Winterfall

I didn’t mind spending time in my room however, once the hangover began to fade, boredom was starting to get to me.

Théo?

I heard him sigh, as this was the third time now I had contacted him in the last three hours.

What is it this time Maria?

Remember mentioning to Quinn about us?

Yes, what about it?

And you know how we have been having this feeling of being watched.

Yes, what about it?

Yeah, he just repeated himself. Sometimes I had a bad habit of not always getting to the point right away. To which, I knew he grew tired of it from time to time.

What if we had Quinn be a spy?

A spy Maria?

Yeah, she could go rogue and stealth around the castle and follow us.

That’s- He paused for a moment before continuing, that’s not a terrible idea. I’ll talk to her about it when she comes back to my office.

Can I listen to that? I am bored out of my mind here.

He let out a long sigh, I know you are bored. I feel it through the bond. Makes work kind of difficult.

Sorry dear. I think I will just watch you for a while. That should tie me over for now.

Alrighty. I am finishing up some paperwork. So wait a few minutes before… Yeah, I had already gone into his vision. Never mind.

~ Théoden Point of view ~

I knew she was bored. I could feel her senses and emotion through the bond. Hell, I was bored of her being bored but I didn’t want her to cause any more trouble for the day.

I could go to the library. There usually isn’t any trouble there.

Maria…

Fine. I will stay in my room.

Good. I will visit you in our dream escape tonight.

Can’t wait!

Yeah she was excited about that. I was too. Our dream escape allowed us to truly be free. I could be my true form or we could have all the intimacy that we wanted and not a worry about getting caught.

The dream escape was one of the positive perks of the bond. The communication, on the other hand, varied from day to day. So did the siphoning. Especially on her end when her emotions rang strong. Don’t get me wrong sometimes it was a blessing. Knowing what she felt and thought during certain times, really helped our relationship. Especially when verbal communication may be limited.

Regardless, the bond as everything, had its ups and downs. Days like today were definitely a down point for me. As it has affected my job performance. I am never late for a round and yet I was today.

Sorry about that dear.

It’s alright. I’d do it again if it meant you were safe.

Always my protector no matter the cost.

Always.

A moment later a knock jolted me out of my thoughts as Quinn’s voice echoed through the closed door, “Captain it’s me!”

“Come in Quinn!” I shouted back.

The door creaked open and she walked in. “Ready for another round?”

“Sure thing. Just before we go I have a question to ask you, but close the door first.”

She nodded, closed the door, and stepped forward. “What is it?”

“It’s about Maria and I.”

Her facial expression flickered between worried and curious, “is everything alright?”

“For the most part, yes. Though I fear we are being followed and I want to get to the bottom of it before something happens.”

“Followed?” She questioned me. I gave her a brief recap of the last few nights and our feelings of being watched. Then I told her about the letter that exposed my draconic nature to Roland. “Interesting. So you want me to follow you to see who is following you?”

“Maria said it best. A spy.”

“A spy? That sounds fun!” Quinn’s face lit up in excitement, “Do I get out of my work?”

“No, I would still want you to do your normal duties but I will pay you more for the extra hours.”

“You got a deal, captain!”

Quinn was oddly excited about the new task added to her job. Though I didn’t blame her, rounds often just consisted of us running through the kingdom’s shadows to make sure everything was in order. And with a certain number of guards on duty at all times, it was usually pretty quiet. That is until recently with the poison cases that have been popping up.

“Don’t tell the others about this as this is just between you, me and Maria. I will ask that you scope out the castle some as well. Especially at night just in case something happens then.”

“Got it.” Quinn said, “ready to do our round?”

“Yes.”

I got up from my chair and walked out of my office with her. I locked my door and we started our round from the south side and worked our way inwards.

The rounds usually took about an hour to two hours depending on how in depth of a round we did. The round was always in pairs and happened around the clock. Sometimes every thirty minutes if it was a busy day. I did switch the guards up on who performed rounds with who.

Once an hour and a half was up we ended back up at my office. “At least there were no murderers this round.” Quinn said.

“That’s for sure.” I agreed with her. Considering the last few days, today has been quiet.

“See you in a few hours for our last one of the day, captain. I got to do the next one with Brienne.”

“Good luck Quinn.”

Still with me Maria?

She had been oddly quiet that hour so I wanted to make sure she was alright, giving the hangover she had earlier. Good, she's resting.

I decided to break her connection from seeing my vision. As I didn’t want to do anything to disturb her nap.