Chapter 118: Day three of the summit.
Like she had done in the last two days, Sienna woke up as early as 4:00 A.M. At the same time, Elias leaped from bed as if he was ready for a fight.
She croaked out her morning greetings, which he replied to with strength. Where he found the energy, she had no idea because even the sea seemed tired. It was a lot quieter than usual.
"After today, I am sleeping for two days straight, nobody will be able to pull me out of bed." She muttered.
Elias stretched his muscles. "I...I support you." Two days in bed, he would be there to keep her company! It would be better if those two days were spent somewhere that was not here. There was no way Ali was going to stay away from her mother for two days. The cub would climb right into bed with her and eat, while they watched movies.
Then, there were the many relatives as well. All of them would be bothering them, one after another.
"The eagle from last night mentioned that I don’t show you off. Taking you out on dates and things like that..." he started.
Sienna frowned. "Where are you going with this?"
"I just think we should go to public places for dates or mini vacations. Just us two. No kids. No parents. No servants or nosy relatives." He walked around the bed, eyes steady on her back. "What do you think?"
She shrugged. "It won’t take anything away from me, so why not? But I am bringing my pan."
He smiled stiffly, "Of course you are."
She looked at the time, gasped and rushed to the bathroom. Elias followed her, drawing the thick curtain Sienna had insisted on putting in for moments when they needed to bathe at the same time. While she used the tub, he used the shower head that had been put in a week ago.
As for brushing their teeth, they still stood next to each other at the one sink in the bathroom, and then stepped out at the same time.
Even when it came to dressing up, Sienna had insisted on a thick retractable curtain in the middle of their separate closets.
"What’s on your agenda today?" She asked, riffling for her closet for dress that would enable her to run around without making her feel hot, or making her look like an overstuffed Oreo.
"Besides killing the lord eagle, you mean." He chuckled. "I will settle the affairs of the White snakes. Mija should be out of your hair in three days."
She snorted. "I don’t think she wants to leave. I heard from aunt Linera that the white snake princess has already bought a cottage in the area."
Elias groaned. "No..we are not living on the same beach with white snakes. Their hatchlings will fill this place in a year. It’s like living with rabbits. I will get that deal cancelled immediately."
She laughed. He asked what was on her agenda today, and they talked through the preparations and security protocols. By the time they went their separate ways, she was certain that they would handle whatever came at them with ease.
****
By 8:00 A,M, breakfast had been served to the lords and other delegates and official business had started. The fox delegation was already facing the white snakes, tensions swallowing all the air around. It was making it hard for everyone to enjoy the warm morning sun.
In the kitchen, Sienna was tense too. Of course, she was rooting for the foxes. She was so worried about the outcome that she had barely touched her own breakfast. All the cooks in the kitchen were tiptoeing around her, trying not to cook too loudly.
As if that was possible.
Only Queen Serenya wasn’t tense. As early as it was in the morning, she was already sipping fruit wine. Her neighbor Ali was drinking strawberry milk tea, dipping cookies in the tea before gobbling them like the most hungry cub in the world.
Net to Ali was Eli, the more gracious eater. He was sipping his tea out of a porcelain cup, acting like an aristocrat from the 17th century. "Papa says the white snakes have no shame. But at least, they have class, unlike the eagles."
The queen laughed.
A few minutes into the proceedings, Honey Thunder came by the window of the hotel’s kitchen, buzzing loudly. Her buzzing caused Sienna to gasp. The others could not understand the bee, but she could.
"What did she say to you?" The queen asked curiously.
Sienna did not waste a moment in explaining. She raced out of the kitchen, followed by a dozen fox guards that had been standing guard outside. To everyone’s shock, they noticed queen Serenya running behind the fox guards. Behind her, beast men in royal armor. Above them, three falcon beast men flew in an attack formation. The group made quite the sight.
When she came to the supply storage area, Sienna kicked a door open and stumbled inside. Then, she started a searching, barking to the others, "there are eighteen jars hidden among the crates, find them."
The enthusiastic search followed, things were scattered, food was trampled on. One jar after another was discovered. Queen Serenya opened one impatiently, and a stench of rot filled the air. Inside writhed venous wasps, bred to swarm and humiliate. They were glued carefully onto the jars, making it difficult for them to escape immediately. Outside the supply area, Honey Thunder buzzed loudly.
"Seal it before the bees attack." Sienna bellowed.
A lion guard pried the jar from the queen and sealed it.
Serenya looked at Sienna, worry and fear in her eyes. "What is this?"
Sienna growled. "Its those fucking eagles messing around again. They must have discovered that wasps are the natural enemies of bees so they collected wasps and glued them in jars that are marked to resemble my new limited strawberry jam.
I was planning to send cookies, milk, jam, bread and tea out in the afternoon. During the break, the bees were going to put on a simple show, led by Honey Thunder. Do you know what would have happened if the jars were opened in the presence of the bees and the wasps came loose?"