Completed 1-21-04
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Chapter Seven: Interlude
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-City of Moire: The small storage attic above The Gryphon-
Tarai awoke as the sun's first light filtered into the room, and immediately wished she hadn't. She buried her face into the pile of clean rags that she shared with Kayamé as both bed and pillow, and pulled her small blanket over her head. Unfortunately, it didn't help. From behind the thin wooden partition dividing their sleeping area from their Yin's bed, the raised voices of Kayamé and their mother invaded Tarai's sleep-fogged head like a sharp knife.
"Please, Momma!"
"Ye'll get no such extra from me, Kayamé."
Tarai raised her head slightly, then let it drop. It was the same every morning — Kayamé would ask Momma for extra money to buy their food with and invariably be refused. Then she would plead and beg all the ways she knew how, but still be unable to convince their mother how much they needed it. Instead, Momma would give Kayamé the same amount as always, and they would be forced to beg what they could on the streets to make up for their lack.
They were almost done, thankfully, and even better, today's had stayed relatively quiet. Occasionally their exchanges would turn into full-blown arguments, which was never a good thing. Kayamé had inherited Yin's explosive and short-fused temper and when her stubborn determination set their mother off, it was never pretty. Tarai hated to hear the two argue, because there was always the chance that Kayamé would push their mother too far. When that happened, the consequences usually came in the form of a blow to her sister's face or no money at all, and a night spent shivering in one of their Hides.
"Ye're both already disgraces, havin' to depend on me for money." Tarai poked her head out from under her blanket and propped herself up on her elbows. This was something new: before Yin had always given flat refusals, never any explanations.
"When ye're grown you'll find that there's never anyone who will support you." Yin said. "One way or another, no one stays," she added bitterly. "Your father promised by the Creator to stay and care for me forever, but his vow broke when he left, and that of Tarai's father when I lost him to death."
"Father?"
Tarai's eyes widened and she sat up all the way. Her father? Yin had never told them anything about their father before, though Kayame had often asked why it was only the three of them when it seemed everyone else had both father and mother. But why had Momma said "your" and "her"? That would mean...
Tarai crept across the dirty wood floor to peer around the partition which stretched from floor to ceiling across the middle of the room, ending only at the edge of the narrow stairwell leading to the ground floor. Standing on the top step, she tentatively poked her head the partition.
Kayamé stood with her back to Tarai in the small patch of clear floor between the partition on the right, Yin's bed in front of her, and a jumbled mess of storage space. Their mother sat on the bed, already in her work clothes and lacing up her boots as she argued with her daughter. Because Yin worked as a barmaid at The Gryphon, she had managed to rent the tiny attic situated above it to sleep amongst the stored cups, barrels and candles. Unfortunately, since the job paid poorly it left their mother with little money for anything else, which was why she was overly stingy with regards to her daughters' welfare.
"To expect support from a man is to be weak, and vulnerable," Yin went on, ignoring Kayamé's surprised exclamation. "I found that out the long, hard way. Learn to live without them, girl. Remember that ye are the only person ye can safely depend upon."
With a small sigh Tarai sat on the top step of the stairwell to the bar. It looked like Yin wasn't going to say any more about their father. Or, apparently, fathers. It made sense, certainly, though she had never really considered it before. Momma's angry and bitter responses to Kayamé's questions were almost understandable then, and she herself was so different from her sister that it could be logical for them to have different fathers.
I wonder what mine was like.
Tuning out Kayamé as she tried another tactic to elicit money from their mother, Tarai listened to the sounds bouncing up the stairwell in an attempt to gauge how much longer they had before they would be kicked out onto the streets for the day. There was the clatter of a bucket and mop cleaning the floor, and the chairs clunking solidly against the floor as they were taken off the tables...
Suddenly, the barkeeper's roar at a hapless employee interposed itself over the other noises, causing Tarai to wince. The door at the stairwell's foot did little to muffle his shouting, and she had been on the receiving end of his gruff scorn too many times. He disapproved of his employees having family, especially children, since there was no telling when a barfight might render the dependents without a provider. Because they were unwelcome, she and Kayamé avoided both he and the bar as much as they possibly could.
"Yin!" The yell nearly deafened Tarai as it thundered up the stairwell. With a startled jump she ran and huddled behind Kayamé, watching as their mother stomped over to the stair and shouted down in reply. Though of rather short and somewhat petite build, Yin possessed a voice that rivaled the barkeep's own.
"What do ye want, ye mangy cutthroat?"
"Bar's opening, get down here and work!"
"Ah, do it ye own self!" Yin responded, but she quickly finished getting ready. As she pulled her coarse black hair out of her face and into a tight bun, her eyes alighted on her two daughters. With a somewhat annoyed grunt, she reached into an old, empty beer barrel standing by her bed and retrieved a small, locked box. Quickly unlocking it, she removed a few copper coins and dropped them in Kayamé's hand, then re-locked it and placed the key back in one of her pockets.
"I can't afford to give ye extra, so mind how ye spend that, girl. Though ye'll probably be irresponsible with it anyway. Makes me wonder why I give ye any at all."
"Yin!"
