Disclaimer: I own nothing TP related!!!! (obviously)
A/N-OK, here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy. Now you get to find out that Leya's life isn't as perfect as you might have once thought.
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They reached Leya's farm, where she dismounted gracefully, and lead Sham into the barn, waving goodbye to Raphael. After she had checked her horse over, she put him in one of the fields to run around in, then ran inside to help her mother with the housework.
Leya's house was large and quite lovely. There was a long, wooden deck on the outside that ran all the way around the house. Various rocking chairs and swings decorated it, each one carved by either her father or her brothers. There were stairs leading up onto the deck and to the door of the house. The house itself had a red roof and white walls, extremely simple and in desperate need of a new coat of paint. Once inside, the walls were adorned with ornate designs that Leya and her mother had painted when they had first moved in. A hallway ran through the middle of the house, connecting all the rooms. After entering through the front door, on the left you would find the kitchen, then the living room, another living room, and a storeroom, all running down the hallway. To the right, parallel to the rooms on the left, was the dining room, her father's study (which was rarely used), a guest bedroom, and a bathroom. In the basement they kept all the food stores that would be needed for the winter. The rest of the harvest was sold. At the end of the hall if you turned in a sharp U-turn, you would discover the stairs. They led up to an upper-story that consisted of six bedrooms and two bathrooms. On the left going down this hall was her parents' room, her oldest brother's room, and her second oldest brother's room. On the right were two empty rooms, then Leya's at the end (the smallest room.why they didn't give her one of the other, larger empty rooms she didn't know).
The house was one of the largest in the village (if you didn't count the Hold), and the lands were not only the largest, but also the most fertile, as has been said before. Leya's family had only been living in it for a few years, but it already had that homey feeling to it.
She found Juliana busting around the kitchen making dinner and knew immediately that it would be best to stay out of her mother's way. She ran silently up the steps and down a long hall to the end room on the right, her room, where she could finally have some privacy to practice.
Quickly, she pulled a box out from under her bed and opened it. Inside lay a gleaming sword, five knives, and a bow (along with her quiver of arrows). Leya grinned and hefted the sword before testing the blade to make sure it hadn't become dull. Naturally, it was still in perfect condition. She chuckled in delight and went over to her window and opened it, checking to be sure there was no one outside on the deck before she jumped down onto it's roof. A roof covered the deck in an effort to keep the rain from falling on someone who happened to be out there when a storm hit. Leya used it to get out of the house un-noticed. She jumped down and ran around to the back of the house before she was seen. From there she ran to the far western side of her father's property to where the forest began.
She wove quickly in and out of the trees, jumping logs and racing along the banks of streams before she finally reached a clearing in the woods. Here she stopped and paused to catch her breath before beginning her daily exercises with the sword. She was smooth and graceful with the sword, making it seem more like a beautiful, deadly dance, only stopping occasionally to correct a wrong hand position or stance. The fourteen-year- old girl was quite good, and knew it too. She had beaten Raphael multiple times, and they both knew he was skilled, for a knight passing through their village had once told him so. She could throw a knife better then anyone and demonstrated that she had both a perfect eye and aim for archery. However, these skills (with the exception of archery) were kept secret from her family and the village, for they believed not only that girls shouldn't fight, but also they could not allow her to wield a sword for the sole fact that Lords did not allow commoners were not allowed to learn the fighting arts for fear of a rebellion.
After a while, she stopped, pleased with her practice. Looking up, Leya realized that it was getting dark. She picked up a run and hurried home, entering through the door and walking back up the steps with a cat's silence. She stored her sword away with her other fighting materials and turned to go downstairs to dinner. That was where her mistake lay. Standing in the doorway was her father, Theron.
However profitable Theron may be, he had a horrible temper and tolerated nothing but obedience from his only daughter. Because he spent so much time in the fields working with her brothers, Leya didn't see very much of him except when the family met at meal times, and when she actually talked to him, it was usually to be scolded harshly.
As she turned her golden eyes up to him, she winced, freezing in place, positive that he had seen her put away the sword. The fury reflected in his eyes scared her more then she could ever have imagined, and she began to fear the worst.
