The girls blue eyes lit with an inner flame. "My darling sister…" she
murmured to no one in particular. "Back from the dead, and no one the
wiser? No, no, no," she clucked. "We can't have this." An evil chuckle
started low in her throat gaining volume and malice as it crescendoed. Soon
enough, she was laughing full out, head thrown back, eyes streaming with
mirth.
Leaf was uncertain what to do. Should he step away, or approach? He opted to stay where he was, thinking that perhaps it was safer. He could tell from the atmosphere of the room that Sapphire had an idea. And knowing Sapphire, it was an idea that he was not about to like.
* * *
Raine waved a hand in the air in front of Jasson's vacant stare. "Hello? Tortall to Jasson, come in Jasson." She grinned and leaned in, until her face was scant inches from him. "Jasson, snap out of it." He blinked dumbly, then gasped, and leaned backward with incredible speed. Raine burst out giggling.
"It's not that funny," he murmured, face turning a lovely shade of crimson. She continued laughing, and he couldn't help but smile. "Okay, maybe it is, but you don't have to rub it in."
"Rub what in? What were you thinking of, anyway? You were staring at my hands," she looked down, turning her tanned hands over, examining them. "They're really not that interesting."
Jasson hazarded a sheepish smile. "I don't really know…It was like you were weaving a story as you talked, you know, like the story tellers do at Beltane and Midwinter."
She nodded. She did know, a cousin of their had been one of the few she found she could converse with at home, and he had taught her many a trick to captivate a listener, not all of them normal. Realizing that she had been using the speaking tricks he had taught her, she turned a light shade of coral. "My cousin was a storyteller back home. I got to talk with him a lot. I'm afraid that it rubbed off a bit."
Jai nodded, looking into his own lap. "You had a very interesting life." He commented gently, not quite sure if it would spark debate or whether he could get away with it as a compliment.
"'Interesting' is not how I would put it," Raine told him frankly. "Hellish is how I would put it. There are so many little…quirks that I wouldn't want to bother you with."
He looked up, drawing one knee up and resting his head on it. She was glaring into her lap, her eyes a mixture of pain and anger. She felt his gaze and looked up, her eyes locking with his. "I'd like to know, if you want to tell. If you don't, I can understand that."
She sighed. "No, no you have a right to know. It's just not…a pretty picture to paint. It's not exactly fun to have lived it, either. But I guess unless they're brought out into the open, it's never going to leave me alone."
He smiled warmly. "I'm honored."
She looked startled. "Why?"
"That you trust me enough to tell me this much," He smiled. "And I assume, tell me what you mean by 'hellish'."
She nodded and took a deep breath. "There were nine of us when I was born; nine children to two relatively young parents. My grandfather still ran the fief at that point, and for awhile we were happy. Vince was 16 when I was born, and away studying to become a knight, his twin, Mara was finishing her stay at the convent, studying to become 'a lady'," she was counting her siblings on her fingers now. "After Vince and Mara were Andrielle, Artemis, Theo and Jacob- they were twins too, then Sapphire, then me." A small smile touched her lips. "Andrielle and Artemis were the two most…scholastically inclined of any of us. They were only 14, only 14 and already they were at the university studying for the highest degrees the place offered in magic and languages respectively," she shook her head and laughed. "They were a malicious duo, and both of them twins as well."
"Lots of twins in your family," Jai commented.
Raine nodded. "It gets better. Let's see… where was I? Oh, yes-Theo. Theo was at the mithran cloisters. He had the strongest magic in the family, my uncle Andrè's pride and joy. He…didn't like me much." She cleared her throat. "Then there's Sapphire-"
Jai held up a hand. "I don't need to hear about her right now."
"Right…wait a moment, I've forgotten someone…" she counted off on her fingers again. "Vince, Mara, Andrielle, Artemis, Theo, Jake, Sapphire…Vaughn! How could I forget him? Well, I told you that he went to the Shangs, but had to come home because of an injury. He was…ooh, I'd have to say…17 when I was born. He'd been with the Shangs from around age 5, until he was 15. He got his injury protecting a village from raiders..." her head bowed. "He sliced a muscle and walked with a limp from then on."
Jai winced. "Ouch."
"Yeah, ouch. He was my favorite brother…of my older sibs, anyway."
Jai's eyes grew wide. "You had younger sibs too?"
Raine nodded. "Yep," she shot him a sly smile. "Like rabbits, my parents were." That startled laughter from Jai, and she grinned. "Yes, I had younger sibs. Julianne, Henry, Brooke, Westley, and Aurora. They were quintuplets." She thought Jai's eyes would fall out of his head, they were so round. "Yes, and they were a handful, too. They're 14 now, going through the normal teenage woes, as a matter of fact, they're supposed to be coming up quite soon."
