Jake was tempted to ask Kim if he was sure he knew the road. They had been walking for over ten minutes and a few times, he stopped and crouched down to look at something on the wet floor of the cave. Jake was not sure what it was but he waited whenever Kim stopped and continued walking when he did.
"Is it still far?" Jake whispered. "My legs are hurting already."
Kim stared at Jake's feet for a while and looked up at him. "Why are you wearing pink sneakers?" he asked.
"Long story," Jake sighed. "It all started when…"
"Don't bother," Kim frowned walking faster.
They stopped at a huge stone blocking the path and Kim tapped the stone. A screen appeared on it and he pressed his thumb on the screen for a second. It scanned his thumb print and the stone rolled away. Kim turned to Jake and nodded at him, signaling for him to step inside.
"A rogue wolf remember," he whispered in Jake's ears as they walked in.
Jake could not believe his eyes. If not that Kim held his hand firmly as he walked, he would have gotten lost staring at the beauty of the place. It was like another city of its own was inside the cave. The walls were painted ash and the ceilings were high and sparkling white. There were four chandeliers hanging gloriously from the ceiling and successfully illuminating the place. People thronged about in two's and three's not even taking notice of Jake or Kim as they walked and Kim walked on undaunted, the mud from his shoe staining the polished black tiles. As soon as he passed, two girls about Jake's age scurried over to the door of the cave and started mopping the ground. Kim paused and the girls frowned, hoping he was not planning to walk back and stain the places they had already cleaned.
"Where is Ella?" he asked, staring at the girls.
"Ella?" the shorter girl frowned scratching her head. The expression on her face told Jake that she had never heard the name before.
"Ella," Kim eyed her. "Where is she?"
"Ella," she scratched her head.
"Get back to work," the other girl pushed her and turned to face Kim. "She's in her quarters. She hasn't come out all day."
Kim turned around immediately without bothering to say "Thank you" and grabbing Jake by the hand, he started off again. Jake struggled to keep up with his long strides and ended up getting dragged halfway. He couldn't tell if it was part of Kim's scheme to present him as a rogue wolf but he knew he had to go on with the plan. They were already at the end of the hallway when Jake sighted her. His jaw dropped open immediately. She was light skinned and very tall and her black hair cascaded down her back. Her eyes were the color of the sea, deep and green and Jake was lost in the wave of her gaze. Their eyes met for less than the quarter of a second but it was enough for him to assess her all round and also enough for him to forget that he was being pulled by an angry sentinel and when Kim had dragged him through the doors of the palace, he lost his footing, doubled over and fell face flat on the floor.