Cruel Fates
Book II: Foreword
By: IceQueen
Disclaimer: BJT belongs to Anne Bishop, as well as characters and settings. Unless you count the creations from my head. Those belong to me.
AN: Okay, I had originally made a different foreword for this book, but something that a reviewer said made me stop and think. My first foreword didn't really state feelings or reactions, so I decided to write another one, and see which one I liked better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~The Morning After~ (God, sounds like it means something else, doesn't it?)
Damien woke to a lingering Queen's scent permeating the room. He ignored the swift pang of longing it sent through him, and instead thought, What the Hell? Who would be in my room that's a Queen?
Certainly not his mother, who'd had the caste of Queen ripped from her before he'd been born. Eliza wasn't a Queen, so he could rule that out. Silvara? What would she be doing here?
He rose sleepily from the bed, and looked around to see if anything had been touched or taken. Nothing had. However, the screen on his window looked like it had been cut open. It had fallen inside, draping its translucent self on the window pane. Damien made the decision to investigate after a shower and breakfast.
In the shower Damien wondered if it had been Silvara. He'd had the strangest dream concerning her last night. She'd been sitting on his bed, not saying anything, just playing with his hair. It made him curious. Maybe it hadn't been a dream after all.
After getting dressed he went downstairs to the kitchen, where his mother and father were already having breakfast, and giving each other very meaningful glances.
He ignored the mushy looks they were sending each other long enough to eat his food. He studied them for a few seconds before asking the inevitable. "Did you guys hear or see anything last night?"
"Sure," his father answered with a smile, "I saw plenty of things, and heard a lot."
His mother blushed a very bright cherry color, and smiled sheepishly into her cup of tea. Finally Damien got it.
"No. Not that. Anything else." Damien said, rolling his eyes. Like he wanted to know that his parents were having sex last night!
"Why?" Jaenelle asked suddenly, "Did something happen?"
"In a way," Damien began, "I woke up this morning practically choking on a Queen's psychic scent. I just wanted to know it you heard anything."
"No, we didn't." His mother told him sympathetically, patting his hand. However, Daemon looked thoughtful.
"I did hear something last night. Sounded like a little scratching sound. I assumed it was a squirrel or some other wild animal," Daemon told his son.
"Hm... Well, I'm going out. I'll be back later." Damien stood and walked out of the house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Dea al Mon Territory~
Damien whistled a little tune as he rang the doorbell to Gabrielle's house. (Did they have doorbells? Oh well, in my fic they do.)
He waited...... and waited.... and waited some more. Nobody came to open the door.
Damien rang it again, this time holding down the doorbell until finally he heard, "I'm coming!!"
He took his hand off of the doorbell and waited. Finally Gabrielle opened the door looking rather disheveled and angry. He smiled in hopes of getting on her good side.
"Hi, Gabrielle. Is Silvara home?"
"No, she's not. She's gone."
"Gone where, exactly?"
"I'm not sure. That's what we're trying to figure out. She took her things though, but no food." He noted that Gabrielle looked worried. She was subconsciously nibbling on a nail, something he'd seen Silvara do when she was nervous or upset, and looking around frantically. Her big blue-gray eyes skipped around from object to object, as though searching for something.
"She took clothing, but no food?" He asked, his voice carefully controlled.
Gabrielle nodded for confirmation, and said, "That's what I said."
"Look," She began, "Chaosti's just about to go to Titian's and ask if she's seen her. We think she might've run over there."
"I'll go," Damien volunteered eagerly. His heart was beating rapidly, and he felt twitchy. Where could Silvara be? Could she be there?
"Are you sure?" Gabrielle asked.
"Yes, of course. Silvara's my friend. If she's just disappeared then it's my problem too."
Gabrielle nodded, told him to report back any findings, and shut the door as he walked away, presumably to tell Chaosti that he didn't have to rush over to Surreal and Falonar's place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Good morning, Falonar. How are you today?" Damien asked politely.
"I'm fine. Now what is it you want?"
"Could I please speak with Titian?"
"Fine. Come on in. I'll go get her."
Falonar left Damien in the living room, waiting for Titian to show up. He was too nervous to sit, so he paced. Until finally behind him he heard someone's steps halt. He turned, and stared at Titian's still un-make-uped face, and taut skin.
"Where is she?" He growled out.
"I don't know." Titian answered him without hesitation. She wasn't lying.
"However, I can see you're concerned, so I'll show you this, and hope it will be enough." Titian handed Damien a piece of paper.