"My parent saw most of us as disappointments. Vaughn for getting injured…I refer to most of my family in past tense because…well, they have a tendency to disappear. Vince was killed in action, helping some Riders flush out Scanrans…the Scanrans got him first. Mara fell in love with a Doi tribesman visiting from the roof of the world and married him; cheating my parents of an alliance with another house. Andrielle and Artemis flat out told my parents that they refused to work for the family, and are currently…" she bit her thumb. "In Carthak or the Yamani Isles, I forget which, learning even more." She cleared her throat and looked up. "Tell me if I start to bore you."
"No, no, this is quite entertaining. Please, continue. What of Theo and Jake? I know where Sapphire is, obviously."
"Theo and Jake are in two very separate places. Theo is a fully-fledged mage now. He spends his time searching for arcane spells for our family, doing genealogy, as luck has it," she made a face. "It's funny. He has so much power, and yet, he still does the more mundane of tasks…I saw him do a working once. At our home castle, he brought back the images of my great- great-great grandfather's household, we got to see how they lived in the same rooms that we live in now. I have to admit it was definitely an intriguing experience. As for Jake… Jake always had an affinity for children. He's the younglings' tutor." She smiled grimly. "You see…In my family, my clan, you belong to the family. Your life is theirs to expend how they please."
Jai nodded. "I see, so your life isn't your own... You're a caged bird."
"Exactly. You see, after my older siblings all but split, my parents focused in on Sapphire and myself. They decided not to send us to the convent, but to train us at home to be 'proper ladies', all the while drilling into our heads the values of the Starbrook clan," She deepened her voice, as though imitating a large man. "Be true to your family. Trust only your family. Family is life." She laughed. "Please. Anyway, we were also taught combat techniques, which I took to right away. I think it scared my family that I took so easily to the fighting arts. Very quickly they took it out of our daily regime, and in the time when I was before taught fighting, I was given cleaning as punishment for not adhering to the exact letter of their ridiculous protocol."
"Sometimes I did the cleaning," she murmured. "And sometimes," she pulled up the skirt to her knee, revealing a large scar that ran the length of her leg from two inches below the kneecap to up under the skirt itself. "It does up to my ribs. The other times, they beat me. I was the first to be sent to court, supposedly. Or rather, I was going to be the first. They tried to make their alliances away from Corus, bringing nobility in from Naxen, from Tirragen, from Eldorne, from many of the other old houses, even some of the newer less known ones. The men seemed to like me well enough, but I didn't like them, and I was not afraid to show it. The last one was when I ran away."
"Didn't they chase you?" Jai asked, still numb from the sheer size of the scar.
"Gods, yes, they chased me." She stood and began pacing. Jai started to get up be she waved a hand. "Walking helps me think. They chased me the night before I met you. I had had enough with all the suitors, with all the spoiled rich boys who thought that because I was a woman, they could throw me around, throw me away for their own purposes. I grabbed the bag of things I had been keeping since I was 13, when they first brought in the morons, and my horse, and I flew away."
"It seems to be a tradition in the clan that if you have a rogue that gets away, you announce them dead, and let it go. No one thought that I could make it on my own, in the wild or otherwise."
"They misjudged you," Jai commented quietly, standing. "I never doubted your independence at all. From the first time we met, you were…"
"I was what?" She asked when he had been silent a few moments. He stepped closer. "Jai?"
"You were a mystery, like the scent the breeze brings on a warm summer day. Something intoxicating and intriguing. Something asking to be figured out."
"You make me sound interesting," she teased, grinning nervously.
He reached out and clasped her hand in his own, not breaking eye contact. "You are interesting." He started to lean in ever so slightly, and Raine's breath froze in her chest.
"Paige will be looking for us," she murmured, pulling back a little and almost instantly regretting it. "We should head back."
Jai smiled ruefully. "Yes, we had better head back." He released her hand, and the two walked in contemplative silence back to the palace.
* * *
Muttering, Paige glanced out the window again. Raine was supposed to have been there an hour ago, and Jasson never took this long out on rides, especially when he was riding Corona. Shaking her head and telling herself not to worry, she turned back to the steaming kettle over the fire, adding her mixture of herbs to the boiling water. The scent of Chamomile instantly began drifting around the room. Paige sat down to wait, and felt her eyelids grow heavy.
"No, no, stay awake," she commanded herself. "You're on a mission, you can't handle…"she yawned widely. "Oh why not? They're late already. With my luck, they're off…"she started to drift off. "In an alcove somewhere, kissing like the lust-driven teenagers the entire court thinks we are…" her eyes closed and her head fell to rest on her fist.
