Elwanda

Chapter 19 - An Unraveling

The second week of the Feast was unusually warmer, quieter, and less rowdy. Raegrosian attendance reduced noticeably, allowing for much elbow room in the Grand hall. Food was served temperate as opposed to being presented cold; conversations were lesser around the table and even women grew bored of gossip.

These changes were not as subtle as everyone seemed to notice, allowing for whispers of suspense to fly around.

Elwanda got back on her feet before the middle of the week and following Remus's advice, sat by the ocean at midday to fully recuperate and help her injury heal. It became a relaxing exercise to feel cold seawater splash against her feet until her insides ruptured with little shivers, breathe in the natural smell of sea salt, witness white gulls soar over a blue horizon, and revel in the satisfying sound of rolling waves.

Her closest maidservants, Fylve and Serine, usually accompanied her to the site and would put together a lovely picnic to compliment the setting. Elwanda loved the serenity and how private it felt in spite of her companions.

For the past three days, she had visited the cliffs. It was one of many of the castle's escarpment and was level with the tide. Elwanda loved how the area resembled an exquisite retreat, with wet sand nearest the sea and dryer ones far behind; rocks and shells of different kinds and sizes decorated the little beach and made searching and gathering a most fun activity to indulge in for hours. Her doctor's prescription included infrequent speech so she barely said more than a few words, unless it were necessary. She'd had heartwarming visits from Queen Shailene, and even Xainiss himself, with gifts from both. The level of attention she received felt like a suicidal rope to the Steward's neck and it showed.

Til date, she was void of reasonable explanations as to why she had taken such a deathly blow for him, yet she knew well that her impulsive heroism was done out of anything but logic. Seeing him every morning, with his faint snarl that had become something of a greeting and the disdain that often sat in his eyes when their gazes met was enough to make her regret saving his life. However, it only made Elwanda grow even fonder of him and further strengthened her attraction.

It didn't help that he somehow became aware of her feelings because in the absence of any other soul, he often voiced that her infatuation was stupid and proof of how twisted a person she was. Nowadays, his cruel words cut a lot deeper, and Elwanda feared it was because her heart was vulnerable before him and at his disposal. She forced herself to believe during the times when he held her hand in the presence of either Majesties, or placed an arm around her back to help her sit up; even though all of it was pretence, that it was real.

That was the worst case of delusion she'd ever had.

"My lady?" Serine's voice tore through the sound of crashing waves.

Elwanda stirred and spun to look at the caller. The plat in her hair felt too tight and uncomfortable.

Serine seemed a bit uneasy, fiddling with her fingers. "The ambassador is here, my lady."

The cold grew a tad more intense as Elwanda's eyes lifted and found the Steward in the distance, where the cliffs wound and became a flight of stairs to lead away from the area. His face was poker. They hadn't spoken to each other since her return from Remus's care, except the one occasion where he called her tenderness "childish" after his return from a competitive horse riding and she had offered to help massage his aching shoulder.

She swallowed nervously and nodded to excuse the girls. Fylve and Serine bowed and walked away in light scurrying. Their uneasiness around the Steward often made Elwanda wonder if they feared him too.

He marched onward in easy steps, glancing around the environment in what seemed like calculative appreciation. Then, he came close enough and his eyes felt like daggers on her own.