She stared at her arm. Sometime between now and when she'd left, it had morphed back into that revolting skull and snake image. She'd assumed that Elldir (she wouldn't even let herself think of him by his first name anymore) would take control of the Death Eaters when she left, so it wasn't so surprising it had changed, she supposed.
Now, the question was what to do about it. She'd gone out of her way to disappear, but hadn't actually turned traitor against the Death Eaters. It was perfectly possible for her to return, though she knew it would be in disgrace if she did.
If only she knew how Elldir would react! If he showed her any lenience at all, then it wouldn't matter that he'd changed the marks back.
All the more reason to arrive on time, then. Caelani recalled the many meetings others had called, including the one she herself had supervised. Nobody other than Voldemort frightened all of the Death Eaters enough to prevent their mild forms of rebellion, which was mostly expressed by them turning up late to meetings. If she was early enough, few people would be there if Elldir did slip up.
Decision made, she pushed out her chair and fell to her knees next to the bottom drawer of her desk. Somewhere in here was a mirror, she knew. There! Grasping it, Caelani held it up in front of her face and began restoring the glamour charms that had for years ensured her naturally mousy hair seemed golden blonde and ensured her hazel eyes looked poison green to all observers.
Then, with a resounding crack, she apparated to the manor.
~~~~
Years of practice had made projecting a semblance of calm second nature to Caelani, but as she approached the Manor, she was not calm at all. Thoughts were whirling through her head about how she could pull this off, about how she could make it obvious to Elldir what he had to do (she assumed he was stupid as a matter of course, he'd already been stupid enough to have feelings for her, after all), about what would happen if he refused to at least punish her even if he didn't stoop to torture in front of a cheering crowd.
And then, she was there, at the entrance to the ballroom(?) and
Thaor Elldir wasn't alone. He was flanked by Sandra and a man Caelani had never laid eyes on before. Perhaps that would make it easier. If he'd needed allies to consolidate his power, he couldn't afford to lose face in front of them.
She walked to the centre of the room and simply stood there.
"What? No welcoming party?" she asked.
((it's huge! I'm sorry))