Elwanda

Chapter 25 - Old Vision, New Mission

In the wee hours of the morning, when she doubted a lot of servants would be up and about, Elwanda rose, drew on her silk night robe and casually headed for the Steward's bedroom. Since they were now a married couple, it would be first deemed natural before unusual if anyone saw her go into his chambers at such early hour.

At least, she hoped so.

It proved easy to push the doors open without making a noise. His chamber was dim, too dim to navigate without bumping into something, but she knew exactly where she aimed to go. However, she glanced around first, curious as to why the Steward's bed was empty. Distracted by that, she inched forward to have a closer look. The sheets were rumpled, indicating that he'd slept there.

As realization of his possible whereabouts set on Elwanda, she heard soft thuds, like padded feet hitting against the ground. It seemed to be coming from the direction of the bath.

Quickly, she took nimble steps to squeeze into hiding behind the wardrobe.

Then, she felt his presence.

He moved about in utter silence, filling the air with masculine scents that near hypnotized her senses to a malfunction. The only sounds she detected were those of small objects being picked and dropped, ruffles of fabric, the wardrobe door open and shut a few times, the near silent whoosh of air each time he turned about, and his footsteps that sounded oddly different. It made her want to peep at him because she thought he was barefoot. The thought was frankly pleasing to her mind.

Her head turned to keep watch on the accessible gap by her side, and she immediately panicked. His mirror was right opposite her hiding place. If, for obvious reasons, he was to look into it longer than usual, he would see past the dimness behind the wardrobe and spot her.

Then, as if prompted by her fears, he went to stand in front of the mirror.

Elwanda held her breath, watching him fasten the loop of his sleeves. He seemed fully dressed, though she could only see the back of his flowing coat, and he was - just as she had suspected- barefoot. When his head lifted, he leaned into the mirror to fix something on his face, although she felt there was nothing that needed to be fixed there.

Stirred by impulse, she wiggled her fingers and overheard earthenware stagger.

The Steward instantly looked in the direction of the noise, which was a good distance away from the mirror. Her magic caused the object to continue to teeter and him to walk to it, vanishing from sight for a few moments.

But after steadying the object, he returned again.

Thankfully, he did not linger like before.

She released a breath of relief when he moved away. After a few more minutes of gallivanting, she heard him grab something that jingled, and her eyes widened at the sound. Keys.

In the next second, he was out the door, and - her heart dropped - he turned the key in the lock thrice.

Elwanda squeezed out of her hiding spot and ran to the door. In less than ten minutes, Fylve and Serine would go knocking on hers. If they didn't find her, they would likely search. The last thing she wanted was to be tagged as missing. She took steps back, glancing about in utter frustration and anger. Her plan had not only failed, but she had also gotten herself locked up.

Eventually, she calmed enough to remember that she was equipped with enough power to blast the door open. Then, the air began to hum, rattling objects inside the room. Energy collected around her fingers and hands. In one fluid motion, she directed it forward.

As her magic met the door, she heard the lock click on repeat before a strange thing happened. The swirling aura of power around the door did a rebound and knocked her right in the gut, and she fell back with a pained groan.