Winterfall

As we walked back to the castle in silence I could almost feel someone or something watching us.

It’s not just you. I feel it too.

Do you know what it is?

I have no idea. I know it is close, but I can’t put a finger on what it is. It is invisible to us.

Great. We are being watched by an invisible force.

If it makes you feel better, I didn’t know it was following us until we left training. It is why I fell in step as normal.

That made sense, he fell ten feet behind me and instantly started scanning the area for threats.

Should we be concerned?

Concerned maybe. Let me message a couple of guards to do an area sweep.

The tension eased up in my body as he mentioned other guards. If we were truly being watched, we needed to get ahead of it. All while acting as normal as possible. For all we knew, the person watching us could very well be working for Marcel.

That wouldn’t surprise me if he did such a thing. We had been sneaking around and if he had any awareness of what was going on behind his back before, I’m sure he would have eyes on us.

The more and more I thought about it, I became unsettled. What if they followed us from the castle to dinner last night? Though they wouldn’t have known it was us, it is still a possibility as magic can easily see through disguises.

It’ll be alright Maria, I'll have a couple of guards keep an eye on things as we are out.

Have they found anything yet?

Not yet, but the feeling is gone now.

Once he said that I opened my senses to my surroundings. I sighed in relief as I didn’t pick up anything. Though, that did not stop me from wondering, what the initial feeling was.

Open the gate Maria.

Théoden told me as we stood in front of the gate. Opening the gate, we walked onward to the castle and went straight to the kitchen.

Théoden observed the room for any strange signs that could indicate that we are being watched.

“I think we are good, just let me do one more thing.”

I nodded and watched as a flash of magic came from his palm as he cast a spell called Detect Arcane, a spell that can detect magical presence in any form. I knew he was attempting to see if anyone was using magical means to watch us.

“Thankfully, there is nothing at the moment, which is a good thing.” Theoden said as I watched him relax a bit. However, I could tell by the blank look in his eyes he was remaining focused on the spell. And knowing Theoden, he will be focused on this spell for the whole hour it is active.

A few minutes go by and I couldn’t help but ask, “Your prime focus is going to be on the spell isn’t it?” I was thankful he was always on watch but sometimes it became too much.

“Until the spell disappears, yes. It is better to be safe than sorry. Besides, I will only act if I sense something and when I do perhaps I might be able to figure out who is casting the spell, Scrying.” Theoden said with determination and a bit of eagerness as he had high hopes that he would be able to solve the case within the hour.

With a sigh, I watched as his eyes scanned the area every few minutes. “Fair enough.”

His attention was split between myself and the area around us as he scanned for any magical anomalies. With him doing this, I felt safer as I knew he was only doing this to protect me.

I agreed with him at this point. If we were being watched we needed to figure out who was behind it even if it meant Theoden’s attention was fully elsewhere.

“I thought I heard someone in the kitchen.” Roland's voice echoed in the kitchen as he came from the back pantry. “I was wondering if you two were going to show up for breakfast.”

“You really think we would miss breakfast?” I said with a bit of amusement, “now if that ever did happen, please check in on us.”

Roland chuckled, “got it. I have breakfast in the cooler if you want to heat it up.”

“Thanks Roland.”

I opened the cooler and pulled out three plates for Théo and a plate for myself. To everyone’s surprise I grabbed one of his plates to eat that had more healthier stuff on it than sweets.

“Are you alright?” Théoden questioned me as I started to eat. “First the bear, now this?”

“Wait, when did Maria have bear?” Roland questioned.

“Last night at dinner.”

“Are you alright?” Roland questioned.

I gave them both the stink eye. “Training is making me crave different foods.”

“Crave?” Théoden questioned me further.

“Yes. Maybe crave isn’t the best phrase but with the amount of energy I have been burning recently, I need fuel to replace it right?”

“I suppose. However, I am watching you.” Théoden said.

“You may want to. Strange eating habits can be a sign of other things.” Roland chimed in from the back he had gone back into the pantry and pulled out a jar of chocolate chips. “Want any?” He questioned me as he slid the chips in front of me.

Don’t get me wrong, I thought about it but I shook my head. “I had my sweets earlier, I'm good.”

“Huh. Ignoring chocolate. Are you sure you are okay?” Roland asked me one more time.

“Really, I am good.”

“Well, I believe you.” Théoden said and Roland nodded in agreement.

“So, what plans do you two have today?” Roland questioned as he removed the chocolate chips and placed them on the counter as he began to prepare some chocolate cookies.

“Guard duty as usual for me.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. What about you Maria?”

I thought about it. If we were being watched perhaps I needed to plan more of our wedding. I needed to get sized for a dress so perhaps I will do that today. “I think I will visit Caroline and get fitted for a wedding dress.”

Théoden's body tensed as I mentioned wedding dresses. I could feel his jealousy heat up and his rage he felt for Marcel engulf his body.

“I’m going to go.” Théoden said as he finished his last bite of food and left without saying another word.

Damn it. Why was this so hard? His jealousy and anger made my heart hurt. I was hurting

“Is he-” Roland began to ask but I waved him off.

“He’s fine I think. Just this wedding stuff gets to him.”

“Understandable, he loves you, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I knew that he loved me. Hell, he even wanted to marry me. However, I was stuck. Stuck in a damned marriage I did not want anything to do with. And now I had to go get fitted for a damned dress, great.