𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘻𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.
𝘒𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭, 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴.
𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯", 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥. "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳"
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨; 𝘰𝘳 '𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴', 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵.
𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮.
𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘒𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥, 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘸, 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦, 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
It all began a week ago.
**************************************
Julie forgot how the world was before the pain.
Her eyes were closed even though she had gained consciousness. But for some reason she couldn't open her eyes nor lift up her head. She couldn't even feel any movement within her arms and legs either which made her scared. Was she paralysed now?
She could hear voices although, sounds of women conversing in a foreign language. Sounds of people that wasn't a rude Prince and a croaking bird. Was she finally out of those tunnels now?
She made an attempt to roll over, hoping that maybe she'll able to move the upper half of her body first. But a sharp pain tinged at her waist and her eyes flew open with the shock.
Her body ached all throughout as if she had been doing nothing but picking weights since Saturday and there was a particular sharp pain on around her waist like a ring.
She slowly tried to focus her eyes on her surroundings, blinking back tears.
The first thought that ran through her mind was, 'I am inside a circle'
Peering through her lashes, she found out that the room was mostly like a dome, but of considerably smaller size.
The only source of light in the room was a round lantern which gave a widespread area of light. A small child with long hair was staring at her nearby the door in shock, two small hands holding the doorknob too tightly.
The kid disappeared once Julie's eyes landed on her.
Julie tried to control her panicked breathing. She had no idea where she was or how she got here. Wasn't she in the clearing with the Crown Prince? What had happened? What happened to the burning worm?
The memory of fire brought back her from her chain of thoughts. The fire had saved her from the sandworm. Was it Wrel's doing?
"You're finally awake", a crisp voice said from round the door.
Julie looked again to find a woman who was like an adult version of the girl she had seen earlier. She had a stern look on her face and she was holding a large spoon in one hand. Her hands were folded across her chest as she leaned against the door and inspected Julie from afar.
"W-Where am I-I?", she croaked, realising how dry her throat was.
"I don't think you are ready to sit up like this. Although you do need water first, let me fetch you a glass wait", she said in an thick accented tone, disappearing from the doorway again and appearing with a glass of water this time.
Julie looked at her suspiciously as she handed her a bronze coloured glass with water inside. She had Silver hair and matching eyes with an unnatural colour of skin that was pale beyond reason. The water in the glass looked brown against the colour of the bronze but Julie drank it anyway, quenching her thirst before thinking about any possible traps.
"You had been knocked out for 2 days now. Sure put us the work of sticking you back together. The moment we found you two, he was freaking out about how you had been broken into two or something"
He.
"Where is Kale?", Julie asked immediately standing up a bit straighter, despite the pain. The mattress she was lying on shook a little at her action.
"Why no thank you for the person who saved your life first?", The woman said closing one eye.
"Thank you", Julie replied monotonously. She glanced again at her pale complexion. That too, combined with the ugly sand coloured walls confirmed her disappointment.
"I'm sorry, But I'm not in the outside world am I right?"
The woman smiled. "You catch on pretty quick than the guy. He had collapsed inside the tunnels when we first saw him and he was carrying a half dead you behind his back. You should have been glad that we were out scouting after the sandworm appeared. Otherwise you two would have been pretty much bones by now", she explained.
Julie nodded. This woman talked a lot.
Suddenly she heard a chorus of a bird tweeting as Wrel suddenly made his way squeezing his small body through the small gap in the door. Julie's eyes brightened on seeing the bird. She had never thought that she would be this happy to see it ever again.
Wrel came and sat down on Julie's shoulder pecking at her cheek affectionately. Julie scratched him under the chin while trying to make a conversation with the strange woman.
"I'm Julianna. We lost our way in the maze and was searching for our way back when we came upon.....that creature", Julie said, unable to say it's name.
"You had been marked, weren't you?", The woman said her silver eyes kind of slowly glowing in the dark. "The moment you looked into the sandworm's black eye, you were meant to be it's food. You should be glad that your friend took care of it for you"
"The moment I looked into its black eye?", Julie asked trying to remember and then wished that she hadn't. A shiver ran through her body at the memory and she clutched her shoulders automatically.
"The prey paralyse. It's my first time seeing someone who survived that. You have no idea how lucky you are to be alive right now"
"If this is not the surface world, then ....
are you the underground folk?", Julie asked slowly.
"Ehhhhhh is that what you people call us? Well we call ourselves the Wellerones. We have been living here centuries before your maze was even built, so I don't think it is very technical of you to call us 'underground folk'. That sounds so primitive", she mumbled pouting.
Something in her words caught Julie's attention.
She said 'your maze' as if she meant it personally for Julianna. Did this strange woman know who they were?
"What is your name?", Julie asked.
"Vellona", she said simply. "And the little one you saw earlier is my sister Rivela"
Julie nodded. They didn't seem like vengeful cannibals. Nor did she seem like she wanted to hand them over to their king and have them executed on spot. She was going to ask her a few questions on how well she knew the maze routes when the door suddenly flung open again with a bang.
