Dream Weavers

Chapter Five

Aline had explained the plan to them three times, after finally asking her friends to be quiet as she explained what she had in mind. It took a little pulling from Quill's side to get him to go along, but he relented in the end.

Now it was setting into motion. Once Aline had given Ula's key to Quill, she had to go back and wait in the barracks once night fell for him to return with the key. Two of them, to be exact. His father was a blacksmith and Quill was certain that he could make another key for Aline without his father knowing.

This was most likely illegal. Hallee hadn't told Aline or Quill how she'd gotten ahold Ula's room key, but Aline didn't question it either. She preferred not to know and assumed that sometimes it's best to leave it to the imagination.

Aline waited against the bottom barrack door, squishing herself against the gray walls anytime a light danced across the hallway. She kept peeking out the window for any sign of that coral tuft of hair she knew.

Aline bit at her nails. What if Quill had been caught sneaking out? What if he couldn't make the key? What if she was going to get into trouble? What if--even worse--she got Hallee kicked out of training? The thought made her sick and want to curl into a ball.

She couldn't do this. This was ridiculous. She would tell Quill to go home and she'd tell Hain tomorrow morning after training that Ula had stolen the necklace--

A knocking on the door startled Aline and she practically broke it down, pulling Quill inside the barracks. "Follow me!" she whispered, grabbing onto Quill's hand to pull him up the stairs and to her room. It was boring and gray with stone stairs and the occasional light in the stairwell so fae wouldn't fall in the early hours of the morning. Most of them fell anyway, because half of them flew around with their eyes glued shut from lack of sleep.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Do you know how long it took for me to convince my dad to teach me how to make a key?" he hissed, holding up the shining key. He kept his hand against the stone wall to keep himself steady up the stairs.

Aline was about to respond when someone opened one of the doors. She clamped her free hand over Quill's mouth, eyes wide as the moon when a head peeked around the corner. From this far away she couldn't tell where the door opened up at but she hoped that it wasn't a random dorm check again.

"Aline? Do you have Quill with you? We have a slight...problem," the voice said. It was Hallee, motioning for them to come into their room before someone saw them.

Aline fluttered into her room with Quill in tow. "What's the problem?" she whispered, shutting the door with her tail. She clamped her mouth shut a few seconds later, freezing at the lavender-haired fae staring at the two of them with an unamused stare.

Hallee frowned and pointed her thumb at the knight-in-training behind her. "He wants to search our room." She stuck her tongue out at Hain and he just ignored her, crossing his arms. "Apparently the fae is suspicious," she whined, mocking Hain.

Hain ignored Hallee's mocking. "I'm more concerned as to why you have Quill in your room," Hain answered, leaning against the wall. He narrowed his eyes at Aline. "You lied to me. You know where the necklace is. Tell me or I tell the Traveler director about this," he said, motioning toward her and Quill. "You and I both know that sneaking in a male fae after hours is against the rules."

Quill backed away from Hain. He looked flustered at what Hain was implying. "Listen, Hain--"

"Ula stole the necklace," Aline blurted, then covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm sorry! I knew you wanted to tell him yourself, Quill, but I couldn't take it anymore!" She ignored the blush on her cheeks as she glanced over at Hain again, watching his face. She was a little peeved that Hain had automatically assumed that she and Quill were intimate like that but there were bigger problems to face. "We aren't, um, like that, either."