Turning her head over her shoulder, where she heard the familiar voice resonated, Hanan tried to open both her eyes. She stretched out her left arm to press it on to the wall, before facing the male wolf at a single step. Hanan tried to limit her movements, to make sure her dizziness would not worsen. Only it was a useless attempt.
"Bathala.." Uttering his name the opposite way she wanted it to, Hanan's forehead creased. "What are you doing here?"
"Are you sick?" Bathala ignored her question. And though his expression did not change, a recognizable emotion crossed his eyes for a second. "You look rather pale."
Pale? A silly smile was carved on Hanan's thin lips, as she flippantly doubted Bathala's remark inside her head. She did not know whether or not it was a fluke, but he shouldn't have been able to tell. Not when her face was covered with cosmetics.
"I do feel sick." Hanan didn't think there'd be any problem if she told Bathala. He was apathetic. "I hustled the last four days and so far, the only result I got is this," Hanan continued, pointing her finger towards her head.
It was a little strange that she could be so upfront towards Bathala, whom she had just personally met a few days ago. No. Even on the first day, she could casually talk to him like they were on the same level. Like Bathala was of her age, and that he wasn't so respectful and intimidating.
Well, he was. Except Hanan never felt intimidated.
"You're not supposed to work before your inauguration. What did you do?" asked Bathala, before he took a few steps forward to close the gap. His cold eyes honored Hanan's physique, before he extended his arm to touch her cheek.
It surprised Hanan.
"Did you not sleep?" Bathala pulled down the skin under Hanan's eyes in a delicate manner, as if he knew he could smudge the cosmetics if he further pressed his fingers with evident effort. "How long has it been since you took a nap?"
Still taken aback by their physical interaction, Hanan looked away. "It hasn't been that long. I'm just not used to working—" Wincing as she felt the tension introducing itself, her words hung mid-air.
Bathala put his hand down. Glazing at Hanan's frowning face. "You have enough time to condition yourself." Bathala offered his hand. "Come with me to my lair. I'll make you tea."
With her brows forming a knot, Hanan threw her gaze at Bathala, before it landed on his palm. Hanan did not know if it was his way of showing his concern, or if he was into something. A tea in his lair? Hanan could at least list down three reasons why it sounded sly. First, Bathala wasn't fond of socializing. Though she could've sworn she could be casual to him, he was not supposed to act the same just because she was now a soon to be member of his team. Second, he answered why he was here. Nor why he was spending enough time with her to even make her a tea. He was a wolf who always kept himself detached from everybody. So, why would he suddenly approach her? Third, why would he take her to his lair?
Hanan contemplated. But having to bear with her unstable vision and headache, Hanan figured she also neet to get back to condition herself. Thus, she accepted.
Using hidden passageways. Hanan did not even know existed. Bathala led Hanan to his deserted lair, back when he was still living in the Palace. A hidden safe place located in the courtyard where he was working a few decades back. He was the one who customized it. Though shabby, the very same place used to be his sanctuary.
Bathala allowed Hanan to enter his lair he never even revealed it to anyone, except Amon. And albeit abandoned, Bathala had always made sure to keep this place clean, by ordering his butler to visit here once in a while.
"This looks quite comfortable for a lair," commented, Hanan, as she sat in a wooden chair. She roamed her eyes around, astounded. "I expected it to be scary."
"Don't you have your own?" Moving the curtains to the side, Bathala reacted nonchalantly.
The pathway they used to get here was narrow and dark. It convinced Hanan that Bathala's lair was nothing but a messy room abandoned for years. In addition, she believed Bathala hadn't been in the Palace for long. Therefore, she concluded that it was old looking and scary. Not to mention, her definition of a lair is an ugly, reeking dead animals place. Outright bold, since she only had a but a nice room in their house.
Now, to her surprise, the inside was nothing close to the picture she had in mind. Arranged in the big wooden bookshelf on the right side were Bathala's books and journals. Beside it were his collections of different weapons. On the right side were his hard bound books and maps.
Instead of a dirty private room, Bathala's lair looked more like a… chamber.
"I don't."
Unlike Bathala, Hanan had lived in a generation where lairs weren't timely anymore. Furthermore, she never favored solitariness. Being an only child to a wealthy family had allowed Hanan to connect more with her parents. Thus, she grew up upright about what she wanted to do, or be. She had no reason to ask for a lair. Her situation never called for it.
"I'll mix the medicine in your tea."
Putting her eyes back on Bathala's back, Hanan began to wonder what it was that Bathala wanted to talk to her, assuming it was really his objective for approaching her. "How long would it take? I don't have much time on my hands, Bathala. I cannot be late."
"Then, I'll take you there myself, and excuse you."
Excuse me? Hanan put her hands on her lap, curving her lips downward. The way Bathala was acting now was odd, but on the other hand, Hanan found it amusing. He just indirectly said he was going to take responsibility, right? How was he going to do that? How would he excuse her in front of the public, when he loathed attention?
Bathala was still a mystery, even to Hanan. He was the Alpha's first born son, whom everyone adored. Every single wolf that lived in the Southern Vale Kingdom looked up to him. Though he went lie low when he quit, and had been silence since then, he had such a good reputation. From being one of the first instructors to the Warrior Assembly, to being the heart of the Mandaya pack, who was always leading expeditions, he had gained enough merit to be acknowledged.
Of course. Hanan was no exception. Glorifying power since she was a kid, Bathala was a role model to her. Though it changed when she finally entered the Warrior Assembly, he stayed important and special to her.
"Do you know that I look up to you, Bathala?"