After a week of absence Melisandre came back and she seemed to be quite haggard from whatever it had been she was doing.
Though when Evelyn asked her what she had been up to Melisandre just brushed it off and gave a vague explanation.
"Oh, nothing you need to worry about. Just some meeting with the other hall masters." Melisandre said while shrugging her shoulders. "More importantly, how has your practice been going? Have you been keeping at it?"
"Yes, I have been using up a large portion of my magical energy every day, but I have not made any progress or gleamed any insight. Am I perhaps doing something wrong? Is there no other way I could go about it that is better and faster?" Evelyn asked with a bit of desperation on her face.
She felt like a failure for not having made any progress, and the creeping fear that she might be abandoned for being defective was knocking in the back of her mind.