So as you can see I'm making another fanfiction. This story has been in my head since I was young and I finally put it into paper. Enjoy!
~L
The sky was dark and the atmosphere was dreary. It was the perfect day for the funeral of Colonel Merryweather. His younger daughter Maria was wearing an all black attire together with her nanny Miss Heliotrope. She threw a red rose at her father's casket and laid another one at her mother's grave. Her eyes drifted off and her vision focused on a small gazebo. Leaning on one of it's pillar was a boy and at another side was a girl. The boy could have been a few years older than her while the girl seemed like the same age as she is. He was wearing an all black attire while a strip of black cloth covered his nose. The girl, on the other hand, was wearing a black and blue dress and the hood of it mostly covered her forehead, giving Maria only the view of her nose up to her chin.
"Is that her?" Robin ask the girl next to him.
"Yes." She answered shortly.
"She doesn't look anything like you."
"No, she's much more prettier." Robin could only shake his head at her statement.
"We'd better go. You promised your father you'd be home before sundown. What excuse did you give him this time?" He asked as they started to walk back to the carriage.
"I told him the truth. I said that I wanted to see the funeral, and surprisingly he agreed I just had to be accompanied by Digweed."
"Good thing he knows how to keep my presence a secret. I am correct, right Digweed?" He asked as the said person opened the carriage door for them.
"Of course young De Noir." He smiled at the boy. Once sat at the carriage the girl removed her hood while the boy removed his hat and makeshift mask.
"She'll be at Moonacre soon, Robin." She stated quietly and looked outside the carriage.
"You'll be fine Margaret." He said and kissed the back of her head while wrapping his arms around her waist.
"He lost it all?" Miss Heliotrope asked while the lawyer nodded. "Even the house?"
"No, no papa couldn't have been in London. Where he wrote to me and said he was going home-" Maria tried to continue but ended up sobbing. Her nanny looked at her pitifully while the man thought this was the perfect time to give the girl her inheritance.
"Ah, well your father did leave you this book." He stood up and grabbed the book from the table and gave it to the girl.
"The Chronicles of Moonacre Valley." She read the cover of the book and she looked at the man questionably.
"Yes, from now on you shall live at Moonacre Valley at the house of your uncle Benjamin and your sister." He said which shocked both Miss Heliotrope and Maria.
"My sister? But I am an only child." She said in surprise.
"Didn't you know? You have a twin named Margaret Merryweather, your father gave her to your uncle as a small baby. Nobody knew his reasons, but we didn't question him seeing as he has all the rights concerning her well-being . She has been raised in Moonacre Valley all her life."
The carriage arrived at the house of the Merryweathers. Robin and Margaret quickly departed from the carriage and hid behind the stone walls of the house.
"Father is going to greet me once Digweed notifies him of my arrival. You must go." Robin nodded and kissed her lips briefly.
"I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Tomorrow." She said then turned around to go inside. But then she ran back to Robin and hugged him.
"My 'sister' will be here tomorrow. Give her a good scare." She whispered and smiled mischievously.
Maria rolled her eyes at Miss Heliotrope's weak stomach, but then she screeched as the carriage encountered branches of trees.
"How can I possibly go live in the country. It's full of... the countryside. My newly found sister might have endured this all her life, but I shall not."
She screeched again as the carriage swayed from the bumps of the road.
"Maria there is only one thing that can save us now." The nanny said and the two locked eyes "Classical French needlepoint."
The carriage halted at a gate and the two looked outside to see if they had arrived. All was quiet up until two young men tried to grab the two females. Maria thought quickly of a way to protect herself and stabbed the bandit's hand with her needle which caused him to let go.
They finally arrived at the house during nightfall, despite the scare that they received during their arrival. When they exited the carriage, they were faced with the eerie looking shadow of Sir Benjamin.
"I'm pleased to meet you." Maria said and held out her hand for a handshake which Sir Benjamin didn't take.
Sir Benjamin acknowledged Miss Heliotrope and received a bunch of complaints from her, which he quickly halted. He took the two inside the house and they were faced with a large dog, which Miss Heliotrope gasped at, and a girl. She was sat at one of the chairs, reading a book around the lit fireplace while the black dog sat at the end of her dress. The girl was pale with piercing blue eyes and dark, almost black, brown hair. She was wearing a white and green dress, white being the bottom while the upper part was green. It's sleeves were only up to her elbows and the dress seemed to flow freely around her.
"Maria this is your sister Margaret." The said girl only looked up from her book to look at the two of them, then went back to reading the book. Benjamin coughed a little then said "Right this is Wrolf. He can kill in an instant, but you're a Merryweather he probably very well won't kill you."
The dog continued to bark at the two when Margaret said. "Wrolf behave." Then the dog then ceased his barking.
The two were accompanied by both Benjamin and Margaret to their rooms. "Margaret, I think it is proper if you sleep now. It is already past your bedtime."
"Of course father." She said. "Come along Wrolf." She climbed the steps to her room at the tower with the dog following behind her.
Once the girl was gone Miss Heliotrope asked. "Why does she call you father?"
"Because she's my daughter." The nanny was about to contradict his statement but chose to stay quiet.
"Maria, Miss Heliotrope your room is at the end of the hall." He said then left the two.
Maria descended the stairs in the morning while hugging the book. Her Uncle Benjamin was waiting for her in the same room they saw Margaret when they arrived. She was wondering how Margaret could have been at her father's funeral but she decided to question the girl later. Right now she needed to focus on how she could save herself from the countryside.
"Young lady, we're taking breakfast here." He said then pointed at a direction.
"Where did you get this from?" He asked once he noticed the book in her arms.
