Marina moved through the hallways early in the morning, making her way towards her charge's personal chamber. As a governess, it wasn't strictly her duty to check on him first thing in the morning, that was the task of the nursemaids. The boy, being too young to ready himself, would appropriately be dressed and groomed by them for the day ahead.
But the incipience of the day was as important to be done right as it could get. Since she was to be present in the main hall during the rite, she reckoned getting a bit early and checking upon him would be safer for his and perhaps hers sake.
Although she had instructed the nursemaids clearly to tuck him in bed early last night and he was such a wonderfully well behaved child, she was still a bit nervous. The custom, to emphasize was an important one, and his circumstances only added to it.
She reached his room eventually, taken by surprise at the circumstances surrounding it. The nursemaids, Henneke and Else, were standing at a distance for the door that was being inspected by a couple guards.
Frowning and foreboding Marina approached Else to enquire why they weren't in the room preparing their young lord already as she had instructed.
Henneke and Else talking in hushed voices among themselves, spotted Marina and immediately straightened from their half drooping half propping along the wall like meerkats looking for predators.
"..." *predator Marina's admonishing stare*
"..." *awkward eye contact between two meekats"
"Explain"
"Yes. So we came here, um, to get him like you know-"
"Greetings and good morning madame." Else interrupted Henneke's mid sentence.
" Oh yes. I mean greetings my lady"
"Morning to both of you. Please continue what you were saying earlier". Replied madame Marlin with her usual authoritative demeanor.
"Yes so while we came here as you said early right. Early as in earlier than normal rather than earlier of course. So we came. But we couldn't enter your grace. You see no matter how we tried and tried, the door wouldn't budge. No matter what. And we thought his lordship in the room couldn't possibly lock the door himself and we got very worried and called some guards to help."
For the first time since she had met Henneke she considered her anxiety justified.
Indeed she too was starting to get anxious. The time was running out for the morning light to break, although there was time, but if his holiness Suidger did not find the young lord at Mandatoya at the specified time... Just thinking about made her head ache.
Besides, worries for his safety, no matter how miniscule the possibility, started gnawing at her mind.
Right as she was trying to get her wits she heard hurried footsteps coming from the other side of the hallway.
Some more guards were making their way, along with them was the resident steward Lambert with a slight but noticeable frown on his face making her even more worried regarding the ongoing affair.
"Steward Lambert, is there something wrong with the young master?"
"Greeting madame Marlin." Lambert stopped and greeted the governess with a slight gentlemanly bow.
"About the young master…. It seems something inexplicable has happened around him in the course of the night. But worry not, in most likelihood the change has not done him harm."
"Can you tell me what you noticed?"
"It isn't much madame, as you can see the door of his room has been rendered immobile for mysterious reasons and we have found multitudes of vines of green akin to golden fleece running down his room's window facing the garden. While we have notified castellan Sir Johannes Van Belkem who should be making his way right about now, in the meantime we are instructed to force enter the young master's room on the orders of the head steward."
"I see. Please do proceed." Although her worried weren't allayed altogether, that the castellan and the head steward had taken notice of the matter gave her major relief.
Finally, some guards to force open the door. The resident steward, governess Marina and some guards made their way in. The scene she saw inside, however, wasn't exactly relieving.
The modest but well furnished room she occasionally came to visit had transformed into a nature's abode overnight.
Ivy vines and green foliage now covered every face of the wall. Tendrils fell over the floors from the vines on the ceiling cascading the room in a green waterfall.
Sunlight from the sunrise filtered through the foliage giving them a beautiful view that made all their eyes wide with astonishment.
It also had an added effect of blocking the view to the bed situated in the middle, which made Marina's heart constrict with a sense of impending doom.
As soon as she processed everything, she bolted towards the boys' bed to check in on him. The moss that had clustered in the wooden floor dampened the sounds of steps.
Passing through the curtain of green, she came across the scene of a tree breaking its way into the room through the windows coming just above the bed.
Looking at the bed however, allowed Marina's heart to gain some calm. A young child of fair complexion was resting peacefully on the bed.
Looking closely though, allowed her to notice a few things that seemed a bit out of place considering it was indeed her charge.
His hair that was predominantly black with a few strands of off white hair mixed in had turned wholly ivory now. His ears were quite a few inches longer, as was his hair, quite a bit longer than she reckoned was possible with natural processes through mere hours.
Natural 'human' processes at least.
But he looked fine nonetheless. Well rested too, as she woke him up with a few gentle nudges.
•••
Cold misty air, mossy smell, faint rustling of leaves and incoherent murmur of surroundings. Rae woke up with an unnatural but welcomed serenity.
The vision he took was a bizarre mix of a dream-like quality draped over the languid surreality of morning after long sleeps.