Work Text:
Lady de Rolo does not look up from her ledgers as a faint giggle reaches her ears. Her attention thus captured, she notes the faint rasp of carpet as little shoes dart over them and the rustle of a light dress.
Vex taps off the excess ink and smiles to herself. Oh, Gwen is getting good.
Just because she still enjoys a good hunt, she gives her daughter a head start. Finishing her sentence is just long enough: even her sharp hearing can’t find any sign of life but Trinket’s snores by her feet. Careful not to wake him, she slips from her desk and pads out of her office, door left ajar. Usually the children take it as an invitation to seek her out if they want her - one always does, and it never fails to make her feel richer than she is - but it also helps her keep tabs on their antics.
Tracking indoors used to be Vax’s thing, not her own. But Whitestone castle is as familiar as any forest; the sculpted cliffsides of stone, the wooden doorway a tree, the rugs moss and lichen if she closes her eyes. Just as populated with bears as any she’s foraged in, courtesy of Trinket and his cubs. Vex smiles, inhales cold air and end-of-season flowers and old varnish. Just as much her home as the mansion, if not moreso.
It’s easy enough to follow the obvious path down the hall. Things get more interesting once it merges into another and passes by a few rooms. Vex has to slow her pace and - there! a trace in the carpet. Up the stairs to the right, then. White catches her eye - a handprint just the size for her youngest on a baluster.
From there, she knows exactly where Gwendolyn was off to.
Under her breath, Vex mouths a prayer to Pelor. Thank goodness Cassandra taught them all about the secret passages. If she wasn’t familiar with the hideholes in the wall, even she might be at a loss for where her daughter ended up.
But as it is, it’s trivial to pause, listen to the stifled snickers and mutters of her children, and push in the engraving that unlatches the hidden door.
Eyes, so many eyes, gleam back at her for a brief second, her little nest of raccoons. Most of them shut the moment the light hits them - all but Gwendolyn, grinning up at her, with a neat row of doughnuts ringing her tail.
Oh, that’s a new one.
“Children,” Vex scolds. She’s gotten very good at biting on her smile. “What have I told you about stealing from the kitchen?”
Dan gulps. Powdered sugar falls from his mouth, which he hastens to dab away with a sleeve. “We didn’t steal, Mum. That’s why we sent Gwen.”
The littlest de Rolo frowns, turning on her older sister, nestled in the back. “But you said it’s because I’m the littlest and have to listen to you -”
“You’re just so charming,” Lenoa interrupts, taking a sweet impaled on her sister’s horns. She chews - with her mouth closed, at least - and meets Vex’s unimpressed look with a shrug. “What? She is. You know mister Darrence can’t say no to her! She’s spoiled!”
“Am not !”
Time to cut that short: “Those,” says Vex’ahlia, “were for the dinner tonight. You’ll all ruin your appetite, and we’ll have nothing to enjoy after supper.”
Wolfe clears his throat. “Sorry, Mother. Um…” He extends sticky fingers, holding up a yet untouched doughnut. “Want one?”
Well. She has been working all day. And, on second glance, it looks very cozy in there: they’ve pilfered blankets and pillows, a teddy for good measure. It would be a shame to have tracked down her quarry only to leave empty handed.
“Scoot over,” Vex says.
(The children wail complaints that there’s no room. Well! Not with that attitude there isn’t.)