Paint your palette blue and grey

What just had been days felt like it were years of things that happened. Her life was from the steady breeze on Cois transformed to a hurricane in just a couple of minutes. Many times she asked herself what would’ve happened if she didn’t grab that glass of wine on that evening. While thinking back to the day itself she could feel the panic almost as vibrant again, it made her shiver for a moment. But with that Trystane had saved her, just in time, she remembered that very clearly. Still, there was a lot of fogginess in her head left, like she was staring through a thick mist in her mind.

Evelyn sighed softly while pushing herself to the edge of her bed. As the days passed she could feel herself getting better and better. The first day after she couldn’t remember much but getting a lot of sleep and sometimes having someone in the room with her to check on her. After that, it was like she had too much drinks the day before, her whole body protested against every move she made and she felt muscle ache on places she didn’t knew she even had muscles. After that her mind cleared up a lot quicker, which relieved her. But with that the questions came slowly in, at first just the simple and normal questions but as her thoughts got more grip on her the desire to get answers to all of those questions, which became more intricate as time went on, became bigger.

The one question that really appeared to stick and haunt her in the nights were how informed her family was.  She thought about her sister Sasha and how she was doing, but also where her guards were and what news they brought towards her father. With that on mind Evelyn hopped off the bed to find a burrowed dress in the closet. Her stay here was very well organized, even with her unexpected arrival. She put on the relatively simple dress and was just adjusting her messy hair when a guard knocked on the door and came in. ’Lady Evelyn, Duke Trystane demands in his room, it’s urgent.’ The clean words of the guards were as clear as they could, but brought even more questions up in the mind of the woman. With the last touch on her hair, to make it neat again she followed the guard towards the room that vaguely came up in her memories. Once in the room she didn’t wait for the duke to speak but took the initiative. ’What is going on, my lord?’ She asked, soft but clearly. There was something which wasn’t right about this situation, and something told her he had the same feeling.  

When Evelyn entered the room she looked around for a moment. The vague memories cleared up for a moment when she saw the dozens of glasses with bright colored substances in it. Along with books and what seemed like notes he wrote himself, and little places where he could heat up the mixtures. She could look hours in the huge room, looking at the different textures and looking in the notes. She loved to read, she remembered the countless of hours she spent in the library back at home to read and read and read until the day was far gone already. The words of the man made her focus back on the present. She had difficulties switching between the memories that still came back and leaving them stored in her head, as if she was afraid to lose them again. She gave a quick nod to his request, realizing she was already late to the words he spoke.

His next words made her refocus again. She really hated how much she still needed to do that to participate in normal conversations. A light smile appeared on her face, it was good to know that he was so eager to know how she was recovering. ’I’m feeling quite good, much better than yesterday.’ She stated, thinking about the plans she had this morning before the guard came in. ’It still feels really soggy from time to time, but I regain more memories by the minute.’ It felt good to be positive about the past couple of days, it was actually the first time she could tell him she felt good instead of how her body was still fighting for its survival.

Evelyn observed the man now she had the focus needed to, and felt some uneasiness. There was something and it worried her. The words of Trystane confirmed her thougts. ’From home?’ The tone he had made her concerned and the sentences after did only strengthen the feeling. Immediately her thoughts went running off, did something happen in Cois? For all she knew the government and the surrounding island and Rhoynar were fairly stable, but a fleet of pirates could set off more than wanted. Or even worse, did something happen to her precious sister? The fear and panic came up and spread through her body as her eyes widened, looking with questions to the man in front of her. But she settled down and walked towards the chair that stood by the desk. Taking the letter with shaking hands Eve was almost too afraid to read what stood in it.

As she finally gathered the courage to start reading she had another shock. This one, on the contrary, from surprise. Letter after letter she carefully read it again, taking every single word that was written down with the clear handwriting of her fathers. As she finished she checked if the seal wasn’t falsified, but to greater surprise it became obvious that it really was from Cois. Looking towards Trystane and looking back again to read the first sentence again before asking her millions of questions that were raging inside of her head now. At the same time she felt a relief, knowing that there was, or seemingly, wasn’t anything wrong with Sasha. It made her realize how much she missed her. Quickly she pushed the thought away to look at the man again and making up her words. ’So I’m supposed to be dead?’ Was the first thing that came from her lips, surprised as she was. ’What did my guards say to the messengers? Where even are my guards that were supposed to protect me?’ Confused she awaited the response of the man, wanting to know his thoughts about all of this, something was clearly wrong. Now was finding out what went wrong exactly the first thing they needed to do.

Evelyn felt tens, maybe it was the atmosphere that had a strange pressure that pushed itself onto her slender shoulders. As she looked towards the man she could feel it was partly coming from him, and maybe she herself had some cause in it too. Thinking about something that could have happened to her sister made her fears wake up. But the news was about her, and nobody other than her. Apparently she was dead, and Cois wanted it’s investigation rather quick.

His words that followed on hers made her look up from the piece of paper, letting her brownish green eyes glide over the man for a second. She heard the care in his voice, making her wonder what he was thinking. Was he afraid of the actions she herself would make against Rhoynar or him because all of this? It was the last thing she would think about. ’Something is very off.’ She stated while pulling her one eyebrow. Being the upcoming Duchess she had learned to recognize and find the false in the systems.

