A pleasant awakening

It was immediately clear what had woken him. Adeline was awake and making her way off the huge bed. She was being slow and cautious, clearly trying and failing to not wake him. He appreciated the effort.

“You can stop trying to be sneaky, I’m awake.” Adeline looked around at him and, as she usually did when looking at him, smiled. “Sorry Vel, hard to sneak on a mattress.” “It’s fine Adi, I have no business sleeping at this time of day anyway. Have you been awake long enough to read your own letter from Uncle Kal yet?” She had not, and now that Vel was awake, she happily settled back into bed with him and read it out loud for the two of them. It wasn’t all that different from the one Vel had gotten, except it contained less about horses and more about their cousins.

After they finished the letter and had a brief chat about its contents, Vel thought about what the figure had told him. If he was going to get up that hillside tomorrow, he would need help. Preferably from someone who wouldn’t ask questions. He was pretty sure Adeline was his best bet. There were some male servants or guards that might be willing to help him out, but the risk of it getting back to his father would be too great. Rose, while trustworthy and seemingly willing to do a lot for him was simply not as tall and strong as Adeline. No, it had to be Adi. His twin and not asking questions hardly went hand in hand though. Perhaps he could simply ask her not to, she always insisted she’d help him with anything.

“Adi, I need your help with something tomorrow. It will sound a bit strange, but you can’t ask any questions about it, okay?” Adi just nodded and said “Okay, how can I help?” Vel had been hoping for a response like this but was still a bit surprised. “I need you to ride with me to the hills opposite the old orchard tomorrow and help me get a little way up the hillside.” If she was surprised or confused, she didn’t show it. “Sounds doable, we gonna do it immediately after breakfast?” Vel hadn’t given any thought to what time tomorrow he would do it, but going early seemed like a good idea, who knew how long this would take. “Yeah, right after breakfast sounds good.” Adeline nodded again, seemingly satisfied.

This felt strange, usually a weird request like this would have Adi bombarding him with questions. “You really don’t have any questions about this?” Adi adopted what Vel internally called her don’t be stupid look. “Of course I have questions, a bunch of them, but you told me not to ask any.” “Oh. So, you’re just doing what I asked, just like that?” Her expressions changed to mildly annoyed. “How often have I told you I will help you with anything you ask? That I will do whatever you tell me to? It must have been hundreds or thousands of times!” She had a point. But Vel had never taken it 100% seriously. He had mostly assumed it applied to anything regarding his disability, and perhaps anything involving their family’s mistreatment of him. He hadn’t thought she would just obey when told not to ask questions. He internally scolded himself for underestimating Adi and her devotion to him again. That had happened too often lately. He resolved not to do it again.

The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully. Vel and Adi took their lunch in the gardens, and to their delight a somewhat shy Viella asked to join them. After lunch Vel had a massage session with Rose, followed by some very steamy relief. And thankfully, his father and Amordina were absent for dinner as well, making it a fairly pleasant meal. In the evening, the twins went down to the stables together to make sure their horses were well groomed and ready for tomorrow’s trip. By the time Adeline deposited him in bed, Vel was quite tired. Despite his excitement and uncertainty about tomorrow, sleep found him quickly.