By My Side | The Arcana: A mystic Romance

11: Calm

The sweet embrace of sleep was something that eluded Haya these days. An unfortunate phenomenon, as she needed all the rest that she could get.

Restless, she left her bed and went to stand before the large window that over looked one part of the garden. She felt a bit hot after soaking in a hot bath. If it wasn't for the fact that there were ladies in waiting and chamber maids nearby, she would have drowned after falling asleep in the water earlier that night.

She was, so very tired and sleep had been knocking at her door eagerly for the whole evening. Yet here she was now, unable to even close her eyes for a few seconds. The more it happened, the more she lost strength. The more that happened, the lower the chance became that she would be able to get this case done.

At least tonight the ghost wasn't wailing in her mind, it did lighten the load if ever slightly.

With a sigh, she unlocked the large windows and opened them to let in some cool night air. A breeze blew gently into the room, and Haya sighed in relief. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy the moment.

As if perfectly timed, an owl swiftly glided past her window, hooting as it did so. It flew towards the centre o f the garden, and Haya payed not much mind to it.

There was another sound from far below, just a ways from the centre of the garden.

Taking a closer look, she noticed two figures hiding behind the tree that she stood under while drying up some nights before. A gasp escaped from her lips involuntarily when she realised that those figures belonged to two people that she knew. They were staring at something at the fountain.

Haya looked in that direction to see the countess strolling leisurely. The owl had landed on her outstretched arm, and was hooting feverishly.

Although Haya had no idea what was really going on, she knew she had to do something. If she didn't, then those two wouldn't make it out without being seen. Then they would both probably be executed.

The thought of it made Haya dizzy, she couldn't let that happen. She quickly put on a thick robe over her nightwear and hurried out the bedroom.

Now, there were many passages and stairwells to go through, and she wasn't particularly familiar with the place, so Haya might have lost her way once or twice. Eventually, she arrived at the grand glass doors that lead to the garden.

She took a deep breath to calm herself after running all the way down, before opening the door and stepping outside. She cast a sidelong glance to her left where Portia and Julian were hiding behind the tree a distance away. They weren't visible, but she swore she could feel their eyes on here.

She rushed into the garden before Nadia could follow her owl anywhere, and interceded her path. All the while praying not to get caught helping a whole convicted murderer.

"Oh my, Haya!", the countess beamed at the sight of her. Haya's gaze was onoy locked on the owl, now that she got a closer look at it, it was quite the most beautiful one she had ever seen.

"Your grace. I didn't expect to see you here.", the young lady said, her curious gaze shifting to look at Nadia. The countess smiled a rather sheepish smile, as if she was embarrassed to have been caught out late at such a time.

"I'm afraid I am haunted by a bout of sleepless nights, recently. I find long walks in the garden to be soothing.", Nadia explained. At this, Haya smiled gently. So they were going through the same thing, perhaps her sleeplessness was linked to the countess'. Now that she knew this, it was only another thing to add to her long list of matters to investigate. She was falling short of her initial expectations, an unwelcome reminder of just how inexperienced she was. She needed Asra, there was no way about it.

"I'm sorry to hear that, your grace. I'll leave you to it then.", Haya finally said softly. With a graceful nod from the countess, she began to walk in the direction of the fountain. With a final glance at the entrance of the garden, she was sure that those two siblings were long gone.

The countess watched as Haya disappeared further into the garden. She was such a strange girl, much unlike what she was used to seeing the the city. As much as she tried to hide it, her free spirit and nobility oozed from her greatly. She wouldn't say the girl was far removed from the general image of Vesuvia's townfolk, but something about her was different. She reminded her of... Of home.

"Strange.", Nadia whispered, before turning around and heading back into the palace.

Haya continued to the large willow by the fountain. She sat down almost immediately, relief washing over her. She didn't expect for what she did to work. In fact, she thought that she would get arrested immediately. She didn't think at all. She really had to be more careful. Hopefully, there wouldn't be a next time.

"I wonder what those two are up to.", she whispered as she sat down against the tree. Suddenly, she felt so at ease that the thought of leaving was bothersome in itself. So she relaxed and watched the stars dance in the sky.

"I really hope I don't get mixed up in anything I can't handle.", she said again, her hand subconsciously rising to feel for the emerald necklace that hung around her neck. As much as her pride was hurt, she truly needed Asra. She absolutely had no choice but to go summon him. She already did that but there wasn't a guarantee that he would come through for her as she hoped. She aught to check in with him, just in case.

However, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to stand up from her cozy spot under the Willow.

In a matter of minutes, she got lost in her own world, somewhere in the fold between reality and her subconscious. It must have been hours later that she awoke from a vague dream, not knowing when it was that she fell asleep. It was just before dawn, by the looks of it, and her nose was blocked from the cold. Slowly, she stiffly rose to her feet and began to waddle towards the palace.

In no time, she ran into Portia, who was headed to her room to help her prepare for the day. She had her bath and changed into some clean clothes before heading to the library.

There hadn't been any true breakthroughs so it was best that she got to worm immediately, Although she greatly regretted sleeping in a sitting position. Everything was painful because of that, and the cold. She could barely even breathe from that blocked nose.