She came back exhausted, as she always did. Red eyed with dark circles. A night galavanting in the woods as She had always taken its toll. But the full moon only came along so often, so she’d be able to recuperate quickly and in a matter of days. She’d slipped back into her light golden dress in the woods it was still remarkably clean and looked odd against her dirty and grimy skin, she needed a shower. Holding a plain pair of shoes in her left hand, she crossed over from the forest and through the grassy courtyards of the castle, carefully maneuvering herself between hiding places so she wasn’t seen.

It was as it was every month, painstakingly maintaining her secret from everyone, she hadn’t told a soul and she continuously prayed that no one would notice her infrequent absence from her bed. At least, she wouldn’t have to worry about it again until next month.

It was just before dawn, the sun barely peeking over the horizon. A sleepy mist was still settled over the castle when she tiptoed in. A small backdoor lightly creaked on its hinges as she closed it behind her. Her body pressed against the bulk of it as she listened quietly to the movements inside the castle. It was still, for now. Few footsteps could be heard, pots were banging in the kitchen with the smell of freshly baked bread found its way through the castle. With the promise of breakfast, her stomach growled. Not yet, she had to tell herself. Hugging the walls she stealthily slipped passed those who were awake until she made it to a shower, which she gladly took. The warmth of the water brought the color right back to her cheeks as she tried to dry her hair with the towel. Her hair took forever to dry. Her thick dark untamable curls made it impossible to rapidly dry them and no amount of brushing could smooth it out.

Getting dressed she Pulled on another simple dress, this one a deep maroon with white lace flowers on the fringes. She gave her wet head one last shake before it fell in waves just passed her shoulders. She’d have to suffer through today and look forward to the promise of sleep after her studies. At least now, she could look forward to a good solid breakfast.

When she made her way back down the halls were bustling. People had woke up in her wake and made their way down stairs into the dining halls. There, she plucked a few pieces of fruit and half of a fresh loaf of bread before sitting down in her own corner.

She still didn’t know many people in the castle. She’d only came to find what work an eleven year old girl could. Something like housekeeping, or a cooks assistant. But, she couldn’t press the sheets right and she kept burning the food. Instead, after finding out her passion with books and writing (since she none stopped talked about those things). They’d asked Flynn if he would take her on as a student. It surprised her. In a place that needed so much cleaning and maintenance how easy it was for them to just dismiss her of her duties. But she’d continuously gotten in the way and often distracted other workers from their assignments with her stories and ridiculous amounts of questions. But learning had suited her, and she was naturally gifted with letter work, language, and storytelling. She was even working on her own side project, documenting Shamans lunar patterns and stars. It was a personal project, nothing publishable.

She was just about to finish the last of her first when she heard someone feign cough, catching her wandering attention. Peaking up through tendrils of brown crazy curls stood a young man with tossed auburn hair and a childish smile, “yesh?” She said, through have her half-chewed mouthful.

The familiar man laughed, they ran into each other often, it seemed like he was trying to make friends in the castle too. He looked down at his wrist, pointing at an invisible watch, “you are going to be late.” Wide eyed, she shoved her nearly-finished plate of food towards him. Standing up she bolted towards the nearest exit, waving at him in thanks behind her back. She could hear him chuckling in the distance.

Running down some halls almost colliding with a handful of people as she tried to hurry and make it on time. She rounded a corner blindly and collided with the back of someone. “Gosh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see….you…” she paused, mouth ajar slightly as the person she ran into turned to face her.

She swallowed hard, “Mr. Flynn.” She said, dusting off the front of her dress and straightening it nervously with her fingers. “I was just on my way to meet you. On time.” She smiled putting emphasis on the last bit of her sentence. Hooping that he’d quickly forgive her for running into him if he knew that she was finally going to be on time.

Fiora