Nine days.
For nine days Elladora’s life had revolved around just a few rooms of the estate. She could lay claim to only a few bursts of inadequate sleep in her own bed and the house elves had wisely given her a wide berth since the day Ursula first went into labour. Occasionally she remembered to eat but for the most part she had distracted herself with reading an arcane text on animagi transformations from cover to cover. She had no idea whether it was relevant or correct but she had forced herself to read and reread every word.
Anything was better than looking at Ursula’s utterly blank face as she slept through days and nights without much sign of waking. The healers had given them no clear idea of what to anticipate and Elladora had long since lost any patience she might have had with them: she would have been better off finding an old wise woman to minister to Ursula. At least they wouldn’t patronise her quite so much.
In between burst of academic distraction she wrote to Phineas with updates on his wife’s condition. His lack of response suggested to her that he was becoming irritated with their sameness but still she sent owls out several times a day. Returning from one such trip Ella froze to the spot in the corridor when she heard her name called. It couldn’t be…
“Ursula?”
Ella arrived in the room just in time to see Ursula tumble to the floor into an ungainly heap. The face that turned towards her was pale, pathetic and blissfully petulant.
“Never mind me my dear,” Ella replied with uncharacteristic warmth in her voice, falling to her knees to wrap her arms around the younger woman, gently pulling the bony frame against her own. “I knew you would come back.”
fabulous set by Lady <3