Seconds to Midnight: A Maiden of Midnight Prequel
Seth- Day Eighty

Seth- Day Eighty

Wind made the shutters on the window rattle, distracting me from the assortment of textbooks I was reading, the words blurring together on the pages.

Next to me was the handwritten copies of the pages that I was in the process of making. Since we couldn’t afford to buy the books, I would rent them out from the library, bring them home, and then copy them onto whatever spare parchment was lying around. It made it easier to study later on, and it was something I could pass onto Lucy when she was old enough to start serious Academy lessons.

Boredom crept in slowly, a silent killer. Nothing interesting was happening, or scheduled. I couldn’t even write in my journal! Turning my attention to the window, the curtains drawn back to let some moonlight in, I sighed.

There was a storm brewing outside tonight, the lantern on my desk helping fight off the growing grey weather, since the moon was being steadily devoured by cloud cover. I was wrapped in my blanket on my chair to stave away the cold, and down the hall, Mira was in Merry’s room, sharing his bed for warmth, or that was what they’d told Karla and Darcie. Considering Merry had plugged up the bottom of his door with a blanket, blocking out any sound, I didn’t want to know what they were actually doing. I was perfectly happy accepting their lies.

Darcie hadn’t approved, but given the house was in Merry’s name, and Merry and Mira were both old enough to make their own decisions, there wasn’t much he, or Karla, could do to stop it from happening.

Once I found whatever noble lady Karla deemed worthy enough for me, would I be bringing her back here, or would I go to her house?

Would my family come with me? I winced, placing my quill down, studying my room. It was comfortable, decorated the way I liked it.

Despite my favourite colour being green, it was a hard colour to come by, so my blanket was blue. According to Karla, who’d bought it for me, it matched my eyes.

Whatever woman I did pair with, I wanted to bring her here for… that, especially for our first time. Karla was insisting she be a noble woman, so I wanted her to see my world, to experience it for just one night. A good night. Hopefully it would be a good night. How were you even meant to start that? Kissing? Holding hands?

Merry had bought me a book for my birthday that was meant to explain that sort of thing, although we hid it from Karla on my shelf.

Swallowing thickly, I closed the textbook, leaning back in my chair and pushing to my feet. It was past dinner, but there might have been some bread I could toast over the fire; something to warm me against the creeping cold.

Slipping out of my bedroom, I closed the door as quietly as I could, creeping past the other’s rooms. Mira and Merry were laughing in his room at the end of the hall. I could hear wind whistling through Emmett’s window, which meant it was probably ajar and he’d gone out.

Adriel would be out with him, no doubt. They snuck out most nights together.

The floorboards creaked, but I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen, replaceing a couple slices of bread that I toasted over the fire. There was no butter or jam to eat them with, but I was used to that.

Taking a seat in the living room, I dragged a pillow behind my head, laying back and crunching steadily on my plain toast, staring at the ceiling.

I just really needed something interesting to happen. Or a girlfriend. Either one.

Hopefully, I would get one of those prayers answered real soon.