Her Quest

Chapter fourteen

The next morning, Penelope and Iaso arose earlier than the rest of the servants, making sure they would be able to make use of the bathroom freely before it became crowded.
Penelope wrapped a scarf tightly around her head to keep her wig in place while she showered and Iaso did the same.
It was too risky for them to shower without the wigs on, even though it was quite early.                
“I can’t believe the things I have to accommodate on this quest for you” Iaso mumbled as she inspected the communal showers, her fingers clutching onto her towel.                                                                                                                                         
“I don’t believe I forced you to come along” Penelope said and rolled her eyes.
“No you didn’t, but you could have warned me”.                                                   Penelope just laughed at her friend’s predicament.                                                  “I miss Leia” Penelope said with a sigh.   “Me too. She better be ok in your brother’s company”.                                    “She will be. Actually I think she might be too ok, you know? She’ll be forced to come out of her comfort zone, that will be good for her”.                                                                   

“If you say so” Iaso said and stepped into the mucky shower.                             “Gods! I should have worn socks or something!”.                                                  Within less than fifteen minutes, Penelope and Iaso were showered and dressed. They headed out to their rooms and still, nervously peering around the quiet building.

“We need to somehow get to Heracles today. I need to know if he managed to get word out to Hecate” Penelope said as she looked in the mirror in their room and untied the scarf from her head.                                                                “That’s going to be almost impossible to do, Pen”.                                                          “I know, but it makes me uncomfortable not knowing if the foundation of our cover is set”.                                                                                                                             
“I know, I know. Perhaps we could slip him a note during breakfast or lunch. That’s really all the chance we will be able to get. During the feast tonight, it will be too risky”.                                          “Breakfast, maybe. And remember we need to steal Oswald’s clipboard in the morning as well, before our duties are assigned to us”.                                            “Right. Who could forget about Nyctimus’ plan”.                                             “Why do you sound like that?”.                 “Like what?”.                                                 “Like you are jealous” Penelope said playfully.                                                        “I’m not jealous” She answered Penelope quickly.                                          “Mmhmm”.                                                                                                                                      
“I’m really not jealous, Pen, just cautious. I don’t know if I can trust him”.                      
“Ok, ok” Penelope murmured and put her hands up in surrender.
Penelope and Iaso hurried along towards the kitchen and tied the aprons around themselves.                                      “Oswald better not get suspicious when Nyctimus distracts him” Iaso complained.                                                    “Shhh!” Penelope hissed with her eyes wide.
She noticed that one of the chefs were looking at them, so she smiled at him awkwardly.                                                      “You need to control your mouth, you’re way too loud”.                                   “Sorry, damn” Iaso replied and walked away from her friend.
Penelope noticed Nyctimus in the hallway and decided to walk over to him.                                                           “Are you ready for today’s sting operation?” He asked, his usual smile on his face.                                                                                                                                             
“No. I’m feeling very uneasy about all this”.                                                                “Don’t stress, we’ll handle this” He said and placed a hand on her shoulder. Penelope glanced at his hand nervously and he immediately let go.                        “Where’s Iaso? I’m going to speak to Oswald now” Nyctimus asked and started walking over to Oswald. Penelope walked over to Iaso.                  “Iaso, let’s go” She whispered to her friend and moved her head in the direction of where Oswald was.                “Ok, let’s do this”.