Episode 15 Too Soon for Morning
Too Soon for Morning
To Elowyn’s delight, half the clothes hanging in Rominy’s closet seem to be for her. Her own meager wardrobe looks pathetic beside the silks and satins and muslins and wool and even some fabrics she’s unfamiliar with.
Are these the gowns Arisanna decided to give to her?
There are even layers that must go under the other layers, but she has no idea how it all goes together. She’ll have to ask someone to show her how to put it on.
That’s a problem for tomorrow, though. Tonight, she just needs something to sleep in.
She fingers a flimsy lace gown hanging alone and cocks her head to the side.
Is this what human women wear to bed? She lifts it from the hanger and holds it against herself.
Surely not. This must belong with the undergarments.
Suddenly the door opens, and Rominy looks up in surprise. His eyes grow large as he takes in the sheer gown she holds.
For a moment, neither of them speaks.
“I thought you were in the water closet,” Rominy eventually mumbles.
“I came in here to find something to wear, and I discovered all these gowns. Are these for me?”
His eyes keep straying to the lacy garment in her hands. “Well, since they’re not mine, they must be yours. I’m just going to—”
Before he can make another hasty retreat, she stops him. “Will you help me? I’m not sure what everything is.”
“H-help you?”
Judging by the look on his face, she may as well have asked him to kiss a frog.
“Is this for sleeping in?” she continues, undaunted.
“I...I”—he tugs at his collar and looks away—“I don’t know. M-maybe? I’m just...” He disappears again before he finishes talking.
She bites her lip and smiles at his hasty retreat. He’s surprisingly adorable at times.
Then she spots some more practical sleeping gowns made of one of the softest fabrics she’s ever felt.
That’s more like it.
After returning the sheer gown to its home, she heads to the water closet for another glorious shower.
Bright light behind Rominy’s eyelids wakes him from a deep sleep, and he groans. It can’t be morning already.
He waited long after the water for Elowyn’s shower stopped last night to venture anywhere near the water closet. After their awkward encounter in his closet—their closet—it became crystal clear that he needs to give more care to his actions before he barges in now.
But it could have been worse. At least she was holding the scandalous nightgown and not wearing it.
By the time he got all the cake off himself and collapsed onto his bed, his previous exhaustion abandoned him, and he lay awake long after midnight, trying to fathom how in the world he ended up married to an elf.
As the sun illuminates his eyelids, he groans again. It’s far too soon for morning. Right? Didn’t he just close his eyes?
His bed rocks beneath him in a gentle rhythm, and his eyes bolt open. The sun is high in the blue sky, silhouetting sails above him, and he barely catches himself before he rolls off the deck in his shock.
The heartlanding. It’s just the heartlanding.
“Rominy?”
He jumps again at the sound of Elowyn’s voice before lifting his head toward her. As before, she’s wearing the white dress that flutters gently in the breeze.
“I’m here,” he says as he lies back again.
“I’ve never seen so much water in one place. It’s so...powerful. And soothing.”
“You’ve never been to the sea?” He pushes himself up on his elbows so he can see her again.
“Our coast is too far from Nunia. The distance would have been too much for Mother to maintain the heartbinding.”
“Oh.” A twinge of guilt plagues him as he thinks of his own treks throughout Nunia during his twenty-two years. Did his traveling ever strain Queen Nestraya?
His mother-in-law.
Stars above—he has a mother-in-law now. And a father-in-law.
That’s frightening.
“So...what shall we do first?” Elowyn holds a nearby rope as she hovers over him, her silver hair catching the wind while the asymmetrical hem of her skirt dances around her knees. Her smile lights up her entire face, and for a moment, Rominy just stares at her.
He’s married. To an elf. To her.
And not just married. Heartbound.
To an elf.
“What is it?” Her smile fades. “Is there frosting in my hair here, too?”
Clearing his throat, he looks away. “No frosting. What would you like to do?”
“Well...we could head below and explore. I wonder if the hatch always leads to the cottage.”
Rominy pushes himself to his feet. “Shall we go see?”
She’s at the open hatch before he can blink, and an unbidden smile forms on his face. Together, they descend the stairs into the cottage they visited yesterday.
“So it is the same,” she says. “Do you think it will always be this cottage?”
“I have no idea.”
“I suppose we’ll find out.” She’s already gravitating toward the exterior door, and Rominy leans his hands in his pockets as he trails behind her.
“Would you like to go outside?” he says, though he doesn’t need to ask. It’s obvious what she wants to do.
Her hand turns on the doorknob, and she pulls it open to reveal the beautiful gardens they saw last time. Then she frowns as she looks at her feet. “We’re not wearing shoes.”
“The heartlanding would provide them if we needed them...wouldn’t it? Perhaps we’re not supposed to leave the house.”
“Perhaps.” She lobs an impish smile his way. “Or maybe we haven’t found them yet.”
As Rominy watches, she makes a beeline for the bedroom door. Should he follow her?
“Are you coming?” she calls over her shoulder.
Apparently, he’s supposed to come with her.
As she pushes the door open, he glances at the small space. It really is cozy.
A little too cozy.
There’s a wardrobe along one wall, and Elowyn pulls the doors wide open. “Oh, wow,” she murmurs.
It’s full of clothes of all sorts for both of them. Formal human attire and elven styles. Coats and cloaks and—is that a bathing costume? A set of bathing costumes, rather.
At the bottom of the wardrobe, beneath all the clothing, various pairs of shoes await them.
“Perfect.” Elowyn reaches for a set of sturdy shoes in the smaller size. “Though they don’t match my gown.”
Rominy’s eyes flit over her again. It’s not a dress meant for shoes or boots or any sort of foot covering.
And the longer they stand here, the more keenly aware he becomes of the bed right beside them.
Elowyn shrugs and carries the shoes to a nearby set of drawers while Rominy reaches for his own footwear. She tosses a pair of stockings his way, and he follows her back into the sitting room of their little cottage.
Soon, with their shoes in place, they step through the door into the garden. Rosebushes line a path beneath a large oak tree, and Elowyn glides past each bloom, smelling some and fingering the petals of others. Reds and pale pinks and golden yellows.
The garden is enchanting, but watching Elowyn’s delight in everything they pass—from the roses to a friendly little chipmunk that twitches its tail as it gazes up at her—is far more intriguing than any garden could be.
She’s so easily pleased. Each new thing is fascinating to her, and Rominy can barely take his eyes off her expressive face as she explores every facet of their private paradise.
“A labyrinth!” She points to an opening in the hedgerow beyond the cobblestones lining the path of roses.
Rominy’s eyebrows draw together at the sight of the shadowy path. It’s full daylight out here. Why is the hedge so dark?
“Where do you think it leads?” She glides toward it, undaunted by the mist filtering through the opening between the hedges.
“Please don’t tell me you’re planning to find out,” he says under his breath.
A moment later, she steps off the stone walkway onto a dirt path and vanishes into the murky darkness.
“Elowyn!” He sprints toward the labyrinth in her wake.