Disclaimer: I don't own anything that isn't mine.
*
Viper sat on the ground, her legs crossed and her arms lying limply on them, her eyes shut in concentration. She was trying this thing that the male mage in green across the room had called madoration. Or was it meditation? Yes, meditation- seven counts breathing in, seven holding your breath, seven breathe out- and again. She really didn't see why the mage had to be there with her while she did this meditation, but there were many things they didn't tell her. One of those things they didn't tell her being why they were doing this thing. It was completely purposeless- the mage wanted her to gather all of herself into one object! What sense did that make? She was in her body, and that was an object. Apparently she had done something right, for he looked pleased when he left- two hours later. Mages were strange folk, she decided.
But she hadn't thought of a name that would be suitable for a Bag's servant. Roach had chosen Briar- a plant name. Should she, too? What plant names were there for her? Violet, lily, petunia, thistle, bramble (Wait, I think that isn't a name!), rose- Rose was nice. It conveyed everything a servant should be: nice, sweet, obedient, lovely. Definitely things that she wasn't. But Roach had to have a second name too. Really, what good would two names do him? All it would do was to make him seem pretentious and stupid if he ever came back using it.
Pretentious was a word she had picked up from listening to people talk as they passed her door. She had picked up the rich people dialect of Sotat in a surprisingly short time- all they did was sound fancy and use big words. And they sounded like they were talking to dung when they spoke to servants. But that was about it, nothing else separated them from the working class except for the fact that they were snobs and had been born into families loaded with money.
*
Briar had just settled all of his stuff in at the boy's dormitory. He could already tell he wasn't going to like it here, because all of the other boys were stupid rich bleaters. As soon as he got the chance to nick something good, he'd run.
*
Viper sighed. She'd finally come up with a second name- Ember. That's what was left of the chair in her room after the guard (who reeked of alcohol) had come in and screamed at her. He had left surprisingly quickly, and come back with two Bags, but neither were the mage who meditated with her. She sighed and waited to be screamed at again, wishing it was at least someone who she knew (somewhat) that would punish her, but no noise came. She looked up and saw the Bags examining her work. The woman, who was wearing a blue robe which must have cost seven golden astreals a yard, turned to face her and let out a short gasp.
"Gods, Mihckial, do you know who she looks like?" The other mage, who was wearing a red robe that must have cost more than his companions, turned to face her also. He, too, wore an astonished look once he saw her.
"I think that the king really should have come down and looked at this," the male Bag said slowly. "Guard," he called out, "see to it that no one sees or harms this child until we come back. The door is to be locked and not opened under any circumstance." The guard nodded hesitantly.
The Bags both left in a rush, and Viper knew her escape had to be right then. She couldn't draw all this attention to herself; it would only ruin her chance for an escape. The guard gave her a warning glare and shut the door. This time she heard it lock. She went over to the window and slid it open as silently as possible. She was only on the second floor, so a drop from here wouldn't hurt her very much, if at all. She wriggled through the window and fell, hoping that she would have a soft landing. As she would have wished, there were some thick bushes that supported her weight and kept her from a hard landing. She crawled off of them and ran like crazy. She had counted on there being guard at the gate, but not as few as there were, and she hadn't counted on the doors being shut. It would take a miracle for her plan now.
Everything seemed to be going her way on this escape. A wagon with trash in it now came down the lane heading from the castle to the wherever the trash dump was. Backtracking as quickly as she could, Viper jumped into the trash in the back and buried herself. She only had to wait for the gates to be opened and shut and then she would get out.
But of course something always has to go wrong if something goes right. Apparently the driver and the guards were very good friends, and the driver just had to stay for an hour to talk to them. So Viper sat, in an uncomfortable position in the middle of a rotten, stink-filled trash wagon for an hour, holding her breath for long periods of time and then wishing she would die. Finally, the guard got back into the wagon and it started moving along. She would have sighed, but the guard was staring at the back of the wagon. The gates slid into place behind them as the wagon turned the corner of the street and headed towards the dump place. She jumped out of the trash as soon as she was sure that they were far enough from palace and the rich district of the city surrounding it as she needed to be, and immediately headed towards the sea to rid herself of the smell of the garbage. Gagging the whole way there from her stench, she received some very strange looks from everyone she passed. She started running as soon as she had her first glimpse of the water, and jumped off of the docks into the water, shutting her eyes just before the water hit her. She kicked upward, thankful that she had no shoes to drag her down, and gasped in the fresh, clean air. She looked up into the sky in time to see the trash wagon unloading its trash onto her face. The perfect ending to her perfect day.
