It had been nearly a week since Cinder arrived. Her heart never stopped beating, just a smidge faster when she and Lila had shared a room. Though Cinder could barely come to terms with the lie of Lila actually caring for her. Every time Cinder asked to leave, Lila offered it up as it were simple, "You can leave if your leg is up for it." Lila had said, knowing fully well that Cinder could barely stand on the thing.
Cinder was being kept in here as a prisoner. She had to be. Why else would Lila dangle freedom from this snug grotto-like something so easily obtainable?
Lila similarly felt her heart quicken. The couch was all comfortable, though Cinder had said she would much prefer them to share a bed. Something about not entirely trusting the brunette with not waking in the night and going for a blade. All in good fun, Lila was sure. Though the nights were long, Cinder didn't sleep well, it seemed. Lila figured it had something to do with how Cinder refused to be seen ever in the nude. The hidden clandestine portions of Cinder's form, hidden by cloth and hair, adding a sense of mystery and horror for Lila.
How she wanted to help. If only Cinder would open up to her.
It was another day in the broken apart downpours of the rainy season. It was reminiscent of the first day Cinder had arrived as Lila remembered it. The woman had just returned from one of her adventures beyond the forest to a village as Cinder expected. Bringing news that made Cinder cringe.
Cinder scoffed a little, "Are you serious?" Her posture found her leaning upon the cottage's central table. "Very," Lila laughed, "The new embargo on Mistral is pressuring us even harder to get new materials. Get used to wearing shorts and sweaters day in and out."
The rain beyond the door had pressed Lila into just that attire. The change made the Maiden blush ever so slightly at the sight of her tanned legs. The Fall Maiden's tone was a little caustic, marred with a laugh. "You can't wear shorts with a sweater." As the Maiden licked her fashion choice over, Lila stirred the thickset stew in the flame. "Oh, please." She muttered into the love, the brunette a tad miffed at the attention.
"Yeah, sure. Laugh it up. Who was the one of us who showed up here in a floor-length red dress and glass shoes?" Lila asked aloud, barely turning from the pot as she did so. Cinder's ears burned at the reference, "I made that dress, I'll have you know." The Maiden defended, biting back. In response, Lila stood from the pot, spoon in hand. "Made it for what? Australia Idol?" Again, Cinder's face burned, though this time embarrassment.
Cinder's golden eye watching as Lila's tongue slipped from her mouth onto the spoon. Lapping up the brown slop delicately in the fire's light. The subtle gaze Cinder held on the woman softened her hardened expression. The light glow of warm fire behind her cast an increasing beauty upon Lila. Her long hair partially glowing at its fringes, she reminded Cinder of a painting. Her skin, soft and supple, perhaps even angel, was too small a rank for Cinder to give to this otherworldly beauty.
But Cinder was slipping again. Her focus on this woman had to be purely utilitarian. Naturally, of course, there was no other way this could go. Right?
The woman pulled the spoon out with a gentle once over. Lila's voice was quieter, more analytical, "Little salt and pepper, and we are golden." Looking back to the fire for a moment, Lila threw the spoon back into the pot. Cinder's nose scrunched up a touch. The smell of meat was almost too palpable for her starving stomach. "How much longer?" She asked, the Maiden's tone mimicking the boil of the stew. "Not much." Lila replied, "Though your attitude may make that a bit lengthier, dear." A slight chuckle of laughter left Lila, though the use of the pet name did not go unnoticed.
A shiver of worry spread up Cinder's spine. How long had she been here? This woman had to be keeping her on ice for something, but what? Again Cinder's mind drifted over to the teenagers, Branwen. It would not be so far-flung to suggest that someone in this part at least knew of the accursed bandits. This Lila, if that was her real name, was simply here to goad her into.
"I don't care for these cheap games you've been playing." Cinder huffed, her arm crossing over in a tired bashfulness. "Now, what are we doing here?" Lila's brow raised a touch at the sudden accusatory tone Cinder had taken. Up until now, the one-eyed woman had spoken with some reprieve.
