Rowen brought Alecie to the room that Mia and Alanna stayed.
"You can stay here tonight." He said as he escorted her into the room.
"It's very nice, thank you." She said.
"I'll be right back to get you some blankets and a pillow." Rowen said. "Make yourself at home." Alecie watched as he left the room. She then walked over to the window and stared wistfully at the clouds that passed over the full moon.
'I hope everyone is alright.' She thought worriedly. 'This will be Marcus's first battle. And I bet father is leading the troops. I hope that I did the right thing, asking these warriors for help. Father is going to be livid when I show up with them tomorrow.' Alecie was still staring out the window when Rowen came back in the room. He silently put the blankets down as he came to stand beside her.
"Alecie?" he said. Alecie turned around startled as he hand flew to her heart.
"Rowen. You startled me." She said.
"Sorry," he replied sheepishly. "I brought you those blankets." He said indicating the pile on the floor.
"Thank you." She said quietly, turning back to the window.
"You're worried about your family aren't you?" He asked gently. Alecie nodded.
"Wouldn't you be?" she said. "Father is leading the troops, and this is Marcus's first real battle. I just hope that nothing happens to him, to either of them."
"Marcus?" Rowen inquired, his heart sinking at the affection in her voice when she said his name.
Alecie turned to him. "My brother." She said. Rowen smiled.
"Don't worry, Alecie." He said taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure that they'll be fine." Alecie turned to face him and gave him a smile.
"Thank you Rowen." She said. "And please, call me Lecie. I only get called Alecie when I'm in trouble and then he uses my full name." She said with a grin. Rowen smiled again.
"Alright, Lecie." He said liking the sound of his name when she said it. "Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning." He said as he left the room. Alecie watched him until he left the room, thinking of how he had held her hand made her face blush, but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside.
"Oh, what am I doing?" she asked herself aloud. 'I can't like an earthwalker! I am the princess of the cloudrunners, it could never work. Father would be furious, mother would freak and not to mention what everyone would say. I think the best thing for me to do is to stay as far away from him as possible, and then once we have defeated Broadway, he and I will forget all about each other.' She nodded her head in confirmation. Yes, that was what she was going to do. What she didn't know was how hard that was going to be.
Mia and Alanna came into the room a few minutes after Rowen left.
"Thank you again for letting me stay." Alecie said gratefully. Mia waved it off.
"It's no problem at all." She said. The three girls got into bed, Alecie staring at the ceiling, when Alanna broke the silence.
"What's it like living in the sky?" She asked the princess. Alecie turned her head to face her and smiled.
"It's wonderful. Clouds everywhere. It really isn't much different from your cities, aside from the fact that ours are in the sky. Our architecture is different as well."
"I bet it's beautiful, Sakura is going to have to tell us all about it." Mia said.
"Sakura?" Alecie asked.
"Yes, since you only brought six stones, we were downstairs deciding who would go with you, and Sakura is one of them." Mia explained.
"But why is she going?" Alecie asked confused. Alanna looked at her.
"Because she is a Ronin Warrior." She said slowly. Alecie looked surprised; she didn't know that Sakura was a fighter.
"I didn't know that. She doesn't really look like one." Alecie commented softly. Alanna and Mia laughed.
"You're right, she doesn't. But she is, and quite a good one too." Mia said. Alecie nodded.
'How cool is that?' Alecie thought. 'Girls aren't allowed to be warriors in Skybax City, or anywhere for that matter.'
"Sakura, she's married to Ryo, right?" she asked trying to place names with faces.
Alanna nodded. "Yes,"
"And Alanna, Sage is your boyfriend?" she asked. Alanna blushed. "Well, I'd like him to be. I don't think he likes me like that though." Alecie raised an eyebrow as if to say "yeah right!" It was obvious even to a newcomer that Sage had a thing for her; apparently he was just too nervous to say anything about it.
"What about the others? You know Rowen, and um… I think his name was Cye and Kento?" she said trying to remember the introductions as she asked about Rowen.
Mia shook her head. "Nope, technically, Ryo is the only one that is taken and he is totally devoted to Sakura. And no matter how much Alanna denies it," she said giving Alanna a look. "Sage likes her and I doubt that his opinion will be swayed."
Alanna blushed deep red. "He does not like me like that!" she replied. Mia sat up and threw a pillow at her.
"Stop denying it, you know it's true!" she said. Alecie smiled, watching them, it reminded her of sharing a room with Elizabeth and Minda.
"Who else was chosen?" Alecie asking changing the subject, secretly hoping that Rowen was one of them. Mia thought for a minute.
"Well, it's not for certain yet." She said slowly. "I think that Ryo and them have some things to ask you tomorrow before they make the "final cut". But I do know for sure that Ryo, Sakura, Sage, and Rowen are going." Alecie smiled.
'Rowen's coming.'
She thought happily, temporarily forgetting all about her promise to herself
earlier to forget about him. "Why do you have a thing for Rowen?"
Mia asked slyly. Alecie blushed.
"No," she replied quickly. "I could never date an earthwalker.
Father would absolutely forbid it." Mia raised an eyebrow as if she could read
the cloudrunner's mind but didn't say anything.
"Well, goodnight." Mia said eventually. "See you guys in the morning." Alecie and Alanna returned her goodnight as they fell asleep.
