Virelya’s eyes open just before the first rays of the sun slip over the eastern horizon. She hadn’t even realized she had fallen asleep and her muscles were still stiff as she unwound herself from the blankets, still in the clothes from yesterday.
She crossed to the small bathing chamber attached to her room and stripped the black clothes from her body. As she did the handle of her dagger brushed her hand and she pulled it from the sheath. The blood from last night had crusted and she laid it on the stone counter to clean once she was finished.
She dipped her hands into the bucket of clean water that a servant must have left sometime during the night. It’s cold but she still splashed it on her face and ran her hands over her eyes. Looking up in the tiny dented mirror, her curls were wild and untamed, she pulled them back and retied them. She noticed the dark circles under her eyes that are present no matter the sleep she managed to get.
With a quiet sigh she stepped away redressing and grabbing her dagger on the way back to her room. She wiped the crusted blood off of it on the pants of yesterday’s outfit.
As she reached for the cloak on the chair at her desk her eyes caught on the worn cover of the book that Aethryn left last night.
The black leather has scuffs and has softened with age. She ran her fingers over where the letters of the title would have been but have worn away. She waited for the rune to stir, it always seems to know when she is in motion but it remained silent.
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Outside the door she can hear the servants starting to stir in the distance. She glanced over her shoulder at the door before looking back at the book.
There was something about the book that pulled at her, and she found herself opening the cover without truly thinking about it. She flipped through the pages absently but stopped abruptly when her eyes caught on the words oath bound.
Virelya’s heartbeat quickened as she quickly scanned the page. The sudden sound of voices outside her door made her slam the book shut and her breath catch in a painful pitch. She quickly turned her back to the desk and braced for someone to enter the room. After a few moments the voices moved down the hallway away from her room. She turned back to stare at the book, her mind raced.
There’s no way Aethryn would have given her this book if he had looked inside. If there are others who are oath bound, where were they? Why has she never seen them? A tingle at her wrist told her that Aethryn is waiting.
She quickly scanned her room she saw a loose stone on the wall behind her bed. She carefully pulled it out and stuffed the small book in the hollow space, replacing the stone.
Her heart was still racing when the rune pulsed with more intensity this time. She quickly grabbed her cloak and headed to the door opening it as she slipped the cloak on.
Before leaving she gave one last glance over the wall and made sure the stone was fit back in its place seamlessly and unnoticeable. Nervousness was still a ball in her chest but the stone was well hidden so she shut the door and headed to the stairs at the end of the hall.