She wondered if she had overstepped herself. "Well, I was thinking dinner? You know, like I've been preparing?" Her tone was a matter of factly. It irked Cinder; why was this woman lying to her face about her intentions?
"Good." The Fall Maiden sputtered out, the directness again surprising Cinder. "Then I suppose I'll just wait?" Coming slow and lethargic, Cinder's words were met by a slow nod.
Lila wasn't so sure what this woman was intending, but she wasn't too concerned. Of course, what was a one-armed, one-eyed woman going to do? Rob her. "Right," Lila replied, scoffing a little under her breath before turning from the woman, going back instead to the kitchen.
Stealing herself, Cinder turned from the ebbing interaction stepping away to the other side of the table closest to the front door. Her good eye watched Lila as she did so. No step was taken, not even a shift from what she was doing.
Her leg was improving, though it still held a considerable limp. But now was going to be an excellent shot to just get out of this house. The mud would suck her down, but she just had to leave and hope the Maiden powers would get her the rest of the way. Though she turned back to Lila, the woman still sputtered about the kitchen frantically cooking one of her delicious meals.
What was this woman doing? How do you keep Cinder Fall as a prisoner and then not watch her? Cinder flicked her eye quickly to the front door. The latch, it seemed, was still unlocked. Looking back to Lila, the woman still rummaged about grabbing things from the kitchen.
Believing this to be her easiest evasion from a captor, Cinder's hand flinched to the door. The chill of the metal handle was cold and raw against her still bruised hand. Cinder took in a heavy breath, holding the hand there, fully expecting a sudden onslaught of attacks from some hidden assailant. Holding her breath, nothing jumped, spat, or shot her. Watching back out and around the room, Cinder waited ever still. The woman's hair still limped amply from behind her, the woman's body moving as she chopped at something on aboard.
Cinder let the breath relax from her. Perhaps this was just the moment to-.
"Hey, Cinder?" Lila's voice shot out, resounding around the otherwise calm home. Cinder's hand leapt from the handle to her side, instinctively calling on her power for a blade of some sort. Her eye spun, ready for something, anything to throw whatever had appeared in her hand at. First falling on where the woman had been, the kitchen, Cinder's eyes scanned the empty counter and island.
"What are you doing?" Cinder jumped at the voice, coming from mere steps away from her left side. All of her hair felt as if it stood on edge. Cinder had not been surprised by something like this in such a long time. Curse this eye, Cinder realized, turning only a few inches to the side to see Lila stood barely a step away, her face etched in concern for the suddenly frightened and shocked Cinder. "Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" Lilac eyes widened as their owner panicking yelped.
Regulating her breathing, Cinder heaved out a sigh, "What? What do you want from me?" The tone was near snarling, "Do you want to kill me?" Cinder could feel it slip through her lips, the truthful essence of the question now laid open to the air.
However, if Lila picked up on the sincerity of the question, it was unbeknownst to Cinder. In response, the woman's hair only bounced as she turned from Cinder to the table, pulling out a chair, speaking with a still panicked huff as she did so. "No, of course not." Lila rushed back, taking Cinder by the wrist and whisking her to the table.
Slumping into the chair with a huff, Cinder was still slightly delirious as she huffed down. The strain of the night getting to the Fall Maiden, causing whatever was in her hand slipping onto the counter as well as her mouth to sputter tiredly, "Are you going to try and kill me?" She said matter-of-factly. Still panicked, Lila struggled to hear the honesty in Cinder's voice as she stood beside the rigid Maiden. "Oh, don't be so melodramatic." Rubbing circles into the statue's back, "I was just coming to bring you tea." Lila said, the hand not on Cinder's back genuflecting to the table.
The golden marble eye flipped from its panicked position to the small cup Lila motioned to, the subtle lines of steam rising from it. A tanned hand took the mug, Lila moving the mug toward Cinder. The Fall Maiden's hand recoiled at the touch of the cup, reflex again taking over her. "I would never dream of hurting you..." Lila's voice came with a chuckle though it nipped itself in the bud before it had even lived. The warmth of that fiery eye looked drained, tired, and above all else afraid.
