Disappearance of Roselei Hawthorne

Chapter Four

Kallen woke up on the floor. He wasn't quite sure how it happened, but somehow he rolled out of his bed in the middle of the night.

"I'll bet the excitement got to me." Kallen mumbled to himself as he stretched his arms. Bringing himself to his feet, he marked another day off of his wall calendar with a thick stroke of black ink.

"Kallen? Are you awake?" Lillia knocked on his bedroom door. From the sound of her voice Kallen could tell she was extremely tired. He assumed she didn't sleep very well either.

"Yeah, I'm up Auntie Lillia. You can come in." Kallen began tidying the sheets on his bed.

"How did you sleep?" Lillia came into Kallen's room and sat down on a small stool that Kallen kept near his desk. She leaned backwards against the wall tiredly and let out a big yawn.

"I've certainly slept better." kallen yawned as well. "And judging from those dark circles under your eyes, I'd say you have too."

"I kept tossing and turning all night. My anxiety was getting to me." Lillia admitted.

"Anxiety? What are you so anxious about?"

"Well... everything, really. You never know what could go wrong today." Lillia sighed. "We could accidentally show up late, we could have falsely assumed the worth of that music box, we could fail to convince the dragon-born to win for us, we could lose the bet, Gideon could ditch us, we-"

"Okay, okay, I hear you." Kallen stopped his aunt before she could make him nervous too. "Everything is going to be okay, alright? Why are you so worried anyways? This isn't like you."

"I know, I know... " Lillia's voice trailed off as she let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not sure why I'm so nervous either. Just yesterday evening I was so excited for today. I couldn't stop thinking about how perfectly everything was coming together. I guess at some point I started thinking about all those little things that could go wrong, y'know?"

"I know exactly what you mean." Kallen finished making his bed, and turned to his closet to retrieve some clothes. "I'm worried too. Well, not nearly as worried as you are, but still nervous. I think all the excitement is getting to me. I mean, just a few days ago we were hopelessly standing in the Grand Hall searching for any sort of help. And now, not only do we have the best of the best on our side, we've got a real plan to get us going. Everything is happening so quickly, and who's to say that everything can fall apart just as quickly?"

"You really think Gideon is the 'best of the best'?" Lillia smirked.

"Well... he's alright... I guess." Kallen's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. He had to admit, he did admire Gideon. Despite being born into nobility, he still faced his own set of adversities. And he faced those adversities headstrong, with grit and integrity. Kallen could only hope to be even half as brave as Gideon was.

"I personally think he's a great guy. He's smart, capable, strong, goodlooking-"

"Auntie Lillia!" Kallen furrowed his brow. "Are you kidding me?"

"Are you kidding me? He's gorgeous! And besides, he's being so nice to us! He's literally meeting all of my standards. Although... my standards aren't very high." Lillia chuckled to herself.

"But you're the one who's constantly ranting about how awful the After-Frost family is and how stupid people are for drooling all over them." Kallen huffed in frustration. "You can't honestly be telling me that now you've fallen for them too."

"It's complicated." Lillia crossed her arms. "On one hand, you're right. I hate the After-Frosts. I still do. But Gideon is really kind and handsome... and, you know, he hates his family too! That's something we have in common."