"I'm coming! Ye can wait another minute. Go out the back," Yin added in a quieter tone to Tarai and Kayamé, "as Master Percon will likely throw ye out the front entrance and dock my pay should he catch ye. And don't ye come back 'til after sunset, either." With that final admonition, she disappeared down the stairwell and the girls heard the door slam closed behind her.
After a moment, Kayamé retrieved a small cloth pouch on a string around her neck from where it had been hidden on her person. Carefully, she dropped the coins inside and knotted it closed, then tucked it away in her clothes. With the number of pickpockets, thieves, and gangs on the streets, anything visibly meant to carry money, however little, was sure to be emptied before they had the chance to spend it. They had gone hungry only once in this manner before Kayamé took the precaution of hiding the pouch beneath the baggy material of her short, slightly ragged and too-large dress.
"Come on, Ta," she said, taking Tarai's hand. "We've gotta go before anyone comes up here." Occasionally one of the kitchen staff would enter the attic, since the stairwell exited into their workplace and all of the surplus supplies were stored within the barrels of the attic. A few of the staff were either kindly or neutral in their behavior toward the girls, but most would not take kindly to finding them.
"Do we have enough money?" Tarai asked anxiously, tugging on her sister's hand. Kayamé avoided her concerned gaze.
"I think so. But we'll have to find something else that we can do. Momma's right — we have to take care of ourselves, 'cause no one else will." As Kayamé said this, Tarai noticed that the fire in her eyes was different. Usually they burned with frustration at their mother's decision, but now there was a strange acceptance there.
"Kay... do you really believe that?"
"Yes," Kayamé said seriously, "I do. Momma was telling the truth, and she's right. If we can't even depend on her for food, who else would ever take care of us?"
"But... but..." Tarai regarded her sister wide-eyed, unwilling to accept herself that everyone would be like Momma, but unable to say anything to refute Kayamé's logic. There was nothing that she could ever say to change her mind anyway. Once her sister's mind was set on something, it would take someone with a stronger will than hers to be able to change it. "Was Momma right about our fathers, too?"
Kayamé was silent for a moment. "I think she was," she said at last. "Momma didn't have a reason to lie and it seems to fit the way people act. Can you think of any time you've seen people stay together for very long?"
Tarai was silent. Momma was alone, Master Percon's wife was dead, the gangs on the streets constantly gained and lost members, and she had heard womenfolk gossiping about the Queen's fatal illness not two months ago. Not even the King, who ruled all of the Continent from the safety of his castle on the north side of the city, could escape the fate of being left behind.
"Come on," Kayamé said again. "We have to go."
Letting Kayamé lead, Tarai quietly crept down the stairwell behind her sister into the kitchen, and through the kitchen out the back entrance into one of Moire's many dirty alleyways. The cobblestones beneath her feet were chipped, cracked and dirty, like they were nearly everywhere else around the city. She scuffed her bare foot against one, trying to rub the dirt off to reveal the stone underneath as she waited for Kayamé to decide which direction to go. One end of the alley exited onto a street near one of the many gates spaced throughout Moire's stone walls, while the street on the opposite end lead toward the city's center.
"This way," Kayamé said, tugging on Tarai's hand in the direction of the heart of the city.
"What do we do, Kay?" Tarai whispered as they left the alley and began wandering down one of the city's larger avenues. People were already up and about their business despite the early hour: Noblemen in their litters traversed the streets with dignity, while mercenaries swaggered through the streets and soldiers and guards patrolled with eyes on the watch for trouble. In the distance, especially at the numerous city gates and in the market streets, beasts of burden, butcher animals, and steeds bred for travel raised a beastly ruckus in their assorted voices. Also filling the air were the cries of the street merchants proclaiming their wares to any passer-by willing to listen.
Kayamé sighed. "I'll think of something soon. We'll go looking, and see what we can find." She squeezed Tarai's hand comfortingly. "It'll be ok, Tarai. We'll be ok."
I hope, Kayamé added in the privacy of her own mind. We can't go on like this much longer, and there's so little in the city that we can do...
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AN: All right... no resolution in Ryven yet, but a glimpse at Tarai and Kayamé again. The next chapter, however, should wrap the current events in Ryven, since I know I'm being incredibly evil to you all for doing this.
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Reviewer Thanks:
Kourui: I'm afraid that Saidi isn't Nephrite, no... Saidi's an OC who makes a few appearances in the plot as a character developer. Nephrite and Mamoru haven't made their first appearances yet, but there will be glimpses of them soon. Be warned, though, that because there have to be some mysterious characters, you won't know much about them for a goodly while.
Ele: Liessa is trying to do what's best for her daughter, but her ideas about that and the way she does it isn't always likable. She'll be reappearing in later chapters, though, so you can decide for yourself then.
TK: Thanks for all your comments, Kitty. And not killing me for the cliff-hanger.
Fire Lady: Ooh, a new reader. I'm so glad you like it, and hope you enjoy this update too.
Me Agayn: Well, a short review's better than nothing...Thankee! :)
Ara: Glad you like it! Reread the story and responses to reviews and it should make better sense. Erik is a Shitennou, but not Nephrite.
K. Wyse: A gift for action sequences? Really? Hurrah! ::huggles happily::
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Thanks to my faithful reviewers, and my new readers too! See you next update, and please, review... Please?
Ocianne
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