What Is Done

Chapter 34 - Chicken Soup For The Soul

Tödlich and Roman showed Laverne and Sellion rooms they could stay in for the night. They had a few guest suites that went unused most of the time. Nonetheless, they were well kept. Better than some of the inns they'd stayed at along the roads. Their gracious hosts allowed them to rest and would notify them when dinner was ready.

Laverne offered Essaerae to stay with him as Tödlich and Roman hadn't known she was there.

"Are you sure?" Essaerae pulled off her hood to reveal her face.

Laverne's gaze set past her at the large, four post, canopied bed in the center of the room. "I am sure."

"Well, I'd assume you're a gentleman so be it," Essaerae muttered, shucking off her purple cloak.

"I will let you decide if I am a gentleman or not." 

Laverne laid down on the bed, not bothering with the hassle of covering himself with the blankets. Within seconds, he'd fallen asleep. 

Essaerae grimaced towards where her sovereign lay, the thought of what could've been at Druvrot and Elbane's village of dead swirling around in her head. 

---

I woke to a raspy knock on the wooden doors. I felt Essaerae's energy dissolve into nothingness as she pulled her cloak over herself and became hidden. Groggily, I pulled one of the doors open to see Roman there.

"Dinner will be served in exactly fifteen minutes," she informed me. I panicked internally, on the outside I was calm as ever. I looked around for a clock to tell the time. The closest one was behind Roman, across the wrap-around mezzanine balcony. It read fifteen minutes until eight. I knew of no elf who ate this late. For the sake of formality, I was willing to adhere to the house of Greenbriar's rules.

"I will be ready then," I said. I was not entirely sure how I'd be able to get dinner to Essaerae. I didn't want her to go without one meal.

Roman only nodded before heading back down the stairs, calling out to someone. I heard a male's voice. One I was familiar with yet it hadn't been Sellion's. As far as I could tell, there were no servants or chambermaids in the Greenbriar household. There was only the Cardinal, Roman and their mother.

Since Roman was already too far away for me to call out with it seeming out of the ordinary, I would have to wait until dinnertime to ask for Essaerae's food.

After she was gone, I closed the door again. I waited for Essaerae to become seen again. She didn't.

"Essaerae?" I asked, my eyes darting around the room. I had absolutely no clue where she could have been. She moved quickly. Therefore, she could have been on the other side of the room from where I'd seen her don her purple cloak.

When I received no answer, I called her name a little louder but not loud enough to disturb the others in the household and make them aware of her presence. Tödlich and Essaerae had a history. She hadn't been very pleased to see his face. I did not want to watch them force them to be friendly if I outed her to him. "Essaerae? Please answer me."

"Sorry, I zoned out for a moment." The sound of her lovely voice came from over by the window. "Did you need something?"

"I have a question for you. Would you like dinner? I can ask for another meal to be sent to this room for you."

"They'd find it suspicious. I can go a night without eating," she said sluggishly. I heard the wooden window sill creak as if she'd laid her elbow on it.

"Your health is more important than me embarrassing myself," I said sternly.

Essaerae sighed. "If you insist, Your Highness."