"Do I really need to begin to explain what I have just seen to you, young lady?" Theron's voice was tight with anger.
Leya swallowed. "N-no, sir."
"You should know better, young lady! What is wrong with you? You should be downstairs helping your mother get supper ready, not playing with weapons! Bring me the sword!"
Leya knew better then to answer. She turned slowly and dragged the box out from under her bed. Slowly, she held it out to him, running her fingers over the sword's hilt before she gave it to him, sure that it was the last time she would ever see it.
Theron took the sword and glared at it, livid with rage. Silently, he set it down behind him in the hall without taking his eyes off Leya. He brought his arm back and advanced on her. She stared at him in shock. Was he really about to strike her? He had yelled and she occasionally thought he might like to strike her, but he never had. She shrank back, looking past him in hopes that her mother might come . not that that would change anything. It wasn't long before she felt the searing pain right across her face and found herself falling to the ground. The girl stayed down, hoping, praying that he would leave her alone. After a moment, he left. Leya waited till he had gone before lifting a tear-streaked face. Anger and confusion coursed through her till she began to wonder what punishment her mother would hand to her.
Gingerly, she stepped outside her room, looking to where her father had set the sword down. 'Typical,' she thought, seeing that it was gone. Still, the reality that she would never see it again made her even angrier if it was possible. The anger lines that were revealed on her own face, as well as her tear-streaked cheeks and red-rimmed eyes, made her features marred and disoriented.
She waited for a moment before heading down to supper. If anyone noticed the hot anger that radiated off her, they knew better then to mention it. Silence reigned as they ate, while Leya's mind wondered over various ways to get back at her father.
Now, you may recall that her father had bought her Shamir and offered her help with him if she required it. What you might not have noticed is that there is a catch. Shamir was given to Leya to try and keep her out of the way. Knowing Leya's reluctance to ask for help or advice, Theron had hoped that she would simply stay out of the way and the horse would keep her occupied. Apparently, he was wrong. Though Shamir was fantastic and Leya loved him to death, he did not occupy all her time. She had enough free time to practice with the sword and knives, and became quite good with them.
As dinner came to an end, Theron turned to Leya's mother, Juliana. "Juliana, you may now issue your punishment to your daughter." Juliana did not look at all surprised by this request and Leya assumed that her father had found time to inform her mother about the sword.
Juliana fixed her daughter with a stern look. After a moment, she spoke, her voice soft. "You will go to the mountains and gather me some Rolip. I need at least three bunches of it. You leave in the morning at dawn." With that, they all rose and went about their chores.
Leya went up to her room and slammed the door behind her, extremely ticked off. Now, she would have to make the long two day journey to the mountains and then find the Rolip, gather enough of it, then make the two-day trip back. To add onto all of this, Rolip is a particularly foul plant. It stinks to the high heavens and exceptionally hard to find and only grows in the mountains. A natural punishment; Leya should have known they would give her that chore. After thinking for a moment, she opened the window and slipped out again, heading toward Raphael's house just down the way.
Once there, she slipped around to Raphael's window, which happened to be open. She was about to call him when something butted into her back. Turning around, she saw Bonfire looking at her expectantly. She grinned and reached over and rubbed his head, fishing around in her pocket for a carrot. After feeding it to a delighted Bonfire, she went back over too the window and whispered, "Hey! Raphael!"
There was a rustle from behind her, something very non-horse-like. Leya whipped around and stared into the growing darkness, extremely annoyed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of something almost golden in color. Turning, she found herself staring straight at the girl from the barn. Leya's jaw almost dropped from shock and she barely managed to keep herself from crying out. By the time she had gotten over it, the girl was gone. Swiftly, Leya crept forward, adopting the silent step that she had practiced when she needed to get around her father. Looking around the corner, she saw no one.
She did this same thing around each corner, and was about to turn back to the side with Raphael's window when an amused voice said behind her, "Chasing your tail or something?"
Leya sprang a foot in the air before turning on a laughing Raphael. "Well I'm glad you think it's so funny, mister!" Raphael was having a very hard time catching his breath. Leya just stood there are glared till he finally got himself under control. "Remind me to push you off a mountain someday." Leya said nonchalantly.
