Air {Elements of Power 3}

Chapter 31: Roxy

I had to lead her away. She couldn't seem to make her feet move; they were stuck there, transfixed in front of the ruins. I coaxed her into giving me the directions to her house which was, mercifully, still standing untouched. She let out a huge, shuddering, sigh when she saw it and her feet sped up as she approached the front door.

I hung back, feeling anxious. My fingers tingling with apprehension; threatening to burst into defensive flames. Jasmine's adoptive father was the chief Arcan Priest. I wasn't sure what he would think to having a Helian inside his house.

"Come on." She turned around after knocking the door, gesturing for me to come closer to the door. Her dark ringlets of hair glinted in the sunlight; it was funny to think that we were sisters. We looked nothing alike; even her skin, dark by Brizan standards, was a few shades lighter than mine. Her eyes were blue to my brown, her hair purple to my red. I was taller than her too, my face more angular, fierce. Jasmine's face was heart-shaped, delicate and doll-like. She was pretty. I had always relied on my more seductive qualities.

I shook my head. How could we be related? Maybe she had got it wrong. I walked up to her anyway. "Why are we waiting outside? Don't you have a key or something?"

"I do, but Noni prefers it if we don't let ourselves in."

"And she's the housekeeper, right?" She nodded. "Just trying to get everything straight before I meet them."

As soon as I spoke, the door opened, just an inch. I could see a soft brown eye poking out, ringed in eye liner; feminine.

"Jasmine?" The door opened a little wider, revealing a plump, short woman in her late fifties.

"Noni!" Jasmine called; she sounded incredibly relieved, throwing her arms around the older woman and holding her tightly.

The woman smiled, hugging Jasmine back, but then she looked over her shoulder, probably expecting to see one of Jasmine's friends-another Arcan. Her eyes widened when they landed on me.

"Who's that?" She whispered the words, but they were still clearly audible.

I shifted my feet from side to side. I shouldn't have come.

Jasmine drew back from Noni. She looked a little uneasy too. "Noni, this is Roxy."

"The Helian who tried to kill you all?"

"Well no, not really, that was all a bit of a misunderstanding... Roxy's on our side." She said the last words firmly, with no trace of doubt or uncertainty. We were on the same side now. Teammates, maybe even sisters.

The Arcan woman didn't look at all convinced. But she was prevented from saying anything else by the sound of another set of footsteps approaching the door.

"Don't just stand there with the door open. Either tell whoever it is to go away or invite them inside. It's not safe to linger on the doorstep!" The voice was low, but melodic, peaceful.

"Caleb!" Jasmine smiled as the figure came into view. He was only a little older than my-our?-own father. But he couldn't have looked more different. His hair was golden. His eyes were a warm brown, keen and not as kind as I had been expecting. This was a man who was used to being intimidating. He stood tall and righteous, but his movements seemed laboured; he was perhaps older than he looked. He wore a pale, stone coloured suit.

"Oh," was all he said when he saw me.

"Caleb, this is Roxy."

"I guessed as much." He was surveying me with distaste, but there was also a hint of interest. "I suppose you had better all come in, where it's safe."