Chapter 10

Despite her slight frame she'd somehow managed to carry the rather large box and file back with her. The second she arrived SK checked the stopwatch he'd started when she'd left. He almost knew what the time was without looking and when he got the confirmation he needed he couldn't help but smile.

'Twenty-seven minutes, thirty-eight seconds; you might be a babbling ditz, but you're as efficient as your resume promised you would be,' briefly his tongue skated its way across his lips.

'They said I was efficient?' Kisara blinked at him in confusion.

'Don't you agree with that?'

'No,' she shook her head, as she placed the box and file down onto the floor next to his overly crowded table, 'no I would definitely say I was efficient; I just never thought any of my teachers ever agreed with me on that one. I mean, I know I was their star pupil and everything, but they either thought I was nothing more than the babbling shy kid in the corner or that I was some kind of daydreamer. But efficient… you know I love the idea they thought I was efficient.'

SK couldn't help but laugh at that as his tongue once again found its way across his lips. It was true that she was no Jay and she most certainly was nothing like he was when he'd first taken Jay's job from him, but she had potential. More than even she realised; he wouldn't have specifically asked for her else.

'Do you know what these are?' He indicated towards the file and box she brought to him.

'No,' she shook her head, 'they're not to do with me though, are they? I mean Dee really worried me when she said she suddenly understood why you'd asked for them. Not that I'm saying I have anything to hide or anything like that, it's just…'

'It's okay, they don't have anything to do with you,' he gave her a reassuring smile, 'they're things that belonged to Jay.'

'To who?'

'Jay Ri…'

'Oh gee, Jay? As in Jay, Jay? The Jay. I mean, I know he ascended before I was born, but everyone always talks about him and… well… if you think I'm going to be some kind of replacement or substitute for him then… I mean, it's not that I'm not flattered you want me on the Mistresses' Council; the gods know it's about time people started getting singled out for it again, especially with one hanging out up here right now, but… I'm really, really not cut out for this.'

'You undersell yourself Kisara,' he licked his lips for a third time, 'you would make an excellent first member of the new council, although that is not what I've recruited you for.'

'Then do you mind telling me why I am here?'

'All in good time,' he couldn't help but enjoy how mysterious he was being.

The truth was he hadn't totally sorted out all the details yet. He did know this girl was destined to form part of the new Mistresses' Council one day, but right now he really did need her for another reason. Just like he needed the information he'd requested about Jay. But with every step he took towards understanding what he was becoming he felt as though he was taking twice as many back.

'So…' Kisara shifted her gaze to one side, breaking the awkward silence which had formed, 'what do you want me to do next.'

'What I want is to know a few things about you,' he leant back in the chair he was sitting in as his tongue glanced across his lips.

'Really,' she began bouncing on her heels, 'only there's really not that much to know about me. I was born dead, raised by Dee till I was five, when I joined the TA Academy, and my best friend's name is False. There, that's everything there is to know about me.'

'Really? I'm not so sure about that.'

'What else could there possibly be?' Her face filled with an almost forced kind of innocent look.

'For a start maybe you could tell me why you decided to join the TA Academy. I mean, it's not like it's a mandatory thing for Vii Sen, it's something you choose to do. So I want to know why you chose to.'

'Tradition,' she shrugged, 'my family have always...'

'Your family?'

'I…' she looked caught out for a moment. 'There… there are a lot of still births and infant deaths in my family; those who become Vii Sen… that's what I mean by family.'

'Are you sure about that?'

'What would I gain from lying?' Kisara swallowed hard.

'Would you gain anything from lying?' Licking his lips again, he clasped his hands together and leant in towards her, feeling strangely like the elder of his two cousins as he did.

'Of course not,' she gave a slight laugh and tried to make herself appear casual. 'Look, it's not that unusual for certain families to produce more Vii Sen than others. I mean, historically things like that have always happened. So I'm nothing special, I'm just a statistic.'

'That's a well-rehearsed little speech,' he couldn't help but smirk. 'Who was the first person to teach you it? Dayena? Or another Vii Sen member of your family?'

'You think I'm lying, don't you? But I'm not. I wouldn't gain anything from lying. It's not some rehearsed little speech I just gave you; it's the truth. That's the way things are. I mean, I'm not False; I don't deliberately deceive people. Not that I'm calling False a liar or anything, but he has been known to be more than a little creative with the facts.'

'So I guess he's not the kind of friend you'd tell all your secrets to.'

'Are you kidding me,' her face lit up, 'he's the one person I know I can tell all my secrets to. Even the unimportant little things, like when I thought I had the hugest crush on our gym teacher. That was when I was thirteen and I was such a kid back then. Anyway it turned out I didn't really have a crush on him, but False was really great to me about it. He helped me out a lot and he never breathed so much as half a word of it to anyone. That's how much I know I can trust him.'

'So, do you have a lot of secrets then?' His tongue made another pass across his lips as his eyes closely studied her to see how she would react.

'Um…' she hesitated for a moment.

Taking a deep breath in, she returned to bouncing on her heels. There was a long pause as she carefully appeared to weigh up her answer. For a moment SK half thought she might tell him everything, but then the cheerfully relaxed expression she'd been trying to use returned to her face.

'I'm sure I have no more secrets than any normal girl my age,' she laughed lightly, 'because, Vii Sen or not, I am just a fifteen year old girl. And everyone knows that fifteen year old girls will have their secrets. Plus it's not as if you're telling me everything; I still don't even know why I'm here, apart from to be your errand girl.'

'That's true,' he had to give her points for coming up with something he couldn't argue with, 'then I guess we're even on that score.'

'I guess so; unless you want to fill me in on that one.'

'I'm not ready to do that yet,' he leant back in his chair again. 'Look, it's probably been a pretty long day for you; I've set you up a room next to Taylor's, you can go there and rest now if you like. I'm not going to ask you to do anything else today.'

'So I'm being sent to my room?' Kisara gave him a funny look.

'You don't have to go straight there,' he rolled his eyes, before licking his lips again, 'but I would rather you stuck within this part of Heaven. You know, just in case I change my mind about not needing you to do anything more for me today.'

'Okay…' she half-cocked an eyebrow at him, 'maybe I'll go check in on Taylor then; I told him I would. He seems like a nice kid, but he's a bit quiet though, isn't he?'

'Well…'

'I mean, he's probably just shy or something right? Or, like most people he finds my babbling so intimidating he can't find a way to get a word in edge way. I'm always like that when I meet new people. Especially shy new people, I should apologise to him for it,' she turned and left the room, leaving SK feeling more than a little baffled.

'Well at least I know she's just crazy enough to fit in around here,' he shook his head, as he lifted the box he'd requested off of the floor, 'I just hope she'll be more than worth the headache.'