Over the fire, steam billowed from the kettle, lavender now mixing with the chamomile. The water was boiling away, which was just as well as the flames went from bright orange, to golden, to purple, to green, to blue, fading away into glowing embers. Paige sighed in her sleep; her mind slipping into a state where she was between dreaming and reality- lost in the mists of the surreal.
* * *
"Are we going to show that girl why people should not mess with the Starbrook clan?" Sapphire crooned to her reflection in the mirror. The afternoon sunshine cast an amber luminescence about the room, giving her backlit figure an angelic glow. She almost had the countenance of an angel; what with her creamy skin and lovely blonde hair accented by those eyes that were almost the same blue as that which ran in the Conté line. "Why, yes! Yes, we are going to teach that little wench who deserves to be the heiress of Starbrook."
"Forgive me, Sapphire," Leaf said quietly from the table where he was peeling an apple with a beltknife. "But why exactly are you so…set against Raine? I mean, she's gone, dead to everyone but the clan. Why not just let her be?"
"Let her be?!" Sapphire exclaimed, spinning from the mirror, fury blazing in her eyes. "Do you have any comprehension of how instrumental she could be to my downfall?"
Leaf thought about that for a moment, knife still moving in his deft fingers. "Hmm…Let me see….No, I don't, because you haven't told me one thing since we left the fief." He raised an eyebrow. "How about you divulge some of this precious information so that-"
"So that you can go running to her side to warn her?" Sapphire burst in. "I think not."
Leaf glared from his seat. "What gives you the idea that I would do that?"
"From the first time I met you, you've constantly talked about her. Everything was, 'Raine' this, and 'Raine' that. And still I stayed at your side, always there through-"
"Through the happiest time of my life!" Leaf shouted exasperatedly, leaping from his seat to glare down at the girl before him. "I was happy before you interfered! I had Raine, then you…you…" he seemed to be at a loss for words. He grasped his throat, as though trying to pry away invisible fingers.
Sapphire pinched the air and with the other hand shoved him into his seat. "Don't ever, EVER mention her like that again. Not in front of me." She glared into his eyes. "You should have been mine to start with. She had everything; EVERYTHING! Father and Mother absolutely adored her," she threw up her hands and began pacing. "Most of our siblings loved her, they'd come home to visit, and it was automatically, 'where's Raine?' then as an afterthought, 'oh, hello Sapphire. How have you been?' Then they'd see her and they'd forget I existed," she paused for breath.
She began again, after a few moments, in a quieter, but still fierce tone of voice. "We studied together, being closer in age than anyone else. I had to work so hard to attain excellence in our subjects, and she was always stealing away during our class times, riding that damned horse she raised or sitting in the treetops, reading. I tried it once, and I got beaten, she did it all the time, and she was no worse for wear at all. She got away with everything." The girl broke off bitterly, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Her expression quickly changed from jealousy to malice.
"But when she began fighting it…then running away, people noticed me. They saw me for me, saw that I was always the better daughter…that I was the one more dedicated to the family. Raine was all but forgotten. She's a thing of the past, and now that we've found her, I cannot allow her to be discovered by anyone in the family; especially not by Vaughn or the younglings. They see her here, and my life is over, which means," a cruel fire was rekindled into a blaze in her eyes as she turned to gaze stonily at him. "That you're going down with me."
Leaf swallowed hard. The last time Sapphire had had that…that aura, she had tried to knife Raine in the garden. Sapphire squinted, then smiled superficially. "If you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for tonight's…performance." She swept through the door that led to her sleeping quarters, shutting the door with a decisive click.
She was planning something, something murderous. Leaf's biggest regret was that he was confined to her, like some petty lapdog, jumping to do her bidding. He was disgusted with himself. He gazed at the shiny patches on his wrists, and fingered the hilt of his beltknife. He had tried to escape once, and almost had. It cost him nothing, really-
Nothing but his freedom.
* * *
Raine leaned against the wall outside Jasson's quarters. Jai had gone in to check on Paige five minutes ago. She sighed, studying her short fingernails. A soft click told her that Jai had emerged from the room. She glanced up, and felt her eyes widen. Jai had changed out of his loose breeches and shirt into his court garb. "You look," she faltered for a moment. "Nice. You look nice. But…Are you dining with the court tonight?"
"Yes, we are." He smiled.
"Excuse me. Did you just say, we?" She choked.
"Mm-hmm. We are. Now let's go," she looked down at her white gown, then back up at him, disbelief in her eyes. "You look fine. Come on, you'll be my guest." He grabbed her hand and started walking swiftly down the hallway.
"B-but Paige is.." she stuttered.
