Air {Elements of Power 3}

Chapter 37: Jasmine

We arrived in the Helian Realm three days later, in the dead of night. This, Roxy said as she finished off the camouflaging on our hair, was perfect. She had clipped it back in such a way that all of the violet streaks were concealed. Even in the dark, it wouldn't do to draw attention to ourselves. She had done the same thing to her own hair-if Cinaer had told everyone that she was an Arcan captive, it would look odd to see her walking down the middle of the street. To hide her face, she was wearing a tight fitting, sleeveless top with a hood, which she had procured from the bag she had escaped the Helian Realm with. 

In her short black shorts and knee-length boots, she looked more like the Roxy I had first met than she had in a long time. She was even grinning. She had thrown a similar pair of shorts my way when we were first approaching the Realm, telling me to enjoy the warmth while I could. She had also forced me to borrow one of her tops, adding that my more modest attire would make us stand out a mile off. Instead, I was wearing a lacy, blood-red top which had more holes in it than fabric. Roxy assured me that it would help me blend in, and looking at my reflection in the mirror, I had to admit that I didn't look like myself at all. In fact, with my tanned skin and dark hair, I could have almost passed for a Helian. The almost part was entirely due to my eyes, which seemed to stand out even more with my every attempt to hide them.

"What am I going to do?" I asked Roxy, blinking at my reflection. "It's not as if I can walk around with my eyes closed."

She laughed. "Unfortunately there's not a lot we can do about that, unless you wear sunglasses, which would probably attract more attention to us. Just avoid eye contact and keep your eyes down and averted from anyone's gaze."

I nodded. I could do that. We had already agreed that Roxy would do all of the talking anyway-my accent would only give us away.

"Okay, you ready to rock?"

I nodded again. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

As I stood up to leave, Cameron walked into the cabin. "Whoa," he said, looking me up and down. "Is that really you, Jazz?"

I fingered the hem of my shorts self-consciously, wishing that they were longer.

"She is smoking hot tonight," Roxy grinned, throwing her arm around my shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a Realm to go save." She led me past Cameron, who was still staring at my legs.

"You would have done so much better growing up over here, you know that? You're completely wasted in all of those long skirts and baggy layers."

"At least I feel comfortable in my skirts and layers-I feel ridiculous dressed like this!" We were out on the deck now. Roxy jumped down from the boat and onto a deserted beach. The sequins on her shorts glittered in the moonlight. She looked so excited, full of energy. This, I realised, was the real Roxy, the one behind the drama and insecurities. And I sort of liked her.

I jumped off the boat to land beside her, a grin spreading across my face, even if I did have to rearrange my top after landing to make sure that everything was covered up as much as possible. Roxy flipped her hood up over her head and we set off up the beach, heading towards firmer land. The beach was safe enough-Roxy assured us that no Helians ever came so close to the shore and the boat was hidden by the headland from anyone not on the sand.

We were about an hour's hike out from the palace, but the time passed quickly enough: we had plans to go over.

Phase one was getting into the palace; with Cin in charge, but absent, we had no idea what kind of surveillance we were going to encounter-if any at all. Air, we didn't even really know if Cin was in charge-for all we knew, he could have gone AWOL, stolen some troops and drakons and gone off to the Arcan Realm. We could find the King still sat on his throne and our dad by his side.