Penelope didn't find the need to run when Azriel rounded the corner and met her scrubbing the dusty stairs leading up to the roof. Another maid was right at the top, and she washed away the suds with water once Penelope rose from the ground.
Azriel stopped in front of her, and Pen busied herself by patting her wet hands on her apron.
"I have been looking for you," Azriel said. She looked at him then, and his eyes, so vulnerably soft yet dipped in an annoyed worry, tempted her to melt at his concern.
"I have been in the estate, my Lord," she said.
The other maid halted in her cleaning, and she greeted her Master, curious eyes jumping between Penelope and him.
"Let's go and talk in my chambers," Azriel said.
"I am actually fine talking here, my Lord," Penelope said. "And your chambers have been cleaned out already."
