Fading Colors in Shadow

The Abandoned Zone

Camille headed back to Wriothesley's office two days later, balancing another set of boxes. When she arrived, he was sitting at his desk, papers in hand, reading through them. She set the boxes down on his table, and was about to leave to not bother him.

"You're supposed to be resting, Camille," he said, not even bothering to look up.

"True, but then I'd be bored. And besides, Sigewinne is a good healer," she said with a wave of her hand.

He sighed and put the papers down, opening the boxes and pulling out another bunch of papers. He scans it. "Nothing untoward in this." Wriothesley spotted her looking at the papers curiously. "Want to know?"

"A little. I'm just curious."

"Alright then, sit down," he said.

Camille looked at where he was gesturing, and then raised an eyebrow at him. "Your Grace?"

"Indulge me for today," he said, a small smile on his face. He didn't even bat an eye.

She considered it, and then nodded, settling into his lap. Wriothesley wrapped an arm around her, still holding the papers in hand. She leaned against his shoulder hesitantly, but then he tightened his grip, pulling her against him. "I had the guards search all the inmates' rooms. And apparently, quite a few of them were painted. Your handiwork, I believe?"

"Yep," she said, with a nervous smile.

"I wanted to go see them myself every time I read about them." He sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm still stuck here."

Camille threw her legs over the arms of his chair, settling in further as she took one of the papers, reading the details of the prisoners' rooms. She hid a slight smile as she read the guard's comments on the walls. 'Honestly, I'm jealous I was never capable of this.' He'd struck it out as if he'd remembered he was writing a report and not a diary.

"Getting comfortable?" Wriothesley asked, shifting his hand to her hair.

"Very. You did ask for this."

"I like this sort of warmth." He looked at her as if he was considering something. "Join me for tea?"

She nodded and then got off him, and he went to get some tea leaves, a kettle, and teacups. Camille continued reading the documents. "It seems the guards found nothing?"

"Sadly, no. I wonder where else to search." He sighed. Wriothesley handed her a cup of tea, and then sat down again, pulling her into his lap again. Camille, thankfully, did not spill the tea.

***

Camille headed over to Allen for more work and he just asked her to head to the Production Zone and get a headcount on the prisoners who were working a morning shift. She headed down and counted them, wondering how many were currently indisposed because of their illness. When Camille turned to head up, she caught sight of another lift that she had never noticed before. She tapped one of the passing guards on the shoulder with the aim of enquiring, but he turned around, almost ready to yell. He stopped when he saw her.

"My apologies," she said quickly, realizing she had almost walked into trouble. It was highly improper for a prisoner to touch the guards, even if it was just to get their attention.

"Don't worry about it." The guard shook his head. "Do you need anything?"

Camille pointed to the lift. "Where does that go?"

The guard turned to look at the lift, and then he looked back at her. "The old Abandoned Production Zone. No one actually goes down there, except for some of the guards who are patrolling, but the lift is broken right now. No one can use it."