"Well, what do you expect me to do?" Éowyn shouted at her younger
sister.
"I'm twenty years old. I can take care of myself!" Kaderayna shot back.
"Then why do you keep coming back here? You need money, you need clothes, you need food, or you need more money. To get drunk on!"
Kaderayna glowered at the corner.
"I'm sending you away. I cannot deal with you and neither Faramir nor I want to try anymore. You're absolutely hopeless. Pack your bags; you're going to stay at the palace with your godfather."
Kaderayna's godfather; how she hated the man. She was the only one, too, for he was "the great Elessar," king and savoir of Minas Tirith.
King and savior Kaderayna's ass. He had always treated her so dreadfully sweet, so sickeningly kind. They got along at one time, but Kaderayna was older now, and he would still treat her like a little kid, whom he "saved" once upon a time. It hadn't really worked; anyway, she still couldn't lift more than a piece of paper in her right hand because of the immense weight it brought upon her arm.
But Kaderayna knew better than to argue with her sister when she was in this state. She went upstairs to pack. She didn't need much, just clothes for a few days. Kaderayna knew that she'd be going someplace else after a few days; that was the way it always worked when Éowyn couldn't deal with her. She'd get shuttled around from place to place but never staying in one spot for too long because the people there didn't want her there.
Once at the palace, Kaderayna ditched her belongings in her temporary chambers and went to the courtyard. There she tried to focus on her knife work, but the task was hopeless. Within minutes she was vomiting into a bush near the wall.
"It is good to see you, Kaderayna," Elessar called from across the courtyard. He used to call her "Kad," as did most people, but no one really knew her anymore. They felt uncomfortable calling her something so informal. "How long will you be staying?"
"Éowyn would want me to tell you that you are permitted to kick me out whenever you wish. I assume you'll be doing just that around noon on Sunday."
"Kick you out?" Elessar laughed. "Nonsense. You are free to stay as long as you wish. Her only request was that you remain inside the palace walls."
"What's stopping me from leaving?" Kaderayna asked curtly.
Elessar sighed, "What happened to you, Kaderayna? Before you became like this, you were a sweet little girl with a crooked smile and a sling over her shoulder. I miss that girl so much; she saved me from myself."
She wanted to tell him everything. How having a crippled right arm and knowing how to fight had made her an outcast from the other children. How she secluded herself with mugs of beer and bottles of wine until she couldn't feel the pain at all even though it throbbed through her head in the abandoned form of nostalgia.
No one thought that she remembered that long ago, but she did. She remembered the night that Elessar had held her in his lap and tried to protect her from the heavy blows of a now dead man. She had called him Aragorn then, and she had pretended that he was her father whom she loved dearly and he her.
"Your highness," she said mockingly, "I don't want to be here. I don't want to be with you. And the last thing I want to be is a helpless little girl again, so find yourself another one."
Then she left. She didn't hear Elessar sigh, nor did she want to think about it. She was out of money, but her knife might get her what she needed. She saw a servant dusting in the sunroom.
Kaderayna pushed the servant into a corner and pulled out her knife. Terrified, the servant begged for her life. Kaderayna demanded to know where Elessar kept his wine; the servant girl shakily pointed a finger towards a staircase, saying it led to a wine cellar.
"If you tell anyone at all that I asked you this, I'll slit your throat," she threatened, then slunk away to the wine cellar as the servant girl collapsed in a dead faint. Funny, how no one could ever figure out why they found her on the floor like that that one afternoon.
Far too eagerly Kaderayna ran down the stairs. Deprived of alcohol for less than twelve hours, she was desperate. The wine cellar was amazing. Rows and rows of top notch wine, even beer barrels. And, in one small cabinet, there were all sorts of liquor that Kaderayna had never seen in her life. She tried those first.
The first one she grabbed was a cider-colored liquid, and burned as it slid down Kaderayna's throat. 'Dizzy after one sip,' she thought, delighted. In twenty minutes the top shelf of the cabinet was consumed, and the empty jars to prove it lay strewn across the floor. Kaderayna finally got what she had wanted, the blissful state of unconsciousness. Her last thoughts were about how foolish Éowyn was to send her there. Then she passed out.