It was Raphael's turn to glare. "OK, what do you want?" Leya glanced down, then quickly looked back up again, hoping Raphael had missed the gesture. No such luck. "What's wrong?" He asked immediately, looking at her with growing concern. It was un-like her.
"O, nothing, I only got caught putting my sword away, and Theron hit me, and my mom is making me go into the mountains tomorrow to get Rolip." Leya said in an annoyed tone.
"Theron hit you?!" Leya nodded miserably. Raphael looked shocked.
"Anyway, that's beside the point. I wanted to ask you if you would come with me to get the Rolip; I hate traveling alone."
Raphael looked as though he wanted to pursue the fact that Theron had hit her, but judged against it. He shook his head when she mentioned hating traveling alone. He knew better then to believe that. She just wanted to be near someone who wouldn't hit her or act as though she was complete trash. This he could understand. "Yeah I'll go. When do we leave?"
Leya looked relieved. "Tomorrow before dawn.meet me on the main road. My parents probably don't want you to come with me."
Raphael nodded. "See you tomorrow then, and don't let Theron get you down too much; we'll talk about it tomorrow."
Leya was about to protest, but Raphael had already vanished inside. She sighed and headed home, then cursed herself, realizing she hadn't asked Raphael about the stable girl.
A/N---Whoa! Take a deep breath Larzdinn! lol! I completely agree with you about Shamir.I've been riding a Russian Cossack horse lately, so perfection kinda crept into my writing. I'll leave him, no problem. Also, I'll defidently go back and re-do the description paragraph. I don't think I'm gonna changer her eye color though because I think gold eyes are kinda neat; also, I myself have golden eyes; I mean, literally, yes, my eyes are gold. Kinda weird huh? I'll change a lot of the other stuff though, so don't worry, her perfection shall be lost! Right now I'm gonna go watch a movie, so I'll have to change it tomorrow, but I will change, I promise! Thanks for your opinions Larzdinn and everyone else too! Next chapter up soon!
A/N-OK, here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy. Now you get to find out that Leya's life isn't as perfect as you might have once thought.
¤------------------------¤
They reached Leya's farm, where she dismounted gracefully, and lead Sham into the barn, waving goodbye to Raphael. After she had checked her horse over, she put him in one of the fields to run around in, then ran inside to help her mother with the housework.
Leya's house was large and quite lovely. There was a long, wooden deck on the outside that ran all the way around the house. Various rocking chairs and swings decorated it, each one carved by either her father or her brothers. There were stairs leading up onto the deck and to the door of the house. The house itself had a red roof and white walls, extremely simple and in desperate need of a new coat of paint. Once inside, the walls were adorned with ornate designs that Leya and her mother had painted when they had first moved in. A hallway ran through the middle of the house, connecting all the rooms. After entering through the front door, on the left you would find the kitchen, then the living room, another living room, and a storeroom, all running down the hallway. To the right, parallel to the rooms on the left, was the dining room, her father's study (which was rarely used), a guest bedroom, and a bathroom. In the basement they kept all the food stores that would be needed for the winter. The rest of the harvest was sold. At the end of the hall if you turned in a sharp U-turn, you would discover the stairs. They led up to an upper-story that consisted of six bedrooms and two bathrooms. On the left going down this hall was her parents' room, her oldest brother's room, and her second oldest brother's room. On the right were two empty rooms, then Leya's at the end (the smallest room.why they didn't give her one of the other, larger empty rooms she didn't know).
The house was one of the largest in the village (if you didn't count the Hold), and the lands were not only the largest, but also the most fertile, as has been said before. Leya's family had only been living in it for a few years, but it already had that homey feeling to it.
She found Juliana busting around the kitchen making dinner and knew immediately that it would be best to stay out of her mother's way. She ran silently up the steps and down a long hall to the end room on the right, her room, where she could finally have some privacy to practice.
