Innocent

Chapter 14 - Run, Run, Fall in Love

He said yes. He said yes. Oh, Evil Mistress, he said yes.

"Dris!" Rilo pulled my from my internal obsession.

"Oh, sorry." I focused on the task at hand. "Lead the way Rilo."

"With pleasure." Rilo grinned and took off down the hall. I automatically grabbed Alexi's hand and took off after. I didn't realize I had grabbed Alexi's hand til we were halfway down the hall and I felt his fingers close around mine. Thankfully he was behind me and didn't see the smile that I couldn't keep at bay.

We raced down the hall after Rilo. Rilo ran confidently down tunnel after tunnel. Dang, that prince was fast. But it didn't matter. All I could think about was Alexi's hand closed tight around mine.

"Where are we going?" I asked Rilo between breaths.

"Just a few more turns and we'll be far enough from the city that we can portal out of here." He explained.

"Why didn't we come in this way? It sounds like its a lot easier." I gritted my teeth.

"We needed someone to show us where Alexi was. Coming in as a guest was the easiest way." Rilo turned again and Alexi and I followed.

"So you guys specifically came just to get me?" Alexi piped in.

"Yeah. Of course." I had to run a bit faster to keep up with Rilo, dragging Alexi with me.

"I'm that important to you?" The way he said it made my heart stop. Did he want to be important to me?

"Um. Sure." I could feel my cheeks heating once again. "I take my job very seriously."

"Oh. Your job." He spoke quietly.

"Here we go..." Rilo announced and then trailed off. In front of us was three guards blocking the exit. "Oh, I forgot to check for security."

Seeing us, the guards jumped to attention, ready to fight us if need to be.

"What cha got, Rilo?" I muttered to him, hoping he had some sort of trick up his sleeve.

"I got nothing." He squeaked sheepishly.

"Of course you don't." I groaned. Well, here goes nothing.

"Hello!" I stepped forward and greeted the guards. "We are travelers passing through. I am Dree and this is Ri. Our guide," I gestured to Alexi, "was just walking us out so we wouldn't get lost."

I have no idea how this was going to go.

"Is this true?" The guards asked Alexi.

"Yes." Alexi said, voice strong with confidence. It was kind of attractive.

"Very well. We wish you safe travels, honored guests." The guards stood aside and we passed through.

I was just about to summon a portal when I heard a commotion behind us. Glaya and a couple of others come around the corner.

"Stop them! They're getting away with the changeling prince!" A woman in a long silver cloak and diamonds in her hair pointed to us. The guards turned to us, polite faces twisting.

"Time to go." I summoned a portal and jumped through it, dragging Alexi behind me.

We stumbled out into my throne room haphazardly. As soon as Rilo was through, I closed the portal. Just in time, too. The guards were mere feet from following us through.

"Whoa." I flopped on the floor, gasping for breath.

"That was quite an adventure, Your Majesty." Rilo flopped down beside me. "Any chance you're going to let me live?"

"What?" Alexi asked, still standing.

"Yes, Rilo. You're fine. It was just a joke, remember." I growled at him, not wanting to tip Alexi off that we were the creatures that went bump in the night.

"Hmm." Alexi turned away, taking in his surroundings. "This is an interesting place. Could use a bit more light. It's kind of hard to see."

Hard to see? I could see every nook of this place.

"It appears that Alexi has not inherited his father's genetics for night vision." Rilo explained. "Most creatures here can see perfectly in the dark, so the need for excessive lighting is not necessary."

"Oh, well that kind of sucks for me, huh?" Alexi shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Hey, come with me. I might have something for you." I had a lot of amulets in my secrets closet, and one of them was bound to be fore night vision. Right? I take him to my room and open the door. One look inside and Alexi screamed.

"Bart!" I greeted my pet.

"Dri!" He grunted back happily.

"Did you have fun playing in the imp meadow?" I stand on my tiptoes to scratch under his chin.

"Yes. Dri come too." He proclaimed.

"Yes, next time I will come too." I promised my big lug. "Bart, I want you to meet a friend. This is Alexi."

Alexi waved from the doorway, skin as pale as could be.

"Hi, Lex." Bart greeted him.

"How about you head downstairs for a snack. Alexi and I need to go into the closet, and you know how you don't like the closet." I patted his elbow to let him know that I wasn't just trying to get rid of him.

"Closet mean." Bart grumbled. "Bye bye."

He lumbered past Alexi and down the hall.

"What was that? And why did he say your closet was mean?" Alexi scanned my room for other creatures before stepping inside.

"That was my pet troll. He's a bit dense, but would do anything for me."

"And the closet?" Alexi didn't let it go as I had hoped he would.

"Some of the closet's contents are a bit... dangerous, I suppose. He got into a fight with a griffin net once. It didn't go very well."

"And I'm supposed to just waltz right in there with you." He was skeptical, and honestly I didn't blame him.

"It's an honor to get to go into my closet. No one is allowed inside. Bart's the only one who has been." I huffed, trying to hide my blush again. To some, the closet just looked like a room full of old and magical stuff. To me it held the evidence to every plot, prank, and promise I've ever been apart of. It was my soul in object form. But for some reason, I kind of wanted Alexi to see it.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I just didn't want to mess anything up."

"Just don't touch things without asking and you should be fine." I assured him, placing my hand in the center of the door. "No cover your ears, I don't want you to hear the password."

Once he had done as he was told, I spoke the very long and complicated password. I hated having such a long thing to remember, but it was worth not having people break into it. One day I would get around to torching the evidence. But until then, the password would have to suffice.

The door swung open and I motioned for Alexi to uncover his ears.

"Welcome to my secrets closet."