Cruel Fates
By: Ice_Queen
Chapter 2
AN: Thanks to those of you who reviewed my last chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own characters, settings, or names taken from the Dark Jewels Trilogy. I do own new characters, and of course, Silvara.
Silvara woke with the sunlight streaming down onto her face. Squinting, she got up and closed the curtains to her room. Stupid maid, she thought, always opening my damn curtains. Stumbling around Silvara finally found her way to the attached bathroom. "Dumb sunlight," she grumbled, "Couldn't stay down a minute longer. No mercy for night-owls." Silvara turned on the faucet and started running a bath.
Leaving the tub to fill up, Silvara walked out of the bathroom, and over to the wardrobe, determined to find something decent to wear. She came up with brown breeches, a loose green shirt, and a white tank to go underneath it. A great accomplishment indeed to find something that matched when the laundry hadn't been done yet. She also grabbed undergarments because well, that's just what ya do when you're getting dressed.
Silvara walked back to the bathroom, dropped her things on the toilet seat, quickly stripped off her remaining clothes, and hopped into the warm water.
It had been a week since the night she had been stuck out at the Hall. She had followed up on the lumber dealer Tersa had recommended, and it turned out he could get her a very good deal for the amount of lumber she and Titian needed. At first her father had opposed the idea, but she had won him over eventually and he had given her the necessary funds. Now their tree house was half finished.
Long after the water had gone cold did Silvara finally walk out of the bathroom, almost completely dressed. She put on some socks, and her usual sturdy black boots. She was ready.
Silvara took the steps two at a time going down. She stopped at the bottom to think about breakfast. Nah, she decided, I'll just eat a huge lunch with Titian. Today she was meeting up with Titian and the two of them were going for a little ride. Then they would go to town and buy more supplies for the tree house. Most of it was interior supplies: paint, brushes, light furniture, etc.
Silvara stopped in at the stable and asked one of the lads to saddle up Fleet-Foot and Wind Chaser. The two were the fastest horses in the stable and her favorites. Both were kindred, with Fleet-Foot, the female, being a Summer-Sky jeweled witch, and Wind Chaser, the male, being an Opal jeweled Warlord.
The stable-lad obliged instantly, and within minutes both were ready to go. Silvara took the reins for both horses, and led them out of sight of the stable. From there she mounted Wind Chaser, and tied Fleet-Foot's reins to her saddle. *Where do we go?* asked Wind Chaser. *To the web landing outside of the town. Titian is waiting for us,* Silvara replied. *Titian? This will be fun then.* Fleet-Foot said, adding into their conversation. The witch liked Titian for her sharp sense of humor and her wits. *To there then, but you must take the same path.* Silvara told them both. *We understand.* They replied simultaneously.
Suddenly they were off, and dashing through the forest. Trees went past as nothing more than blurs, and in seconds they arrived at the landing, which Titian was just stepping off of.
"Silvara!" Titian called. "Just on time!" Silvara laughed. "I see that, and I can see why you just got here too," Silvara replied, raising an eyebrow at her friend's overdone appearance. Titian's straight black hair had been carefully wound into a bun, and her bangs had been curled. Her tan skin had been powdered, while gold eye makeup accented her green-gold eyes. "Yes, well, I figured since we were going to town... Well, you never know where the cute ones will be!" Titian said in explanation of her appearance. They shared a laugh. Titian hopped onto Fleet-Foot and untied her reins. "Hello, Fleet-Foot, Wind Chaser," Titian said to them. *Greetings, Little Sister,* Fleet-Foot answered her. *Good morning, Titian. It is a good day to ride,* Wind Chaser replied, anxious to be off again. "Yes it is," Titian answered with a smile. Her wings unfurled slightly to test the breeze on them. "Let us be off," Silvara said.
Then the two girls were caught in a whirlwind of speed, each laughing with delight. *Hey, Titian. I'll race ya,* Silvara challenged on a distaff thread. *Accepted,* Titian replied, and they raced the entire way to the town.
Arriving in town, the pair dismounted outside the hardware shop. "Wait here," Titian commanded the two horses. *We will,* Fleet-Foot said in reply. "Come on," Silvara prompted Titian. "I am," Titian said in exasperation. Silvara was always so impatient. Titian took quick steps into the store after Silvara. She wasn't anywhere in sight when Titian stepped into the store. Quickly, she walked through the store, looking for a certain silver-haired girl. By the time Titian found her she was already looking through paint samples, making her final choice.
