((Disclaimer- I own all of the characters in this chapter as well as the plot. I do not own the places or world, as those belong to the Great Tamora Pierce))
Wow it has been a while since I updated! Sad as I am to admit it, I got very lazy over break and writing sunk to the bottom of my list of things to do. But now school is in full swing once more, and I need a way to procrastinate! haha.
Special thankees go out to Starfire54, voice in the wind,Kate of Carlay, and to the few other people who read the chapter. (is it sad when a one-shot gets 3x the number of hits than a real story??? HAha.)
And since I could not respond to voice in the wind: I want to thank you sooo much! Your review made me veryveryveryvery happy. And yes, your translation was right. Your teacher would be proud. haha.
Well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. The plot begins to thicken a bit more here. I am surprised at how slow the story seems to be going actually...there is still so much. The murders. The murderers. The Gods. The...well if you stick with me you will find out. :)
Time
Chapter X
Trix lay upon her bed with her eyes still closed, taking in the warmth that her grandmother's house seemed to radiate. The pungent smell of the forest wafted its way through the window and she could hear a group of birds calling after one another in the sky. Though the shutters were still closed, she knew that the day was sure to be bright, a good omen.
It was all so peaceful and familiar, so far away from the rest of the world. Free from the woes and troubles that the city life wrought.
She only wished this tranquility would last.
Though there were no nightmares the previous night, she had not slept well. Something was niggling in the back of her mind, but every time she tried to grasp the thought, it slipped away. The feeling infuriated Trix, for she knew somehow that it was imperative for her to remember, but she simply could not.
There was the soft banging of pots and pans from the kitchen below her room, and the sweet aromas of breakfast rose up through the floorboards.
Trix groaned as she rolled out of the soft bed, landing on the hard wood floor with a thud. Her mother's voice called from below.
"Everything alright up there?"
"I'm fine, just getting out of bed." Trix shouted back, voice thick with sleep.
She struggled to remove the blankets wrapped around her and stood up. Wiping sleep from her eyes she glanced around and noticed her bag at the foot of the bed. She could have sworn she had left the bag downstairs yesterday.
Trix shrugged her shoulders and rummaged through the badly packed case to find a casual dress. She did not feel like trying to find both a skirt and blouse in her mess, and she was already wearing her undergarments.
The soft green fabric slipped over her shoulders and went down to her shins. It was free of embroidery and any other designs, two things that Trix valued in an outfit, but it was serviceable for a day at Leyna's.
In the room beside hers, Trix heard a muted groan. It seemed that Tani was just waking up.
Normally when they visited their grandmother, the two sisters would share a room. Since Leyna was not sleeping upstairs any longer though, she had all but ordered Tani to take her room, leaving the guest room to Trix.
When she arrived down the steps and made her way to the kitchen, Trix saw her grandmother sitting in the whicker chair, talking with her son. Katherine, the girls' mother, was putting away the cooking pots.
The girl spied fresh rolls on the table, and immediately grabbed one. The only time the family got a real breakfast was when they were with other relatives, never at home.
"Trix," Katherine spoke. "Why don't you go out and check on Chebe?" She asked, naming the small chestnut colored horse that they had brought with them from home.
The girl opened her mouth to complain, but closed it when she noticed the stern look in her mother's eyes.
"Fine, but tell Tani it is her turn tomorrow."
There was one thing that Trix loathed when she went to her grandmother's house, and that was 'checking on Chebe'. One might be inclined to believe that 'checking' meant only to look in the barn and see if he is alright. The truth was that the person who was 'checking' on him would also have to muck out his stable if needed, fill the cistern with water from the well, and put more hay or oats in his trough.
All in all Trix was disgusted by this vulgar job. It was not that she did not like to work, because she did. For her she just did not enjoy the dirty kinds of work. Surely she was not the only person who felt that way in the world?
Tani on the other hand lavished in any opportunity to work with horses, so it was no punishment for her to 'check' on Chebe. The older sister's love for horses was ironic actually, for the horses she met usually did not return her love.
Trix went through the chores as quickly as possible, trying her hardest to avoid thinking about what she could be touching, which was definitely not an easy task for her.
She had only been finished her chore when a middle age woman stepped into the stable, leading a pale brown mare. The woman had a stern look about her and gazed condescendingly upon Trix's dirtied figure.
"He needs water and oats, no hay. A good brushing as well, for both Lawson," she gestured to her horse then looked back to Trix, "and for your hair."
Trix touched her dark brown locks self consciously and watched, mouth agape, as the rude woman walked out of the barn. She had almost reached the doorway when the girl called out, barely containing her anger towards the stranger.
"And who are you to walk into my Grandmother's barn and order me about like a servant?" Trix exclaimed.
The older woman's face showed anger as she turned to face the girl before she composed herself and all malice cleared from her eyes.
"You ought to know better than to speak that way to your betters, Salvatrix." The woman retorted, grinning as she saw Trix's surprised face. "Your memory must be dulled by these nauseous fumes from the horses. I am Lady Laverne."
The name faintly rang a bell in Trix's mind, but she still did not know who the woman was or why she was there, as she then told the Lady.