"Dead asleep," he responded. "She won't miss us, and besides, I left her a note telling her where we'll be."
"Court, Jasson? To them I'm just a commoner, a palace servant," Raine protested, trying to pull out of his firm grasp.
"Well, who cares what they think? You're going as my guest, your lineage shouldn't be an issue, and besides, you're a Book of Gold noble. So whatever they think is a moot point." He stopped, putting his other hand on her other arm. "Raine," he whispered. "I won't make you come with me. I won't make you do something against your own will, it's not in my nature."
She searched his eyes. "You really want to go through with this? You really want me to go with you?" He nodded slowly, almost imperceptibly. "Then I'll do it. But only for you."
A slow smile spread across his face. "Thank you," he whispered. For a moment, they stood there silently. Then suddenly, he pulled her close, hugging her tightly. "Thank you, I know how hard this must be." She didn't answer, still too surprised. He let her go, and smoothed her hair with a hand, smiling sheepishly.
"Let's go, Prince. We've got a court dinner to turn upside down."
* * *
"Jonathan, dear," Thayet said through her smile as the many nobles assembled in the great hall. "Did you happen to notice who just came through the doors?"
"No, I'm afraid I…" the king trailed off as he spotted the pair. "That's not…"
"Jasson," Thayet confirmed. "I'm afraid it is. And, he's brought a guest." Her smile was genuine now.
"Who is she?" Jonathan asked, turning to his wife, his public smile dropped to reveal concern in his deep blue eyes.
"Raine," the Queen murmured to her husband laughter in her voice. "Lady Raine of Starbrook."
* * *
Raine's heart pounded as they slipped into the large hall. Chattering nobility filled the vast space, seating themselves at large tables and talking in smaller groups. No one noticed the newcomers, or so it seemed. Fear started to take a hold on her heart and she held her bated breath; trying to overcome the urge to run away.
Jai squeezed her hand gently, reassuring her. She managed a weak smile. "Come on, we have to sit with my parents," he murmured for her ears alone. "Trust me, it'd be better than sitting down here."
"Sure it would," she retorted quietly, but let him lead her through the knots of people up to the dais. They stood before the king and queen, Jai bowing slightly, and Raine sweeping into a deep curtsey, ordering her cheeks to resume their normal color. After all, she saw the queen every day, even the king more often than not.
"Good evening, Jasson," the queen said quietly, nodding at her son. She grinned at her maid. "And Lady Raine, how kind of you to join us this evening."
"The honor is mine, my lady," she murmured, head bowed respectfully.
"Hello, mother," Jai murmured, kissing Thayet on the cheek. "Good Evening, Father," he shook his father's hand, then lead Raine around the edge of the dais to the two empty seats on Thayet's right. "Calm down," he murmured as they got settled. "They won't bite."
"It's not them I'm worried about," she whispered back, rubbing white knuckled hands together and looking up at him. "It's most definitely not them I'm worried about."
"Then who-" Raine shook her head. Everyone in the room had seated themselves, and the king had stood to deliver the prayer. As he raised his hands, and opened his mouth to speak, the double doors slammed open.
"Her," Raine muttered. "She's what I'm worried about.
* * *
Sapphire smiled grimly at the looks of shock that graced the faces of the royal family and most of their court. Her entrance had been carefully planned to impress, or rather, to scare the living hell out of them all. She was a Starbrook, damnit; and they needed to know who she was.
Sweeping down the aisle to an open space on the table right next to the dais, she raised her voice to offer an 'apology' to the nobles around her. "I beg a thousand pardons, your Majesty. I apologize for my lateness, I hope that I can repay you for this disturbance." She curtsied low.
"Hmm…" The king grumbled. "Very well, Sapphire of Starbrook," he said finally. "We shall speak later. Now if I might pray before the food turns to stone?" No one could miss the icy note to the last statement. Sapphire bowed her head once more, then took her seat, trying not to smirk.
* * *
As the night progressed, Raine felt herself relaxing in Jai's company. Relaxing, and actually enjoying herself. She laughed with Roald and Shinkokami, who were seated next to them; she talked quietly with Jai and debated ethics with the king and queen.
Dinner was winding down, chatter starting to get louder. Servers were whisking away place settings, and refilling goblets with wine, spirits, or water respectively. Raine sighed, almost disgusted with herself. She was enjoying the very thing she had run away from.
"You want to stay for the dancing?" Jai asked quietly, gripping her shoulder.
"Well-" she was cut off by a loud thud and an unearthly silence.
A figure, a mangled and bloody figure had fallen to the floor. Red blood pooled around the girl…or rather what looked like the remains of a girl. The palace uniform was in tattered, crimson soaked rags
Raine's breath caught in her chest, it...it couldn't be, it just couldn't be…
That's when the screaming started.