"What do you think?" Silvara asked Titian, "Artist's Canvas, Strata Light, Stone Lion, Blackberry Ice, Velvet Rose, Plumberry, or River Mist?"
"Hm....well I like Plumberry and Strata Light," Titian answered, liking the combination of dark violet and light taupe. "Good idea," Silvara appraised, "Maybe I'll do the walls in Strata Light, and the trim in dark violet."
"It'll look nice," Titian said, "Now, what do we do about the outside?"
"I was over in the hunting section looking at the camouflage. No one would find it if we painted the outside Alligator Green and used camouflage netting over it," Silvara proposed. "Good plan," Titian said, "I'll go get the netting, you get the paints mixed." "Alright," Silvara replied. Titian excused herself quietly to get the necessary supplies.
With Titian gone Silvara worked even faster to get what she needed done. "Excuse me, sir," she said to the man behind the counter. "Yes, miss? How may I help you?" the man asked in a friendly voice. "I need you to mix these three paints for me," she ordered politely. "Sure. How many gallons for each?" the man replied. "I need 3 gallons of Green, 1 of Plumberry, and 2 of Strata Light," Silvara replied after thinking for a minute. "It'll be ready in a few minutes," the man said before going to work.
Her task being done she went to get brushes for the paint. Silvara grabbed two packages of rollers, and two roller handles. She stopped, thought a minute, and went back to get smaller brushes for the trim. She smiled to herself. She loved this project. A space of her own, a place to go when she just couldn't take it anymore. Silvara walked back to the paint counter.
"Here you are miss," the man said with a smile as he handed over the gallons of paint, "Are you buying those too?"
"Yes," Silvara said.
"Okay, that'll be 80 deniar," he said after adding everything. Silvara called in her bag full of money and counted out the amount he specified. "Here," she said as she handed it to him. She vanished the things she bought and walked away. At the front of the store Silvara spied Titian waiting.
"Did you get it?" Silvara asked Titian. "Yeah, yeah. I got it," she replied. "Then let's go, and work on the 'project,'" Silvara said with a smile. The two left and hopped on their horses. Taking a hardly ever used trail, they soon found themselves at the desired location.
************* (pretty stars) *************
Silvara ran into the house late for dinner. Oh, shit, she thought. She had just seen Titian to the webs when she had realized it was dinner time. After the hardware store the two had gone to their tree-house and painted the entire thing. Titian, with the help of her wings, had painted the exterior, while Silvara had painted the interior. The two had then gone for lunch in town at the Inn. After that Silvara and Titian had gone to the web landing and parted ways. Now Silvara was at home, running through the hallways to the dining room.
She halted suddenly outside the dining room door. She collected herself, and as she did she could hear the murmur of voices inside. She identified the clipped tone of her mother, and the smooth tone of her father, but there were other voices as well. Usually the court didn't eat dinner with them at home. Oh, may the Darkness be merciful, they had visitors.
Time to dance on the knife's edge, she thought as she entered the room. "I apologize for my tardiness," Silvara said in a subdued tone while seating herself, "I was obligated to see Titian to the webs before-hand."
"It-" her mother was cut off by Chaosti, "It is quite alright. We understand," he said while cutting a look at Gabrielle. She finally looked around the room at the guests they were entertaining. "Silvara, you know Jaenelle and Daemon, and their children," Gabrielle said with her usual tone, softened a bit so as not to alarm her guests.
Mother Night, why me? Silvara cried in her mind. She finally realized she was sitting directly across from Damien. He was seated with his usual smirk. Lord, how she wanted to slap that smirk right off his stupid face. "Nice of you to finally join us," he said in a neutral voice, although she could hear the amusement underneath. "Yes, you should feel honored," Silvara replied in the same neutral tone, but with an undercurrent of annoyance.
Throughout the evening Silvara dodged verbal knifes thrown by Gabrielle, while Chaosti tried his very best to stop her from doing so. She completely ignored Eliza, and exchanged small talk with Jaenelle, who always had something nice to say. She made polite small talk with Daemon too, who knew so much. His knowledge piqued her curiosity. She wondered where he'd learned it all. Silvara also exchanged little bouts of verbal war with Damien. Secretly she enjoyed these for some weird reason. She couldn't quite figure it out.
