Sneaking (tag: Henry)
Opal lay in her lovely, soft bed staring at the canopy overhead, trying to determine just how late it was. Fairly late, certainly, it was quite dark out, and the servants had long since seen her to bed. And she was pretty sure this wasn't one of the nights when her husband would be visiting her. There was a little disappointment to that, because she rather liked those nights, it was nice to be so close to him. But mostly she was relieved, because there was awkwardness too. Besides, she had plans.
Silently, she got out of bed, and quickly dressed herself in the sort of simple clothing she had worn before her marriage. It was of a much finer cut of fabric now, and sewn by very talented hands, but still the sort of thing that she could dress in by herself. Opal wasn't sure her servants knew that a woman could get dressed alone. The sturdy shoes that she'd purchased on a secret trip and kept hidden in the back of her closet were held in one hand as she slipped out her bedroom door. She didn't want to risk the soles making noise on the parts of the castle floor that were not covered in rugs and carpeting. Because if she was asked where she was going, she'd have to answer, and she desperately tried to avoid that these days.
Down to the kitchen she slunk, with the stealth of a cat. Or so she imagined. Really, she wasn't that good at sneaking about. But dressed as simply as she was, the very few that were still about didn't even give her so much as a passing glance, assuming that she was just another servant. The kitchen was dark, the embers in the hearth banked and glowing, ready to be brought back to life in the morning. It was a room that Opal had memorized, so that she was able to move through it easily enough, as she gathered a few things to take with her. No sense in going hungry while she was out.
Her supplies ready, she paused to put on the boots she'd been carrying, her bottom resting against the cool, hard wall near the exit. Straightening, Opal made one last check that she had all she wanted to take with her, then turned the corner to get to the door. Only to stop dead at the sight of a large frame occupying the space in the hallway coming from the other direction. Opal wasn't sure what was down there, or exactly why somebody would be there this time of night, but she knew they'd seen her as surely as she'd seen them. Probably more so since she was standing fully in the moonlight coming through the window.
She was caught. The only question now was what the catcher intended to do about it. Did she need to run? Should she say something? No, she wasn't saying anything. Opal edged closer to the door, the look on her face akin to that of a rabbit cornered by a fox. Oh, what was she going to do?