The Rogue Lady

Chapter Eleven

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     The next morning was a gray one. The moment I opened my eyes I saw the gray clouds through the window, covering the sky and hiding the sun. I stretched out under the covers, reveling in the warmth they provided, and sank back into the mattress, gazing at the ceiling without seeing it. It was nice to have slept in a bed after so long; I felt well rested for the first time in a long while. Last night seemed so distant now, already a fading memory. Everything was quiet even the birds outside, forming quite the contrast with last night. No one was screaming, no one was yelling, no metal against metal; nothing but silence. But it did not seem like the unnatural silence there had been in the streets of Roseacre. This was a natural silence, the comfortable kind. The peaceful kind you didn’t want to break. I wasn’t sure for how long I stayed there, in bed under the covers, just looking at the ceiling and listening to the silence. I hadn’t felt so at peace with my surroundings in a long, long time. But eventually, noise outside pulled me back to the present.

     With a sigh, I pushed the covers back and slid out of bed. I went to stand in front of the window and looked out. Roseacre was literally at my feet. The rebels’ camp was just beyond the hill on my right, while there were endless green fields were on my left. But the sight of the pale pink city, nearly glowing in the early morning sun, kept pulling my attention back to it. I had taken the room all the way at the end of the corridor on the fourth floor; one of the two rooms in the tower. It was an extra few steps higher than the actual corridor and you could tell from the view. I had a somewhat fuzzy memory of being in here before but it wasn’t clear enough for me to remember exactly. The drop from the window was massive; if you fell from up here there was no hope of surviving except maybe if you were a magician. And yet, it wasn’t high enough for a dragon to fall and make a graceful climb into the infinite sky. It was somewhere between those two. And it took my breath away.

     After a moment or two, I turned away from the window and walked over to the chair where I had dumped my clothing last night. I grimaced as I pulled the blood and sweat stained long sleeved shirt on over the tank top I was already wearing; it felt disgusting after a night in a clean bed. My pants were covered in mud, as were my boots, and they had a nasty tear on my right thigh. How had I not noticed? The same went for the small burnt part at the bottom of my right leg. I would have to go back to camp sometime during the day to get a change of clothing. I buckled my belt with my blades low around my hips, and felt a lot more comfortable with their familiar weigh hanging against my thighs. I debated whether to take the bow with me or leave it for later, but decided I should just in case I wouldn’t come back to the room.

     Just as I closed the door of the bedroom behind me, and stepped out into the corridor, Eric came out of the opposite room. I had wanted to set out search for William and Eric, or maybe the brothers or my archers, but this was a lot easier for me. He looked over his shoulder at me, surprise crossing over his face as he pulled the door closed, before a gentle smile appeared instead.

     "Good morning,” he greeted. “Sleep well?”

     “Morning to you too, and yes, I did. A bed is much more comfortable than the ground or those beds we have at camp,” I replied.

     He nodded and together we walked down the corridor, “Where were you headed?”

     “Well I was going to l look for you or William, but you are making this very easy for me.”

     He nodded again before informing me, “William is probably still in the audience room trying to get everything under control.”

     “What do you mean when you say still?” I stopped walking, causing Eric to stop as well. He looked at me, clearly debating whether he should tell me what was on his mind at that moment or not. I kept my eyes on him, not even blinking, knowing full well that eventually it would make him uncomfortable and then he would tell me.