DESCENDANTS (THE DESCENDANTS SAGA) by R. Lynn Page A

“This is going to be harder than I thought.”
                  “What will be harder?” Kai asked drawing her into a fully alert state.
    She noticed a heavenly smell, and it distracted her from his question. Glancing over she saw Kai roasting something above a fresh fire. He gave her a look of confusion and raised his eyebrows in anticipation of her response. Not wanting to say anything foolish to cover up the truth, she settled on a shrug of the shoulders and a half smile. The sun was higher up now, and the birds serenaded them with song. She wondered how long he had been awake, and concluded it was at least long enough to catch some food for breakfast.
    “Well, good morning Sollara. I trust you slept well… You sure did snore like an old man.” His contrary attitude to that of the day before caught her off guard. It seemed she was not the only one who promised to make today a fresh start.
    “I do not snore,” she said as it was all she could manage to think of.
    “Trust me, you do.”
    She felt her frustration rising, so in an attempt to stick to her promise, she changed the subject. “Well, you seem to be in a good mood this morning.” She gave him the most genuine smile she could muster.
    It aggravated her that he was acting like nothing had happened between them yesterday. Like he didn't grossly offend her and then proceed to ignore her. She continued to struggle with her mixture of negative thoughts and her desire to start anew. Kai interrupted by handing her a piece of the meat he had just cooked. She offered him a smile of thanks and turned to her breakfast.
    “It's rabbit,” he said before she had the chance to ask.
    Normally, Sollara would be hesitant about eating something like rabbit. But she was so hungry and it smelled so good that she inhaled the meat before he had even finished his second bite. He watched her wolf down her food out of the corner of his eye and smiled in content.
    “Do you want mine? I’m not very hungry.”
    Sollara misinterpreted his generosity as smugness and found herself in a surge of irritation. To avoid a verbal fight she waved her hand in refusal and starting packing up her bed. When she was packed, she did not wait for him but started down the road towards Vitoria-Gasteiz.
    The march had acted to calm her, and as she passed an apple tree she grabbed two apples. When he finally caught up to her, she offered him a smile and tossed one of the apples at him. He fumbled with his blanket but managed to catch the apple and returned the smile.
    “What in the blazes?” she said as she turned back to the road. She stared ahead , mesmerized by the huge buildings that rose out of the ground in the distance.
    “That would be Vitoria-Gasteiz,” he said with a smile as he watched her joy-filled face.
    “Those buildings are gargantuan!” She stood frozen in awe for a moment.
    He walked on in front of her, and she ran to catch up. Soon the large buildings came into full view.
    “Let’s go to the airport and check in,” Kai instructed.
    The airport was just outside of Vitoria-Gasteiz. They could see the great city spread out in front of it, and Sollara so desperately wanted to go exploring. She looked at Kai, and as if he could read her mind, he said, “Why don't you go into the city. I will arrange our travel and come and find you. But please don't get yourself hurt or do anything stupid.”
    She offered him a fake glare at which he laughed, and then she started running towards the city. “How will you find me?” she turned and yelled.
    “Oh, I have my ways,” he yelled back.
    Sollara ran up and down the streets, taking in the perfect amalgamation between Old Spanish and new world architecture. She stopped to buy some cinnamon sugar donuts from a street vendor and gave him a large tip. Then she sat on the side of the battle of Vitoria monument while she greedily ate them. Never had she imagined tasting such things, touching such things. She ran her hand over the