Child
By LittleMissCrash
Chapter 8: Kalen
I try to run as fast as I can without slipping on the ever wet roads. The roads still looked familiar from the instant I passed them before. Soon I hurried to the backdoor when I first met Hanna. She should be inside there, but I can't just rush in there with my drenched clothes. I didn't pack anything formal, thinking I wouldn't need them anymore. You know what? Maybe I'll just waltz in there like this and nobody would notice. Hanna needs to know about this.
I take a deep breath and shove open the door and the scent of food overwhelms me. I know I just ate a hunger pellet, but event that has no flavor whatsoever. I duck down, hoping nobody sees me until I find Hanna. Luckily, everyone was either too drunk or thought I was a servant or something to notice me. I walked through all the crowds, having no luck in locating Hanna. I stopped and decided to sit in the corner until anybody familiar passed by.
Time slowly passed by, eventually I doze off. When my eyes open again, I find that Hanna was right in front of me her face calculating and skeptical.
"Hanna?" I say mindlessly.
When my mind finally comes through, I find that it wasn't Hanna staring at me, but a woman with the face of Hanna staring at me. All the features were the same except for the eyes and hair. Her eyes weren't blue but black with golden specks, and her hair color was also dark. Otherwise, the blinding beauty was not changed. This woman was also a lot older, and could have been Hanna's mom. Hanna's mom…
"How do YOU know my daughter?" Her tone was a cross between anger, suspicious, and worried. June Iparis, the prodigy of the Republic, of course. I fumble upon my words having no clue what would go flying out of my mouth. Eventually I find my tongue.
"Er, what are you talking about?" I guess playing dumb was my only strategy here. June didn't look convinced.
"I'm asking how you know my daughter's name." Her voice was filled with authority and control, probably from her earlier soldier years. Honestly I was a little scared of her.
"Do you mean I muttered the name Hanna in my sleep?" I was still playing the clueless part.
"Yes mister. You are a child from the slums in a high class party and you fell asleep here muttering my daughter's name." Her voice was rising with anger. I still tried to act confused.
"I just wandered in here because I was looking for a place to sleep." Now I was avoiding the questions and I could tell that June had saw through my strategy.
"And what do you have to do with my daughter?" She said bringing the question back up again. By now, all I can do is lie, which I am pretty good at already.
"Hanna's my girlfriend…um…she lives in the Lake sector. I don't think that is your daughter, though." I say as innocently as I possibly can. June still didn't look convinced.
"Oh, all right then." And she left to join the party. I sigh in relief and lean back on the wall and relax my tense muscles. I try to piece things together from this encounter with Hanna's mom. It seems as though June had been looking for Hanna. Does that mean Hanna never made it back? Did she run away after she made it back to the party? Just then, I heard someone whispering.
"Do you have her in the dungeon?" One voice that was a cross between a male and a female voice said.
"You mean Hanna Wing? Yeah, we got her." The second voice distinctly male said.
Somebody has Hanna? In a dungeon? What is going on? If I was going to get more information on Hanna, my only choice is to follow them.