Kaze loaded up his gear into the motocyk, planning to leave as soon as Lord Tasar can get him a full map on the Steppes."Okay, let"s go." Saavi carried a backpack over her shoulders while guiding a motocyk of her own towards Kaze.
"Where do you think you are going?" Kaze looked at Saavi.
"I don"t know where you are going but me? I"m going to get young miss back." Saavi said, ignoring Kaze"s shocked face.
"No, you"re not! Don"t make this difficult for me I can"t give my all in to look for Miss Mikaela if I have to watch over you..."
"I"m not telling you to watch over me I can handle my own. "
"Saavi..."
"Wait for me!" Joanos came running over with gear and motocyk.
"What are you doing here?" Kaze got a bad feeling watching Joanos run over with gear on his back.
"I"m coming with-"
"No!" Both Kaze and Saavi answered at the same time.
Taken aback by their firm outburst, Joanos gathered his thoughts before stating his reasonings for tagging along.
"I"ve lived in the Steppes my whole life I know it much better than a map. Plus I"ve been to the Vlacca clan"s estate before. You will need me..." Joanos looked at both Kaze and Saavi imploring them to let him go.
"Joanos...."
"I can help."
Kaze felt a sharp pain in his heart. He knew if something goes wrong, he would have to choose between Joanos and Mikaela, and he would hesitate again.
"Okay." Saavi agreed to Joanos" pleads.
"What!?" Kaze snapped at Saavi.
"What? Don"t think you can do your job with him accompanying us?... As he said, he knows the Steppes; it would be best to have all the help we can get to bring young miss home." Saavi pointed out Joanos usefulness, even knowing the real reason Kaze doesn"t want to let him join them.
*Sigh*
Giving up, Kaze jumped on his motocyk and took off, while Saavi and Joanos followed along.
___
Mika awoke to the wind in her hair and sand smacking at her face.
What the h.e.l.l!?
A rope was tied around her body, restricting her movements. She tried to see where she was at, but the sand hitting her face made it nearly impossible for her to see.
Shutting her eyes quickly before she becomes blind, Mika entered her mind s.p.a.ce looking for Drako.
"Drako!....Drako!..."
"...."
"Ugh!...Draknos...."
"Yes." Drako made himself visible for Mika to see him.
"Do you know what happened to me since I"ve been asleep?"
"No, I can"t see outside when I"m in your mind s.p.a.ce."
"What? You can"t!"
"No! If I did, then I would be what you call a perv!"
"....?"
"If I could see from inside your mind s.p.a.ce, then I would be able to see everything you do...on a daily bases..."
"....." Mika still didn"t understand, until Darko acted out going to the bathroom in front of her.
"Eww! Okay enough, I get the point." Mika turned away from Darko with cheek flaming.
"Are your friends not with you?" Darko knew Mikaela was always surrounded by her people.
"No. I"m stuck on a motocyk," Mika told Drako all she knew about her whereabouts.
"Seems to me like your still in the Steppes."
"En..me too. Guess I"ll have to pretend to be asleep to find out more information." Mika left her mind s.p.a.ce as quickly as she came and pretended to be asleep.
After an hour of counting sheep, Mika felt the motocyk stop.
The sounds of footsteps walking towards her had Mika alert.
"Lord Kendel, what should we do with her?" The guard who drove Mika to their destination asked.
"Leave her in the meeting hall. I"ll figure out what to do with her later." Kendel casual tossed Mika some place until he could find out her ident.i.ty.
Once she was thrown to the meeting hall, Mika waited until the coast was cleared to open her eyes.
Looking around the pitiable meeting hall, Mika accepted that she was no longer with Lord Tasar"s people and that Lord Kendel really kidnapped her.
"d.a.m.nit Kaze! I know I"m a wild sleeper, but that"s no reason to pa.s.s me off to the enemy!" Mika couldn"t understand how Kaze could let this happen.
"I"m so going to tear him a new one!" Mika cursed as she worked on getting the rope off of her.
Halfway through her struggles, she heard voices coming closer to the door. Swifty lying down, Mika closed her eyes and went back to "sleep."
The rusty hinges of the hall"s door screech when Kendel threw open the door. He footsteps were unhurried and steady. Reaching Mika"s body, he gave it a light kick with his dirty boots.
"Get up. Niece. How long can one person sleep?"
Mika opened her eyes and was greeted by Kendel"s coa.r.s.e-featured face.
"h.e.l.lo to you too, uncle...You know younger people need their beauty sleep..." Mika chuckled, laughing off the case she was caught pretending to sleep.
"You can still call yourself beautiful with that mask on your face?" Kendel snickered.
"..." Okay, uncle got jokes!
"You are the fourth young miss of the Amara clan, my sister"s Delju step-daughter, correct?"
"....yes."
With Mika"s confirmation, Kendel smiled the most avid smile she had seen on a person since coming to this world. Rather than say he was looking at her, it was more like he was looking at a bag of money.
"It"s a good thing that I found you, they"re family after all."
Mika felt like she was red riding hood, looking into the eyes of the hungry wolf.