by DP Scott
Hete turned over and yawned. Stretching out one arm and then the other and then one leg and then the other, he yawned again. What a wonderful sleep I had, he thought. The best sleep I’ve had in years! Keeping his eyes closed, he wiggled life back into his fingers and toes, and began to think about his exciting dream. It seemed so real. He had been flying, flying above all the inhabitants, free and light. What an amazing feeling! Wait a minute, he thought, sitting up abruptly and opening his eyes.
“I think I was flying last night,” he whispered to himself. The faint memory of the rope and Uncle Tete came back to him, but his last vivid recollection was the lights going out.
He found himself sitting on the blue marble balcony floor in the Grand Dining Hall, in the corner near the wall with the tattered rope still about his waist, wondering how he got there. But this thought lasted for only a few minutes until the growling of his stomach soon made him think about breakfast. As he stood up, he yawned and stretched again. By the time he removed the constricting rope from around his middle he was already unconcerned about his whereabouts, and more concerned about eating whipals. Starting on his trek to the kitchen, Saturna suddenly popped into his mind. He recalled his new friend being in some kind of trouble. Scratching his head, Hete paused and figured that he should probably check first on Saturna, and then go for breakfast. The decision to put Saturna before his stomach was extremely significant for Hete, because as a Kievil it could only mean one thing, he was growing up.
Whistling a little tune he started down the staircase. Memories of the siege and Pont’s angry words started to come back to him. Stopping on the third step, he turned around deciding to take the tunnel system instead of the main hallway--the last inhabitant he wanted to run into was Thor. As he felt his way through the darkness Hete thought he could hear banging. He was close to Saturna’s chambers and wondered if he had made a big mistake coming this way. Who could be making all the noise in his secret tunnel?
Inching nervously forward, he planned to turn and run at the first sign of trouble. Something was stirring up the dust in the passageway and when he paused to wipe the grime from his eyes and fight the urge to sneeze, he contemplated the situation. There were definitely others in his tunnel, but what they doing here he didn’t know? Creeping ever so softly, Hete approached the area where he knew the secret door to be. Newly layered bricks blocked his way.