The morning mist rolled through the forest, dusting the tops of the trees and rising like steam from the damp grass. Fireflies floated through the air like sparks, their lights dull in the thick foggy dawn.
Thea peered out of the window, her soft breathing sounded like a roar in the stillness of the morning. She felt the mist leave a damp sheen on her face and pulled back to turn to the sleeping form of Tibeh in the corner of the room. The small elderly miqo'te's blanket rose and fell in the gentle rhythm of her slumber.
Thea let out a relieved murmur as she pushed the window open more fully, enough to slip a booted foot out to rest upon the mossy roof. While the surface she met was green and slick, she was well-practiced enough to retain her footing as she swung to push her whole body out of the window and land with a catlike grace on the roof. She stayed in her landing crouch, her hands and feet pressed so hard into the soft moss that she felt they might take root. But still she waited, ensuring the small thump of her landing hadn't been heard.
Her skin prickled with goosebumps, morning dew forming little pearls over her body. She crawled with ease to the edge of the roof, backing slowly down until the lower half of her body dangled towards the ground. Finally easing her way further down, she released her hands landing in the wet grass with little more than a whisper of noise.
Moving towards the stack of firewood to the back of the house, Thea rooted around in the pile before pulling out her satchel. As usual it was loaded up with her leather journal and various sample pots and sachets. She fished out her pearl-handled knife and a small pair of brass shears and slipped them into her thigh holsters, before brushing her hands down her body to spray a fine mist of dew into the grass. Shouldering her satchel she slipped away from the house and into the cool, dark embrace of the Shroud.
While Thea generally obeyed her parents, their orders tearing her from the forest had broken her heart. She knew she could never be long from the airy melody of the wind in the leaves, or the lazy wet splash of the rivers. Without the smell of lilac, meadowsweet and bark in her nose, she would never be truly happy.
—●O●—-
Her dawn forays into the heart of the forest had begun some weeks back, following her father's stoic refusal of her wish to join the Botanist Guild in the nearby city-state of Gridania. She had tried to obey him, giving her mother a week or two of girlish pleasure as her daughter, decked in silk, taffeta and velvet, had spent her time in the family home. Nose-deep in a book in the library, hours languishing in the hot steam of the bath, or daydreaming by the gentle glow of the stained glass windows. But the forest called to her, the soft echo evolving into a roar. Every day that passed without feeling the cool breeze in her hair, or the caress of the grass under her naked feet, felt like agony.
And so it was, she spent her nights in a fitful sleep. Though buried under soft, warm blankets and bathed in the gentle moonglow, she could not settle. She waited only for the chance to leave the confines of her home and once again feel at peace.
The first time she had scuttered down the stairs, pausing at a small altar dedicated to Nophia to pray guiltily for forgiveness, before easing open the large front door and out into the embrace of the night.
Nowadays she was much more well-practiced, feeling only the small stab of guilt as her eyes glided over to her gentle maidservant Tibeh. She knew the woman would be punished harshly by her father should news of her dawn-lit forays into the forest ever reach him. Her heart ached that every day she risked the safety of the woman she loved more than anything, but she could not be torn from the forest.
—●O●—-
In the cool blue-green light of the dawn, Thea padded through well-worn paths, her heart filled with a joyous freedom. She paused to let the soft, powdery scent of lilacs float around her and felt a bubbling laugh rise within her. She truly only ever felt peace while surrounded by the Shroud. She laid in the long grass, feeling it tremble and shake in the breeze, and imagined her bones sinking into the earth. Melting and joining with the ancient forest floor.
As she saw the first glimmer of sun lighting the soupy turquoise sky, she pulled herself up and settled on a rocky perch beside the soothing trickle of a stream. She tilted her head back and let the feeling wash over her, the cool water splashing her bare skin, the weak warmth of the sun glowing in her hair, and an utter peace soaking through her.
After a minute's respite she pulled herself to her feet, and ran through the forest homewards. Her blonde hair streaming and glinting behind her, her chest heaving as she inhaled the smooth forest. Arriving back at the large house, she clambered up the slippery green walls and roof. Prying open the window and pouring herself through it. Slinking back into bed, as the first fingers of morning creeped along the wooden floor, she curled her moss-stained feet under the blankets and smiled in pleasure as she felt sleep pull her in.
