Bound- Red Threads of Fate Jaya AU

I'm just a girl in the world

Note: It's been an extremely embarrassingly long time since I updated this, and I'm very sorry. The end of the school year was super busy, my computer was broken for a while, and I just got back from being away for a week. I really meant to post this before I left, but I didn't get the chance, so you get it now. Um, enjoy I guess!

"Wh-wha?" Nya sat bolt upright in bed. Someone had been knocking on the door, and now they were at it again. She jumped to the floor, and out of her peripheral vision noticed Jay, asleep in an armchair in the far corner of the room. She did remember him being there the night before, but hadn't realized he'd been there all night.

She opened the door and poked her head out. Kai was standing there.

"What's wrong?" Nya asked.

"Nothing, sorry. But the rest of us are having brunch, and Skylor told me to check on you."

"Check on me doesn't have to mean jarringly wake me up. And besides, since when do you let people you don't even like order you around?"

"Sorry, I didn't know you were still asleep." He said, ignoring her question. "By the way, is Jay in there with you?"

Somehow the words that came out of her mouth were, "No. Why?"

"He's not at breakfast either. So are you sure he's not–"

"Goodness, Kai! I'll look for him. You go back and eat."

He left after that, and she turned and leaned against the door. "Found him." She mumbled, looking towards Jay, who seemed to have slept through the whole exchange. She assumed she should wake him up, but she felt bad about it. Thinking back to the night before, she wondered how long they'd stayed up, talking. It hadn't seemed like that long, but maybe it had been, seeing as they'd both been tired enough to sleep through breakfast time.

Right, brunch. She had better get there before everyone (and particularly her brother) ate it all. And if she wanted any chance that there would be enough for her and Jay, she had better wake him up so they could get dressed as soon as possible. She went over to the chair and tapped his shoulder.

"Um, Jay?"

He didn't even stir. She leaned down and gently shook his shoulder. "Jay!"

His deep blue eyes flicked open. "Nya?"

"Hello. Um, good morning. Sorry."

His eyes widened as he looked around the room. "Did I sleep here all night?"

She nodded, blushing. "Yeah. And we slept late too. Kai just came to say they started brunch without us."

"Kai?" Jay sat bolt upright.

"He didn't see you, don't worry. But you'd better get out of here fast if you don't want him coming back and noticing you."

"Oh, right. Yes. I'll meet you there." He got up quickly and left. In a second he was back.

"This was on the door for you." He handed her a hanger, then left again.

Nya looked at the clothes. Judging by the color scheme and quality, she had an idea where they'd come from. But since her own clothes had been taken to be cleaned, the only other things she had available were her nightdress and the dress she had worn the day before. She sighed and went to the washroom to clean up before she got dressed. The whole thing of having a washroom was a miracle to her–when she turned a knob, water came out of a pipe in the wall, ready for whatever she wanted. Back home, she had never heard of such a thing. Having grown up her whole life with wells, pumps, chamber pots, and washstands, all of this brought a mix of emotions–excitement, of course, as she couldn't wait to figure out how the whole system worked. But also anger at how everyone back in the Serpent Kingdom was deprived of inventions like these. It was just another thing that wasn't fair, another reason to hate the Queen.