Free Web NovelChapter 81: Unexpected Visitor
Maya lay down after dinner. She could barely remember how the rest of it went. The only thing that echoed in her head was that Alaina knew. She couldn’t place when, but it was at least since she first arrived in Verlassen.
She could recall instances in their interactions after she returned. Every encounter was hostile, and there were enough clues, but she assumed no one knew, so she didn’t connect the dots. Now things were clearer.
However, the clarity brought too many problems she couldn’t afford. The Alaina she knew would stop at nothing to get her out of here, if that was her goal. What was her goal? She wasn’t quite sure, but one thing she was certain of was that her childhood bully was hellbent on making her miserable and making sure things remained the same between her and Keenan.
There was also the question of who else knew, and whether this was futile from the very beginning. She knew the matron was aware—after all, she was the one who gave her out—but Maya hadn’t been able to go to the orphanage to check.
She turned in bed; her head felt as though it might explode. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Was this the sign that she should give up?
It felt pathetic. She had only been married for a little over a week and was drowning in hopelessness. She wasn’t quite sure how much longer she could hang on.
Maya’s heart skipped a beat as a soft knock broke through her thoughts. It was so gentle that if it weren’t for the total silence, she would have assumed she had misheard.
She got out of bed and crept closer to the door. Her mind raced through the list of people it could possibly be. She thought about not opening the door, but the knock sounded too gentle to be a threat.
She slowly turned the handle and poked her head out. Her hands immediately fell to her sides, and her mouth formed a circular shape as she stared at her unexpected visitor.
Maya could barely see her face and had to rely on the little moonlight that made its way into the house. But she had no doubt who this was.
Winnie stood outside her room, holding dresses stacked on top of each other. She looked nervous, and her eyes darted around. She had a weak smile as Maya opened the door.
"Winnie," she whispered, breaking the silence.
"May I come in?" Winnie softly asked.
"Of course," she was quick to say and stepped out of the doorway to let her in. She shut the door behind them and walked toward the only chair in the room. "Have a seat."
"Is this your room?" Winnie asked with horror as she looked around.
Maya grabbed the chair harder than she needed to as she moved it closer to Winnie. "Yes," she mumbled.
"It’s awful," Winnie replied, her voice sounding as though she might cry. She spun a little while looking around.
Maya shrugged, suddenly feeling very embarrassed. She knew it wasn’t her fault, but it was still her room.
"Is that your bed?" Winnie asked in horror as her eyes rested on the flat pile of dresses.
She shrugged again. "Why are you here?"
Winnie stepped back. "I am sorry. I shouldn’t have asked any of that. I guess I didn’t know just how bad it is. Not that it makes any difference—I’m not doing anything to— I’m sorry." She paused awkwardly. "I wanted to give you these." She stretched out her hands as she warily stared at her feet.
"Are you sure?"
She hesitated to accept the dresses from Winnie. Not because she didn’t want them. Intense warmth that kept spreading crept up her chest as soon as she saw Winnie by the door with dresses. The urge to cry and do a little dance was eating at the back of her head.
She wanted to hug Winnie, but it couldn’t be that easy, right?
"Please," Winnie replied. "It’s the least I can do."
"What about your sister?" Maya asked, her hands stretching out despite her best attempt to appear hesitant.
It was Winnie’s turn to shrug. "You see how she is," she mumbled, handing the dresses to her. "If they don’t fit, let me know. I’ll see—"
"That’s why I’m asking," Maya cut in, but she held the dresses close. She doubted she could give them back if Winnie changed her mind. They felt heavy in her arms. She would count them later.
"What difference would it make? You already know."
"This is not about me. She could tell Theo."
"Maybe that would be better," Winnie said and palmed her face. "Maybe that would be so much better. It’s so complicated. I can’t—"
Maya dropped the dresses on the chair and stepped closer. She wasn’t sure what she intended to do. Offer a hand? Say something comforting?
She never found out.
Winnie leaned into her first and wrapped her arms tightly around Maya, resting her head against her as quiet sobs shook her shoulders.
She hesitantly hugged her back without saying a word. After a moment, Winnie sniffed and pulled away, wiping her face.
"I am sorry," she said again. "I shouldn’t have done that."
"Do you want to talk about it?" She offered. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Winnie pulled her hands from her face and shook her head. "I only came to bring you the dresses. I know you need them."
"Yes," she readily admitted. "I am very grateful." A smile lingered.
Winnie nodded her head. Her expression was lighter as she spoke again. "And you have to wake up early tomorrow. You’re going to the capital. I don’t want to take up any of your time. You should get some sleep."
She wasn’t crying anymore, but it was clear she was only putting on a strong front. Maya wanted to ask questions, and Winnie looked like she had questions of her own.
However, she didn’t ask and neither did Winnie. Instead, she nodded her head. "Thank you, again."
Winnie nodded, looking proud of herself. She walked toward the door and opened it. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Winnie."
The door made a soft thud as it shut, and Maya didn’t move an inch. She just stood staring at the closed door. Her gaze moved from the door to the chair she could barely make out in the dark. The dresses still lay on it. It wasn’t some odd dream that she would soon wake up from.
She walked toward the chair, her eyes darting to the door, wondering if Winnie might return any moment and tell her it was a cruel joke. But that didn’t happen, and when she stopped in front of the chair, the dresses were still there.
She picked them up, but it was too dark to see much. She couldn’t even make out the colors, except that some seemed lighter than others.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have much time to dwell on how surreal it was or get a better look at the dresses.
By dawn, she would be able to see better, but she was expected to be ready by then. After Alaina’s speech at breakfast and how awkward dinner was, Maya was expecting no sympathies.
She wasn’t sure how long they would be away. They were traveling in the morning even though the meeting wasn’t until the day after, and if they returned the day after the meeting, that would be at least three dresses.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to check if they were her size. She just picked three random dresses that she had placed in front of her body to check the size.
Folding them as carefully as she could in the dark, she stacked them on each other and pressed down. She needed a bag but she knew better than to ask, nor did she have time to spare.
It was late already and if she waited till dawn, it would be too late then. She looked around her room, wondering what she could use when her eyes rested on the dresses she used for her bed.
Her eyes widened a little as a thought popped into her head. She walked to the wardrobe, picked one of the maid dresses Alaina had given her and ripped the skirt.
It took a little while as she had to carefully cut it by hand, but since the dress was worn, it tore. She was careful not to pull too much to avoid extra damage.
When the skirt came off, she carefully wrapped the dresses with the fabric and tied it so she could also lift it. She was careful to make it as neat-looking as she possibly could.
After she was satisfied, Maya set the improvised bag next to the door. She had also made sure to put in everything she would need to take with her.
She returned to the dresses and chose the one she would wear during the journey. She frowned as she thought about it. With no wolf, transport was a little slow for her.
It was no problem with her father, as he liked to carry his carriage everywhere, but she didn’t know how Keenan would prefer it now. Would she have to ride on Theo like before? She doubted Theo liked that. Or would it be horse riding?
She pushed the thought out of her mind; she had far more pressing matters to attend to.
After picking another dress, she took the rest, folded them as best as she could, and placed them behind her wardrobe. That wasn’t the cleanest of places, but she’d rather have dirty dresses than no dresses at all.