Watching with her heart picking up pace in her chest, Lila saw Cinder's flinch away from the mug, the chamomile smell wafting from it as it moved. Slowing her hand, Lila thought for a moment.
Why was Cinder so skittish? Of course, she had no right to know much about the woman. But…
"Are… are you okay?" Quiet as she asked, Lila's hand moved from Cinder's back to her shoulder, close to the bundle of cloth that hid her neck. Quick to respond, Cinder fidgeted around, putting her to face Lila.
"N-Yes. I'm just wondering who's put you up to this?" Cinder spat out, her eye thinning to a glare. It was piercing, accusatory. It stunned Lila, though it was an unsurprising question, having been asked it every day the past week. "I said already that-." Lila tried to spit out.
Though Cinder was back on her feet fast, the laboured effort omitted a shrug-like wheeze from the addled woman. Her pale hand jutted into Lila's chest, Cinder's aggressive beginning to turn heated. "What you said means nothing. You're lying to me!" Teeth harassed the edges of Cinder's lips as she growled at the words.
No response came easy to Lila, especially as the woman's finger stood flexed on her collar. It took force to shake her head, straining her voice to speak similarly. "I-I'm not lying! I just-." Cinder's glare grew, "What then? You thought to capture me and offer me up as some morsel for a quick Lien?" Lila felt as if she was being stabbed. This woman who not so long ago she had washed and nursed was now glowering down at her. It was time to summon some of what her oxen family called bravery.
Cinder watched as the woman before her face went from ashen and surprised to stalwart. Her head dropped as she squared her jaw, and her shoulders seemingly went rock hard. The boney finger that dug into this woman's chest was smacked to the side, and instead, one of Lila's own was thrust into Cinder's face. "You think I took you in to, what, sell you?" Cinder blinked, her bravado depleting at the words that rang just a touch too loud. The erupting woman continued, "Like what? An animal? What kind of world do you live in where someone takes broken people into their home, out of the mud, and turns them around for a profit?"
"Then what are you-?" Cinder tried, her mouth turning dry, a faint back step she took found her leg tied up within her chair. Another action taken by Lila pushed the fretting Cinder down into it, her backside colliding with it with a slumping wham. Lila gave little time for a reprieve, "Y'know, it's not every day someone falls in my path here. How is it that someone like you drops out of thin air, battered and broken with the Gaul to accuse people?"
Air seemed to freeze around Cinder, time slowing down as she stared back at those lilac eyes. Lila watched, her face still twisted into her defensive sneer, waiting for some rebuke from the formerly fiery woman.
*Snif*
The only sound to rise from the Fall Maiden, her breath going raspy as her nose began to run. Holding her finger aloft to the point of the sound, Lila's stance shuddered a little before it happened again.
*Snif*
Before long, Cinder could feel the faint steam of burning tears brim in her eye. The dead skin on her left too burnt with the same tingling feeling, though she couldn't remove her object of focus. Lila stared down into the pool of amber, the light dancing wildly in the brooding pot that was Cinder's tearing eye.
The first tears began to slip down her flushed cheek, then the left. The disparity made Lila's rage dissipated, her hand shaking feverishly back. "H-hey?" She croaked out, Cinder sniffling again before her eye began to scrunch up.
Years of pent-up, bottled, and stored failures rushed to the surface. The welling grew so immense that it was even impossible for Cinder's to stay shut up. Though the first thing to come from her mouth was not some antiquated apology, no, that would be far too difficult for her at the moment. Instead, a long and overdue whine pushed out of her. For almost ten seconds, she began the process of ugly crying.
The sole onlooker, Lila, watched as this formerly commandeering and angry woman began to sob uncontrollably. She had never heard such sounds come from infants, let alone full adults. An immense growth of guilt built up in Lila's stomach. After all, she had caused this sudden display of emotion and sorrow. "Hey, hey, hey? It-its okay?" She lowered her hand, coming to place both of them on Cinder's shoulders. Her knees bent as she knelt down in front of her crying tea mate. The sobbing was immense. Tears spilt without refrain, threatening to soak the Cinder's front.
