Under the Roses

95 - What a Gentle Word is Worth

HANS

Hans stole glances at the strangers. He tried to remember their names: the girl who was struggling to tame her unruly dark hair into a braid was Livia, the blonde girl who looked too old to be carrying the doll in her arms was Lory—she also looked oddly familiar, though Hans was almost absolutely certain he'd never seen her before—and the two others who'd gone up to Ynn with Seer were Quinn and Nix.

They all sat quietly on the island. Min and Coralie looked human again, but now Hans couldn't look at them without thinking of what they were. Stop thinking about that, he scolded himself. They're still Coralie and Min. Now you just know who they really are.

Lory caught Hans looking in her direction and fixed him with her cool blue eyes. They were the oddest shade of light blue. Hans felt uncomfortable and looked away.

Rika sat next to Hans, tying her hair back in her scarf. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Hans blinked. "Yeah, why?"

She shrugged, the end of a hairpin in her mouth. She tied the ends of the scarf at the top of her head and took out the hairpin, smoothing her hair back away from her face. "I just figured it must be a lot to take in. I'm wondering, by the way, how you and your brother even managed to get to Virane in the first place. You're from Phire, right?" Hans nodded. "And suddenly you just washed up in Virane with no memory of anything?" She shook her head. "It's weird."

Hans frowned. "I know. I still don't get it either. It's just...so frustrating."

Seer came back, then. "Who's next?"

"Me!" said Liva, jumping up so quickly her braid whipped around and slapped Hans in the face. "I mean us. I mean me and Lory."

Seer took Lory and Livia, then Coralie and Min, and Rika and Hans before taking a final trip to get Jun-Li.

Going up into Ynn was just like going up from Lyran into Meir, except they seemed to melt out of the ground into Ynn.

Everything in Ynn looked like Lyran—dull and gray. But at least it wasn't burning hot. It was cold, really, and the air was impossible still.

Quinn had his compass in his hand and was slowly turning around. Hans caught the needle spinning wildly around. Quinn had gotten it from a demon, he'd said.

Jun-Li and Seer melted out of the ground to join them. Jun-Li flipped her hair over her shoulder and demanded, "So where are we going?"

"It says north is that way," Quinn said, pointing. "Are you going north?"

"We're going to the palace," said Jun-Li. "So I guess, yeah."

They walked, and Hans noticed that Quinn, Nix, Lory, and Livia all had stuff with them. They were carrying stuffed bags, and Lory was hugging her doll tightly. Her shoes didn't look like they fit properly, and the soles were nearly worn all the way down.

"What are you going to the palace for?" said Livia conversationally to the closest person, who happened to be Min. Min shrugged and looked over at Jun-Li, who had swept ahead and was walking alongside Quinn. Livia marched over to Jun-Li and said so loudly that Hans couldn't help but overhear, "Why are you going to the palace?"

Jun-Li looked at her. She and Livia were nearly the same height, though Livia didn't look that much older than Hans. "Political things," said Jun-Li.

"Political?" Livia sounded confused. "What political things have to do with demons?"

"Virane still has a demon representative in the Council," Jun-Li said. "So a lot of political things have to do with demons."

"Do you have a sister?"