Chapter 1; Mysterious occurences

"Look, Papa," Leanne said pleadingly. As always, her brooding father pushed her aside. "Papa? It took me ages?" The shadowy man (Leanne thought secretly he might be made of shadows) glanced briefly down at the exquisite cake, nodded very slightly, and then turned away, back to his beloved books.

"Why do you always ignore me? You never have any time for me, or Mama." He didn't seemed to be appalled, as she had hoped, but he did, finally react, and pulled her on to his knee. She couldn't ever remember being this close to him.

"Papa's best friend died. Just give me some time to get over it, then I'll be fine."

"You've been upset for years. You must have been very close to him."

"Her." He smiled; a rare expression upon his face. "I loved her very much."

"Tell me about her." Leanne settled into a comfortable place in the mage's lap. She was determined to make him talk to her, even if he drifted away into fantasies where she couldn't follow.

"She was amazing. Never met anyone like her. She was very pretty and adored animals." A wry touch appeared in his smile. "She was also very obstinate."

"What did she look like?"

"Blue-grey eyes, curly brown hair, and a smile that made you feel special."

"Do you have any pictures?" This lady was intriguing.

Her father rolled his left sleeve up, and a gold chain was revealed. The miniature portrait inside showed a happy teenager, just like Leanne's father had told her. Accompanying the picture was a smokey-brown curl.

"What was her name?"

"Daine. Veralidaine Sarrasri."

Leanne's lip curled. Illegitimate children were born of prostitutes, everyone knew that. Any previous respect she had kept for her father vanished. Getting upset over some idiot was silly.

She jumped off his lap. Her father had collapsed back into memories, where he was evidently happiest.

--

"Mama? Can we eat my cake? Mama, where are you?" Leanne found her mother. About to speak, she saw Lady Jeanett was busy with a servant. She was about to slip away, but something stopped her.

"It's been five years! FIVE YEARS!"

The servant's mumble was difficult to hear. "Ev'ry grave we tried was dug up right after. I've left it in t'cellar."

"THE CELLAR!" Only then did Leanne's mother remember to hush her voice."Fool," she hissed. "The amount I pay you should be more than enough."

"We'll try Carthak next," the unfamiliar servant promised. Leanne's mother scowled, then nodded, thick brown hair hardly affected by the fingers she was running through it feverishly.
Then the servant and Leanne's mother parted. Leanne considered what she had just heard.

There were a lot of ignorant gaps in her knowledge. Obviously, the best thing to do was to see what was being kept in the cellar.

--

Creeping down the cold stairs to the underground cellar, a stench reached Leanne's sensitive nose. She sneezed twice, nearly blowing out her candle.

A trunk seemed to be the cause of the smell. Gingerly, she tiptoed towards it, careful not to make any suspicious tracks in the thick dust. Before opening the lid, she hesitated. Did she really want to expose her mother's dark secret? Deciding her mother had no big secrets really (her curiosity was running high), she flipped the lid open. And screamed.

--

What did you think? What is Lady Jeanett's secret? Oh, by the way, Lady Jeanett is married to Numair, who is Leanne's dad. I've taken a slight break frm Wedding Bells, seeing as it's gettin a bit confusing. Please review this story. You can review any of my others, you know! (cough hint hint cough) Thanks to any who do review.