Rhea was largely unfamiliar with titles of respect and honorable epithets. Sure, she’d heard her mother called Captain before, quite frequently in fact, but no one else was ever called anything but their name or bilge rat or some other degrading nickname. It wasn’t in the culture. Danny’s directions were confusing and Rhea was sure she wouldn’t remember any of them. She nodded anyway. She wouldn’t get to know what the wall writing meant if they didn’t stay here and talk to the scary god guy, and she was sure Danny wouldn’t let her stay if she questioned the rules. Alector wouldn’t have been so scared.
As soon as Danny’s knuckles found the wood of the door, Rhea took a deep breath and held it. Her fingers fidgeted and her eyes darted around nervously, but for whatever reason, not letting go of the air in her lungs was how she wanted to stay focused. It was a poor choice, really, but she couldn’t really help it. Oblivious to his fairy’s plight, Dalai remained nuzzled in his ride’s soft fur, happy not to have to run around after the much longer-legged fairies and tiger. The lazy creature.
By the time the door opened, the young girl was red in the face, blue in the lips and more than a little dizzy. Lack of oxygen was twisting some of the proportions around her and, looking at the door opener, she was convinced he was 15 feet tall and he didn’t seem happy to see them. In fact, he seemed quite put out that Danny had dared bring some pirate kid to see him. This was the end. It was the end of her life and no one would tell her family she was dead because her mom would be mad and it would start a war and wars weren’t good things and so she’d just die here quietly.
Worry pounded through her so she didn’t notice the blue animal attack from behind the door, didn’t see it dive straight for Solarius and Dalai.
The linsang did, however, and in the nick of time, pounced back to his fairy’s shoulder and dug his claws into her skin in terror. The needle-like stabs of pain shocked Rhea into exhaling and then gasping for air as Dalai scratched at her in an effort to get to high ground, away from the ferocious beast. At least she noticed the god in the door grab the predator’s tail and try to pull it off its attack, and as her familiar trembled just behind her ear, Rhea got up some courage. Enough to squeak out a few words anyway.
“Please don’t let it eat him,” she said, and then realized she’d already disobeyed the rules. “Um…. Eddie.”
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