Towards the end of the night, while the adults were in the study having brandy and talking about...well whatever they did, Silvara was forced to stay in one of the sitting rooms with Damien and Eliza.
The brat was really starting to piss her off. Damien looked quite annoyed as well. The selfish wench kept talking about stupid shit that no one honestly cared about. Finally, Silvara could take it no more and bursted/busted/erupted/. "SHUT UP!!" She yelled, and was astounded to hear Damien do so also. Eliza's eyes were as round as saucers, and the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. "That's better," Silvara said with a chilling smile.
"I agree," Damien said with a nod. He turned to face Silvara suddenly. "So what have you been up to?" He asked with a charming smile. Silvara's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Alright, what's the catch? she thought to herself. Damien was never this nice to her. "Well, at this current moment, a ceiling. I'm surprised you didn't notice, unless you really are blind," Silvara answered snippily. "Ouch, okay I deserve that. That Ice Queen crack was a bit uncalled for," Damien answered. Silvara studied him. He seemed sincere.
"What's your deal?" Silvara asked suddenly, "You're never this...agreeable. Do you feel alright?" "Yes, perfectly fine. And I assumed since last week it was acceptable for me to be polite to you," Damien answered hesitantly. Silvara stared. Okay, they had obviously had some positive growth spurt in their relationship last week. And she couldn't remember what in Hell it was. Fantastic. "Okay," she answered warily, "And to your earlier question, I've been busy. Lots of shopping." "I see," Damien answered, "I didn't picture you to be the shop-a-holic type."
Eliza got up in a huff and left the room. Neither person even looked at the slammed door. "I'm not," Silvara answered, "It's for a current project."
"Ah, well I hope you're having fun with your project," Damien said. "I am," Silvara answered. For some strange reason she felt at ease. "What have you been up to?" Silvara asked Damien. "Eh, not much. Craft lessons, seeing friends. You know, the usual," Damien answered with a shrug. "Hm," Silvara replied.
The two talked casually until Eliza entered the room again much later. "Mama says it's time to go," she said snootily, and left the room again. "Goodbye," Silvara said to Damien. "Yes, I'll see you around," he replied as he left the room with a quiet click of the door.
Silvara waited until she was sure they had left, and her parents had gone to bed. Then she got up and went to the kitchen. She had eaten practically nothing from her plate, and was starving. It was so hard to eat with her mother constantly sending insults her way, and with replying to Damien's insults.
She grabbed a large piece of pecan pie from the leftovers. Quickly she scarffed it down, and exited the kitchen, leaving no trace of her presence.
She walked up the steps slowly, and into her room, closing the door with an extra cautious click. It sounded so loud to her own ears she feared that even that much noise would bring down the wrath of her mother. She didn't know why the woman hated her so much. Silvara had a feeling it was something doing with her. That she was a disappointment somehow. Oh, well, she thought, too late now.
Quietly she climbed into bed, pausing only to remove her socks and shoes, and lay down. She was one of the luckiest people in the world. She had a nice house, nice clothes, she was powerful and skilled yet she felt so miserable. Her father loved her, yes, but he just didn't have it in him to stand up to his wife. He loved Gabrielle too much.
Cursing thoroughly as tears started to run down her face, staining the light blue sheets of her bed, she closed her eyes and told them to stop. They didn't. The tears she had held back for so long came with vengeance. The woman she had tried so hard to mold her life after didn't give a fuck whether Silvara lived or died. To Gabrielle, Silvara was just another burden. She cried heavily, shoving her fist in her mouth to muffle the sobs, until she fell asleep. Tear-stained and stricken, Silvara's last thought before she dozed off was that there must be a purpose for her life. If only she knew what it was.
AN: What do you think? I ended it on a sad note cuz... I felt like it. Don't worry, thing will get a little less depressing in the next chapter. Haha, I put a little pun in this chapter. I think it's kinda funny at least. Until next time, review. Review, review, review! I love to get reviews! I love to hear what you guys think! If you have suggestions or complaints email me at MalaKittie09@aol.com.
