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Brak looked shocked beyond words -- beyond belief. "But..."
he said in a strangled voice, shaking his head. He stopped, shocked expression
still on his face. "Sirasine... how..."
"They were after the bracelet," she hissed. "Ryussin
was one of the Eyries that chased mother down. She gave me the bracelet because
she wanted it to be safe. When those Eyries saw she didn't have it, they must
have killed her. And now, they have what they want... they'll kill us too, Brak.
Those fools would've killed us even if we hadn't had it."
Brak regained his voice. "But how do you know
they killed mother?" he said, still immensely stunned. "How--how can you be
sure?"
Sirasine narrowed her eyes. "Because I knew Ryussin
was lying when he said mother was his best friend. I read his filthy little
plotting mind."
Brak's eyes went wide as dinner plates. "You...
you read his mind?" he gasped.
Sirasine gave a small smile. "Even without that
bracelet, I can do magic." The smile disappeared. "And good thing too, because
we're going to have to get that bracelet back, and run for our lives."
Brak gulped. "But... how can we? They'll kill
us."
Sirasine's face was hard and determined. "Not
if we play it smart," she said flatly. "We'll have to stay safe and away from
Ryussin until tonight, then we sneak out of our rooms and find the bracelet.
And then, if we're still alive, we get as far away from this place as we can...
and then..." She stopped.
"Then what?" Brak prompted.
Sirasine sighed. "Then... I guess all we really
can do is hide from him," she said wearily. Her face became determined again.
"But at all costs Brak, we must keep that bracelet from Ryussin. I... I have
a feeling it's more than just an object of magic... otherwise Ryussin wouldn't
be so eager to get it from me."
Brak sighed. "Sirasine, I know I kind of show
off sometimes, but this time I'm going to admit... I--I'm not sure if I'll get
out of this alive." He stopped and his face became desperate. "I mean, how are
we supposed to stay away from Ryussin all day... if we can't..."
"He'll try and get rid of us now we've served
his purpose," Sirasine finished for him. "Don't worry," she said, "getting through
this day will be the easy part. It's tonight we're going to have a hard time
with."
Brak sighed. "Well... what should we do until
the night to avoid Ryussin?" he asked.
Sirasine shrugged. "Just get him to let us go
mess around in Faerieland for the rest of the day. He probably won't care. He
doesn't know what we're plotting, and I bet he could stand putting off our deaths
till tomorrow."
Brak nodded. "Yeah, that could work. Let's go
ask 'im now," he said opening the door.
They trotted downstairs to Ryussin's office and
knocked on the door. "Who is it?" called a gruff voice from inside the room.
Brak cleared his throat. "Just Brak and Sirasine,"
he called through the door. "Can we come in?"
There was a definite change in the Eyrie's voice
as he called back, less gruffly, "Of course!" The door swung open and the great
black Eyrie stood in the doorway. "What is you want?" he asked.
Brak shrugged and smiled innocently. "Umm, Sire
and were just wondering if you could give us some NP--it doesn't have to be
very much -- so we could go spend the day in Faerieland and maybe buy something.
We've never been up here before, you know." He grinned. "Please?"
Ryussin's smile was definitely fake, Brak could
see his beak was on edge. Nonetheless, he walked back in the office and grabbed
a small sack of Neopoints from a shelf and handed them to Brak. "Alright, you
can go out as long as you're back before dark," he said in a tone that he tried
to make sound kind. "Have fun!" he called, but Brak and Sirasine were already
out the front door.
* **
The Kougra and the Aisha strode back to the house at around seven thirty. The
sun was melting over the horizon, a golden-red blaze of flame. Brak was carrying
a handful of Faerie books, and Sirasine was licking icing from a Faerie cupcake
off her paw.
They rapped on the double doors with the knocker,
and it wasn't long before a maid came to open the doors. She smiled curiously
at them and informed them that their dinner was in their rooms.
The two pets walked up two flights of stairs
and into their rooms where trays of gourmet food sat on their beds. Sirasine
ducked into Brak's room for a moment.
"Brak, I'll wake you up at midnight, then we
can retrieve the bracelet and get our tails out of here," she hissed softly.
Brak nodded. "Alright, Sire. See you at midnight,
then," he said as she walked out and closed the door behind her.
* **
"Brak!" Sirasine hissed, leaning over his bed. "Brak, it's time!"
Brak slowly raised his head and blinked. "Huh?
Oh... it's time to go get that bracelet, eh?"
Sirasine nodded. "It's time."
Slowly, they crept out into the hallway, catlike
paws making barely a sound on the polished wooden floors. They slunk down the
stairs quietly, keeping to the edges of the steps to make less noise.
Holding their breath, they reached the door to
Ryussin's office, and Sirasine slowly turned the doorknob.
The door swung open with a small creak. Glancing
around the open door, Sirasine slowly stepped into the nicely-furnished office.
There was a desk at the center of the room, with a leather swivel chair pulled
up to it. The desktop was cluttered with papers and trinkets. Shelves lined
the walls of the room. Atop the highest shelf was a safe--half-open with a bit
of golden something peeking out.
Sirasine smiled widely. "Too easy!" she whispered.
Slowly, she crept toward the safe and tried to
reach by standing on her tiptoes. She was several feet away even when she stretched.
"Brak," she hissed, "come help me get up here!"
Brak nodded and bounded silently across the room
stopping before the set of shelves with the safe. "Climb up on my shoulders,"
he whispered, crouching down to let Sirasine mount his shoulders.
He stood up shakily and stumbled closer to the
shelf, nearly knocking Sirasine off. "Be careful, you oaf!" she hissed angrily,
clean white fur bristling on her back.
Planting his feet firmly, Brak stood before the
shelf. Sirasine, stood up upon his shoulders and reached out to the safe. Her
paw fell upon the cold metal surface and she reached around the inside, feeling
for the bracelet.
She felt something cool brush the back of her
paw. It tingled with some sort of tangible power. She grasped it and pulled
it from the safe, leaning back and causing Brak to wave his arms frantically
to keep his balance. Sirasine stared at the item she'd picked up. Sure enough,
it was the glimmering gold bracelet, still tingling with power and magic.
"I got it!" she hissed triumphantly, digging
her claws into Brak's back. He yelped with pain, and slowly, stunned with dread,
he toppled over to the ground.
Sirasine jumped from his shoulders just before
he hit the ground, jumping to the side as a loud thunk resounded upon his impact
with the floor. "No!" she hissed.
Suddenly, they heard heavy pawsteps on the floor
outside the door. Sirasine cursed her foolishness and tried to fasten the bracelet
around her neck as a cold, shrill voice hissed from behind them,
"Ssssso, you foolssss have figured it out! Wellll,
thisssss isssss not goooood at alllll... I don't thinkkkkk I can let you goooo
any furtherrrrr, children..."
To be continued...
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