Blood Will Tell

XXII

It was two days after the shadow beast raids, and the sun was yet to rise. Arden Mægenstern yawned as she awoke, having been roused from rest by her alarm clock, and settled into an upright sitting position with her back flat against the headboard. She remained still. It would usually take a few minutes for her body to be fully awake; after that, she would begin another day of labor.

Her phone rang. Arden opened her palm and called her phone into it, then picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Norman greeted from the other side, "sorry to bother you so early, but there're a few mishaps with the scheduling."

"What mishaps?"

"Scheduling mishaps. We've had to move people around and reassign shifts after the raids, and your schedule got affected—"

"Hold on," she interrupted, "there were shifts reassigned without my knowledge?"

"We had to do it ASAP. You already had a lot on your plate, so Leith and I took the initiative."

Arden pressed a hand against her forehead. "Alright, sorry; I'm not used to being excluded from decisions like this."

"Don't worry, I understand," Norman chuckled. "With all that you've done, it's easy to forget you're not the most senior of senior guardians. Anyway, the schedule's not fixed, so you'll have to keep checking throughout the day. All will be sorted out by tomorrow."

She breathed an inward sigh. "Alright. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. Happy birthday, by the way."

"Thank you."

A high-pitched beep soon followed. Arden lowered her phone from her ear and held it with both hands, then tapped and swiped at the screen a few times. Her schedule for the day unrolled before her eyes. Her morning shift had vanished; her next shift would start in the afternoon.

A satisfied smile crept up the corners of her lips. Arden placed her phone on her bedside table and crawled back under her duvet. She could very well use a few more hours of rest.

***

The morning sun's rays awakened Arden from her extended slumber. Arden yawned, propping her torso up with one arm as she leaned to glance at the clock. It was eight o'clock; she had slept for an additional three hours. Though the prospect of sleeping till noon tempted her, her now-alert body told her that she had had enough rest. After all, oversleeping was not good either.

Arden tossed the duvet off her body and climbed off the bed to begin her morning routine. Habit made her waste no time though she had ample hours to get ready, and she was downstairs before twenty minutes had passed.

Her nose caught a whiff of mouthwatering smells as she strode toward the kitchen. She traced the savory scents to the dining hall. With a thought, she commanded the doors to draw back, revealing a hearty breakfast. It turned out that the aromas arose from smoked bacon, grilled sausages, and fried eggs. Accompanying them were glasses of milk and freshly squeezed fruit juice. Near where she would usually sit, a young man was folding a napkin into a cloth crane. His creation was... not the best, to put it lightly.

Edin looked up from the table. "Good morning, Arden."

"Good morning." She strode to her seat. "You did all this for me?"

"Of course, it's your special day," he smiled. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Please, take a seat."