* * *
A/N: Tell me what you think, please. Feedback's always welcome.
(Cassidelia Elwoode, 2002
Leaf was uncertain what to do. Should he step away, or approach? He opted to stay where he was, thinking that perhaps it was safer. He could tell from the atmosphere of the room that Sapphire had an idea. And knowing Sapphire, it was an idea that he was not about to like.
* * *
Raine waved a hand in the air in front of Jasson's vacant stare. "Hello? Tortall to Jasson, come in Jasson." She grinned and leaned in, until her face was scant inches from him. "Jasson, snap out of it." He blinked dumbly, then gasped, and leaned backward with incredible speed. Raine burst out giggling.
"It's not that funny," he murmured, face turning a lovely shade of crimson. She continued laughing, and he couldn't help but smile. "Okay, maybe it is, but you don't have to rub it in."
"Rub what in? What were you thinking of, anyway? You were staring at my hands," she looked down, turning her tanned hands over, examining them. "They're really not that interesting."
Jasson hazarded a sheepish smile. "I don't really know…It was like you were weaving a story as you talked, you know, like the story tellers do at Beltane and Midwinter."
She nodded. She did know, a cousin of their had been one of the few she found she could converse with at home, and he had taught her many a trick to captivate a listener, not all of them normal. Realizing that she had been using the speaking tricks he had taught her, she turned a light shade of coral. "My cousin was a storyteller back home. I got to talk with him a lot. I'm afraid that it rubbed off a bit."
Jai nodded, looking into his own lap. "You had a very interesting life." He commented gently, not quite sure if it would spark debate or whether he could get away with it as a compliment.
"'Interesting' is not how I would put it," Raine told him frankly. "Hellish is how I would put it. There are so many little…quirks that I wouldn't want to bother you with."
He looked up, drawing one knee up and resting his head on it. She was glaring into her lap, her eyes a mixture of pain and anger. She felt his gaze and looked up, her eyes locking with his. "I'd like to know, if you want to tell. If you don't, I can understand that."
She sighed. "No, no you have a right to know. It's just not…a pretty picture to paint. It's not exactly fun to have lived it, either. But I guess unless they're brought out into the open, it's never going to leave me alone."
He smiled warmly. "I'm honored."
She looked startled. "Why?"
"That you trust me enough to tell me this much," He smiled. "And I assume, tell me what you mean by 'hellish'."
She nodded and took a deep breath. "There were nine of us when I was born; nine children to two relatively young parents. My grandfather still ran the fief at that point, and for awhile we were happy. Vince was 16 when I was born, and away studying to become a knight, his twin, Mara was finishing her stay at the convent, studying to become 'a lady'," she was counting her siblings on her fingers now. "After Vince and Mara were Andrielle, Artemis, Theo and Jacob- they were twins too, then Sapphire, then me." A small smile touched her lips. "Andrielle and Artemis were the two most…scholastically inclined of any of us. They were only 14, only 14 and already they were at the university studying for the highest degrees the place offered in magic and languages respectively," she shook her head and laughed. "They were a malicious duo, and both of them twins as well."
"Lots of twins in your family," Jai commented.
Raine nodded. "It gets better. Let's see… where was I? Oh, yes-Theo. Theo was at the mithran cloisters. He had the strongest magic in the family, my uncle Andrè's pride and joy. He…didn't like me much." She cleared her throat. "Then there's Sapphire-"
Jai held up a hand. "I don't need to hear about her right now."
"Right…wait a moment, I've forgotten someone…" she counted off on her fingers again. "Vince, Mara, Andrielle, Artemis, Theo, Jake, Sapphire…Vaughn! How could I forget him? Well, I told you that he went to the Shangs, but had to come home because of an injury. He was…ooh, I'd have to say…17 when I was born. He'd been with the Shangs from around age 5, until he was 15. He got his injury protecting a village from raiders..." her head bowed. "He sliced a muscle and walked with a limp from then on."
Jai winced. "Ouch."
"Yeah, ouch. He was my favorite brother…of my older sibs, anyway."
Jai's eyes grew wide. "You had younger sibs too?"
Raine nodded. "Yep," she shot him a sly smile. "Like rabbits, my parents were." That startled laughter from Jai, and she grinned. "Yes, I had younger sibs. Julianne, Henry, Brooke, Westley, and Aurora. They were quintuplets." She thought Jai's eyes would fall out of his head, they were so round. "Yes, and they were a handful, too. They're 14 now, going through the normal teenage woes, as a matter of fact, they're supposed to be coming up quite soon."