*
Viper sat on the ground, her legs crossed and her arms lying limply on them, her eyes shut in concentration. She was trying this thing that the male mage in green across the room had called madoration. Or was it meditation? Yes, meditation- seven counts breathing in, seven holding your breath, seven breathe out- and again. She really didn't see why the mage had to be there with her while she did this meditation, but there were many things they didn't tell her. One of those things they didn't tell her being why they were doing this thing. It was completely purposeless- the mage wanted her to gather all of herself into one object! What sense did that make? She was in her body, and that was an object. Apparently she had done something right, for he looked pleased when he left- two hours later. Mages were strange folk, she decided.
But she hadn't thought of a name that would be suitable for a Bag's servant. Roach had chosen Briar- a plant name. Should she, too? What plant names were there for her? Violet, lily, petunia, thistle, bramble (Wait, I think that isn't a name!), rose- Rose was nice. It conveyed everything a servant should be: nice, sweet, obedient, lovely. Definitely things that she wasn't. But Roach had to have a second name too. Really, what good would two names do him? All it would do was to make him seem pretentious and stupid if he ever came back using it.
Pretentious was a word she had picked up from listening to people talk as they passed her door. She had picked up the rich people dialect of Sotat in a surprisingly short time- all they did was sound fancy and use big words. And they sounded like they were talking to dung when they spoke to servants. But that was about it, nothing else separated them from the working class except for the fact that they were snobs and had been born into families loaded with money.
*
Briar had just settled all of his stuff in at the boy's dormitory. He could already tell he wasn't going to like it here, because all of the other boys were stupid rich bleaters. As soon as he got the chance to nick something good, he'd run.
*
Viper sighed. She'd finally come up with a second name- Ember. That's what was left of the chair in her room after the guard (who reeked of alcohol) had come in and screamed at her. He had left surprisingly quickly, and come back with two Bags, but neither were the mage who meditated with her. She sighed and waited to be screamed at again, wishing it was at least someone who she knew (somewhat) that would punish her, but no noise came. She looked up and saw the Bags examining her work. The woman, who was wearing a blue robe which must have cost seven golden astreals a yard, turned to face her and let out a short gasp.
"Gods, Mihckial, do you know who she looks like?" The other mage, who was wearing a red robe that must have cost more than his companions, turned to face her also. He, too, wore an astonished look once he saw her.
"I think that the king really should have come down and looked at this," the male Bag said slowly. "Guard," he called out, "see to it that no one sees or harms this child until we come back. The door is to be locked and not opened under any circumstance." The guard nodded hesitantly.
The Bags both left in a rush, and Viper knew her escape had to be right then. She couldn't draw all this attention to herself; it would only ruin her chance for an escape. The guard gave her a warning glare and shut the door. This time she heard it lock. She went over to the window and slid it open as silently as possible. She was only on the second floor, so a drop from here wouldn't hurt her very much, if at all. She wriggled through the window and fell, hoping that she would have a soft landing. As she would have wished, there were some thick bushes that supported her weight and kept her from a hard landing. She crawled off of them and ran like crazy. She had counted on there being guard at the gate, but not as few as there were, and she hadn't counted on the doors being shut. It would take a miracle for her plan now.
Everything seemed to be going her way on this escape. A wagon with trash in it now came down the lane heading from the castle to the wherever the trash dump was. Backtracking as quickly as she could, Viper jumped into the trash in the back and buried herself. She only had to wait for the gates to be opened and shut and then she would get out.
But of course something always has to go wrong if something goes right. Apparently the driver and the guards were very good friends, and the driver just had to stay for an hour to talk to them. So Viper sat, in an uncomfortable position in the middle of a rotten, stink-filled trash wagon for an hour, holding her breath for long periods of time and then wishing she would die. Finally, the guard got back into the wagon and it started moving along. She would have sighed, but the guard was staring at the back of the wagon. The gates slid into place behind them as the wagon turned the corner of the street and headed towards the dump place. She jumped out of the trash as soon as she was sure that they were far enough from palace and the rich district of the city surrounding it as she needed to be, and immediately headed towards the sea to rid herself of the smell of the garbage. Gagging the whole way there from her stench, she received some very strange looks from everyone she passed. She started running as soon as she had her first glimpse of the water, and jumped off of the docks into the water, shutting her eyes just before the water hit her. She kicked upward, thankful that she had no shoes to drag her down, and gasped in the fresh, clean air. She looked up into the sky in time to see the trash wagon unloading its trash onto her face. The perfect ending to her perfect day.