He observed it before reading. The slanted, sharp handwriting looked just like Silvara's, except it was less careful than usual.
He read it, read it again, and looked at Titian. "You found this when?"
"Early this morning. It was right next to me when I woke up."
"So you've known that Silvara has run away all this morning, but you didn't tell Gabrielle or Chaosti?" His voice held an undercurrent of anger.
"She specifically asked me not to. You read it."
"Gabrielle and Chaosti are frantic. Hell, it's their child! She could be out there in danger right now!" Damien yelled as his control broke.
Titian just snorted derisively. "Puh-lease. The icy bitch probably doesn't even give a fuck. She's neglected Silvara almost her whole life, and what? Now she decides to feel something? Yeah, right." She rolled her eyes.
"We have to find her."
"No." Titian said coldly, her golden eyes flaring heatedly.
"No?" He asked incredulously.
"Damien, think carefully. This is my friend. I've watched her suffer for years. She precisely said not to look for her. That was her last wish. Do you think I'm going to do otherwise?" Titian explained, as if talking to a child.
Damien opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. "I guess you're right. I'll go tell Gabrielle and Chaosti."
On his way out Damien stopped and looked back at Titian. "Thanks," He said quietly.
Titian just smiled that bright Titian-smile, and waved goodbye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silvara yawned and smiled brightly as the sun rose over the horizon.
Today was the first day she'd awoken without the menacing fear of facing ridicule. It was heaven.
She sipped the warm liquid from her tea cup, and gently set it down.
Silvara remembered late last night. She'd approached the village, and found Jade waiting for her. Jade had taken her time in walking back to the large house that the Circuit was renting. She'd pointed out place of interest and usefulness for future reference.
Finally they'd arrived. Sarai had greeted them at the door, taken her bag and walked her up to her room with Jade following behind. She'd handed Silvara her bag at the doorway, stopped, and looked at her for the longest time. Suddenly she smiled. Jade and Sarai had both welcomed her, then left to go to bed.
Today she'd gotten up early enough to watch the sun rise, made herself a cup of tea, and sat down. As dawn came she thought, This is a new dawn for my life. A new beginning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: What did you think? Was it explanatory enough? Hm? Please review, and let me know. Personally I think its good. I wrote in male POV, and didn't completely fuck it up. Yay! ::cheers for self::
Book II: Foreword
By: IceQueen
Disclaimer: BJT belongs to Anne Bishop, as well as characters and settings. Unless you count the creations from my head. Those belong to me.
AN: Okay, I had originally made a different foreword for this book, but something that a reviewer said made me stop and think. My first foreword didn't really state feelings or reactions, so I decided to write another one, and see which one I liked better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~The Morning After~ (God, sounds like it means something else, doesn't it?)
Damien woke to a lingering Queen's scent permeating the room. He ignored the swift pang of longing it sent through him, and instead thought, What the Hell? Who would be in my room that's a Queen?
Certainly not his mother, who'd had the caste of Queen ripped from her before he'd been born. Eliza wasn't a Queen, so he could rule that out. Silvara? What would she be doing here?
He rose sleepily from the bed, and looked around to see if anything had been touched or taken. Nothing had. However, the screen on his window looked like it had been cut open. It had fallen inside, draping its translucent self on the window pane. Damien made the decision to investigate after a shower and breakfast.
In the shower Damien wondered if it had been Silvara. He'd had the strangest dream concerning her last night. She'd been sitting on his bed, not saying anything, just playing with his hair. It made him curious. Maybe it hadn't been a dream after all.
After getting dressed he went downstairs to the kitchen, where his mother and father were already having breakfast, and giving each other very meaningful glances.
He ignored the mushy looks they were sending each other long enough to eat his food. He studied them for a few seconds before asking the inevitable. "Did you guys hear or see anything last night?"
"Sure," his father answered with a smile, "I saw plenty of things, and heard a lot."
His mother blushed a very bright cherry color, and smiled sheepishly into her cup of tea. Finally Damien got it.
"No. Not that. Anything else." Damien said, rolling his eyes. Like he wanted to know that his parents were having sex last night!
"Why?" Jaenelle asked suddenly, "Did something happen?"
"In a way," Damien began, "I woke up this morning practically choking on a Queen's psychic scent. I just wanted to know it you heard anything."
"No, we didn't." His mother told him sympathetically, patting his hand. However, Daemon looked thoughtful.
"I did hear something last night. Sounded like a little scratching sound. I assumed it was a squirrel or some other wild animal," Daemon told his son.
