Tomas let Mirabel sleep in the following morning. Despite her resolution to go straight to bed after finishing her food, she’d stayed up rather later than she’d anticipated; it had been full dark out her window by the time she’d crawled into the bed in her room.

It wasn’t the sort of bed she was used to. The mattress was thin, cushioned with what seemed to be straw, unlike the feathers in her normal bed. Oh, how she missed her bed at the palace. She’d never appreciated it as much as she ought to have. It was just a bed then. Of course, it was still a bed now, she was sure, but it was a comfortable bed. A bed that wouldn’t give her bruises and a back so sore she was sure it belonged to one of the elders in the town.

When she did wake, it was to the sight of the sun streaming through the panes of the small window just beside her bed. She groaned as her eyelids fluttered open, turning over to face the wall instead. She wasn’t ready to get up.

But after laying there for a good while, and being unable to catch another wink of sleep, she rolled over and swung her feet off the bed. It was ironic to her that the one time she was able to sleep was on a bed as soft as the floor of her bedroom back home would have been. And of course, as soon as she tried to sleep, she couldn’t.

She ran a hand down her face, letting out a sigh. Her mouth was dry and tasteless, her eyelids still sticky with sleep. As she dragged herself out of the bed and began to dress herself, she could feel the exhaustion taking over her body again. It never seemed to retreat for long anymore.

Looking down, she realized she’d done it wrong again. The laces were in a tangled knot, and she’d forgotten the belt. She groaned silently again and flopped on the bed. Would she ever get the hang of this? At this rate, she didn’t think so. Getting dressed was harder than it had ever seemed when her maids were doing it for her.

She stood again, and, with a bit of concentration, managed to work out the laces and put the belt on correctly. With a small triumphant smile, she retrieved her cloak and swung it over her shoulders, tying a simple knot at her throat. She smoothed back the loose hairs that had escaped the tight braid of the day before, tucking them behind her ears. Once she was sure they were all tucked out of sight, she pulled the hood over her head again.

Where was Tomas? The question floated through her mind, unbidden. She stopped with her hand on the door handle. She knew where his room was; it was right next to hers, after all. But she couldn’t barge in on him. Her cheeks flushed the faintest hint of red. What if he was still sleeping? And if he wasn’t, where else would he be?

Swallowing hard, she turned the handle and opened her door. Finding Tomas would come after she had left the room, after all. One step at a time, as her tutors had always taught.

Outside the room, the narrow hallway was empty. Glancing back and forth, she tugged the edge of the hood over her forehead and stepped out of the room, adjusting her bag’s strap on her shoulder. She hadn’t dared to leave it behind. She didn’t trust the people here enough to leave it laying around just anywhere. Not even her room.

She walked to the door of the room beside hers and raised her hand to knock. A few soft raps later, there was no response. She stood still for a moment longer, but then gave up. If he was inside, he wasn’t answering, and for all she knew he wasn’t even in there.

Instead, she walked to the stairs leading to the main level of the inn. Perhaps she could get herself some breakfast while she waited for Tomas to make an appearance. She didn’t even know what time it was, but she was sure it was still before noon, and thus breakfast would still be an option. It was only once she reached the ground floor that she realised it was Tomas who held their money.

A cursory glance around the room showed that most of the previous night’s occupants had either all left or were still sleeping. Here and there were sparse customers eating or drinking, but it was nothing in comparison to the night before. The room was mostly quiet now, the only sounds being the quiet murmur of conversations and the rattle of wagons rolling past outside on the road.

A flash of movement nearby caught her eye and she turned to look. To her surprise and delight, it was Tomas. He hadn’t seemed to spot her yet, and she quickly strode across the room towards him. He was speaking with the innkeeper again, and as he turned away to sit down, her eyes caught his. His face brightened almost instantly, and he came over to her side.

“Hey, did you sleep well?” he asked, not having to stand quite so close as before now that the noise was at a tolerable level. She just shrugged. She assumed she’d slept well, but from the soreness of her body, she was unwilling to say she’d actually slept ‘well’. She’d slept okay, but that was as far as she would go.

