KDBookOnline
Share Us
Thessa huffed.
Leora held her arms up in question.
Ivy shut the door and jerked her head across the hall. “Why are you both wearing—never mind. Come in my room and we can talk.”
Thessa followed and her eyes immediately darted to the far corner of the room. She walked over and crouched down, opening her duffle bag. It was meticulously organized. Even the wicked tome was tucked in there.
Thessa could hear Ivy behind her saying, “We had to pack all your things.”
Leora asked, “But why?”
“You both didn’t have much, I hope you don’t mind, but we had to. Beatrix and I did it.”
“What happened, is it a short-term stay?” Leora questioned her.
Ivy shook her head. “After you left, the matron came upstairs with Novia. I peeked at the commotion, and they were clearing out your room! We wanted to help, but more importantly do it nicely—Novia’s folding skills are atrocious, just ask Leora.”
Thessa stood, pivoting around to see Leora nodding. Her legs were weak, but not from her journey south. “But we never said we were leaving.”
“You were both seized,” Ivy reminded her.
“And dismissed,” Thessa added, leaving out the bit about helping prisoners escape.
“You know what, I’m not even going to ask about the uniforms,” Ivy declared, throwing her arms up. “Either way, the matron isn’t pleased. Fuming, in fact. She kept repeating,my townhouse, my rules, while emptying your wardrobes. Beatrix and I told her to go back downstairs, that we would collect your things, and help Novia clean the rest.”
“So the matron is replacing us? Is that what you mean to say?” Thessa asked.
Ivy’s expression was solemn. “I think the twins' arrival was a coincidence,butyes.”
Leora exhaled before speaking to Thessa, “If Mina and Mora need a place to stay, then that doesn’t make them much different than us, now does it?”
Thessa frowned. “But what about us? I’m desperate for a bath.”
“Please, use ours,” Ivy offered. “Beatrix won’t be back from her shift for a couple of hours. You could sleep here tonight too, share my bed.” Ivy was stripping her sheets before adding, “I’ll run down and get you some food, apparently the chef isn’t happy with Thessa.” Ivy eyed her. “So mind your distance.”
Thessa took her head between her palms and squeezed.
Leora moved beside Thessa, patting her back. “Thanks Vy.”
Ivy smiled, offering them each clean bath linens. “Thessa, go take a bath.”
She didn’t object, she couldn’t hear beyond the noise in her head.
25
LECTURE NOTES FROM REALM HISTORY:
In the aftermath of the UnResting, there were a series of necessary changes. The Elemental Supreme bolstered her regime by enlisting every Elemental in the land for mandatory service.
Thessa hadn’t slept. Not one wink. Thoughts of evading Elemental guards and her forbidden magic left her wide awake.
She’d crept out of Ivy’s bed, certain she’d spend the night conversing with Hades in the washroom, but the god of the underworld had canceled their plans. Instead, the urge to escape had coursed through her.
Everything she owned was strapped across her back, with the exception of the dagger in her boot. Her duffle bag didn’t weigh her down as much as leaving had, but it was the right thing to do.
Her friends didn’t need her burden.
As she passed Crescent Moon Bay, and that damnedwagon with the mangled wheel, she cursed about serpent-infused mead.