"My parent saw most of us as disappointments. Vaughn for getting injured…I refer to most of my family in past tense because…well, they have a tendency to disappear. Vince was killed in action, helping some Riders flush out Scanrans…the Scanrans got him first. Mara fell in love with a Doi tribesman visiting from the roof of the world and married him; cheating my parents of an alliance with another house. Andrielle and Artemis flat out told my parents that they refused to work for the family, and are currently…" she bit her thumb. "In Carthak or the Yamani Isles, I forget which, learning even more." She cleared her throat and looked up. "Tell me if I start to bore you."
"No, no, this is quite entertaining. Please, continue. What of Theo and Jake? I know where Sapphire is, obviously."
"Theo and Jake are in two very separate places. Theo is a fully-fledged mage now. He spends his time searching for arcane spells for our family, doing genealogy, as luck has it," she made a face. "It's funny. He has so much power, and yet, he still does the more mundane of tasks…I saw him do a working once. At our home castle, he brought back the images of my great- great-great grandfather's household, we got to see how they lived in the same rooms that we live in now. I have to admit it was definitely an intriguing experience. As for Jake… Jake always had an affinity for children. He's the younglings' tutor." She smiled grimly. "You see…In my family, my clan, you belong to the family. Your life is theirs to expend how they please."
Jai nodded. "I see, so your life isn't your own... You're a caged bird."
"Exactly. You see, after my older siblings all but split, my parents focused in on Sapphire and myself. They decided not to send us to the convent, but to train us at home to be 'proper ladies', all the while drilling into our heads the values of the Starbrook clan," She deepened her voice, as though imitating a large man. "Be true to your family. Trust only your family. Family is life." She laughed. "Please. Anyway, we were also taught combat techniques, which I took to right away. I think it scared my family that I took so easily to the fighting arts. Very quickly they took it out of our daily regime, and in the time when I was before taught fighting, I was given cleaning as punishment for not adhering to the exact letter of their ridiculous protocol."
"Sometimes I did the cleaning," she murmured. "And sometimes," she pulled up the skirt to her knee, revealing a large scar that ran the length of her leg from two inches below the kneecap to up under the skirt itself. "It does up to my ribs. The other times, they beat me. I was the first to be sent to court, supposedly. Or rather, I was going to be the first. They tried to make their alliances away from Corus, bringing nobility in from Naxen, from Tirragen, from Eldorne, from many of the other old houses, even some of the newer less known ones. The men seemed to like me well enough, but I didn't like them, and I was not afraid to show it. The last one was when I ran away."
"Didn't they chase you?" Jai asked, still numb from the sheer size of the scar.
"Gods, yes, they chased me." She stood and began pacing. Jai started to get up be she waved a hand. "Walking helps me think. They chased me the night before I met you. I had had enough with all the suitors, with all the spoiled rich boys who thought that because I was a woman, they could throw me around, throw me away for their own purposes. I grabbed the bag of things I had been keeping since I was 13, when they first brought in the morons, and my horse, and I flew away."
"It seems to be a tradition in the clan that if you have a rogue that gets away, you announce them dead, and let it go. No one thought that I could make it on my own, in the wild or otherwise."
"They misjudged you," Jai commented quietly, standing. "I never doubted your independence at all. From the first time we met, you were…"
"I was what?" She asked when he had been silent a few moments. He stepped closer. "Jai?"
"You were a mystery, like the scent the breeze brings on a warm summer day. Something intoxicating and intriguing. Something asking to be figured out."
"You make me sound interesting," she teased, grinning nervously.
He reached out and clasped her hand in his own, not breaking eye contact. "You are interesting." He started to lean in ever so slightly, and Raine's breath froze in her chest.
"Paige will be looking for us," she murmured, pulling back a little and almost instantly regretting it. "We should head back."
Jai smiled ruefully. "Yes, we had better head back." He released her hand, and the two walked in contemplative silence back to the palace.
* * *
Muttering, Paige glanced out the window again. Raine was supposed to have been there an hour ago, and Jasson never took this long out on rides, especially when he was riding Corona. Shaking her head and telling herself not to worry, she turned back to the steaming kettle over the fire, adding her mixture of herbs to the boiling water. The scent of Chamomile instantly began drifting around the room. Paige sat down to wait, and felt her eyelids grow heavy.
"No, no, stay awake," she commanded herself. "You're on a mission, you can't handle…"she yawned widely. "Oh why not? They're late already. With my luck, they're off…"she started to drift off. "In an alcove somewhere, kissing like the lust-driven teenagers the entire court thinks we are…" her eyes closed and her head fell to rest on her fist.
