She crept through the halls with her heart in her throat, nervously eying the windows as lightning flashed and thunder boomed. She was sweating and shaking, licking her dry lips nervously and darting glances to shadows and dark spots in the hallway.
Ce’Nedra wasn’t usually one to wonder the halls deep at night, with no one awake. Ce’Nedra wasn’t superstitious – Tolnedrans believed that anything out of the ordinary such as magic didn’t exist, and even though she now believed in magic, the laws taught when she was a girl still rubbed off now and then – but the silent spookiness of the deserted hallways illuminated by a pale, yellow moon but distorted by the raging thunder seemed to be warning her to go back to her bed where she belonged. But she couldn’t. Not yet.
She glanced into her son’s room. Geran was sleeping soundly; Wolf curled up at the foot of his bed. They both looked so content with each other and the world that she couldn’t help but smile at their innocence. Ever since Geran’s abduction, nearly ten years ago, she had often looked in on him when he was sleeping, as if to assure herself that he was there and well, and happy. She still had terrifying nightmares of waking up and finding her son missing, stolen away by an evil sorceress who was now long destroyed. But the fears still racked her heart and sent her scurrying to her son’s room to see if he was fine.
From habit, she also went the extra five paces to Beldaren’s room. Her daughter lay sprawled over her blankets, unaware that her window was creaking to be opened by the rough winds. Ce’Nedra went over to make sure it was securely closed, almost tripping on dirty clothes lying on the floor. Sniffing – she couldn’t abide not being neat, but her daughter was another matter – she made a mental note to tell the maid to clean it thoroughly and to tell Beldaren that a princess did not just throw her clothes on the floor. Smoothing Beldaren’s hair away from her face, she smiled and sighed. Everything was fine, nothing was wrong. She could go back to her room with the knowledge that her children were safe.
With that thought, the tiny Rivan Queen tip-toed back to the Royal Chambers and went back to sleep.