"I am ashamed that you have forgotten me. I am your Aunt, your…mother's sister."
It was then that Trix knew who the woman in front of her was. She was the most dreaded relative Trix had met in all her sixteen years.
The Lady and her lowly sister were estranged, and for good reason. After Laverne had married a man who presided over a small fief near Tusaine, she became snooty and vulgar to all those she thought were beneath her station.
Trix had heard stories from Katherine's childhood, where Laverne's overbearing personality had brought her much younger sister to tears time and time again. But her demeanor had grown worse as the years wore on. In truth Trix did not believe she had ever seen this woman before in her life, and she was quite thankful for that.
The girl did not like Laverne one bit, and it did not help that Trix had noticed the pause before calling Katherine her mother.
Trix clenched the reins that had been placed in her hold earlier, in a futile attempt to contain her emergent ire.
Every fiber of her being wanted to thrash out at the woman both verbally and physically. Who was this Noble to come prancing into her grandmother-in-law's home and order her niece about?!
Unfortunately Trix's anger was so great that she was unable to form any words to vent her rage, and Lady Laverne swept from the building with a victorious smirk.
"Gah!" Trix as she turned and punched the nearest pillar with all her might, forcing splinters into the skin on her knuckle.
"Don't let that old bag get to yeh." A voice said calmly from a window next to Trix.
Trix looked up at her older sister as she leaned on the sill from the outside looking in. "And I am sure you would have handled the situation oh so much better? You would have probably thrown one of your daggers and impaled her head right to the door frame."
Tani laughed at the image. "True. Good thing I left my dagger in my room as soon as I heard her coming. And I've only one dagger, mind you, after that great fight the other day."
As usual, Trix's anger dissipated at her sibling's good humor.
"Were you standing outside the entire time?" Trix asked curiously.
Tani nodded her head. "She hasn't changed at all from what I remember of her. I saw Laverne only once a long time ago, a year or two before we became sisters."
They were silent for a moment, reminiscing of times long past, when they were first introduced to the other's world.
Trix ushered Lawson into the stall next to Chebe's and gave him the necessities, 'forgetting' to brush him.
From the corner of her eye, Trix saw Tani's head perk up from the window sill, and a smile slide across her face.
"I think I'll tend to the roses, do you want to come with?" The elder sister asked, seemingly out of the blue.
Trix stared at her sister as if she was mad, before seeing the mischievous twinkle in her eye. She grinned as well, and nodded. "That does seem like a fine idea dear sister."
Their grandmother's rose bushes were right beneath the kitchen window, where the girls would be able to overhear everything that was said between Lady Laverne and her sister, their mother.
They crept up beneath the window sill, clutching a par of shears and thick gloves on the off chance they were caught eavesdropping. It seemed they arrived in the middle of the conversation, after the cold reunion between family members.
"…we have been alienated at best, from one another," came Laverne's nasally voice. "But I knew as soon as I heard that you should be informed. Since I was already travelling this way, I felt it was my duty to tell you of the danger."
Their mother sighed. "Laverne, this is very thoughtful of you, but really, how will this change anyone's daily life? There are murders in the city; it is a known fact of life."
The sister's glanced at one another, their eyes wide as saucers. Why would their cruel Aunt suddenly feel it in her heart to warn her mother of a single murder in Corus? What Katherine had said was the truth; murders were a daily occurrence in some parts.
"Listen Katherine, I do this because I feel it is my obligation as the eldest in what is left of our family. This murder did not happen in the Cesspool. It was in the Highfields district, a well respected area of the Capitol! Everyone is baffled by the crime. No one, not even the authorities, knows why it happened. All that was left from the murderer was a black hilted knife, dark as night itself with a bronze blade, embedded in the door."
All was silent. Distress was clear in Laverne's voice, though she was a court lady who could easily get overexcited about the minutest of things; her fear struck a chord in all who heard her news. After all, there had not been a murder in Highfields for over sixty years.
Katherine's voice was quieter when she responded to her sister. "Thank you once again for telling me this, but one murder will not affect us, no matter where it happened."
Tani gestured to Trix to move away from the sister and follow her. They moved back into the barn where they were sure they could talk without being heard by their mother or father.
"What do you think of that?" Trix asked, hoping her older sister would have a good opinion on what was going on.
Her hopes went unanswered as Tani responded, "I've got no idea. Maybe it was just a random killing. Maybe it was more than that? Either way we have nothing to do with what happened, so there is no worry." The blond sounded confidant as she spoke her words, but Trix still felt otherwise.
"Perhaps…but we should probably be more careful when we go back anyway. Just in case, you know?"
Tani chuckled and threw her arm around her sister's slim shoulder. "Of course, if it makes you feel better my fearful little sister."
"I am not afraid!" Trix retorted petulantly as she twisted out of her grasp.
"We'll see about that." Her older sister said menacingly as she initiated a tickle fight between them that lasted all of five minutes; until Laverne walked into the barn to fetch her horse, and spied the two rolling around in the hay.
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Thanks to you all for reading and putting up with my ameteur writing!
Oh! And I almost forgot (I always seem to almost forget things. haha.) I have a beta profile now if anyone is in need. :)