Over the fire, steam billowed from the kettle, lavender now mixing with the chamomile. The water was boiling away, which was just as well as the flames went from bright orange, to golden, to purple, to green, to blue, fading away into glowing embers. Paige sighed in her sleep; her mind slipping into a state where she was between dreaming and reality- lost in the mists of the surreal.
* * *
"Are we going to show that girl why people should not mess with the Starbrook clan?" Sapphire crooned to her reflection in the mirror. The afternoon sunshine cast an amber luminescence about the room, giving her backlit figure an angelic glow. She almost had the countenance of an angel; what with her creamy skin and lovely blonde hair accented by those eyes that were almost the same blue as that which ran in the Conté line. "Why, yes! Yes, we are going to teach that little wench who deserves to be the heiress of Starbrook."
"Forgive me, Sapphire," Leaf said quietly from the table where he was peeling an apple with a beltknife. "But why exactly are you so…set against Raine? I mean, she's gone, dead to everyone but the clan. Why not just let her be?"
"Let her be?!" Sapphire exclaimed, spinning from the mirror, fury blazing in her eyes. "Do you have any comprehension of how instrumental she could be to my downfall?"
Leaf thought about that for a moment, knife still moving in his deft fingers. "Hmm…Let me see….No, I don't, because you haven't told me one thing since we left the fief." He raised an eyebrow. "How about you divulge some of this precious information so that-"
"So that you can go running to her side to warn her?" Sapphire burst in. "I think not."
Leaf glared from his seat. "What gives you the idea that I would do that?"
"From the first time I met you, you've constantly talked about her. Everything was, 'Raine' this, and 'Raine' that. And still I stayed at your side, always there through-"
"Through the happiest time of my life!" Leaf shouted exasperatedly, leaping from his seat to glare down at the girl before him. "I was happy before you interfered! I had Raine, then you…you…" he seemed to be at a loss for words. He grasped his throat, as though trying to pry away invisible fingers.
Sapphire pinched the air and with the other hand shoved him into his seat. "Don't ever, EVER mention her like that again. Not in front of me." She glared into his eyes. "You should have been mine to start with. She had everything; EVERYTHING! Father and Mother absolutely adored her," she threw up her hands and began pacing. "Most of our siblings loved her, they'd come home to visit, and it was automatically, 'where's Raine?' then as an afterthought, 'oh, hello Sapphire. How have you been?' Then they'd see her and they'd forget I existed," she paused for breath.
She began again, after a few moments, in a quieter, but still fierce tone of voice. "We studied together, being closer in age than anyone else. I had to work so hard to attain excellence in our subjects, and she was always stealing away during our class times, riding that damned horse she raised or sitting in the treetops, reading. I tried it once, and I got beaten, she did it all the time, and she was no worse for wear at all. She got away with everything." The girl broke off bitterly, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Her expression quickly changed from jealousy to malice.
"But when she began fighting it…then running away, people noticed me. They saw me for me, saw that I was always the better daughter…that I was the one more dedicated to the family. Raine was all but forgotten. She's a thing of the past, and now that we've found her, I cannot allow her to be discovered by anyone in the family; especially not by Vaughn or the younglings. They see her here, and my life is over, which means," a cruel fire was rekindled into a blaze in her eyes as she turned to gaze stonily at him. "That you're going down with me."
Leaf swallowed hard. The last time Sapphire had had that…that aura, she had tried to knife Raine in the garden. Sapphire squinted, then smiled superficially. "If you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for tonight's…performance." She swept through the door that led to her sleeping quarters, shutting the door with a decisive click.
She was planning something, something murderous. Leaf's biggest regret was that he was confined to her, like some petty lapdog, jumping to do her bidding. He was disgusted with himself. He gazed at the shiny patches on his wrists, and fingered the hilt of his beltknife. He had tried to escape once, and almost had. It cost him nothing, really-
Nothing but his freedom.
* * *
Raine leaned against the wall outside Jasson's quarters. Jai had gone in to check on Paige five minutes ago. She sighed, studying her short fingernails. A soft click told her that Jai had emerged from the room. She glanced up, and felt her eyes widen. Jai had changed out of his loose breeches and shirt into his court garb. "You look," she faltered for a moment. "Nice. You look nice. But…Are you dining with the court tonight?"
"Yes, we are." He smiled.
"Excuse me. Did you just say, we?" She choked.
"Mm-hmm. We are. Now let's go," she looked down at her white gown, then back up at him, disbelief in her eyes. "You look fine. Come on, you'll be my guest." He grabbed her hand and started walking swiftly down the hallway.
"B-but Paige is.." she stuttered.
"Dead asleep," he responded. "She won't miss us, and besides, I left her a note telling her where we'll be."
"Court, Jasson? To them I'm just a commoner, a palace servant," Raine protested, trying to pull out of his firm grasp.
