Between Wolves & Doves

Chapter 44 Edifying

Iris chewed the inside of her lower lip as she skirted around near the base of the stairs to Draegan's room. Hiding behind the arched doorway. Waiting-

Stomach knotting nervous as she twirled back around and looked to the sun drenched hallway in front of her. Doubly making sure no one had seen her.

A pair of housemaids treads disappear down the hallways and she waits until she hears silence reign from their footsteps and their softly talking voices fading on the grand stairs.

When she's truly sure they're gone, she darts across and lays her hand on the carved wood banister. Looking upwards, before taking the plunge. Seizing a handful of her white skirts and quickly slipping up the stairs. Her feet slapping at the stone steps. Whirling past the white stag. She flies up the second set of stairs and comes to the landing.

It seems so still and tranquil up here. The tang of waxy furniture polish lingers in the air with the brilliant bright scent of the freesia soap they used to scrub and mop over the swept floors.

She dares a peek into Draegans bedchamber. Finding it empty as she had predicted. She pushes the door back and sees the neatly made bed, white cotton sheets bordering velvet blue covers. Like waves in the sea. The windows were open, with fresh air buffeting at the curtains. Hint of lemons and Jasmine perpetually live on the air up here. Melding with the crisp pine air coming from the woods below.

He was to be downstairs with Ravi for another hour. She's certain of it. Kylo was out with Erland and the hounds on the other side of the disastrously large forest, invited out on a hunt with his tenants.

She's planned it this way.

Safe in the knowledge she's alone and will be undisturbed, she crosses the landing and opens the door to his private book room. Pushing the door ajar after she enters. It whines raspy on its hinges when pushed open.

Iris stands and surveys the room for a second. Scanning the edifying shelves for the text she wanted to peruse. She wandered along the huge wall of offered books. Her fingers running along the smooth walnut wood shelves.

She reckons some of these texts hadn't been read in centuries. Covers so warped and stiff. Dust might fall from their pages when cracked open. Shuddering with age on the yellowed pages. Languages that may not even exist anymore. Long forgotten.

She's itching with impatience for this.

She finds the one she'd been seeking after. Mulberry purple leather covering it. Gold text scribed along the side. She pulls it from the shelf and takes it over to the desk.

Draegan's desk is a beautiful thing. A sumptuously hand carved Botticelli desk. It was a gift from a very grateful Dauphin of France, who paid Draegan for his services in his court very generously by giving him land, a château with a moat, and a whole fifty acres of forest. The house was crammed full of antiques and fine treasures. That desk was one of the fine crafts sat among them. He had some things brought here after they'd decided he needed to extend his stay.

She sets herself down, moving away his parchment papers and pushing aside the snowy quills.

He was helping Kylo the other night with his papers. She could see the ring on the wood where he doubtlessly stood his glass of wine. Candle burning the other end as he opened the window before him at night to hear the birds calling through the forest. Cold breeze swirling pine at silvery twitching tendrils of his hair as he wrote.

She eases into his chair, spreading the book out before her on the polished desktop. She wets her lip as she nervously peeled open the cover. Paper rustling and cracking from the stiffened spine.