The Sky that Nobody Sees

the Glimmering Shards

Inladris knew the moment she woke that she'd not be accomplishing much that day, but she accepted it with the most grace she'd been able to muster in weeks, groaned out of bed, arranged an orderly breakfast of eggs that weren't just flipped over on the stove, French toast, and seasoned sausage links instead of plain. She left the meals in the oven for the boys to serve themselves though, and went back to her room to sleep, leaving the note she'd written the night before stuck in her door.

Tall Spruce,

I know you're angry with me, and you have every right to be. I'm sorry I shouted at you in front of others, but I knew this argument would come eventually, and I wanted us to get it over with.

I did betray your trust, you are correct about that. I willingly did something I knew you would be upset about. I also knew that if you ever came up against someone you couldn't take down by force, you would need science on your side, and I had the means to back you up, so I used them. I swear to you, Vicha is trustworthy, and she's close-lipped, and she's intelligent. What I have given her and what she may have gleaned is safe with her.

With that being said, you are welcome to stay angry with me. I only ask that you not punish me with your anger anymore. Yours is not the kind I can step out from underneath, and there isn't an umbrella in the world that can stand up to you.

Please let nimbostratus know I'm decidedly unwell today, but that it's nothing to be concerned about. I'll be back up and about in no time. I think the winter and the stress have just gotten to me.

She wasn't asleep when someone knocked on her door, so she mumbled something from underneath the arm draped across her eyes, and the door half-opened.

"What are your symptoms?" Thranduil inquired.

"Just nauseous, bit of a headache," Inladris said with a sigh. "Be fine by dinner probably."

"Similar to the induced sickness you had a few weeks ago?"

Her shoulders shifted. "Possibly. Far worse though."

"The hospital saved a blood sample upon my request, to see if they could identify what had made you ill. May I take another for them to compare it to?"

She unearthed her other arm from beneath the covers and flung it beside her. "Go to town."

He left and returned, and the mattress shifted beneath him. Inladris pursed her lips even at that movement. Taking her arm into his lap, Thranduil said, "You know, the general populace agrees that closing one's drapes often blocks the majority of the light coming through." He slid her sleeve up the rest of the way.

"Like being able to see the outside," she murmured as a length of rubber tightened around her upper arm.

"With your eyes closed?"

"Fine. Like to know I could if I would."

He chuckled, wiping the inside of her elbow with alcohol. "I have always been pleasantly surprised by your amiable attitude regarding injuries," he remarked then, making conversation. "Your attitude in regard to needles has been especially helpful of late."

Inladris didn't even flinch. "I'm not entirely sure why—and I'm surprised as well, sometimes." He chuckled. "But Aneski and Milir brought them home on occasion, and I suppose I've always had faith in the healing of physical injuries. It's the inside ones that worry me."