He nodded, seeming to understand the sentiment. “Here, come sit down,” he said, gesturing to a nearby empty table. “I just ordered some breakfast. I was going to go see if you were awake, but,” he gestured to her. “Clearly you are.” He grinned.

She smiled at him, almost grinning, and took a seat. He slid into the seat beside her, and she thought of his comment the night before about the seats being too slippery. A silent giggle escaped her lips. Tomas seemed to notice her laughter in the shaking of her shoulders, though, because he looked at her quizzically.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, clearly bemused. She stifled her giggling and shook her head. He raised an eyebrow. “Come on. You’re laughing at me. Is my hair funny?” He reached up and ran a hand over his hair, smoothing down some of the messier tufts. She shook her head again, then ran her hand over the chair beside her, trying to communicate what she was laughing about.

He looked confused, and she bit her lip as he thought for a moment. She repeated the motion, sliding her hand across the smooth wood. There was no other way to communicate it. Suddenly, his eyes brightened.

“You’re still laughing about last night, aren’t you?” She nodded, another giggle escaping. He shook his head. “You’re as bad as my siblings, you know that?” When she just continued to giggle, he rolled his eyes and stood. “I’m going to go see if our breakfast is ready yet. You behave yourself.”

She nodded and watched him walk away again, his cloak swishing against the back of his legs. Her knee soon started bouncing under the table again as she sat waiting. There were fewer people to watch as of today than before. She stopped her knee, afraid of it becoming a bad habit. Her tutors most certainly wouldn’t allow it. Best to break the habit now.

In an attempt to distract herself, she forced herself to look around the room at people. A few of them had already given her odd looks, and she was sure it was due to her hood being up in broad daylight. It was odd enough at night, but to have one’s hood up in the morning was something that was sure to draw suspicious sorts of glances. It wasn’t as if she could take her hood off, though, so she dealt with it. Taking the hood off would only result in a more serious situation than mere glances

Fortunately, Tomas soon returned with the food. They ate in silence. Mirabel wanted to ask why they were starting their day so late, but was forced to remain in ignorance. It seemed to her that it would make the most sense to start earlier, and from what she could tell, it was already late morning. Of course, that was assuming her sense of time was accurate. All she really knew was that it was past sunrise. The sun was high enough in the sky from what she’d seen out her window that she felt it was a safe assumption that it was later in the morning.

They finished their food at about the same time and Tomas stood. Following suit, Mirabel stood as well.

“Let’s go,” was all he said before walking across the room and out the door. In confusion, Mirabel once again followed suit. With no idea at all where they were going this time, she stayed close to Tomas, doing her best not to get left behind despite the traffic of the road.

The road was busier at this time of day than it had been at sunset the day before. Then, most people were closing up shop or heading home. Now, everybody was rushing about their everyday business and then some, scurrying to and fro, carts wheeling past with great loads, and horses trotting by, carrying their riders to their destinations.

To her relief, the horses were going at a sensible pace, unlike the galloping steed that had nearly trampled her the night before. The riders weaved their horses through the traffic skillfully, never once coming near to running someone over. The carts rambled down the center of the road, away from the civilians to either side. All in all, Mirabel found the daytime traffic to be much more polite, albeit much more busy, than the nighttime traffic.

Unsure where they were going, she followed behind Tomas, who wove through the crowds with ease. It was clear he had done this before. She found herself glad to have someone with experience.

Her hood snagged on something, dragging halfway off her head. She gasped, quickly snatching at it and drawing it back over her forehead. She looked around, trying to see what she might have been caught on, but she could see nothing. Just a sea of people.

Hoping no one had seen, she hurried ahead to catch up with Tomas, who hadn’t slowed at all for her distraction. With any luck, wherever they were going, someone would be able to help them, and then it wouldn’t matter if someone had seen a flash of white in a sea of black.

====================

A/N At the insistence of a silly Sophie, here's the next chapter x) Not a lot happening yet, but that's for next chapter, after all. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Aaaaand as usual, if you did, comment below! Feedback is always appreciated. xx