The Prince entered with his blond hair dishevelled and messy with the little girl holding onto his jacket like it was gum. One of his hands was in a sling. He stared at her with a shocked face as if he couldn't believe that Julie was alive.
Vellona leaned in near the bed to whisper in her ear.
"You better talk to him first. This guy here hasn't slept a wink since we brought you here"
Julie stared at the Prince too with an equally shocked look on her face. What on earth did that expression on his face mean?
Vellona left them alone holding her baby sister by her hand. Wrel followed them through the door landing on the girl's shoulder leaving the two of them alone. The traitor.
The Prince didn't say anything but took a few steps forward slowly. He paused halfway as if he suddenly realised what he was doing and then turned the chair nearby and sat on it in the opposite direction.
Julie could help but see that he had a pair of rocking killer boots on and his outfit oddly reminded her of a cowboy.
"How are you feeling now, Emore?"
"Where did you get those clothes?", she blurted out, then immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "I went scouting with a few folks Vell introduced me to yesterday. I showed them the dead sandworm and in exchange for skinning it, I got clothes and few coins"
Vell?
"What?", Julie echoed like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Or seeing for that matter.
"I brought a pair for you too. We need to blend in if we need to stay here Julianna"
Stay here?
"Where on earth are we right now, Kale- err I mean your highness?", she stuttered.
"We are right now in the heart of the city of the underground folk", he explained ignoring her tongue slip from earlier. "That woman you met before saved our lives. My arm was broken and you were half dead and had lost a lot of blood. They saved us from dying in those tunnels"
"I understand that but why were you going around looking for ways to make money here instead of asking someone for a route back to the surface?", she hissed.
The Prince clicked his tongue loudly. "Julianna Emore", he mumbled. "Straight out to panicking as soon as you wake up. Relax. We obviously can't travel with your situation....like this ", he said eyeing her on the bed. "And I have tried talking to a few locals here. Someone must know a way back to the surface. The people here do have to visit the surface sometime for resources don't you think?"
"I think you are thinking of this situation way too lightly Prince. We are right now in enemy territory. You could be killed for showing your blond hair outside, and that reminds me; HOW ON EARTH DID YOU GO AND TALK TO THE NOBLES DRESSED LIKE THIS-"
"Calm down Emore", Kale commanded and Julie shut her mouth immediately.
"I'm starting to think that you have something against the way I am dressed right now and I can't blame you. It is hard for me to be out of my royal attire too"
Julie rolled her eyes.
"But", he continued. "Vellona here helped me adjust a few features of mine so that I can blend easily with the folk here. I have been roaming around the underground market asking for information looking like one of them. The city seems to be under strict patrol although, like there is something happening over at their palace"
Julie nodded clutching her head tightly sinking in the information about underground folk with mana and underground market and underground palaces and cities under tunnels: All information that was never ever in the book she had read.
A hysteric laugh suddenly erupted in her chest.
This world was nothing like the book she had read before.
Kale looked at her with a worried expression on his face. "You should go back to taking some more rest. Your wounds were pretty serious, although they did heal pretty fast. But the stitches are going to scar"
Stitches around her waist where the Sandworm had bit her. Her hair and face still felt burnt by the creature's saliva. She imagined herself to be a bald monster by now.
Julie shook her head and tried to get out of the bed. She wanted to see them, she wanted to see her scars and her face. She needed to know if she had finally lost it and ruined Julianna's face too.
But her feet still were numb and she toppled down from the bed. A sharp ring of pain hurt her waist again, making her tear up.Kale gripped her by her bicep with his good hand and pushed her back to the bed again muttering something about 'never listening'.
"I want to see a mirror", she told him.
"Maybe after you are ready to stand up yet? Take some more time on the bed. Vell will help you try to walk again tomorrow"
There it was again.
Vell.
The nickname slightly annoyed her.
"And where are you going tomorrow?"
He stood up from his chair turning around and looking at her with an amused smirk. "Scouting"
**************************************
"Try putting not too much pressure on your waist. For now don't bent or twist your body too much. Your stitches are healing well and after a week we'll try again", Vellona crooned holding Julie by one arm.
Julie finally decided that Vellona's company wasn't too bad after all.
She had helped Julie out of her bed and showed her to a mirror which was quite broken at the corners, not that Julie really cared. She was almost too glad to know that she hadn't turned into a bald monster after all.
Her hair was singed at the ends and her stitches were healing pretty fast. Soon she would be able to run around like before. But for that she had to walk properly first.
Vellona seemed to live alone with her sister. Their parents were dead which seems to explain the happy-go-lucky way in which she dealt with sudden strangers in her house. The whole world must be strangers to them. Her situation oddly reminded Julie of her own back in the real world.