"Papa left it to me." Maria said with a smiled. "Well he had no right to." He muttered then reached for the book. "This belongs here."
"But that's mine." Maria tried to argue.
Margaret ate her breakfast quietly as she sat next to the chair her father was supposed to sit at. She rolled her eyes at Maria's noisy eating nanny.
'Speaking of.' She thought and saw Maria coming inside the room while complaining. She let the two argue by themselves and when Maria sat down, she stared at her sister's calm demeanor.
Her father entered the dining room and sat down.
"Maria you must really try this dish." Miss Heliotrope said.
"Yes, a dish best enjoyed in silence." He said which made the nanny hold her tongue.
"Uncle you must return my father's book to me." Maria said which was answered by silence
"Well you certainly have a very, very good cook. Have you had her long?" Miss Heliotrope tried to make a conversation.
"Madam, no woman aside from Margaret has set foot in this house for years." He said
'No one aside from Loveday.' Margaret thought sadly.
"Well I must say this country food is doing wonders for my stomach."
"Can't a man enjoy a meal in his own home in silence." He said angrily while his daughter continued to eat because she was used to his temper tantrums.
"Well do tell us uncle why did you invite noisy females to your nice quiet house. I'd love to know." Maria said quietly.
"My useless brother dies in debt and forces me to take you in. My cowardly brother-"
"Sir Benjamin!" Miss Heliotrope exclaimed.
"How dare you say that! My father was colonel." Maria shouted angrily.
"Yes and died in debt owing half his money to the regiment. He left his own daughter as a child here and now her sister is here as well."
"If you'll excuse me." Margaret said quietly then stood up from the table. She was fed up with their noise and that they were speaking of her as if she wasn't there. Adding to her rage was the fact that her real father was mentioned, since that topic was still a sensitive subject for her.
"Where are you going Margaret?"
"To the village I'll take a ride out with Nightingale. Don't worry father Wrolf will be with me." She reassured him.
Margaret went to the stables after changing. She was now wearing a long sleeved red and dark yellow gown. The middle was red while the rest was a pattern of red and the dark yellow. Her hair was now downs loose with slight waves and it was held by an intricate white studded clip. She was dressed in the usual De Noir colors to blend in with them in case Robin's father suddenly arrived but for now Coeur De Noir was still at a village a few towns over.
He was retrieving supplies for their family, whilst Robin's availability during her real father's funeral. So far Coeur De Noir knows that she was just another girl from the village with no connections to the Merryweathers.
She mounted on her horse Nightingale, which was a pure black horse with a white mane and tail. He also had white hair on his foot and there was also one white streak on his nose up to his forehead. They rode up until to where Margaret usually entered the forest to meet with Robin.
"Stay here Nightingale. You already know what to do right?" She asked her faithful friend since this was the usual routine for Margaret Merryweather. She entered the forest with Wrolf trailing a few feet away from her. The dog knows that he shouldn't show himself to anyone and only appear at Margaret's side if she was in trouble. Robin was already sitting at the base of a tree in their usual meeting place when she arrived.
"You're late." He stated. Margaret sat down in between his legs while his arms found their way to her waist.
"The two guests were so noisy during breakfast, that it took longer than expected." The two were enjoying each other's company and Margaret was about to fall asleep when she saw Robin's jagged hand.
"What happened to your hand?" She asked and before he could hide it, she quickly grabbed the wounded body part.
"Robin!" She shouted angrily at him. "What. Happened. To. Your. Hand." She repeated slowly.
He sighed and looked at her sadly. "Remember how you told me to give Maria a scare?"
She nodded slowly. "Well this is the result."
"What did she stab you with?"
"... A needle." He said after sometime. She scoffed a little because she tried to refrain herself from laughing. The Robin De Noir was stabbed by a little girl while using a needle.
"You were stabbed by Maria and she used a needle?" She asked again and he nodded. She finally laughed and Robin gave her a look.
"Alright, alright. Let's go get that treated." She said then whistled. Wrolf appeared around a corner and ran towards Margaret. The dog was trained by herself not to hurt Robin or his friends unless they were hurting someone, which was highly unlikely.
"Get two whole chicken from the pantry at the house." She ordered and the dog started running.
"We're visiting Loveday?"
They went down the familiar steps of Loveday's makeshift home. They entered her room and saw the usual lot of animals that she rescued from the forest.
"Loveday!" Margaret called out and disappeared from Robin's view. His relationship with his sister was quite complicated since she was exiled by their father. Their bond was strained because they didn't see each other often but when Margaret brought him to Loveday, they acted like nothing happened and became close siblings again.
"We brought lunch for today." Margaret stated as she entered the room again while holding Loveday's hand.
"Well let me just cook these." She said as she lifted up the two whole chicken.
"Oh and Loveday, I need medicine for a wound of Robin."
"Sweet little Margaret, you always look out for my little brother." Loveday stated once she returned with a few salves of medicine from plants in the forest. Once Loveday was able to cook the chicken, she served the first whole to Robin and Margaret. While the other one was equally divided and given to the animals.
"Let's eat shall we?"
And that is the first chapter of Margaret. The next chapter would be the flashbacks.
If you want to see her dresses here are the links:
s1295 .photobucket user/ Lillianthi4349 / media / Margaret /10733623 _ 855950151116046 _ 1393320856 _ n_ zps75b90de9 .jpg .html
s1295 .photobucket user/ Lillianthi4349 / media / Margaret / 974405 _ 855950237782704 _ 3075197 zps21cf3fa9 _ n_ zps75b90de9 .jpg .html
Just remove the spaces and these dresses are already in order of the time that she wore it.