Quickly, she pulled a box out from under her bed and opened it. Inside lay a gleaming sword, five knives, and a bow (along with her quiver of arrows). Leya grinned and hefted the sword before testing the blade to make sure it hadn't become dull. Naturally, it was still in perfect condition. She chuckled in delight and went over to her window and opened it, checking to be sure there was no one outside on the deck before she jumped down onto it's roof. A roof covered the deck in an effort to keep the rain from falling on someone who happened to be out there when a storm hit. Leya used it to get out of the house un-noticed. She jumped down and ran around to the back of the house before she was seen. From there she ran to the far western side of her father's property to where the forest began.
She wove quickly in and out of the trees, jumping logs and racing along the banks of streams before she finally reached a clearing in the woods. Here she stopped and paused to catch her breath before beginning her daily exercises with the sword. She was smooth and graceful with the sword, making it seem more like a beautiful, deadly dance, only stopping occasionally to correct a wrong hand position or stance. The fourteen-year- old girl was quite good, and knew it too. She had beaten Raphael multiple times, and they both knew he was skilled, for a knight passing through their village had once told him so. She could throw a knife better then anyone and demonstrated that she had both a perfect eye and aim for archery. However, these skills (with the exception of archery) were kept secret from her family and the village, for they believed not only that girls shouldn't fight, but also they could not allow her to wield a sword for the sole fact that Lords did not allow commoners were not allowed to learn the fighting arts for fear of a rebellion.
After a while, she stopped, pleased with her practice. Looking up, Leya realized that it was getting dark. She picked up a run and hurried home, entering through the door and walking back up the steps with a cat's silence. She stored her sword away with her other fighting materials and turned to go downstairs to dinner. That was where her mistake lay. Standing in the doorway was her father, Theron.
However profitable Theron may be, he had a horrible temper and tolerated nothing but obedience from his only daughter. Because he spent so much time in the fields working with her brothers, Leya didn't see very much of him except when the family met at meal times, and when she actually talked to him, it was usually to be scolded harshly.
As she turned her golden eyes up to him, she winced, freezing in place, positive that he had seen her put away the sword. The fury reflected in his eyes scared her more then she could ever have imagined, and she began to fear the worst.
"Do I really need to begin to explain what I have just seen to you, young lady?" Theron's voice was tight with anger.
Leya swallowed. "N-no, sir."
"You should know better, young lady! What is wrong with you? You should be downstairs helping your mother get supper ready, not playing with weapons! Bring me the sword!"
Leya knew better then to answer. She turned slowly and dragged the box out from under her bed. Slowly, she held it out to him, running her fingers over the sword's hilt before she gave it to him, sure that it was the last time she would ever see it.
Theron took the sword and glared at it, livid with rage. Silently, he set it down behind him in the hall without taking his eyes off Leya. He brought his arm back and advanced on her. She stared at him in shock. Was he really about to strike her? He had yelled and she occasionally thought he might like to strike her, but he never had. She shrank back, looking past him in hopes that her mother might come . not that that would change anything. It wasn't long before she felt the searing pain right across her face and found herself falling to the ground. The girl stayed down, hoping, praying that he would leave her alone. After a moment, he left. Leya waited till he had gone before lifting a tear-streaked face. Anger and confusion coursed through her till she began to wonder what punishment her mother would hand to her.
Gingerly, she stepped outside her room, looking to where her father had set the sword down. 'Typical,' she thought, seeing that it was gone. Still, the reality that she would never see it again made her even angrier if it was possible. The anger lines that were revealed on her own face, as well as her tear-streaked cheeks and red-rimmed eyes, made her features marred and disoriented.
She waited for a moment before heading down to supper. If anyone noticed the hot anger that radiated off her, they knew better then to mention it. Silence reigned as they ate, while Leya's mind wondered over various ways to get back at her father.
Now, you may recall that her father had bought her Shamir and offered her help with him if she required it. What you might not have noticed is that there is a catch. Shamir was given to Leya to try and keep her out of the way. Knowing Leya's reluctance to ask for help or advice, Theron had hoped that she would simply stay out of the way and the horse would keep her occupied. Apparently, he was wrong. Though Shamir was fantastic and Leya loved him to death, he did not occupy all her time. She had enough free time to practice with the sword and knives, and became quite good with them.
