"Hi!"
Nico was startled awake and yelped when he saw a blurry figure leaning over him.
He moved to scramble back but fell out of the bed, landing on his butt. Nico winced slightly and peered up at the girl who was dangling from his bed.
"Hi!"
Nico pushed to his feet, rubbing at his backside. "Do you make it your job to scare the crap out of people?"
"I scared the crap out of you?" the girl squinted her eyes.
Nico groaned. "Forget it."
"I'm Emmani! That's Ronnie, Dollie, Russell, and Asa." Emmani said pointing to each in turn. "Oh, and Zander."
Ronnie was sitting on the edge of her bed slipping into her shoes. Dollie and Asa appeared to be in a heated debate, but it must not be too serious because they were laughing.
Russell was flipping through a picture book.
These people are friendly, no? Zander signed.
"What's he saying?" Emmani demanded.
Too friendly.
Nico sat back down on his bed. "How long have you guys been here?"
"Me and Russell got here a couple of weeks ago," Asa said, reaching over to ruffle the boy's hair. "Dollie's been here for a month, Ronnie two."
Emmani puffed out her chest. "I've been here since I was five."
Ronnie pushes to her feet. "That's two years, silly."
"I'm not silly!"
The door was thrown open and an elderly woman was standing in the doorway wearing a faded blue dress. Her hair was tied so tightly in a bun that it looked like her eyes were going to pop out.
"Which one of you were tasked with caring for the princess?"
Nico raised his arm. "Me. Where are my change of clothes?"
"Right this way. Come."
The woman turned on her heel and marched away. Nico waved farewell to Zander and the others, then scurried off. When he caught her she was standing in front of an open door, strong soapy odors seeped out into the hall.
"You clothes are in there." the woman smiled. "I'm sorry about what Kojo did to your people. It wasn't right and he'll pay for his crimes."
Nico wasn't sure how to take that, he wasn't sure if she was trying to be funny. No human in their right mind would care about the Elven population.
"I'm Millie. Princess Kaya's room is on the second floor, third door to the left." Millie pointed to her right. "once you've finished come to the kitchen where we've prepared the princess's breakfast."
"Alright."
Millie left and Nico stepped inside, closing the door. His eyes stung but he refused to cry.
If only my family could see me now, boy they'd have a laugh.