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Wriothesley stood right back up just as soon as he sat down, picking up the yellow blanket Navia had left behind. He folded it twice, and tossed it gently onto his desk.
He tried to sit back down and go through the stack of papers and reports that had piled up. But his eyes kept on flickering back over to the yellow fabric.
So yellow to the point it looked ridiculous on his desk.
He moved it to the couch, but it wasn’t any subtler there either.
“You’re still a menace and you’re not even here.” Wriothesley said, “But it is very ungentlemanly of me to keep you here when you aren’t mine.” He set it down, “Just another thing to add to my to-do list.”
He looked over at the stack of papers, nothing he couldn’t complete in a night. He wrapped it around his wrist and walked out into the empty hall and into the cage lift.
When he stepped out onto the metal catwalk, the nearby guards snapped to attention. One of them said nervously, “What can I do for you, Warden?”
“Get me to the surface, however you can.”
He didn’t ask any questions, maybe he was still scared by Wriothesley’s rare and intimidating presence to ask, but he quickly walked away on task.
“Ready when you are.” The guard returned quickly.
Wriothesley stepped forward, he hadn’t ever left the fortress in recent memory. He didn’t know the way, but he couldn’t have the brightness distracting him from how things should be. He would find the Spina di Rosula headquarters.
He stepped out onto solid ground, grass beneath his heavy boots. The sunset hurt his eyes and burned his pale skin.
He stepped forward again. Then, in the distance he saw it. He walked towards the headquarters like a man on a mission, mostly because that’s what he was.
He got closer, close enough where he could see the silhouettes in the windows. Closer and he saw the room. And when he finally got close enough, he saw her.
She saw him too. Her face flickering with recognition.
She rushed to the door and opened it, “Wriothesley! What are you doing here?”
“I believe this is yours.”
She reached out for it, “Wriothesley…you didn’t have to come all the way up here to bring it back. You could’ve just held onto it until I came back tomorrow.”
His ears unpinned, “I thought you weren’t coming back, you left in such a hurry I thought you were upset with me. And this isn’t mine, so I had to bring it back.”
She shook her head slowly, almost as she was processing what he was saying, “I thought you were upset with me so I left so you could have some space to breathe. I may have come on too strong, and that is entirely my fault, and I take complete ownership of that, but I didn’t mean to upset you. I really didn’t.”
She looked down at the blanket, “But I really did mean what I said. I am determined to help you break this curse. And if you think a bit of gruff is gonna keep me away for forever, then you got the wrong girl!”
She continued, “So yeah, I’m gonna come back tomorrow. If you will have me, of course." She added as to not come on too strong again.
Wriothesley didn’t say anything. What was there to say?
Navia stepped out of the doorway, “Would you like to come in? I can make some tea for you. You look like you need it.”
Wriothesley said, “No, thank you. I must get back to the fortress.”
Navia nodded, “Okay, well I guess I will see you tomorrow then. Goodnight, Wriothesley!”
“Goodnight, Navia.”