“My lady, how was your nigh…” Annie faltered, walking in to meet a sulking Mel.“Horrible!” Mel snapped, flinging her arms up and dropping them with a slap at her thighs. “Just horrible.”Annie paled, dreading the worst. She looked around the room, from the rumpled bed to her lady’s unruly appearance. What had gone wrong?“Mel—”“Where is he?” Mel marched towards Annie. “I want to speak with him.”Annie stood, dumbfounded. She didn’t know what to make of this as she noticed the hurt expression on Mel’s face shift to fury.“He didn’t do anything! He didn’t touch me. He wasn’t even here!” Mel grabbed her head.Annie’s eyes widened like saucers, understanding dawning on her. “But—but as I… A while after I left, I…” Annie lowered her eyes. “I am ashamed of myself. The helpers had gone and after roaming the chambers and halls I could walk through, I went to my room and then came back to hear or see how you were doing. I was worried and I wanted to be sure you were alright…” Annie rambled,

Mel stepped aside as Bjorn closed the door to the study shut behind her. He paused, his back facing her as he straightened to his full height and sighed. She glanced around the spacious room, toying with her fingers, and was half surprised to find that the head of the Grime clan seemed intellectual enough. Except for her brother, not even her father had this many books in his own private office. “I do not appreciate you sharing intimate details of our relationship with other people,” he said as he turned to face her, breaking the silence in the room.Mel winced, immediately tearing her eyes from Bjorn’s pointed gaze. He had heard them.“But she’s my friend,” Mel let out in a disgruntled whisper. Bjorn’s eyes narrowed. “She’s not your friend.” He shook his head and walked to his work desk. “She can’t be your friend.”“Excuse me?” Mel looked up at him, a disturbed frown working its way to her face. “How can you even say that?”Bjorn’s jaw twitched and he sat on the edge of the table,

“That should be all,” Mel huffed with a triumphant smile and wrapped her hands around herself, giving the small bag with her clothes a second glance.“I hope this isn’t too much?” Annie meekly asked, her hand poised at the bag opening, ready to add or remove any more clothing. She faced Mel but subtly glanced at Bjorn, awaiting his approval too. The maid wished the two could agree on things.Bjorn turned away from his open wardrobe and his eyes narrowed at what Annie had packed. He sighed and rubbed at his temple, trying as much as possible to ease his features. His frown lessened and he turned to Mel. “That’s too much,” he said.Mel frowned. “How is it too much? We’ll be gone for over a week or two, won’t we?”“We’re going into the woods, not to a neighbouring city. You won’t need all those clothes.”“What if it gets dirty? I’ll need a change of clothing to wear and—”“They can be washed and worn repeatedly,” Bjorn countered, a little peeved at having to explain such an obvious reas

The forest-bound journey went on for quite a while, and far longer than even Mel had expected. Night fell and while Mel wondered how they could all move comfortably in the near-darkness, but Bjorn assured her that the part of the woods they were still in was safe since it was the closest part of their territory. Soon, the clouds drifted away to expose the beautiful sheen of the two white moons that glimmered high in the sky.Some of the moonlight filtered in through the trees, providing a subtle white light that made the forest ghostly beautiful. Lori kept Mel company throughout their journey, taking the young woman’s attention away from her brooding husband. Mel had mentioned at one point that she was hoping to assist with the hunt using her knowledge and relationship with plants but Lori subtly put down her recommendation, letting her know that some people may feel otherwise since this was something they had been doing for years and there may not really be anything new Mel could he

Someone’s gentle touch roused Mel from her deep slumber and she twisted and turned, a frown forming on her face when the hands wouldn’t stop shaking her. She wanted to swipe her hand at whoever was disturbing her when a voice that wasn’t Annie or any of her maids filtered into her ears.“Mel?”‘Oh…’Mel’s eyes, already glued shut, took great effort to open and when she did, she blinked, the blurriness fading as her eyes came into focus, looking at the young girl she had feasted with last night.‘Ah. Now I remember. I followed them for the hunt.’Nora’s lips twitched with an apologetic smile, sorry for waking Mel up because the young woman was clearly displeased.Mel sat up and rubbed her eyes, a little groggy. “Morning,” she greeted Nora.Nora smiled with a slight nod, returning the greeting, “Good morning, my Lady.”Mel instinctively glanced at the side of the makeshift bed to find the bowl and towel gone.“Ah. I spread it outside on the tent roof to dry,” Nora shifted from her knel