The Hidden Crystal

Chapter 33

"Shh!"

"Why are we shushing?"

"Char's asleep on the sofa."

"Why isn't he asleep in his bed?"

"Just hush. I'll tell you in the kitchen."

Three sets of footsteps crept through the living room toward the kitchen, and Char sighed. Stealth wasn't Srot and Thrak's strong suit, but Rath could do better than that. At the very least, he could've told their teammates to be quiet before he let them into the brothers' shared living quarters.

Why were Srot and Thrak here, anyway?

Char sat upright and groaned. His sore muscles had stiffened while he slept, and the bruises he'd paid little attention to last night were tender and not to be ignored. A soak in a nice, hot bath later would feel great. After he figured out the reason Rath invited their team over for breakfast when they were trying to hide Iris.

Srot and Thrak wouldn't tell anybody, but nobody came over for breakfast unless Char's mother was cooking. He didn't want to draw any suspicion their way.

Wait. Was his mother here? The smell of hot food drifting out of the kitchen was too good for his brother's or teammates' cooking. If she were here, she'd be fussing and worrying about Iris, and he'd have to try to hide his injuries from her, too...

He stood and stretched, wincing as he did so. That might not be possible.

But he didn't hear her voice coming from the kitchen. He heard Rath, Srot, and Thrak loud and clear, having already forgotten they were trying to be quiet. If Iris weren't in such a bad way, he'd worry about them waking her, too.

He peeked into his bedroom. She was still asleep in his bed, surrounded by fairies. The sight both disappointed and relieved him.

She'd wake up later, he reassured himself.

Then he followed the aromatic smells into the kitchen, where Rath, Srot, and Thrak were sitting around a table loaded with no less than fifteen platters of steaming food. A handful of fairies were flitting around the stove and oven, too quick for Char to get an exact count.

Rath looked up at Char and grinned through a mouthful of food. "Oh, hey. Thought you'd sleep longer."

"Kinda hard when there's so much noise." Char dropped into a chair and surveyed the options on the table. "You're making the fairies cook?"

Rath shook his head. "They want to. Hey, take your shirt off for a second."

"Excuse me?"

Srot swallowed and gestured with his fork as he talked. "Yeah, heard you got beat up pretty bad. Let's see those bruises."

Thrak's mouth was full, but he nodded with enthusiasm.

Char heaved a sigh. "Whatever." He unbuttoned his shirt and held it open. "Seen enough?"

Rath whistled. "Wow. It's like a rainbow."

"You transformed inside a building, right?" Srok asked.

"A stone tower," Rath confirmed. "Made of those big huge blocks of stone that are something like a foot thick."

"That had to hurt," Thrak commented.

"It did." Char buttoned his shirt again. "Why is there so much food here?"

"I didn't know fairies could cook," Rath said, reaching for a plate of poached eggs. "Turns out they take requests, too. Try asking them to make something. I haven't been able to stump them yet."