“You don’t have to act so surprised; all members of noble houses carry them once they’ve reached adulthood.” Lady Indrin brought her hand back, warily examining the mourning person in front of her. It seemed like his state of grief had overtaken him completely and he hadn’t moved in several moments. Thankfully, she was well versed in covering up a faux pas and could help him out.
He still hadn’t moved, so she took off her ring and put it in her still-hanging bag, letting it float back to her waist. Looking around, she hoped nobody was looking. Plenty of people could look past walls, it wouldn’t do to be observed at the moment. Hesitating for just a moment, she took a deep, determined breath and hugged him.
“It’s okay, grieving is natural. You’ll get through this,” she rubbed his back, remembering how that had helped her. It was that feeling of touch between two people, just transferring comfort.
Luke was in a state of shock. Maybe the drug was transmitted through the air like some virus? He had just seen a floating bag. Floating. In air. No support. And a crazy girl who thought it meant absolutely nothing. A crazy girl who thought he was in mourning. She was hugging him. No. He was an officer, he couldn’t let civilians get that close to him.
“No, step back!” He barked this out, slightly pushing her off of him. He was surprised to find he couldn’t make her budge. The dress, for all that it felt soft and malleable, basically like any other fabric, wasn’t affected by him at all. A half a beat later, Lady Indrin stepped back, her face betraying some shock, embarrassment, and sadness, before she schooled it into a mask of indifference. It was one he recognized from important people he had had to escort around the station. For a brief moment he let himself consider that her story was true. That she truly was Lady Indrin of Rollechester, daughter of the Duke.
“I’m sorry I overstepped my bounds.” She said formally, in slightly stilted fashion. It was clear to her that her interference was unwelcome, for all that she was sure it might be needed. She had also needed people like that in her own life. But they had already known her and what her bounds were. This man was a stranger to her. It was not her place. He was just her escort.
Luke shook himself awake; no. Benjamin was the one that let people walk all over him. This was a lady absolutely crazy on drugs. He was just imagining things, after all, there was no floating bag now, was there?
The door opened, and Luke whirled around, more tense than ever. He couldn’t deal with more delusions. Not here. Not now. Not while Lady Indrin was in this room with him after seeing break down like that. He wondered when she became Lady Indrin his mind, especially since he still didn’t believe her.
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“Well, I got two cups of mint tea. Sorry I didn’t remember how much sugar you liked in your tea so I just brought some sugar bags so you can make it.” Benjamin walked in, precariously balancing a Styrofoam cup in each hand. The sharp smell of cheap mint tea filled the room and Lady Indrin seized the moment to lighten up the room’s atmosphere.
“Thank you, this looks absolutely delightful! The smell is so fresh too, I believe I’ll like this mint tea,” this was a lie, the smell was absolutely pungent. She was certain that if her dress didn’t have anti-odor enchantments, she’d be forced to buy a new one since the smell was sure to seep in. That was much more expensive than five gold coins to examine a magical trinket.
Nonetheless, she afforded Benjamin a practiced smile and took the weird white cup. It was a lot less sturdy than she was used to, the delicate ceramic China she was so used to. The cup’s insulation was also weird, almost letting the heat out. Still, she wasn’t in a noble house, she wasn’t going to hold them to a high standard. Even if they were forcing her to essentially prepare her own tea- as her other escort had demonstrated, there was a lot more going on beneath the surface than she had initially anticipated.
The sugar bags were interesting, though, small little white things Benjamin seemed to expect her to know how to operate. Refusing to show that she had no clue how to proceed, she watched in fascination as he ripped open one for himself and poured it into his cup, steering with the cheep wood stick he had stuck in there. Apparently, he didn’t know how horribly wood paired with tea. And yet his mastery of these sugar bags was astounding, never mind the ingenuity of the idea.
Concentrating for a second, she squeezed her cup to transfer her intention. Since it wasn’t inscribed with the same heavy-duty enchantments of her purse- she had undersold to her other escort how unique her particular bag was- she let it stand in space. Once she improved in her spell work, she wouldn’t even need to squeeze the cup or even really bother with concentrating. That was years in the future, though, and for now such rudimentary methods would suffice.
Gleefully ignoring the other two men in the room now that she knew what she was doing, Indrin gripped the edge of the sugar bag. Applying a bit of pressure, she ripped a corner of the paper bag off, forgetting to keep one hand on the bag, she wrinkled her nose at the mess of sugar on the floor. That was unseemly.
Tapping her foot and muttering a small incantation under her breath- this piece of work would require a bit more involvement from her, there were a good amount of sugar crystals spilled- she willed them back into the bag in her hand. She supposed she could do with less sugar in her tea, Maria always said so, anyway. Placing the now-dirty sugar next to her cup, she successfully opened the second bag and poured it into her cup.
Stirring the hot drink contentedly with the piece of provided wood, she took a small sip. The taste was surprisingly bearable, maybe even possibly passable without the wood. She’d bring some back to the academy. She was sure they’d come get her soon. They had to. She was the only daughter of the duke.