By: Ice_Queen
Chapter 2
AN: Thanks to those of you who reviewed my last chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own characters, settings, or names taken from the Dark Jewels Trilogy. I do own new characters, and of course, Silvara.
Silvara woke with the sunlight streaming down onto her face. Squinting, she got up and closed the curtains to her room. Stupid maid, she thought, always opening my damn curtains. Stumbling around Silvara finally found her way to the attached bathroom. "Dumb sunlight," she grumbled, "Couldn't stay down a minute longer. No mercy for night-owls." Silvara turned on the faucet and started running a bath.
Leaving the tub to fill up, Silvara walked out of the bathroom, and over to the wardrobe, determined to find something decent to wear. She came up with brown breeches, a loose green shirt, and a white tank to go underneath it. A great accomplishment indeed to find something that matched when the laundry hadn't been done yet. She also grabbed undergarments because well, that's just what ya do when you're getting dressed.
Silvara walked back to the bathroom, dropped her things on the toilet seat, quickly stripped off her remaining clothes, and hopped into the warm water.
It had been a week since the night she had been stuck out at the Hall. She had followed up on the lumber dealer Tersa had recommended, and it turned out he could get her a very good deal for the amount of lumber she and Titian needed. At first her father had opposed the idea, but she had won him over eventually and he had given her the necessary funds. Now their tree house was half finished.
Long after the water had gone cold did Silvara finally walk out of the bathroom, almost completely dressed. She put on some socks, and her usual sturdy black boots. She was ready.
Silvara took the steps two at a time going down. She stopped at the bottom to think about breakfast. Nah, she decided, I'll just eat a huge lunch with Titian. Today she was meeting up with Titian and the two of them were going for a little ride. Then they would go to town and buy more supplies for the tree house. Most of it was interior supplies: paint, brushes, light furniture, etc.
Silvara stopped in at the stable and asked one of the lads to saddle up Fleet-Foot and Wind Chaser. The two were the fastest horses in the stable and her favorites. Both were kindred, with Fleet-Foot, the female, being a Summer-Sky jeweled witch, and Wind Chaser, the male, being an Opal jeweled Warlord.
The stable-lad obliged instantly, and within minutes both were ready to go. Silvara took the reins for both horses, and led them out of sight of the stable. From there she mounted Wind Chaser, and tied Fleet-Foot's reins to her saddle. *Where do we go?* asked Wind Chaser. *To the web landing outside of the town. Titian is waiting for us,* Silvara replied. *Titian? This will be fun then.* Fleet-Foot said, adding into their conversation. The witch liked Titian for her sharp sense of humor and her wits. *To there then, but you must take the same path.* Silvara told them both. *We understand.* They replied simultaneously.
Suddenly they were off, and dashing through the forest. Trees went past as nothing more than blurs, and in seconds they arrived at the landing, which Titian was just stepping off of.
"Silvara!" Titian called. "Just on time!" Silvara laughed. "I see that, and I can see why you just got here too," Silvara replied, raising an eyebrow at her friend's overdone appearance. Titian's straight black hair had been carefully wound into a bun, and her bangs had been curled. Her tan skin had been powdered, while gold eye makeup accented her green-gold eyes. "Yes, well, I figured since we were going to town... Well, you never know where the cute ones will be!" Titian said in explanation of her appearance. They shared a laugh. Titian hopped onto Fleet-Foot and untied her reins. "Hello, Fleet-Foot, Wind Chaser," Titian said to them. *Greetings, Little Sister,* Fleet-Foot answered her. *Good morning, Titian. It is a good day to ride,* Wind Chaser replied, anxious to be off again. "Yes it is," Titian answered with a smile. Her wings unfurled slightly to test the breeze on them. "Let us be off," Silvara said.
Then the two girls were caught in a whirlwind of speed, each laughing with delight. *Hey, Titian. I'll race ya,* Silvara challenged on a distaff thread. *Accepted,* Titian replied, and they raced the entire way to the town.
Arriving in town, the pair dismounted outside the hardware shop. "Wait here," Titian commanded the two horses. *We will,* Fleet-Foot said in reply. "Come on," Silvara prompted Titian. "I am," Titian said in exasperation. Silvara was always so impatient. Titian took quick steps into the store after Silvara. She wasn't anywhere in sight when Titian stepped into the store. Quickly, she walked through the store, looking for a certain silver-haired girl. By the time Titian found her she was already looking through paint samples, making her final choice.
