"This place is huge," Ella ran around the living room with her younger sister, Etta on her heels.
"Ella, Etta, move out of the way," their older sister, Alya commanded as she helped her father move in a table.
"Can you girls go help your mama and bring in a chair?" Their father, Otis, requested. The twins nodded and went out to the wagon, passing their mother, Marlena, who carried a small child in her arms.
"Oh, Otis, this is perfect."
"I'm glad. It's not too far from the castle, so I'm case you need me for anything, Alya can get to me fast."
"Don't worry Papa, I can take care of Mama," answered Alya, full of confidence.
"First you need to take care of your little sisters," Otis pointed to Etta and Ella as they struggled to bring a chair inside. Alya quickly rushed over to finish bringing the chair inside for her mother to sit down.
"Papa, there's a man at the door," Ella cried out. The family turned to indeed see a man at the door.
"Good Morning, I assume you must be the new neighbors?"
"That is correct, what can I do for you?" Otis stood protectively beside his wife as she took a seat in the chair.
"I was wondering if you needed some help?"
"That would be great. Thank you!" Otis approached the man and shook his hand, " And your name?"
"Kubel, and this is my son Jalil." A young man stepped into view, looking like a slightly younger version of his father.
"Cesaire. Come, let me show to the wagon," Otis led the two men away.
"Alya."
"Yes mama?" Alya turned towards her mother.
"Why don't you take Ella and Etta to explore the market. They have a lot of pent up energy from the trip."
"Sure," Alya kissed her mother on the cheek. "Ella, Etta! Come on!"
"Where are we going?" asked Etta.
"To market." The little girls eagerly raced out of the house, Alya dashing after them.
The market was crowded with the hustle and bustle of Pari before them. If Alya had been anyone else she may have lost her smaller sisters, by she nimbly made her way through the crowd.
"Alya look!" One of the sisters called, Alya assumed to be Etta once they reach their destination. Fancy carriages and horses were lined up, waiting for their owners to return from shopping Alya assumed.
"Look at this one, isn't it pretty?" Etta pulled Ella along to a carriage decorated in purple and golden trim, with two white horses to of the horse bent its head down, the girls taking this as an opportunity to pet the animal.
"Ella, Etta," Alya called out to her sisters as she meandered through the row of carriages.
"You girls, get away from there," a royal guard called out, his voice frightening a few of the horses, including the one they were petting. Alya barely pulled her sisters away as the horse reared up.
"Look what you did. You spoke her grace's horses," the guard scolded as he calmed the beasts.
"You spoke the horses with your shouting," challenged Alya, holding her sisters close to her side.
"Know you place, commoner. You shouldn't be here, now scat," he commanded.
"Franz, that's enough," Alya, Etta, and Ella peered around the guard to find a woman in a roayl blue cloak. Based on her clothes and how she held herself, Alya stopped into a low bow, along with her sisters.
"These girls were messing around with the horses," responded Franz. This brought Alya out of her curtsy.
"My sisters were not messing around! Granted we should have asked for permission first, but they were only petting the horses. It wasn't until you yelled that the horses started acting up," defended Alya, staring the guard in the eye despite the gaping height difference. She then turned to the noble woman.
"May my sisters pet your horses?"
"Of course," The woman nodded. Alya in turned nodded to her sisters, who hesitantly approached the horses, both of the animals eager for pets.
Franz grumbled as he walked away, opening the carriage door for the noblewoman.
"Your sisters are lucky they have you looking out for them," she commented to Alya in passing.
"It's my responsibility, and I could bear it if something were to happen to them."
The noblewoman nodded as the door to the carriage shut. Alya backing up to pull away her sisters.
"To the theater please," the woman instructed, the coachman directing the horses back into traffic.