Bereft: Demise

42 | Of Reasons to Live and Die

Great. 

I spent the morning and the majority of the afternoon traipsing the manor's empty halls with nothing but my own thoughts for company. Peroth wasn't in his office, the dining hall, the sprawling conservatory, or any of the miscellaneous rooms I'd found him in the past. I asked a few of the Aos Sí I encountered if they'd seen Sloth, but none of them had.

So, I wandered without any real intent, my mind spent and twisted with old anxiety. I knew it was futile to worry for Darius as my worrying would do absolutely nothing to help him, but I couldn't help myself. The more I worried about him, the more I stressed over the visions and their convoluted messages. The more I stressed, the more snarled the whole mess became. My mind was exhausted by the endless questions my idiot thoughts postulated.

I entered a new room I hadn't tromped through before. Though I hadn't climbed many stairs, I found myself at the top of one of the towers. It was an open-air, domed observatory, the far wall removed to reveal the marsh beyond. There was a large antique telescope that, under the brunt of the elements, was rusted right to the floorboards.

The dome above was inscribed with countless star trails. Each star was dotted by a gem stone of various colors and hues, resulting in a colorful display mapping the visible celestial sphere. It was all very pretty, but the room stank of disuse, and peeking through the telescope revealed nothing but a blurry lens clouded and corroded by years of dew and exposure to salt.

Approaching the telescope did, however, provide me with an exceptional view of the graveyard. The markers down below glistened with rain water, but what I found of interest was Peroth's presence among those markers. He was talking to a sable colored wolf, picking his way among the graves. He gestured north with a pointed finger, then swept his arm outward as if drawing a line. The wolf nodded, then lopped off into the fog.

Grumbling, I moved from the edge of the floor and turned to head downstairs. I stopped by my room to grab a scarf and a coat, seeing as it was growing bitterly cold outside the manor as the year drew nearer its close, then set out for the foyer.

When I finally made it outside, the Sin was—of course—gone from the section of graveyard I'd seen him in. I stood where he had been, frustrated, holding the scarf over my mouth and nose to keep myself somewhat warm. I squinted into distance, trying to spot the Sin in the fog. I wasn't about to go exploring in the cemetery. Not after what had happened last time. 

"Have you taken your maudlin musings out of doors?" 

I jumped when I heard Peroth's voice from behind me. He was standing in the shadow of a rundown mausoleum, watching me carefully with the raven still resting upon his shoulder. He leaned from the stone wall after announcing himself, shooing the black-feathered bird into flight.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"Because I didn't want you to." He folded his hands behind his back as he came nearer, the crunch of his footsteps loud in the quiescent space. "How are you feeling, Sara?"

"Fine." I fidgeted with my scarf as I was uncomfortable in his direct scrutiny. "Um, Amoroth said I should speak with you?"

"That was some hours ago."

I blew air through my lips. "I would have come sooner if she had actually told me where you were."

Peroth laughed and tossed his head back, further disturbing the quiet of the drab setting. Crows in the distance mimicked his haunting laugh. "Ah, I see now. She can be most unhelpful when she feels the need to complicate an issue."