As dinner came to an end, Theron turned to Leya's mother, Juliana. "Juliana, you may now issue your punishment to your daughter." Juliana did not look at all surprised by this request and Leya assumed that her father had found time to inform her mother about the sword.
Juliana fixed her daughter with a stern look. After a moment, she spoke, her voice soft. "You will go to the mountains and gather me some Rolip. I need at least three bunches of it. You leave in the morning at dawn." With that, they all rose and went about their chores.
Leya went up to her room and slammed the door behind her, extremely ticked off. Now, she would have to make the long two day journey to the mountains and then find the Rolip, gather enough of it, then make the two-day trip back. To add onto all of this, Rolip is a particularly foul plant. It stinks to the high heavens and exceptionally hard to find and only grows in the mountains. A natural punishment; Leya should have known they would give her that chore. After thinking for a moment, she opened the window and slipped out again, heading toward Raphael's house just down the way.
Once there, she slipped around to Raphael's window, which happened to be open. She was about to call him when something butted into her back. Turning around, she saw Bonfire looking at her expectantly. She grinned and reached over and rubbed his head, fishing around in her pocket for a carrot. After feeding it to a delighted Bonfire, she went back over too the window and whispered, "Hey! Raphael!"
There was a rustle from behind her, something very non-horse-like. Leya whipped around and stared into the growing darkness, extremely annoyed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of something almost golden in color. Turning, she found herself staring straight at the girl from the barn. Leya's jaw almost dropped from shock and she barely managed to keep herself from crying out. By the time she had gotten over it, the girl was gone. Swiftly, Leya crept forward, adopting the silent step that she had practiced when she needed to get around her father. Looking around the corner, she saw no one.
She did this same thing around each corner, and was about to turn back to the side with Raphael's window when an amused voice said behind her, "Chasing your tail or something?"
Leya sprang a foot in the air before turning on a laughing Raphael. "Well I'm glad you think it's so funny, mister!" Raphael was having a very hard time catching his breath. Leya just stood there are glared till he finally got himself under control. "Remind me to push you off a mountain someday." Leya said nonchalantly.
It was Raphael's turn to glare. "OK, what do you want?" Leya glanced down, then quickly looked back up again, hoping Raphael had missed the gesture. No such luck. "What's wrong?" He asked immediately, looking at her with growing concern. It was un-like her.
"O, nothing, I only got caught putting my sword away, and Theron hit me, and my mom is making me go into the mountains tomorrow to get Rolip." Leya said in an annoyed tone.
"Theron hit you?!" Leya nodded miserably. Raphael looked shocked.
"Anyway, that's beside the point. I wanted to ask you if you would come with me to get the Rolip; I hate traveling alone."
Raphael looked as though he wanted to pursue the fact that Theron had hit her, but judged against it. He shook his head when she mentioned hating traveling alone. He knew better then to believe that. She just wanted to be near someone who wouldn't hit her or act as though she was complete trash. This he could understand. "Yeah I'll go. When do we leave?"
Leya looked relieved. "Tomorrow before dawn.meet me on the main road. My parents probably don't want you to come with me."
Raphael nodded. "See you tomorrow then, and don't let Theron get you down too much; we'll talk about it tomorrow."
Leya was about to protest, but Raphael had already vanished inside. She sighed and headed home, then cursed herself, realizing she hadn't asked Raphael about the stable girl.
A/N---Whoa! Take a deep breath Larzdinn! lol! I completely agree with you about Shamir.I've been riding a Russian Cossack horse lately, so perfection kinda crept into my writing. I'll leave him, no problem. Also, I'll defidently go back and re-do the description paragraph. I don't think I'm gonna changer her eye color though because I think gold eyes are kinda neat; also, I myself have golden eyes; I mean, literally, yes, my eyes are gold. Kinda weird huh? I'll change a lot of the other stuff though, so don't worry, her perfection shall be lost! Right now I'm gonna go watch a movie, so I'll have to change it tomorrow, but I will change, I promise! Thanks for your opinions Larzdinn and everyone else too! Next chapter up soon!
