The next morning was quiet and Belladonna wished that she could rip her hair out, when she found out that she had even slept.
She had not planned to do that, she had planned to wait for Eli throughout the night, watch the door with the hope that he would step in through the wooden frame that was blocking her from the rest of the hallway.
She had even planned to go down to the den herself if she waited enough and he didn't come back yet. She just had to be there for her Eli.
Belladonna had planned to drug Anok, and find her way to the den. She didn't know how she would do that but she was certain she would figure it out on her way.
All that plan and she had fallen asleep.
Asleep!
It had been barely for a couple of hours but she still hated that she had slept.
Now, all her plans had been halted, and being no longer sleep deprived, she could see how stupid some of them were.
She was quick to step into the bathroom and refresh herself. Anok had told her that she didn't need to help today but she would be damned if she listened to him on that.
For the first time in a long time, she had gone directly to the kitchen to grab a bite, and once again they were in the hall taking care of people.
Lady Kestra was her natural self, unfazed by anything as she supervised and got involved in treating others.
Most of the Physicians making use of her herbs.
There were no more victims, although sadly they had lost a couple of lives.
The rate of success was high and that had encouraged them to keep on going.
Today, Belladonna had a couple of people in mind that she was looking for though.
Clio, Kita, and Ria.
Those three along with Raquel.
She looked for them in the sea of people, but couldn't find them. She had seen Colin rushing around and since he wasn't grieving, Belladonna had good reason to believe that Raquel was alright.
But for the rest, she could only hope.
She had also told Anok to find out about them for her and she had believed that was what he went to check for, when he stepped out from the hall.
He had come back after some time with news.
"I could not find the ladies. Your description does not match the dead ones though, so there is much hope that they are alive."
Belladonna had wiped the sweat off her forehead with relief as he lead her to an empty seat.
"You look awful, my Lady. More awful than the maids on their worse days. Please, sit." He pushed her gently into a chair. "Water, Lady Bell.*
During this time that she had spent with Anok, Belladonna had come to the realization that Anok was blunt with his words most of the time.
Sugarcoating things, for him, must be a strange thing.
"Thank you."
It was a relief that he couldn't find them within the dead ones.
"Anything more?"
"I went down to check the den."
"What? Without me?!"
"I didn't go so far. I want for the sign."
Sign? What was he talking about?
"What sign?"
He was really confusing her and his silence after that made her speak up again.
This was no time to be patient.
"Tell me."
She huffed and crouched down by her side, his voice down to a whisper that only she could hear.
It was pretty quiet in the hall since a lot of people were sleeping. Lady Kestra had left a while ago too, to rest. She had been working so hard. It felt a little off to see her walk out with her ankle-snapping heels.
No matter the situation, Lady Kestra would always find time for fashion.
That was just how she was.
"The King said he will send a sign to us if he thinks the situation is getting out of hand."
Belladonna's stomach tightened as she stared into Anok's green eyes, searching for things that his mouth wasn't telling her, or maybe if she looked at him enough, he would hate it and be intimidated to just tell her everything.
"What sign? Why are you talking so slowly? Why are you telling me everything already?"
"His mask. He will toss it as far from the den as possible. Once we see his mask, we are to evacuate this place."
"Did you see his mask?"
Anok shrugged. "No. It is a good thing."
Belladonna sighed and it was only then she realized how far she had leaned away from her chair and into him. She fell back in the seat in relief and stared up at the white ceiling.
"Do you think we will be seeing him or his mask anytime soon?"
It hurt her to put that possibility into her question, but she wasn't foolish and if things were going wrong, she wanted to know. If Anok should sense, just a little, how much this was breaking her, then he would hide it from her completely, in a bid to protect her.
She didn't want that.
"In three days, if we see nothing, we must evacuate."
"The King ordered that?" Her heart was pounding now but thankfully, her voice was firm.
"Yes, My Lady. King's orders."
Belladonna blinked the tears that were welling up in her eyes away.
Eli was wise. How had he planned for every possible situation and given out orders for them within such little time?
She moved her arms around herself in a hug then dropped them to her sides and stood up.
"Tomorrow is the third day."
"Yes, My Lady."
Anok stood up after her.
"Then it means we have time. One more day left. We shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet." She said that part to herself and instead of Anok correcting her that he wasn't jumping to any conclusion, he nodded.
"Is there anything you would like me to get for you, Lady Bell?"
She shook her head, not looking back, as she forced a smile onto her face and got back to work.
One more.
One more day.
One more night.
All she had to do was wait.
How things could just switch up on someone.
One minute they were together and the next, they were apart, not knowing if they would ever see each other again.