TEN
From the beginning, Natarle knew it was not going to end well. They never did.
It was again one of those fights that started out as petty, immature quarrels and had escalated into overblown, violent arguments, this time involving an exceptionally expensive antique armchair that used to belong to Grandfather, kept in Muruta's study—a place that was also previously Grandfather's, and Muruta very seldom used but claimed his own personal space—which Fllay had taken the armchair without his permission.
Muruta had charged into the small parlour when they were enjoying the quiet time after dinner, and immediately started questioning the girl regarding the whereabouts of that particular piece of furniture.
The girl's reply was a straightforward admission, followed by her justification for her acquisition of the item. As anyone could have guessed, no excuse coming from her would be good enough of an excuse for Muruta, and with a bit of tactful goading he easily manoeuvred Fllay into revealing that she had hidden the armchair in her own room. He turned around to leave the small parlour—clearly after the item—and Fllay had grabbed him by his coat to stop him. The fight started there.
Lunamaria, who was there because she was running an errand for Fllay, had immediately jumped in to protect her from Muruta's assaults, while Stellar had held onto him to restrain him, albeit without much effect. Natarle was somewhat trapped in the middle; she had tried to separate the two, but with every successful attempt to disentangle them, she would find herself caught between fiercer retaliations coming from both sides.
In a final effort, she pushed the two apart with all her strength, knocking Fllay into Lunamaria's arms with one hand while keeping her other on Muruta's chest. She looked straight into the blond man's clear blue eyes, herself unintimidated and unyielding, and yelled at him, "That's enough!"
His reaction was rather peculiar; there was this odd expression on his face that looked like a mixture of surprise, anger, defiance, and just a tiny hint of a plea, as though a complaint against Natarle's judgement. When he realised from her unfazed stare that she was not going to change her mind, his face immediately fell into one of bitter resentment.
He grabbed her hand and pushed it down as he took a step back, and he scowled, "You know what this means." Not caring whatever reply she might have, he dropped her hand altogether and left the room.
It meant trouble; she knew too well.
His words refused to leave her mind, and the more she thought about them, the more she dreaded. The worry was distracting her, particularly when she also had the aftermath of the fight to take care of: the broken teacups, her upset sister, and the scratches on Stellar's arms. That was most likely why it was only after she had sent Fllay to bed and Lunamaria with her, and had also treated Stellar's wounds, that she allowed herself a small moment of relaxation, and as she rubbed lightly on her tense shoulders to ease the tiredness, did she finally realise in horror that her most precious possession was missing. She sprung from her seat, searching frantically around her, her panic so blindingly strong that she was even unaware of Stellar's queries as to what she was looking for.
The pendant. Mama's precious pendant. The pendant that was Papa's present to Mama.
She looked everywhere she could think of: between the seats, behind the cushions, beneath the sofa; on the side table, under the side table; along the way to the door, and back to the end of the room. It was nowhere to be found.
"Natarle, tell Stellar what it is you're looking for, so Stellar can help you," the blonde girl pleaded for probably the fifth time, and when Natarle still failed to give her the response she needed, she wrapped her arms around the young woman's, effectively forcing her to stand still. "What is Natarle looking for?"
She breathed carefully, struggling to calm herself. "My pendant. It's gone."
Stellar looked first at her, and then at the bareness around her neck. "The silver one that Natarle always wears?"
"Yes, that one."
"Please don't worry, Stellar can help you! Stellar will look for it with you!"
She did as she said, but with no success. Neither of them paid heed to time until Natarle finally noticed the frequencies of Stellar's yawning. It was getting late into the night, and she reckoned that, considering the lighting conditions, it was not the best time to be searching for lost items anyway.
"Stellar," she called to the girl softly, "it's alright; I'll look again tomorrow. You should go to bed now."
Stellar shook her head determinedly. "But Stellar's not tired yet! The pendant is important to Natarle, so we must find it first!"
"You are tired, Stellar, I can see that. Don't worry about it; I'm sure I'll be able to find it tomorrow," she gave a tight smile, trying to sound as assuring as she could.
Stellar had objected, but Natarle disregarded her, and ushered her out of the small parlour, forcing the girl back to her own room.
o-o-o
Stellar gripped the silver pendant tightly within her two palms, mostly afraid that she would clumsily trip over herself in the darkness and lose the item again.
She had found the pendant in the end. After being brought back to her room, she had waited a little while, and sneaked back into the small parlour to continue her search. She was prepared for the possibility of being scolded by Natarle for not listening to her and going to sleep, but she really didn't want to wake up next morning and see the worry still on the young woman's face. She went back, with the resolution of not resting until she found the pendant.
Fortunately, it did not take her much longer to find it; she had knelt on the floor, peering underneath the table, but she scanned every inch and found nothing, so she got up again, brushing her hands against her dress to straighten it, and that was when she felt something hitched onto the fabric. She looked to it, and there hung the shiny silver piece, dangling dangerously at the end of the silver chain which its other end was hooked onto the garment; the pendant itself would have been gone already if not for the metal clasp that was keeping it from slipping away. Stellar could not help but giggle to herself for her luck; it must have been caught in the creases of her sumptuously layered dress when the fight ensued, and she considered it rather lucky that she managed to find it like this after the chaos. She immediately ran out of the small parlour and dashed upstairs, heading straight for Natarle's bedroom.
She had just turned the corner when she caught sight of a tall figure in the corridor. Halting herself instantly she took a step back, retreating behind the corner; she had no idea why she did so, but it was an intuitive warning, and she always trusted those.
She took a cautious peek around the corner, and froze in place.
The person was standing in front of Natarle's bedroom, giving a quick knock on the door and entered without being asked to. She recognised him straightaway, but she could not comprehend the reason for his visit.
What was Muruta doing, coming to Natarle's room in the middle of the night?
Author's note
Just a little note for readers who've come straight to this chapter, this is the second of two chapters I've put up together in this update, so make sure you didn't miss the first one!