"What do you think?" Silvara asked Titian, "Artist's Canvas, Strata Light, Stone Lion, Blackberry Ice, Velvet Rose, Plumberry, or River Mist?"
"Hm....well I like Plumberry and Strata Light," Titian answered, liking the combination of dark violet and light taupe. "Good idea," Silvara appraised, "Maybe I'll do the walls in Strata Light, and the trim in dark violet."
"It'll look nice," Titian said, "Now, what do we do about the outside?"
"I was over in the hunting section looking at the camouflage. No one would find it if we painted the outside Alligator Green and used camouflage netting over it," Silvara proposed. "Good plan," Titian said, "I'll go get the netting, you get the paints mixed." "Alright," Silvara replied. Titian excused herself quietly to get the necessary supplies.
With Titian gone Silvara worked even faster to get what she needed done. "Excuse me, sir," she said to the man behind the counter. "Yes, miss? How may I help you?" the man asked in a friendly voice. "I need you to mix these three paints for me," she ordered politely. "Sure. How many gallons for each?" the man replied. "I need 3 gallons of Green, 1 of Plumberry, and 2 of Strata Light," Silvara replied after thinking for a minute. "It'll be ready in a few minutes," the man said before going to work.
Her task being done she went to get brushes for the paint. Silvara grabbed two packages of rollers, and two roller handles. She stopped, thought a minute, and went back to get smaller brushes for the trim. She smiled to herself. She loved this project. A space of her own, a place to go when she just couldn't take it anymore. Silvara walked back to the paint counter.
"Here you are miss," the man said with a smile as he handed over the gallons of paint, "Are you buying those too?"
"Yes," Silvara said.
"Okay, that'll be 80 deniar," he said after adding everything. Silvara called in her bag full of money and counted out the amount he specified. "Here," she said as she handed it to him. She vanished the things she bought and walked away. At the front of the store Silvara spied Titian waiting.
"Did you get it?" Silvara asked Titian. "Yeah, yeah. I got it," she replied. "Then let's go, and work on the 'project,'" Silvara said with a smile. The two left and hopped on their horses. Taking a hardly ever used trail, they soon found themselves at the desired location.
************* (pretty stars) *************
Silvara ran into the house late for dinner. Oh, shit, she thought. She had just seen Titian to the webs when she had realized it was dinner time. After the hardware store the two had gone to their tree-house and painted the entire thing. Titian, with the help of her wings, had painted the exterior, while Silvara had painted the interior. The two had then gone for lunch in town at the Inn. After that Silvara and Titian had gone to the web landing and parted ways. Now Silvara was at home, running through the hallways to the dining room.
She halted suddenly outside the dining room door. She collected herself, and as she did she could hear the murmur of voices inside. She identified the clipped tone of her mother, and the smooth tone of her father, but there were other voices as well. Usually the court didn't eat dinner with them at home. Oh, may the Darkness be merciful, they had visitors.
Time to dance on the knife's edge, she thought as she entered the room. "I apologize for my tardiness," Silvara said in a subdued tone while seating herself, "I was obligated to see Titian to the webs before-hand."
"It-" her mother was cut off by Chaosti, "It is quite alright. We understand," he said while cutting a look at Gabrielle. She finally looked around the room at the guests they were entertaining. "Silvara, you know Jaenelle and Daemon, and their children," Gabrielle said with her usual tone, softened a bit so as not to alarm her guests.
Mother Night, why me? Silvara cried in her mind. She finally realized she was sitting directly across from Damien. He was seated with his usual smirk. Lord, how she wanted to slap that smirk right off his stupid face. "Nice of you to finally join us," he said in a neutral voice, although she could hear the amusement underneath. "Yes, you should feel honored," Silvara replied in the same neutral tone, but with an undercurrent of annoyance.
Throughout the evening Silvara dodged verbal knifes thrown by Gabrielle, while Chaosti tried his very best to stop her from doing so. She completely ignored Eliza, and exchanged small talk with Jaenelle, who always had something nice to say. She made polite small talk with Daemon too, who knew so much. His knowledge piqued her curiosity. She wondered where he'd learned it all. Silvara also exchanged little bouts of verbal war with Damien. Secretly she enjoyed these for some weird reason. She couldn't quite figure it out.
