Disclaimer: I dont own LXG!
"They should be arriving soon," said the bowing man to the figure. "The ship is headed for us as we speak."
"Very good," the figure answered. "Prepare the troops; they know what they're supposed to do?"
"Yes m'lady, they have been trained especially for this." The kneeling figure stood, "Soon the prophesy will be fulfilled and you will rise to your rightful place." He turned and left the room.
For the third time that night I woke to the dream that had plagued me since my talk with Grey. I slid out of the bed and shoved my feet into the slippers and threw a robe over my night gown. I slipped out of my room and down the hall toward the library.
It was true that I could not read anything Nemo carried in his library. However I still liked it, the room smelled of dust and ink reminded me of my fathers study and the countless hours I had spent there playing quietly at his feet.
I found one of the seats with my fingertips and sank into it letting the rich scents of the books waft over me. I tried to do as my uncle had taught me and let my senses tell me something about the people who had been there last.
Quartermain had been standing in the far corner smoking, he made his own cigars and they had a very distinctive smell. From what I knew Quartermain would have taken any book he was reading back too his room but instead he had stayed here, possibly discussing something with Nemo, Jekyll, or Mina. I moved forward toward the small sitting area at the center of the room and knew that He had been talking with Mina, a slight chemical odor hung in the air. I sat and began to speculate what they had been talking about.
I was pulled out of my reprieve by the door opening. I spun around to regard the person who had entered, when I realized it was Skinner I crossed my arms and waited to see if he dared say anything while I was still angry with him.
Of course he did. "I heard you moving around and thought…" he trailed off unsure of how to continue with out making me angry again.
"Thought you'd come make sure I wasn't going to get hurt." I finished bluntly. "You know that happens to be the thing that got you in bad graces with me in the first place."
"I wanted to apologize," he answered meekly.
I stopped, mostly because I was almost certain that no one had ever heard Skinner apologize before and was intrigued.
Encouraged by my silence he plowed on, "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry that we followed you to the Opera the other night. It wasn't that we didn't think that you could do manage without us we just didn't know anything about it and were worried about you and… well…" he began to stutter and fell silent after a moment.
I sunk into one of the seats and put my head into my hand, after a moment I turned to him. "I don't want anyone to feel like they have to protect me," I said. "I'm able to do anything a seeing person can do, and I hate people trying to tell me that I need help."
"I'm so sorry," he said.
I remained silent for a moment and then suddenly smiled, "I forgive you."
Skinner was relieved and sat down next to me. "That was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be."
"I'm in a good mood," I responded teasingly, "feel lucky."
He chuckled and stood, "you know we should be asleep. Nemo said we would be in Russia tomorrow."
"You're absolutely right," I said.
He offered me his arm, I took it and we walked back to our rooms.
Thank you for all the reviews it's been wonderful to get feedback, sorry for the shortness but this one was just sort of stuff i needed to get through before I could get to the big fight thing which should be happening over the next few chapters.