Dreamwalker

23- Closing In

Bell used the rest of her sleepless night to strategize. She didn't want to wake up anyone else so she planned alone. Taking Morie's and Emeric's advice, she would rescue Soutine by giving herself over to Laurier. She didn't tell anybody this though. They would probably try to stop her. Bell could almost hear Aysal's furious objections of, "he doesn't deserve it! Don't give your life for such a deceitful man!" or Emeric's fretful, "Bell, you can't just hand yourself over. There has to be another way where no one has to get hurt." Even Li would probably fuss about it, with her warnings about Laurier and apprehensions about Solancee.

Needless to say, Bell would execute this part of her plan by herself. She would offer to scout out the town as a lookout for the rest of her friends. Then, while they went to the prison to find Soutine, she would find the castle and bargain with Laurier for Soutine and Judicael. She could even guarantee her friends' safety. And could Laurier really be so bad? Morie said that he needed her to perform specific tasks. At least he wouldn't kill her. It was little consolation but consolation all the same. Bell needed all the courage she could gather.

When the sun rose that morning, Bell almost dreaded seeing her friends again. She was going to miss them. They were the first friends she ever had, after all, and she was going to miss them in Solancee. Hopefully Solancee wasn't as bad as Li and Genevieve believed it was.

Aysal woke up first. When Bell noticed she was awake, she tiptoed through the sand to sit down next to her as she rubbed her eyes. "Good morning, princess," Bell remarked.

"Mmm. Did you really stay awake all night?"

"That's right. I did a lot of thinking."

Aysal yawned, then said, "and? What did you think about?"

"Uh. You," Bell replied, and this wasn't wholly a lie.

"I love you and everything but next time don't try to seduce me so early in the morning."

"Why? Is it working?"

Aysal sighed. She grinned sleepily through dewey soot-black eyes at Bell. "Alright, it's working, you win... where did Emeric put the food?"

"Not sure. Don't worry, I'll find you something." Bell let Aysal wake up slowly while she made her way over to the pile of supplies in the center of camp. She dug through a few of the sacks until she found a skein of water and a small loaf of bread. In that time, Nathan woke up too, sitting up and yawning. "Did I wake you?" Bell called over to him. He shook his head.

"I wake up with the sun," he explained.

"Sorry to hear that." Bell broke the loaf in half in her hands so she could give one half to Nathan and take the rest to Aysal, who was combing her hair with her fingers. When Bell stooped down to offer the bread, she leaned forward and took it with her teeth so she could continue fixing her hair.

"I wish we didn't have to wake up so early," Aysal muttered through a mouthful of bread. "I hate mortal peril when it's time-sensitive."

Meanwhile, Nathan woke up Emeric with a gentle shake on his shoulder. When Emeric opened his eyes Nathan turned his attention to Li, who needed a little bit more persuading, and got a boot to the head when she wouldn't wake up with a shake. She let out a furious, "ow! What the--?"

"We need to get moving," Nathan ordered, "so pack everything up, get some food, and let's continue to the mountains. The sooner we arrive the better."

At the sound of Li's yell, Genevieve woke up too, stretching like a cat and signing something with her hands and arms.

"Good morning to you too," Aysal replied. She made the same sign back to Genevieve before taking another bite of bread.

When everyone was awake, Nathan ordered them to roll up their beds and start moving. Bell appreciated his seriousness even though he had no reason to come with them. He was certainly the most responsible member of the team.