It’s been a long while since we’ve snooped through a character’s underwear drawer, hasn’t it? I think it’s time we resumed our bad habit, don’t you?
A couple months ago, y’all voted to snoop through Hamilton Felin’s undie drawer. I think that’s where we’ll go today.
Hamilton’s underthings are kept in a dresser that sits under a window that has a fantastic view of the Ovedlea Mountains. Night-time makes the view especially magical – Shrilugh dots the mountainside, making it seem as if stars have dropped from the heavens, claiming the mountains as their home instead of the sky.
But we’re not here for the landscape, are we?
Go ahead and open the top left drawer. It’s a mess in there. Not because Hamilton’s servants are bad at their jobs, but because he tends to be slightly messy by nature. Whenever he goes for a change of underthings, he always leaves it behind in a fairly rumpled state. Apparently, we’ve arrived before his servants have had the chance to tidy it up again.
At the bottom of the drawer is a flat, ebony box. The symbol of the Compelling Eye is etched onto the top. Inside is a pendant – a long, silver chain with an Eye hanging from it. Mounted inside the Eye is a single black onyx, and a second empty spot where another stone should be. Hamilton never looks at it. These days he’s all but forgotten it’s there.
Something he does look at is this: Pressed between two panes of glass and framed with rough wood are four locks of hair, each tied with dainty black ribbon. Three of the locks are black; one is blonde. These are quiet, simple symbols of the family he adores.
A stained cloth napkin with rough embroidery that reads “The Scale and Feather” is wrapped around a pocket-watch. He took the napkin from the pub where he met his wife, Sadie. It still makes him smile. The pocket-watch was a wedding gift from his brother – the only member of his family who didn’t disapprove of his marriage to the pretty bar-keep. Hamilton never uses it. It’s too fancy a thing for his taste, and he’d feel pretentious wearing it. Maybe one day he’ll pass it down to one of his sons.
Make sure you shove all those trinkets back to the bottom of the drawer, but don’t bother doing it neatly. No one will notice we’ve been here today, trust me.
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I hope you enjoyed our foray into Hamilton’s drawer! Since we’re getting closer and closer to the release date for The Darkening, I’m going to begin re-presenting you with character’s undie drawers we’ve already snooped through. I thought a refresher course might be in order. Next week: Aydan.
In the meantime, feel free to pop by my Pinterest boards – The Darkening has lots of new images that I’m excited about (though some of them might be considered slightly spoiler-y), and I’ve even added a few to Shrilugh.
Also, I wanted to let you know that if you’ve bought a paperback copy of Shrilugh and would like a signed nameplate for the book, please email me at myndishafer [at] gmail [dot] com and let me know. I’m more than happy to send one your way!
Big love,
Myndi
Myndi Shafer 