"Well, who cares what they think? You're going as my guest, your lineage shouldn't be an issue, and besides, you're a Book of Gold noble. So whatever they think is a moot point." He stopped, putting his other hand on her other arm. "Raine," he whispered. "I won't make you come with me. I won't make you do something against your own will, it's not in my nature."
She searched his eyes. "You really want to go through with this? You really want me to go with you?" He nodded slowly, almost imperceptibly. "Then I'll do it. But only for you."
A slow smile spread across his face. "Thank you," he whispered. For a moment, they stood there silently. Then suddenly, he pulled her close, hugging her tightly. "Thank you, I know how hard this must be." She didn't answer, still too surprised. He let her go, and smoothed her hair with a hand, smiling sheepishly.
"Let's go, Prince. We've got a court dinner to turn upside down."
* * *
"Jonathan, dear," Thayet said through her smile as the many nobles assembled in the great hall. "Did you happen to notice who just came through the doors?"
"No, I'm afraid I…" the king trailed off as he spotted the pair. "That's not…"
"Jasson," Thayet confirmed. "I'm afraid it is. And, he's brought a guest." Her smile was genuine now.
"Who is she?" Jonathan asked, turning to his wife, his public smile dropped to reveal concern in his deep blue eyes.
"Raine," the Queen murmured to her husband laughter in her voice. "Lady Raine of Starbrook."
* * *
Raine's heart pounded as they slipped into the large hall. Chattering nobility filled the vast space, seating themselves at large tables and talking in smaller groups. No one noticed the newcomers, or so it seemed. Fear started to take a hold on her heart and she held her bated breath; trying to overcome the urge to run away.
Jai squeezed her hand gently, reassuring her. She managed a weak smile. "Come on, we have to sit with my parents," he murmured for her ears alone. "Trust me, it'd be better than sitting down here."
"Sure it would," she retorted quietly, but let him lead her through the knots of people up to the dais. They stood before the king and queen, Jai bowing slightly, and Raine sweeping into a deep curtsey, ordering her cheeks to resume their normal color. After all, she saw the queen every day, even the king more often than not.
"Good evening, Jasson," the queen said quietly, nodding at her son. She grinned at her maid. "And Lady Raine, how kind of you to join us this evening."
"The honor is mine, my lady," she murmured, head bowed respectfully.
"Hello, mother," Jai murmured, kissing Thayet on the cheek. "Good Evening, Father," he shook his father's hand, then lead Raine around the edge of the dais to the two empty seats on Thayet's right. "Calm down," he murmured as they got settled. "They won't bite."
"It's not them I'm worried about," she whispered back, rubbing white knuckled hands together and looking up at him. "It's most definitely not them I'm worried about."
"Then who-" Raine shook her head. Everyone in the room had seated themselves, and the king had stood to deliver the prayer. As he raised his hands, and opened his mouth to speak, the double doors slammed open.
"Her," Raine muttered. "She's what I'm worried about.
* * *
Sapphire smiled grimly at the looks of shock that graced the faces of the royal family and most of their court. Her entrance had been carefully planned to impress, or rather, to scare the living hell out of them all. She was a Starbrook, damnit; and they needed to know who she was.
Sweeping down the aisle to an open space on the table right next to the dais, she raised her voice to offer an 'apology' to the nobles around her. "I beg a thousand pardons, your Majesty. I apologize for my lateness, I hope that I can repay you for this disturbance." She curtsied low.
"Hmm…" The king grumbled. "Very well, Sapphire of Starbrook," he said finally. "We shall speak later. Now if I might pray before the food turns to stone?" No one could miss the icy note to the last statement. Sapphire bowed her head once more, then took her seat, trying not to smirk.
* * *
As the night progressed, Raine felt herself relaxing in Jai's company. Relaxing, and actually enjoying herself. She laughed with Roald and Shinkokami, who were seated next to them; she talked quietly with Jai and debated ethics with the king and queen.
Dinner was winding down, chatter starting to get louder. Servers were whisking away place settings, and refilling goblets with wine, spirits, or water respectively. Raine sighed, almost disgusted with herself. She was enjoying the very thing she had run away from.
"You want to stay for the dancing?" Jai asked quietly, gripping her shoulder.
"Well-" she was cut off by a loud thud and an unearthly silence.
A figure, a mangled and bloody figure had fallen to the floor. Red blood pooled around the girl…or rather what looked like the remains of a girl. The palace uniform was in tattered, crimson soaked rags
Raine's breath caught in her chest, it...it couldn't be, it just couldn't be…
That's when the screaming started.
* * *
A/N: Tell me what you think, please. Feedback's always welcome.
(Cassidelia Elwoode, 2002