"Hm... Well, I'm going out. I'll be back later." Damien stood and walked out of the house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Dea al Mon Territory~
Damien whistled a little tune as he rang the doorbell to Gabrielle's house. (Did they have doorbells? Oh well, in my fic they do.)
He waited...... and waited.... and waited some more. Nobody came to open the door.
Damien rang it again, this time holding down the doorbell until finally he heard, "I'm coming!!"
He took his hand off of the doorbell and waited. Finally Gabrielle opened the door looking rather disheveled and angry. He smiled in hopes of getting on her good side.
"Hi, Gabrielle. Is Silvara home?"
"No, she's not. She's gone."
"Gone where, exactly?"
"I'm not sure. That's what we're trying to figure out. She took her things though, but no food." He noted that Gabrielle looked worried. She was subconsciously nibbling on a nail, something he'd seen Silvara do when she was nervous or upset, and looking around frantically. Her big blue-gray eyes skipped around from object to object, as though searching for something.
"She took clothing, but no food?" He asked, his voice carefully controlled.
Gabrielle nodded for confirmation, and said, "That's what I said."
"Look," She began, "Chaosti's just about to go to Titian's and ask if she's seen her. We think she might've run over there."
"I'll go," Damien volunteered eagerly. His heart was beating rapidly, and he felt twitchy. Where could Silvara be? Could she be there?
"Are you sure?" Gabrielle asked.
"Yes, of course. Silvara's my friend. If she's just disappeared then it's my problem too."
Gabrielle nodded, told him to report back any findings, and shut the door as he walked away, presumably to tell Chaosti that he didn't have to rush over to Surreal and Falonar's place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Good morning, Falonar. How are you today?" Damien asked politely.
"I'm fine. Now what is it you want?"
"Could I please speak with Titian?"
"Fine. Come on in. I'll go get her."
Falonar left Damien in the living room, waiting for Titian to show up. He was too nervous to sit, so he paced. Until finally behind him he heard someone's steps halt. He turned, and stared at Titian's still un-make-uped face, and taut skin.
"Where is she?" He growled out.
"I don't know." Titian answered him without hesitation. She wasn't lying.
"However, I can see you're concerned, so I'll show you this, and hope it will be enough." Titian handed Damien a piece of paper.
He observed it before reading. The slanted, sharp handwriting looked just like Silvara's, except it was less careful than usual.
He read it, read it again, and looked at Titian. "You found this when?"
"Early this morning. It was right next to me when I woke up."
"So you've known that Silvara has run away all this morning, but you didn't tell Gabrielle or Chaosti?" His voice held an undercurrent of anger.
"She specifically asked me not to. You read it."
"Gabrielle and Chaosti are frantic. Hell, it's their child! She could be out there in danger right now!" Damien yelled as his control broke.
Titian just snorted derisively. "Puh-lease. The icy bitch probably doesn't even give a fuck. She's neglected Silvara almost her whole life, and what? Now she decides to feel something? Yeah, right." She rolled her eyes.
"We have to find her."
"No." Titian said coldly, her golden eyes flaring heatedly.
"No?" He asked incredulously.
"Damien, think carefully. This is my friend. I've watched her suffer for years. She precisely said not to look for her. That was her last wish. Do you think I'm going to do otherwise?" Titian explained, as if talking to a child.
Damien opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. "I guess you're right. I'll go tell Gabrielle and Chaosti."
On his way out Damien stopped and looked back at Titian. "Thanks," He said quietly.
Titian just smiled that bright Titian-smile, and waved goodbye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silvara yawned and smiled brightly as the sun rose over the horizon.
Today was the first day she'd awoken without the menacing fear of facing ridicule. It was heaven.
She sipped the warm liquid from her tea cup, and gently set it down.
Silvara remembered late last night. She'd approached the village, and found Jade waiting for her. Jade had taken her time in walking back to the large house that the Circuit was renting. She'd pointed out place of interest and usefulness for future reference.
Finally they'd arrived. Sarai had greeted them at the door, taken her bag and walked her up to her room with Jade following behind. She'd handed Silvara her bag at the doorway, stopped, and looked at her for the longest time. Suddenly she smiled. Jade and Sarai had both welcomed her, then left to go to bed.
Today she'd gotten up early enough to watch the sun rise, made herself a cup of tea, and sat down. As dawn came she thought, This is a new dawn for my life. A new beginning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: What did you think? Was it explanatory enough? Hm? Please review, and let me know. Personally I think its good. I wrote in male POV, and didn't completely fuck it up. Yay! ::cheers for self::