Chapter Nineteen

"You've got to be joking!!" S'aalia snorted and then began to close the door. K'aashi reached out with his foot to prevent the door from shutting.

"I'm not. Come on, S'aalia!! Quit being a snob and hear us out!!" K'aashi begged.

"Us?" S'aalia asked, openly confused. She peered out from behind the door at Noaa'lan and J'aa'nalia who looked at her with hopeful eyes.

"Come in," She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Thank you ice princess!" K'aashi muttered under his breath as he walked in the door. Noaa'lan looked back at him, shooting him a dirty look.

"So . . ." S'aalia said as she sat down on the edge of her bed. "What can I do for you?"

"We need your help with something," Noaa'lan explained.

"As long as it has nothing to do with K'aashi!!" S'aalia said with a bright smile. K'aashi glared and then turned his back to her.

"No, it doesn't. You see, we're trying to find out what happened between the King and my father," J'aa'nalia said.

"Why me?" S'aalia said in confusion. "How can I help you find information on something I haven't even heard about until now??"

"We believe that Professor S'aahai was a friend of both of them and might know something about that night," K'aashi said, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Oh, I get it!! So now you want me to interrogate my uncle for you guys, am I right??"

"Yeah, if you could, that'd be great!!" Noaa'lan said, grinning widely.

S'aalia chuckled to herself and shook her head.

"Man, I wasn't going to help any of you until you said that! You're just so naive, all of you!! However, since you're SO naive, Noaa'lan, I think I have no choice but to help you!!" S'aalia laughed. "In case you didn't notice, I was being sarcastic!!"

"Oh, I noticed it!!" K'aashi piped up from the corner of the room.

"I'm glad!" S'aalia said in an angry tone.

"Witch!!"

"Creep!!"

"Guys, you're not helping anything by bickering!! Would you just shut up so we can plan what we're going to do??" Noaa'lan said, raising his voice.

Both K'aashi and S'aalia gave each other one last glare and then turned to face Noaa'lan with false smiles on their faces.

"S'aalia, when's the next time you're going to be seeing your uncle??"

"In class tomorrow," S'aalia answered.

"Besides that. I don't think you'd want to disturb him when he's in his element, squashing the brains of poor innocent children with his literary essays!" K'aashi exclaimed with a grin.

"Now don't make me shove this sock in your mouth, K'aashi! Just because you don't have a good relationship with him doesn't give you the right to say whatever you want when I'm around!" S'aalia hissed, threatening him with her dirty laundry. "I think K'aashi should leave! He's not helping anything."

"Are you sure you're not Noaa'lan's long lost sister, PRINCESS?!" K'aashi growled in annoyance. "I was part of this investigation long before we got your prissy little self involved!"

"Come on, you two. Just TRY to get along during this, will you? I promise it won't take very long, and then you can go about your separate ways and never speak to each other again!" Noaa'lan said, pleading with them.

S'aalia looked at K'aashi with disdain as he frowned at her. Then, he reluctantly extended his hand to her. After looking at it like it might contain poison, S'aalia reached out to shake his hand limply.

"There, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" K'aashi said, smirking at her.

"Watch it, K'aashi. You say one thing to me and you can consider our agreement null and void," S'aalia said, her eyes narrowing in warning.

"The same thing goes for you," K'aashi said sternly, raising his eyebrows.

"Anyway, when else are you going to be seeing your uncle?" J'aa'nalia asked, raising her voice to be heard.

"Two days from now, at the Festival of M'taknai. We always have a big feast to celebrate. My uncle is always smoking kra'aantas and drinking Meluvian brandy with the rest of my male relatives, but perhaps I could distract him long enough to answer some questions. The real question is 'What am I going to get for helping you people?'" S'aalia said with a smile.

"Gods! I knew you weren't the kind of girl just to do it out of the kindness of your blackened heart!" K'aashi exclaimed in aggravation.

"Oh, and I guess I'm supposed to think that's your only motive? Kindness? Tell me K'aashi. Who suggested you get me to help you guys?"

"Believe me, it was Noaa'lan, RIGHT BUDDY!?" K'aashi said tensely, giving his friend a withering glare.

"I was the one who suggested we obtain your help. K'aashi tried to convince me otherwise, but I told him he didn't have to talk to you," Noaa'lan said evenly.

"Hah, so much for that, eh K'aashi?" S'aalia said, giving him a sardonic nudge.

"Don't touch me!" K'aashi snapped back. "I really want to get through this without having to deal with you! Is that too much to ask?"

"Well, now that I know it annoys you, I'll have to keep on doing it, won't I?" S'aalia said smugly.

"That's it! I'm out of here! Tell me when you're actually ready to do some detective work, and I'll be there, but I'm NOT going to stand here while princess takes shots at my character!" K'aashi yelled, and stormed out.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now," Noaa'lan said with a shrug. "Just try to talk to your uncle. If you can't get anything out of him then I guess we don't need your help anymore, which will please K'aashi to no end."

"Oh, don't worry about me dropping out now. I'm on this case until the end, and as for my payment . . . well, I think I just figured out what that is." S'aalia said slyly.

"I hope you don't mean you're just in this to torment K'aashi," Noaa'lan said with a wry smile on his face.

"Don't worry. You'll still be getting what you want. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower," S'aalia said, ushering them to the door. She quickly shut it behind them.

"Well. . ." Noaa'lan said, clearing his throat. "I'd say that went well, wouldn't you?"

"I don't know. When she was arguing with K'aashi I sensed a lot of anger, but under it I sensed something else . . ." J'aa'nalia said softly.

"Pain. I kind of got the feeling she's been hurt before, and something about K'aashi just sets her off," Noaa'lan said with a nod.

"Hmmm, maybe she's attracted to him," J'aa'nalia suggested.

"Ha, if she does then she has a strange way of showing it! It is funny how she treated him civilly until the night of the dance. Perhaps she got wind of his reputation."

"What is his reputation?" J'aa'nalia asked, eager to find out.

"Oh, K'aashi is only the biggest player ever to attend Narundi Academy!" Noaa'lan grinned.

"Not true! My father claims that title! It's one of the few things he's told me about his high school days," J'aa'nalia said with a laugh.

"Interesting. I never would have thought of your father as a flirtatious kind of guy!"

"Well, people change a lot. It's just what happens when you get older." J'aa'nalia muttered. "I'm sure my father would never look at another woman now that my mother's dead."

"Well, if you died neither would I, J'aa'nie," Noaa'lan said, clasping her hands in his.

"You say that now, but I'm certain your father wouldn't allow you to remain unmarried. You'd find someone else and learn to love her," J'aa'nalia said sadly, averting her gaze.

"I don't believe that to be true," Noaa'lan said with conviction. "I'll just have to take good care of you then, J'aa'nie!" He smiled, pulling her into a warm embrace. He could feel her heart pounding in her chest and he leaned down to kiss her soft lips. Her desire for him burned deep inside of her and inside himself the desire was no less. She let out a gasp as their lips parted and stared into his eyes.

"I believe you," She whispered.

Noaa'lan didn't say a word. Instead he quietly took her by the hand and led her down the cobblestone path to her dorm. In their silence there was agreement. In their agreement they vowed never to part.