Towards the end of the night, while the adults were in the study having brandy and talking about...well whatever they did, Silvara was forced to stay in one of the sitting rooms with Damien and Eliza.
The brat was really starting to piss her off. Damien looked quite annoyed as well. The selfish wench kept talking about stupid shit that no one honestly cared about. Finally, Silvara could take it no more and bursted/busted/erupted/. "SHUT UP!!" She yelled, and was astounded to hear Damien do so also. Eliza's eyes were as round as saucers, and the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. "That's better," Silvara said with a chilling smile.
"I agree," Damien said with a nod. He turned to face Silvara suddenly. "So what have you been up to?" He asked with a charming smile. Silvara's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Alright, what's the catch? she thought to herself. Damien was never this nice to her. "Well, at this current moment, a ceiling. I'm surprised you didn't notice, unless you really are blind," Silvara answered snippily. "Ouch, okay I deserve that. That Ice Queen crack was a bit uncalled for," Damien answered. Silvara studied him. He seemed sincere.
"What's your deal?" Silvara asked suddenly, "You're never this...agreeable. Do you feel alright?" "Yes, perfectly fine. And I assumed since last week it was acceptable for me to be polite to you," Damien answered hesitantly. Silvara stared. Okay, they had obviously had some positive growth spurt in their relationship last week. And she couldn't remember what in Hell it was. Fantastic. "Okay," she answered warily, "And to your earlier question, I've been busy. Lots of shopping." "I see," Damien answered, "I didn't picture you to be the shop-a-holic type."
Eliza got up in a huff and left the room. Neither person even looked at the slammed door. "I'm not," Silvara answered, "It's for a current project."
"Ah, well I hope you're having fun with your project," Damien said. "I am," Silvara answered. For some strange reason she felt at ease. "What have you been up to?" Silvara asked Damien. "Eh, not much. Craft lessons, seeing friends. You know, the usual," Damien answered with a shrug. "Hm," Silvara replied.
The two talked casually until Eliza entered the room again much later. "Mama says it's time to go," she said snootily, and left the room again. "Goodbye," Silvara said to Damien. "Yes, I'll see you around," he replied as he left the room with a quiet click of the door.
Silvara waited until she was sure they had left, and her parents had gone to bed. Then she got up and went to the kitchen. She had eaten practically nothing from her plate, and was starving. It was so hard to eat with her mother constantly sending insults her way, and with replying to Damien's insults.
She grabbed a large piece of pecan pie from the leftovers. Quickly she scarffed it down, and exited the kitchen, leaving no trace of her presence.
She walked up the steps slowly, and into her room, closing the door with an extra cautious click. It sounded so loud to her own ears she feared that even that much noise would bring down the wrath of her mother. She didn't know why the woman hated her so much. Silvara had a feeling it was something doing with her. That she was a disappointment somehow. Oh, well, she thought, too late now.
Quietly she climbed into bed, pausing only to remove her socks and shoes, and lay down. She was one of the luckiest people in the world. She had a nice house, nice clothes, she was powerful and skilled yet she felt so miserable. Her father loved her, yes, but he just didn't have it in him to stand up to his wife. He loved Gabrielle too much.
Cursing thoroughly as tears started to run down her face, staining the light blue sheets of her bed, she closed her eyes and told them to stop. They didn't. The tears she had held back for so long came with vengeance. The woman she had tried so hard to mold her life after didn't give a fuck whether Silvara lived or died. To Gabrielle, Silvara was just another burden. She cried heavily, shoving her fist in her mouth to muffle the sobs, until she fell asleep. Tear-stained and stricken, Silvara's last thought before she dozed off was that there must be a purpose for her life. If only she knew what it was.
AN: What do you think? I ended it on a sad note cuz... I felt like it. Don't worry, thing will get a little less depressing in the next chapter. Haha, I put a little pun in this chapter. I think it's kinda funny at least. Until next time, review. Review, review, review! I love to get reviews! I love to hear what you guys think! If you have suggestions or complaints email me at MalaKittie09@aol.com.