The now kneeling woman allowed Cinder to lower her vision to her. The water-soaked face of Cinder continued to wine in voluminous wales. Lila tried to smile, though the concern and worry overwhelmed her process. Her hands dropped from Cinder's shoulders instead of resting on the Fall Maiden's knees. "I'm not going to go anywhere, okay?" Worried the woman was a bit too gone, Lila rubbed the sweatpant cladden thighs with a worried smile. In response, Cinder nodded with a whining groan. Cinder's voice barely broke through her harrowing cry, "I-I-I-I'm So-sorry."
The voice was so destroyed, it scarcely fit the Fall Maiden, and Cinder knew it. She just couldn't pull herself together. Straightening her back only gave her the extra space for her whines to come from. The same thing happened when she buried her hand into her exposed eye, though neither of these was the worst part to come from her constant shimmying. Lila's hands constantly massaged her legs, a sensation Cinder was falling into without remorse for any remaining ego she had.
Eventually, though it was long and tiresome, Cinder's pompous crying slowed. Turning to a dry babbling and near crawling gurgle before evaporating into the subtle up and down bobs at her shoulders. Lila looked up at the heavy pout plastered on the dry crying Cinder's face, smiling slightly as she moved her hand from Cinder's leg.
Reaching up to Cinder's down-laid bangs, the Fall Maiden was just too tired to even try to wave off the act. Slipping her hand beneath the dry and burnt textured hair, Lila's smile twitched downward as she pushed the bang away from the woman's face.
The site presented to the worried woman was shocking. Lila fought to not recoil her hand and gasp. Instead, she sucked air thinly through her nose as she looked over Cinder's right side. The eye, gods the eye. Scorched pale, broken and shattered. As if an oyster's pearl had been inserted into the socket.
Cinder's skin, that lovely and beautiful pale canvas, was marred and destroyed. Burned and scorned, crevices of skin poorly treated healed poorly over her cheekbones. The scorch stressed around the eye's creases. Again, insufficient medical attention looked to have caused more scars than the burns alone.
Though heavily influenced by the tears and sniffling that still ran amock on her, Cinder's attention retained its focus on Lila. Her hands were weighted heavy, her muscles were too so tired, she couldn't even rebuke the woman's scorned gaze. She watched Lila's lips, their plush and beauty entrancing her, as she waited for the scorn and disgust to spill from them. "Oh. My poor dear…" That… That was different? A tone and phrasing that Cinder had not heard before.
"You're so strong." Lila faintly managed, her thumb etching over the thickset scar underneath the broken eye.
Cinder blinked at the words. She could feel the constriction growing in the back of her throat, but she couldn't stomach being silent a moment longer. "What?" Croaking out, her heart pounding against her ribs a mile a minute. Lila smiled. She smiled at this broken and destroyed cavern of a face.
Cinder's eyes welled fresh as Lila said aloud, "You look magnificent, like one of those old goddess statues at the shrine." It was hard for Cinder to contain herself. She feared that the sudden movement she wanted to do would jeopardize something. Though what that something was didn't really fix itself into Cinder's mind. Her legs took hold first. Their strength again was gone, as was the power of her arms. But with every ounce of her remaining energy, Cinder hefted herself directly at Lila. The oceans and lilac, her brown locks of hair, her tanned skin, her music-like voice, her joyous heart.
The affirmation had scarcely left Lila's mouth before Cinder tackled her backward. From her knees, they tumbled back. The carpet beneath them was streaked with an accidentally poured-over tea. Cinder's arm crushed around Lila's waist, pulling the pear of them down into a slumping mess. Lila did the only natural thing for somebody being tackled by a crumpled mess of a woman.
Throwing her arms around the woman in response, Lila caught Cinder in her arms, letting the face of the snot and tear-stained woman dive into the nape of her collar. To which Cinder was already muttering out these soft and mumblings she could faintly make out. "I love you. I love you." Spitting from her dry and sore throat. Lila's face was rocked with shock, her hands streaking the back of Cinder as she shakingly responded. "I… I think I love you too."