What hope shall we gather?
Character: Padma Summary: An unrestful morning...
Mcnair leered down at Padma, and she couldn't keep from shaking. All the clarity that had been missing before was back, and it seemed as though he knew exactly what he was doing. The candlelight caught the edge of the knife as he lifted it toward her face.
With a scream of fear and protest, Padma woke, shaking and blindly reaching out for Faelan, but finding only an empty bed. She shivered, breathing deeply and trying to calm herself. Faelan was at work, as he always was at this time of the morning. She was safe in bed, and Mcnair hadn't shown up or sent her any gifts since she'd escaped. Sighing, Padma buried her face into her pillow and wished that Faelan were here to comfort her. But Faelan insisted that Neville – who was apparently pregnant thanks to a magic lizard, of all things – needed him right now. Apparently, needed him more than he thought Padma needed him.
Padma slid out of bed and headed for the bathroom and a hot shower, trying to push those thoughts aside. Faelan had a good job and responsibilities. Her problems and nightmares couldn't… shouldn't affect that. She supposed she was also irked that he kept insisting that they wait for her complete recovery, though she had been fine only a few days after she'd escaped. She knew they still hadn't managed to get the details on getting Mcnair through the Ministry and to the Veil, but he hadn't exactly been helpful with that, either.
Part of her knew she was taking it out on Faelan unfairly, but Padma just wanted the whole Mcnair problem to be over. Once he was gone, she could relax and stop worrying that he was suddenly going to appear in the shop to take her away again.
Maybe she just needed to take care of things herself. Padma bit her lip and stepped under the hot water. The man who had taken the credit for Mcnair's death still worked at the Ministry. Maybe she ought to contact him again…
No. She could only imagine Faelan's reaction to that. She'd just talk to him again about getting Mcnair back through the Veil. Surely they could come up with some kind of plan…