Vellona's little sister Rivela was a sweet thing, bringing Julie chocolate to eat every five minutes. The chocolate was coated in silver paper, just like the colour around Rivela's eyes and hair. The people here seemed to be obsessed with silver.
After walking around the open garden at the back for a while Julie sat down on the doorstep staring at the artificial sun overhead. Vellona had explained that the light was drawn from the original sun overhead using mana tracks that seeped beneath the soil, and hence produced the artificial day and nights underground.
Not to mention the system of airways. Vellona explained that they were connected to a Bronze well that faced the outside world. That piqued Julie's interest and she made a mental note to check it out later.
"Tired already?", Kale asked suddenly appearing from behind her.
"Please tell me you found out a way to get out of here?", Julie said holding her knees against her chest.
"Yeah I did. But there's a small problem.I'll tell you the details later but for now get inside. It's getting cold out here"
"What problem?"
"I'll tell you inside"
Julie didn't move from her spot staring at the lines of houses made of painted mud near the fake horizon. "Did you notice? This place has no wind. No air. And yet it's cold. How do you think we are still breathing?"
"I am sure there is a 'mana' answer for everything. Now get inside before you catch a cold", he scolded.
Julie pouted. "You can't boss me around like this. We are not in the palace anymore, Prince"
"Want me to drag you inside in a un-Princely way?",he asked raising an eyebrow.
Julie sighed and then struggled getting up. She gripped at the doorway and followed him to the room she shared with Vellona. He made sure Vellona was in the kitchen and tossed a small satchel of candy to Rivela, winking at her with a finger on his lips.
Julie rolled her eyes at him as he waited for her to enter the room before shutting the door noiselessly.
"So, what did you find out?", Julie asked sitting down.
"Ok. So first of all these people are not cannibals as you were suspecting", he said sarcastically.
"Yes I can see that I'm alive too", Julie retorted but he held up a finger to silence her.
"Secondly, they seem to follow a monarchial system. They have a current Royal family who rarely get out of their palace. There seems to be loads of knights around so I'm guessing the military plays more power here than nobles. I talked to one of the ex-military commanders the other day during scouting. Apparently there are two exit points from the city. One is used by the people who go out during scouting and the other is by climbing the floors above the bronze well, which you might have heard of"
Julie nodded. "And the scouters are tagged?"
"And counted. Twice. They make quite certain of their mass numbers using periodic surveys and if anyone is caught deserting, they are locked up in the dungeons. They tend to make quite a show of these deserters, they are tied up in the streets sometimes for the locals to mock upon"
"That's....quite some system they have got going on there. And what about the Ruler of this place. Did you get an idea about them yet?"
"Not yet. But I don't think they will be really that expressive if we were to reveal ourselves. We still don't know much about how they view the 'outsiders' yet. And I've been watching my words carefully not to mention anything about the surface world."
"I talked to the woman about it. She seemed to have no idea that a world even exists above the maze", Julie said recalling her talk with Vellona.
"It's like how in our records, everything about the underground folk was wiped out. They sure must have a similar system in place", Kale mused rubbing his chin.
"I want to try this scouting process tomorrow", Julie said clenching her hands into fists. She could stand around being useless anymore. She would be much happier to work, than stay in bed all day.
"You barely can stand for five minutes. Scouting is more like the annual hunts we have back home. Do you think you even have the necessary stamina for that?", he mocked.
"Well, I can't just stay here doing nothing! I'm setting out to look at the underground market tomorrow. And I want to know what the locals know about the nobles of this place"
The Prince clicked his tongue loudly. "On your own? Not under my watch"
"Then you can come with me", she said standing up, determined now.
"Do you think I walk around all day, doing nothing? I'm scouting to earn some money to pay Vell back. Don't you think we are being too imposive on her hospitality anyways? She has got a kid to look after too"
Julie bit her bottom lip in frustration. "I'll be fine Your highness. It's not like this is the first time I've walked around towns looking for something", she added thinking of Julianna's secret life.
Kale rested his hands on his head, covering his eyes. He looked tired. Like he really hadn't slept for days. Julie didn't really expect Vellona's words to be this correct.
"The problem is how I am going to enter the city", Julie said turning towards the door. "I can't go to the city looking like this", she said pointing to her face.
"Did someone ask for a makeover!?", Vellona screeched banging the door open and missing Julie's nose by an inch.
Julie gaped at her. She was holding what looked like was a giant ball of light. She wondered suspiciously how long Vellona must have stood before the door listening them talk.
Kale stood up and walked towards the her. "Good. Do me a favour and give her an ugly face Weretti", he said to her crossing them to walk towards the door.
Then, leaning in towards Vell, he whispered in a low voice thinking that Julie couldn't hear him. "Make sure none of the men approach her"
"I heard that", Julie said trying to stamp on his feet. His ugly boots blocked off her attack.
"Ehhh I'll try my best. But it all depends upon how your original face is. And you're a pretty lady Julianna", Vell crooned in her thick accent.
Kale scoffed shutting the door behind them with a bang.