A Trickle of Soulfyre

Chapter 25 - Border

When a timid knock sounded on Lyrani's door, she was ready. Or almost, at least.

"Coming!" she called, grabbing her coat where it hung over a chair and slipping it on.

She looked around the room to make sure she had all her belongings before hurrying across the dense dirt floor, stepping through the spot of sunlight that fell through the window in the ceiling above and soaked the room in a soft morning glow.

Lyrani slung her bag over her shoulder and opened the door to see Ugamura standing outside, her chubby little hands clasped in front of her. Lyrani smiled in greeting, and the gnome exchanged the gesture. She nodded at Meiyla, but the other elf only fought a smirk.

Before Lyrani could ask what she had done to deserve that look, Ugamura held out an expectant hand. Lyrani rifled through her pockets for the key to the room, which she handed to the gnome. Ugamura locked the door before gesturing for the elves to follow her.

Meiyla still avoided eye contact. Instead, she fixed her gaze on the sunlight illuminating the end of this underground tunnel.

Lyrani raised an eyebrow as she and her partner fell into step behind Ugamura. "Did you sleep well?"

"I might've if my neighbour and her boyfriend weren't so loud about their shared activities." Meiyla scowled at Lyrani.

Lyrani's cheeks burned. She had worried about spies and eavesdroppers at the beginning of her conversation with Nash, but she hadn't thought about who might overhear what came next. Her only thought was her desperate, burning need for Nash, but she couldn't have him, so they had done the only thing they could.

Lyrani could justify it to herself, but she didn't think her partner, who was once again staring ahead, would care for her excuse.

"How much did you hear?" was all she asked, giving the other agent a sideways look.

Perhaps this wasn't as bad as it sounded. Perhaps Meiyla had only heard the king's commands or his and Lyrani's quick, frantic breaths, but all hope of that vanished with the junior agent's reply.

"I heard everything, much to my chagrin." Meiyla rubbed at her sleepy eyes, keeping them away from Lyrani.

"I'm sorry." Lyrani bit her lip.

This was an important mission, and both agents needed their rest. Nash had stayed on the call until Lyrani fell asleep to the illusion of him lying beside her. She had rested well after that, but she hadn't meant to disturb Meiyla's sleep. She needed her partner to be as alert and prepared as she was for the day of exploration ahead of them.

"It's fine, Rosiana." Meiyla stifled a yawn. "No harm done. I'm used to operating on very little sleep."

Lyrani blinked. That wasn't the Meiyla who had arrived at Wyndern Station with her just days earlier, but perhaps that was enough time for the junior agent to adjust to the expectations of this mission. Lyrani would give her the benefit of the doubt.

"That's the way it must be, unfortunately. Our fast-paced life doesn't often afford us the luxury of sleep."

"Truer words have never been spoken." Meiyla gave Lyrani a smile that didn't hide her tiredness as well as her words had.

They reached the end of the passage. The sunlight from the overhead skylight blinded Lyrani for a moment, and then they were back in the shadows, where her eyes were most at ease.

The elves approached the entrance to the dining hall behind their gnome guide. Lyrani tuned out of the whispers of the other gnomes who were also on their way to breakfast, instead turning her focus to the soft conversation drifting from behind the walls ahead.