Ever so slowly, Evadne awake from a terribly deep sleep. Unwilling to move she just lay there in the semi-darkness, until she found the spirit to open her eyes. The rain was still relentlessly beating down on the land, and occasional thunderbolts still lit up the sky. That reminded her of yesterday. Something had happened, hadn't it? And something just didn't feel right. She was in her own bed, in her own room, and everything seemed normal. Until she sat up. That was when she saw Taladan Ewing lying on the end of the bed, still fast asleep. Evadne's eyes went wide in shock. Crap!
The memories of the port and the drinking game came flooding back into her mind as she stared at the motionless figure. Her father would kill her if he found out they'd been sleeping in the same bed! And if she remembered correctly, it was Evadne herself that had invited Taladan to do so...
The girl cringed, recalling her behaviour from last night. She wasn't much of a ladylike person, but this was way, WAY beyond her normal boundaries and even further beyond the boundaries of society. Evadne swallowed. Ever so careful, she slid her legs out from beneath the blankets, and placed her feet on the cold hardwood floor. Trying to make as little noise and sudden movements as possible, she stood up from the bed and wobbled, grabbing her head while she held on to the wall. The room was spinning like crazy. She stood still for a moment, her eyes closed, until the spinning went away. Then she made her way to the cupboard.
Listening intently to Taladan's breathing, she concluded he must still be asleep and silently opened the cupboard doors. She would have to change her shirt. As swiftly as possible, she helped herself out of the blouse she'd been sleeping in and changed it for one of her working shirts, simple black linen with long sleeves. She tucked it loosely in her pants and slipped in her riding boots. Then she stashed the blouse on a shelf in the cupboard and closed the door. For a moment, she thought she heard an interruption in Taladan's steady breathing, but when she stopped and listened it was as if it had never been there. Silently, she opened the door of her own room, but immediately closed it again and leaned against the wood, trying to control her own breathing. Her father was still in the living room! It had to be early still, because he always got up at six and started work at seven. There was only one option left. Evadne moved to the side of the room, to the window, and opened it. Immediately she had to grab hold of the frames, as the wind howled against them and the rain flew inside. Without caring about waking up Taladan any longer, she climbed through the window and shut them as firmly as possible. Her father might think she had been out long before him already, this way. Avoiding detection by ducking at every window frame, Evadne made her way to the barn, already soaking wet when she got there. But she was safe. She leaned against her horse's box and exhaled. That was lucky. Now the only thing left to do was hoping Taladan wouldn't be so stupid as to betray they'd been sleeping in the same bed, however innocently they did so.
