happened?"

Viviana quietly filled her familiar in on all that had happened while everyone else had been asleep, as well as what had happened on the plane. She ended it with, "You can't tell Tiago or Jeanie. They're worried enough. The last thing we need is to fall apart before we even make it to the safe house, and then Ilsadora."

Preisha sniffed, and quietly ate half of the croissant Viviana had dropped to her beneath the table.

"You're sure I can't even tell Tiago? That I can't tell anyone?"

"Yes, Preisha!" Viviana insisted. "I'm sure."

Preisha reluctantly agreed, but not before grumbling about how secrets were inherently destructive and detrimental to relationships.

Viviana jumped suddenly when Jeanette leaned across the table and tapped her on the arm. "We should figure out where we are going to go. There should be a way to get to the mountains quickly, and we can find that in a minute, but after that, things will be difficult."