Wherever I Am

Chapter 12 - Part 2

"I did stupid again, didn't I?"

By the set of Ellie's chin, she already knew the answer.

"Yes."

We'd managed to break away after the feast before I went to discuss matters of state with the Regent and gathered Lords. That sounded stupid enough to me without dealing with Ellie, but it was what it was.

"She's trying to turn me into one of her ladies-in-waiting instead of being mine. She's trying to run everything and didn't listen to me."

"Well, she's like in her forties, and you're eighteen. Maybe you should listen to her."

"Not in my own bedroom. That's my place...my sanctuary. The one place I can be alone."

"And privacy isn't very highly valued around here. Yeah, I've noticed."

"I want to be alone when I'm taking a dump and not have her in the room when I'm bathing. Mara, Sorina, or even Doina would be okay, but only one, not all of them. I feel like she's always judging me, and that's not happening when I'm naked. I'm stinky because I refused to bathe, but she wouldn't leave me alone. Now she probably thinks I'm some stinky barbarian heathen. The door has a lock on it, so I will take a bath once I've gotten them out and locked the door. Maybe I'll keep Sorina or Doina in to help, so she doesn't think I'm a total recluse."

She stepped closer, pounding her head repeatedly into my shoulder before stopping and rubbing her forehead. "You have your armor on."

"So do you, don't you?"

"That's part of the problem. It'll be Sorina tonight. She and Mara already know about it, but the others don't. I don't want to peel it off in front of the others. Too many questions I can't answer. Why do they even think I want all these people."

"With rank comes privilege, and this is part of it."

She sighed and put her head on my shoulder more gently, leaning slightly onto me. "I need to get back and do whatever noble women do in the evenings. It will be only Oana and me in my bedroom tonight to sleep. Maybe I'll just sleep on the balcony. I don't know."

I pushed her back a step. "That is quite a nice...dress thing you're wearing. Is it a sarong?" It was a below-the-elbow sleeved blue wrap that covered from neck to ankles

"No." She turned around slowly. "Doina helped me with it, though I'm still wearing that dirty chemise from the last few days. She's around the corner, hopefully out of earshot."

I kissed her on the forehead. "Go talk to her or Lady Sabina and see how you can get back into Lady Lavinia's good graces. Blame it on the travel, the heat, the changes...something."

"When are you going back to the Gold Scroll statue?"

"Middle of the night."

"Let me know when you're going."

"How am I supposed to do that? I'm trying to sneak down without all my ducklings."

"I'll sleep on the balcony. Call for me when you're ready, and I'll sneak out, too. You did see that Oana touched it without getting zapped?"

"Yeah."

"What does that mean?"

I shook my head. "Later."