This is the first chapter of the pirate101 100-word challenge that I have discovered via the wonderful KamenRiderTanatos :D
It will feature my dearly beloved array of characters from "Common Motives", and will likely be updated daily :)
Enjoy!
1. Beginning
"Miss Underhill!"
It was as if the room had then dropped twenty degrees, and Sydney shivered as she mentally forced herself out of her daydreams and back to reality.
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Did you hear my question, or were you off in your own silly little world of make believe?"
Sydney had to fight to keep the color from rising to her cheeks as her fingers absentmindedly toyed with the olive green folds of the uncomfortable silk dress.
Of course I didn't hear your question, she wanted to say, I wasn't listening to your boring drone. But, naturally, the forced - good mannerism of her upbringing would not let her voice this, and it was stuffed down inside of her head.
"I heard you, Ma'am."
Her tutor, a stern Marleybonian woman in her late thirties with wrinkles that had appeared on her face at much too early of an age, scoffed, obviously not having believed a word of what the ten – year – old had said.
"I'll ask you one more time – have you memorized your vocabulary?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Sydney replied, her pale cheeks flushing, partly in humiliation for being talked down to in such a way, and partially in anger – but not anger at her tutor.
She was angry because just outside the window, within range of her sight and hearing, she could see children playing.
Children of her age – ten, eleven years old, happily running back and forth through the cobblestone roads, running after each other in some sort of obscure – one of the words which she had been required to know – chase game. Yet, as basic as it seemed, she envied them, for she would have given anything to be anywhere but here, in this dull, heavy – feeling room in the Underhill manor, cornered by a woman that she did not even know the name of.
It was funny, Sydney thought, how she didn't even know her name. But then again, it was hardly necessary – even if her name had been known, she would still call her "Ma'am," regardless.
"I will find out if what you say is true."
A clicking noise as the woman adjusted her spectacles, and the rustling of fabric as she crossed her arms, taking a step closer to the grey – eyed girl.
"Define malevolent."
"Malevolent - having or showing a wish to do evil to others," The girl all but spat as she recited the definition back to her perfectly.
"Injunction."
"Injunction – an authoritative warning or order."
"Lucid."
"Lucid – expressed clearly or easy to understand."
At this, her tutor seemed slightly satisfied (or shocked, Sydney really could not tell the two emotions apart when it came to this particular individual) and stepped back, giving Sydney a momentary sense of relief.
"It appears your claims are correct, Miss Underhill," she said, pinning Sydney down with her gaze, just as Sydney had a habit of doing to others, and the two ensued in what seemed like a subtle staring contest.
In the end, Sydney had emerged as the victor – her teacher had broken the stare to glance at the pendulum clock that was hanging on the wall behind the girl's head.
"And I do believe that your session is finished."
No goodbye, no words of approval at her memorization, no encouragement. Instead, she simply walked out of the door, pointed nose poised in the air, her heeled shoes making crisp clicks as she exited the manor.
Silence.
Sydney had not wished for silence – she wanted to scream, but her parents would scold her for acting in such an unrefined manner.
God, she wanted to scream, she wanted to pull at her black locks of hair until the artificially pressed curls refused to hold their shape anymore, she wanted to rip the olive – colored silk off of the suffocating hoop skirt, and she dared not even give a thought to the corset that had been pulled too too tight around her waist –
However, she was then forced to abandon yet another train of thought as the massive grandfather clock in the main hall of the manor struck three and sent her running as fast as she could, not daring to let the sharp heels of her shoes hit the floor, else her mother discovered she was running inside the manor, and yet she had to go fast, to the drawing room in the West Wing, where the grand piano was located.
She had just barely made it in time, under a minute, before her mother would notice the absence of the sound of running scales filling the interior of the manor, and rushed to arrange her skirts about her as she seated herself on the bench before the instrument, immediately placing her hands on the ivory keys and beginning what would then continue to be another two – hour confinement that was now a regular part of her daily routine.
It became so regular, so boring, so agonizingly boring, that she feared, one day, that she would combust.
Combust – to spontaneously be consumed by fire.
That's an interesting word, she thought, and for the first time in what must have been several days, the ten – year – old girl smiled.
Hope you enjoyed! I've never really written about Sydney's history before, so this was an interesting experience for me. I'll definitely try and go through the entire list, so follow and REVIEW!
- Severina