Beyond the Glow

Chapter 18

The morning comes hours later, with a headache that feels as if the gods are trying to smash my skull in with a hammer. I sit up with a groan, holding my hand to my head. I'm still wearing the clothing from last night, my dress rumpled and squashed into a wrinkled mess. I look around, hoping to see the source of what was causing the pain in my head to worsen. 

My room has been flooded with light, someone had opened the curtains, and the window. A fresh breeze blows in, brushing my cheek gently. I inhale deeply, the fresh air smells wonderful after the smells of the party last night. But the fresh air and light trigger something else, with a gasp, I clap my hand over my mouth as a wave of nausea hits me. I rush over to the bathroom, hoping to make it to the chamber pot in time. 

I retch, the wine from last night leaving a acidic taste in my mouth as it, along with anything else I ate, came back up. I sit up, only noticing now that someone had been holding my hair up behind my face. "Thanks Justine." I mumble. "Opening the windows was nice too. How long have you been up today?" 

"Who's Justine?" A voice says behind me, dropping my hair. "She won't be coming anytime soon will she?" 

I stand again, this time with a groan. "Yes. Shes probably on her way now Len. So you better leave before you get caught." When I can fully see Len, I'm a bit taken aback. He looks different without his shabby street clothing. Instead he wears almost completely black clothing, with a deep blue cloak on his back. Considering I can only count a maximum of two patched up holes on the whole outfit, he must not use them much. 

"What are you doing here? You'll be caught!" I say, trying to sound concerned and not wary of his presence. Amita's story of her and Briar's homes being taken over by the Underground might have gotten to me more than I thought. Even if they're probably fake. 

Len lets out an exasperated sigh, running his hand through his haphazard hair. "I came because,"  He stalled, staring at the celing. "Because, the Underground is doubting your loyalty to your mission." Len finally lowered his eyes, forcing me to look away when they reached mine. 

"You can tell them that I am still planning to remain in contact." I say quietly, staring at a spot on the wall behind Len. "And I am doing a bit of my own research for the time being." At Lens shocked expression, I elaborate. "I am not working for the Underground, but I'm not against it, whats going on in the castle is deeper than we thought. Its a delicate situation to say the least." 

"I'm not sure if the council will accept that answer." Len frowns. 

"What about you Len? I hear you're the new leader, don't you have some sort of sway with the council?" I ask, I need him to believe me, having the Underground against me would make my life so much more complicated than it needs to be. 

"I'll talk to them. No guarantees." Len stiffened, backing towards the window. A knock, loud enough to make me cringe against the sudden onslaught of pain in my head, sounded at the door. When I looked back towards the window, Len was gone, leaving only the swirling curtains in his wake. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

 "You can't possibly expect me to wear that Justine. Why are we back to the puffy monstrosities we started with?" I groan, eyeing the light yellow marshmallow dress in front of me. 

It's only about lunch time, considering I spent the rest of the morning after Len's unexpected visit in bed, trying to recover. I can't remember much from last night, other than my nightmares. Tran requested my presence immediately, sending Justine (who had been the knock on my door) to make sure I didn't try to skip out on him. 

Justine sighs exasperatedly, "Because the Prince said so. He also said that if I let you wear anything else, then I shall lose my position, and you will very dearly regret disobeying his orders."