Chap. 3 First Contact
When Wendy finally caught up to Janus, she was winded and lost in this strange, primitive city. Everything was metal and glass, not a crystal structure in sight. It was the first time she'd been away from home and she was now frightened.
Janus listened intently and cocked her ears this way and that. she thought, "Bonatha must be scared stiff and we have to find shelter. Luna won't go anywhere this late at night and if we get in real danger, I could always tell Bonatha what exactly is in her Family Crest, but we shouldn't get in that much trouble tonight."
Bonatha was thinking of where she was going to get food, not shelter. She smelt something wonderful in the building behind her. Janus climbed to the window that the smell was coming from and saw the two girls and the cat from earlier, cooking something that looked like what Bonatha called rafeen. The white cat saw her before she could duck and called out, "Hey, who are you and what are you doing here?!"
Janus recognized the voice instantly. "Artemis? Is that you? Where is Luna? I must see her immediately!" Suddenly she remembered the Princess. "Can you give us shelter for the night? I'll explain later."
When Janus finally got the now very weak Bonatha up the stairs, Artemis had already explained who she was to Mina and Lita and had contacted the others.
Bonatha gulped down the soup placed before her without regard for her manners, explaining that she'd not eaten for two days, since Galaxonite had poisoned his right hand minion. She was certain she'd be the next to be drugged and forced, all the faster, to marry him.
Bonatha became fast friends with Lita and Mina. They both thought she was a nice person, if a little sheltered, and was a good friend.
That night she slept on an extra bed by a window. She looked up and noticed that, thanks to the strange atmosphere, Virbula wasn't even visible here, nor was Pontion. That made her think of her last few moments with Hophter. Why had he decided to tell her that then? Why had he admitted his love as he was leaving? Was he scared of what she would have said? Before she could think of an answer, emotional and physical fatigue overtook her and she fell deeply asleep, not knowing what was going on back on Virbula.