“ Who are you ?” I breathed my throat burning from those few spoken words . The women sighed and shook her head , tapping her bare foot impatiently on the ground . I frowned at her as I slowly righted myself upwards . The women glared at me and crossed her arms over her chest her foot still tapping rapidly on the blue floor as she chewed on the bottom of her lip . I pressed my lips together trying to figure out what the hell the women wanted . If she was working with Davies I would have been dead by now .

The women narrowed her eyes again but this time covered her mouth with her hand shaking her head back and forth .

“ You can’t tell me ?” I said frowning trying to understand the women and her motivation . The women stopped shaking her head letting her hand drop back to her side smiling . “ Are you deaf ?” I asked frowning not realizing how incredibly stupid that question was . Of course she wasn’t deaf if she was she wouldn’t be able to hear me !

The women’s smile vanished instantly , her green eyes narrowing once again . The women stomped closer towards me stopping at arm lengths away . The women opened her mouth and pointed to it daring me with her shimmering green eyes to look . I bit my lip and glanced at her mouth where she pointed . Oh god . She didn’t have a tongue , there was nothing there but a stump of the muscle that let human kind show their thoughts , emotions and ideas .

“ Sorry.” I squeaked , looking away from her deformity. I bit my lip and looked up at her , staring everywhere but at her mouth. Questions rolled through my mind bubbling to the surface in a steady gush.

“ How did I get here ? Who are you ?Where is Sage? Where is my brother ? Why am I in different clothes ? Where am I? ” I coughed eyeing the women as she scribbled down on the note book pad .

The women frowned at me and flipped the page towards me . I blinked and frowned leaning forward , reading her scribbled message.

His Highness , H.G. and your brother, Chris, brought you here . I am Tiana .His Highness and your brother are out . I changed you , your old clothes were bloody and smelled of barf and piss . You are in Alexandria . Any more questions ? You want my social security number next ?

I looked up at Tiana frowning . I didn’t know that a mute person could do sarcasm so well. I froze , staring at her scrawled words . How did she know Sage was King?

“You know who Sage is ?” I breathed . She sighed heavily ,yanking the pad of paper back towards her and scribbling furiously on it . I frowned trying to understand her irritation with me and failing. What was her problem ?

Are you always this annoying ? Gosh no wonder why everyone tries to strangle you . Annnyways , of course I know who his Highness is ! I may no longer live there but I do keep up to date with the news …when it comes this way .

“ Your from his world ? “ I gasped the notebook dropping from my fingers onto my lap . Tiana rolled her eyes and nodded .I frowned at her feeling my irritation with this women jump up several notches . ‘ Ok seriously what the heck is your problem ?” I croaked glaring at her . She grinned and grabbed the notebook off my lap , her green eyes blazing . Uh-oh .

You. You are my problem . You are a bratty , selfish, prat who only thinks about herself . You fraternized with the enemy and almost had his highness KILLED ! Did you ever stop to think for one moment with that head of yours ? Ha ,probably not . I have lived earth side long enough to know your type . A spoiled , whinny , typical American child who never had to work a day in their life and takes everything for granted .And how are you rewarded for leading his Highness into that awful trap ? You are brought here where I am forced to tend to you while his highness frets over you .He is truly to kind for someone of the likes of you .

My teeth grinded together of their own accord as I glared up at Tiana . What did she know ? What in the heck did she know about what happen ? Who was she to condone me ! I sucked in a deep breath feeling my eyes sting with the threat of tears . No , I was not going to cry in front of this women . I was not going to give her the pleasure of seeing me cry . I closed my eyes and took a deep ,shuttering breath .

“ I may be selfish , I may be a brat and I had almost lead Sage to his death ,” I whispered opening my eyes slowly . “ but I know that was wrong .I know what I had done had almost killed Sage , and I know how extremely ,very, wrong I was . I do NOT need you scolding me on my immeasurable stupidity and gullibility , that alone is reserved for Sage and my brother . Not for some stranger that I had just meet .“ I growled dismissing Tiana .

Tiana blinked at me her mouth shifting from a grin to a deep frown. She glared at me before turning her attention to her notepad , pen flying furiously across the paper.

“ You can write all you want, but I won’t read it. “ I growled turning my attention to my battered hands. “ I want to see Sage. I want to make sure he is safe.” I whispered. The scratching of the pen halted. I looked up at her .

She glared down at me and shook her head from side to side ,turning back down to the paper ,ripping the page out and bawling it in her fist .She began writing again. She turned the pad around , mouth set firmly in a frown.

Sage is safe. He is resting. You might be surprised how tiring almost getting killed and betrayed is. H.G. is looking after him.

I frowned and looked at her .There was the name again , H.G. .

“ Who the hell is H.G. ?”I looked at her with wide eyes. Who was this man that was taking care of Sage? She glared at me and began to write. Was this one of the Shifts ,one of Davies men? Was she one of his men? Oh, god. Please ,please let us all be safe. Tiana flipped the pad around , pointing to her response.

H.G. is the man that saved you from the poison from the shift. He is protects the Book. He is loyal to Sage and plans to get him back to his throne safely.

The tension in my chest eased but did not dissipate. I had to see Sage with my own eyes to make sure he was safe . To ensure that the shadow person did not hurt him.

“ Please can I see-”

Tiana raised a long finger pressing it against her mouth. I closed my mouth letting my unspoken plea die in my throat. I watched her turn towards the door , head tilting to the side .My heart pounded madly inside my chest as fear coursed through me .Oh , God what was she listening to ? Was someone coming ? Was it Davies ? No , no it couldn’t be if it was him she wouldn’t be smiling like that if it was him . Unless she was on his side.

My heart speed as horrid thoughts of betrayal flashed through my mind .Foot steps echoed outside the door . My mouth dried as I slowly turned towards Tiana .She grinned at me as she stood throwing the pad of paper and pen on the clustered table before she moved towards the door and opened it . Her devilish grin disappeared as the person approached the door . Oh God ,she betrayed me ! She lied !

“ Is she awake ?” my brothers voice drifted in to the room. All of my tension and distrust vanished with the sound of his voice. My bottom lip tremble and my eyes water . He was alive ,he was all right ! We all were all right.