Evelyn’s eyes wandered down to the little piece of paper again. The piece that was so fragile in comparison to the problem it listed. Word after word she took in the man’s voice again, hoping it would clear out some of the questions. But it gave her only more. She followed his movements, turning on her chair. ’Why would the guards just leave?’ She asked in response, but listened when he started talking again. Letting it sink in for a moment she leaned back, getting frustrated that her mind still wasn’t cleared up totally. ’So the guards didn’t search for me and just left on my boat.’ She spoke more to herself than the man,  recapping his words. ’Who would benefit by hiring man to “guard” me to Rhoynar, and having me disappear before returning to Cois?’ Slowly her words came out, thinking along the process.

It were his last words that made her smile just a little bit, looking up towards the man again. The man that saved her without knowing she was de Duchess, and now he just not wanted her gone to save the problems but let her stay to solve it. ’It is really comforting to hear your concern towards my safety.’ She started, softer than her words about the whole situation. And with that, she didn’t have much choice other than staying here. ’I’m sure our countries can come out of this,’ Her hands gestured around her, her face getting more serious again. ’This means a hazard for Rhoynar as well, as long as we don’t know who wanted for this to happen. Even if the threat comes from Cois itself.’ She paused for a second while looking back to the man. ’We need to get to the bottom of this.’

Leaning back into her chair Eve sighed before following his gaze to the window and the landscape it held beneath. The vibrant colors it showed through the clear glass, it was almost a painting until the wind blew and made the picture moving. She let herself get distracted by it for a moment, until the man started speaking again. It made her dreamy gaze switch back to the serious one. ’That could be the case, I hadn’t much conversations with them.’ She said, thinking about the trip she had made. It was a boring one, she remembered feeling like it took years for them to only come to shore. Even the trip on land felt like it took days, instead of the hours it actually took. The let her mind run over the event that happened in the evening, the one that caused all this to happen. ’The strange thing is,’ Eve started talking again, her eyes looking for his. ’they seemed to be in just as much panic as I was, really not knowing how to response.’ If they knew what was going to happen you’d expect that they would react differently. ’Do you know if there were any strange or shady persons in that bar that night?’ Was probably the first question that the duke could give her an answer to.

Looking at her hands, trying to keep as much focus as she could she saw the natural color of them. Even though they weren’t as black it took days before the slight greyness of them ran off. ’Well I’m the Duchess, so there are always people that want my position and so on despise me.’ Her view left her hands only to search for the man again. ’But it seemed like everyone was quite happy with my succession, it even costed Cois some of its fortune.’ Eve’s voice went on, hoping them two to figure out at least something. The next words of the man made her smile back at him just as softly, while she first discovered his eyes that could be called just as beautiful as the view the window showed. ’I think that is what you should do.’ She folded the letter with care and laid it on the desk. ’I’d be pleased to know when my body arrives there, it shouldn’t take long before someone notices something doesn’t fit.’ Eve stood up from her chair, leaning in the desk. ’Then I’ll stay, until at least this situation is cleared up some more.’ Another soft smile was found around her lips, letting tension glide off her shoulders. It truly felt comfortable that she was at least welcome here.

The fact that the man listened to her with such detail made her relax just a little bit more. It wasn’t quite that peaceful at home before she was supposed to be shipped off to get married. Though Eve had all the support she needed from her court back at home, it could rather be called hostile. Especially since her little sister didn’t want anything to do with the restrictions the castle life had. Eve knew it didn’t please her father, stretching the tension even more. ”’Perhaps’ they wanted it to look like an accident or they wanted to deceive you. Who knows, lady Evelyn.” The words, honest and true as they were set her to thinking even more. Burying her into her thoughts about reasons they wanted to get rid of her. But the only thing it gave her at this moments were a few shivers that went down her spine. She knew being the duchess would leave her with some enemy’s that would kill her without thinking twice if they had the change. This, on the other hand felt like it came from much closer she’d expect. ’Perhaps they did, we can only guess from here.’ Her soft calm voice filled the room for just a few seconds, after she had gathered her thoughts. Deciding there wasn’t very much more for her to do now than just wait on what comes next.

”I am afraid I haven’t seen anything strange around the tavern that night. But I will make sure we find out who the traitor is. Nothing in Brightwater keep goes unseen, my lady.” He had the answer for her first question that made sense, although it wasn’t what she had maybe hoped for, it was at least something. Focusing her brown eyes on the beautiful landscape outside again she nodded slowly. ’Well, I’m sure we can find out what exactly was off that night. It’s good to know you are this invested as well.’ Just to be sure Eve decided to show her gratitude through her words again. He had helped her tremendously already, he even saved her live to be exact and she didn’t took that lightly. With a small smile curled around her lips she followed the man, her eyes sharply focused until he started writing. Patiently the dark haired woman waited for the Duke to finish, trusting him for what he would write in the letter. His tone changed while talking to the guards, cutting straight to the point. It gave her the time to stare a little to the surprisingly handsome features the man had. As he turned back Eve quickly looked somewhere else, realizing she had just stared at the man and blushing a little bit. ”Can I offer you something to drink, my lady?” The tone in his voice had changed again, making her look up and smile a little. ’If it isn’t poison, I’d gladly take the offer, my lord.’ Her smile grew wider. ”Since you are going to stay here for a while. Would you have dinner with me tonight? I would love to hear more about Cois and where you grew up.” A little surprised she looked at the Duke again, nodding softly again. ’I’d be honored, my lord.’ Eve answered. ’I would love to hear the wild stories Brightwater Keep has within.’