[Durelin]

The shuffling of feet, seemingly attempting to be quiet, finally became a sound separate from her dreaming. Adeline groaned, and the shuffling stopped. She opened her eyes, the light of a sun still high in the sky but long risen stinging them. She blinked several times, then rolled over onto her back. She sat up to find herself staring at a short, round little man in livery. He was one of the shortest men she had ever seen, as she could tell just by looking at him that he was even shorter than her. "Good morning, m'lady," the serving-man murmured, and then he held up a shining covered tray. Glancing around the room, she realized that the tray probably was made of silver. A rich variety of tapestries covered clean white walls that practically shone. A hunting scene, a glowing battlefield of victory, an exotic cat running through tall grasses. A room much less pleasant than the one she had been forced to leave. Not that it was not as rich; it was just much colder. Plus, it had been furnished for a man, she was sure. The furniture was of large cut wood, dark and bulky and square, favoring straight edges and linear designs. Even the sheets were of a dark green silk and velvet. She assumed a man would prefer that to white or pastel blue or pink, at least.

Coming back to the serving man before her, she nodded, thanking him. As he turned to leave, she called to him around a mouthful of a very lovely spice cake of some kind. "Oh! Could you see if some new sheets could be found? Something white, or yellow, or maybe pink, perhaps?" The man gave her a sour look before answering with an "I'll do what I can" in an even more unpleasant voice. She snorted loudly, just as he closed the door, unfortunately. Luckily the rest of the breakfast was as good as the spice cake, or she would never have gotten up and dressed. This was only her second day being a hostage, and she had decided that it was not as bad as she had dreamed. Actually, she realized just how fortunate she was that this man was at least a gentleman, to a certain extent. Adeline turned to look at herself in the mirror, hoping that the pale blue was not too revealing. She turned to find herself facing a stark white wall and a large spotted wild cat and long green grass, blowing in the wind. She sighed. That was about where her large pewter stand mirror had been in her own at home.

A long, twisting flight of stairs led her down to the second floor, a hallway even longer than the stairs leading to it with doors at the end that led to a beautiful garden on the roof of the level below. On the roof! It had been a shock enough to find that this house was three floors, but…a garden on the roof? And she hadn't believed that it was possible to make part of a house a different size than another. Adeline no longer felt she had lived as fortunately as she could have. But, then, she wondered how this man had obtained this wealth. Perhaps some had been inherited, perhaps some had been earned through the honest business of trade, but Adeline was fairly sure that there had always been some not so honest business going on. Now it may be much more obvious, but it seemed that he had been forced to bring some of this out in the open. It seemed that Devon and Calnan had been the force that pushed some things into the open. They themselves, at least, knew that Doran had things that needed to be hidden. Why they should be bothered about this, why knowledge of these unlawful doings was so important to them that they would risk her safety!

Walking through those large wood doors to a cool breeze under a warming sun, with a blue sky the background to the bright and pale colors of an array of flowers, was calming. The trees swayed in the wind, and a fountain trickled in the center of the gardens, where the stone garden paths all met. Her eyes came to a thriving patch of lilies, her favorite flower, and she thought of Devon, and Calnan; of Devon, mostly. Why would they need to worry about Doran? But more important, she realized, was the fact that Doran was worried about Devon and Calnan. For some reason, they were seen as trouble, and that put them in danger. You did not trouble a man like Doran without your own troubles.

Adeline heard the doors open behind her, and, to her surprise, the footsteps continued towards her. She turned to find the man she had been thinking of coming toward her. Not the man she had been thinking of fondly, of course. Her luck had never been good enough for that. "Good morning, Master Doran."

"Good morning, my lady? It is nearly midday."

"But it is not, yet, is it?"

"No."

"Then is wish you again a good morning."

Doran smiled at her, and she wanted to shiver. "A good morning to you, also, Lady Adeline." He flourished a bow, and she simply acknowledged it with a nod of her head. He was a gentleman from his toes to his fingertips. He rose from his bow only to stoop again, this time to pick a flower from his garden. He presented her with a white lily. "Thank you, Master Doran," she said. Turning to stare at the clear sky and swaying trees, turning away from Doran, she examined her lily and smiled sourly.