Flying Free

Chapter 12

The next morning I'm sitting in a plush chair in Hera's room and I start to feel a bit more apprehensive. It just feels a lot more real when Hera walks in with a massive stack of notes and flashcards and plops them on the coffee table between us.

," You ready to become the most charming, cunning and polite courtier anyone has ever seen," she smirks, sitting gracefully opposite me.

," I guess,"

," You mean, I would be honoured,"

," Yes, it would be my pleasure," I curtsy sarcastically, if that's possible.

," Perfect, you're already on the road to success,"

About 20 minutes later, I'm feeling a lot more confident, Hera really is the expert, I wonder how she learned all these things.

," Hey are you guys finished yet I want to start training Eli already," Raven pops her head in the door.

," It's been 20 minutes,"

," So how long is it gonna be, I'm borrrrrred,"

," At least another 40, Eli, you're amazing but I have many more secrets to share,"

," Sounds good to me," I smile.

," Well, what should I do," she moans.

," Go see what the others are doing, I'm sure they'll have something you can help out with,"

," Fine, but if they're bust, I'm coming straight back," she finger guns.

," Ok, just get out, please," Hera shoos her away.

," Byeeeeeee," she dashes away,

," Bye," I say with a smirk and wave raven out as she pops back behind the door and walks away.

," Now, let's get down to business," Hera faces me determinedly. 

After another 20 minutes of focused etiquette training, I am quite the lady, I have mastered dialogue and the fancy cutlery thingies, oh yeah, table manners. I wonder why my parents never taught me this, my dad always said I would be the next Queen, so why was I not trained how to interact with others the proper way. Now that I think about it, I never talked to high up people in court, I never went to functions or meetings, I've been hiding away my whole life, supposedly preparing for something I was definitely not ready for. It makes no sense.

," I helped out Harley with some of his complex calculations for the mission, but now he's done and I have nothing to do," Raven reappears.

," We still have 20 mins, just 2 more topics of discussion, I guess you can stay, but only if you're quiet and respectful," 

," Okay, this should be super fun," Raven says sarcastically.

She plops down on a beanbag just behind me and props up her chin on her hands, with her elbows on her knees.

We continue, and Raven is surprisingly well-behaved and seems genuinely interested at points.

Soon, it's over and feeling much more ready for the mission, I am practically dragged by an excited Raven into an extra room I hadn't noticed before. Black corrugated iron sheets line the walls, and black concrete makes up the floor. There are no windows but a large skylight that takes up the majority of the ceiling. Jesse comes over but Lilith stands in the centre of the room, I recognise then that this is her speciality, she embodies cunning and well, being a spy when she's in her outfit. I start to get excited then.

," You ready for some 1st class spy training," Jesse puts his hands on his hips.

," Yeah, Lilith looks so professional in those clothes,"