Chapter 31 Seek

*Ana*

“Maddie, “ I sigh as I at last feel at ease. It finally comes to that time of the day- bedtime. The now most sacred time of the day.

It is the only part of my day that Mykhol can not be with me. He is not allowed to be in my bedroom this late. No one is, save for Maddie.

So I relish this moment beyond all others now. My precious time with her. Alone. No Mykhol to peer up beside me.

The sheer bliss of the nightly routine has me grounded. All the tension and weariness lift away as Maddie unties my skirt and top to put them back into the wardrobe. She comes back to unravel my braid next.

“A rose?” Maddie stops as she finds the dried-out rose. She holds it out to me. I look at it but make no motion to take it.

I don’t want to keep it.

“Heh,” Maddie shrugs and tosses it into the fire. I watch it burn from my chair. The petals sizzle into white smoke before being swallowed by orange lines.

The sight makes me think of Mykhol’s eyes- how he will stare at me almost like I could