~
Elessar missed her at dinner, and since she was no where to be found, contacted Éowyn. The next day Éowyn's message arrived: "She is any place that can get her drunk," was all the letter said, and so he promptly had a servant check the wine cellar. He prayed to the Valar that the she didn't find Kaderayna down there, but it went unanswered.
"Your Majesty, your guest from Ithilien is down there."
Elessar sighed. Again. "Did she say anything to you?"
"I believe, your Majesty, that she is quite dead." The servant chose these words hesitantly and immediately excused herself.
Elessar ran down the stairs. He didn't want to believe what the servant had just told him, and he thought that maybe she was mistaken, but all the same Kaderayna must have been in somewhat poor condition for the servant to have said such a thing.
In the last row of wines Elessar found Kaderayna. She was face down on the floor, surrounded by empty bottles of specialty liquor. Stone drunk. Elessar couldn't believe it.
He turned her onto her back. Holding his hand over her mouth, he could tell that she wasn't breathing. How long had she been lying there? He called for servants to bring her upstairs into her chambers, meanwhile doing his very best to stay away from her; she reeked of alcohol, a scent Elessar was not particularly fond of.
~
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Dork! Sigh, oh well . . . it's being re-casted. I'll post new chapters if I see reviews for them. So yeah.
"I'm twenty years old. I can take care of myself!" Kaderayna shot back.
"Then why do you keep coming back here? You need money, you need clothes, you need food, or you need more money. To get drunk on!"
Kaderayna glowered at the corner.
"I'm sending you away. I cannot deal with you and neither Faramir nor I want to try anymore. You're absolutely hopeless. Pack your bags; you're going to stay at the palace with your godfather."
Kaderayna's godfather; how she hated the man. She was the only one, too, for he was "the great Elessar," king and savoir of Minas Tirith.
King and savior Kaderayna's ass. He had always treated her so dreadfully sweet, so sickeningly kind. They got along at one time, but Kaderayna was older now, and he would still treat her like a little kid, whom he "saved" once upon a time. It hadn't really worked; anyway, she still couldn't lift more than a piece of paper in her right hand because of the immense weight it brought upon her arm.
But Kaderayna knew better than to argue with her sister when she was in this state. She went upstairs to pack. She didn't need much, just clothes for a few days. Kaderayna knew that she'd be going someplace else after a few days; that was the way it always worked when Éowyn couldn't deal with her. She'd get shuttled around from place to place but never staying in one spot for too long because the people there didn't want her there.
Once at the palace, Kaderayna ditched her belongings in her temporary chambers and went to the courtyard. There she tried to focus on her knife work, but the task was hopeless. Within minutes she was vomiting into a bush near the wall.
"It is good to see you, Kaderayna," Elessar called from across the courtyard. He used to call her "Kad," as did most people, but no one really knew her anymore. They felt uncomfortable calling her something so informal. "How long will you be staying?"
"Éowyn would want me to tell you that you are permitted to kick me out whenever you wish. I assume you'll be doing just that around noon on Sunday."
"Kick you out?" Elessar laughed. "Nonsense. You are free to stay as long as you wish. Her only request was that you remain inside the palace walls."
"What's stopping me from leaving?" Kaderayna asked curtly.
Elessar sighed, "What happened to you, Kaderayna? Before you became like this, you were a sweet little girl with a crooked smile and a sling over her shoulder. I miss that girl so much; she saved me from myself."
She wanted to tell him everything. How having a crippled right arm and knowing how to fight had made her an outcast from the other children. How she secluded herself with mugs of beer and bottles of wine until she couldn't feel the pain at all even though it throbbed through her head in the abandoned form of nostalgia.
No one thought that she remembered that long ago, but she did. She remembered the night that Elessar had held her in his lap and tried to protect her from the heavy blows of a now dead man. She had called him Aragorn then, and she had pretended that he was her father whom she loved dearly and he her.
"Your highness," she said mockingly, "I don't want to be here. I don't want to be with you. And the last thing I want to be is a helpless little girl again, so find yourself another one."
Then she left. She didn't hear Elessar sigh, nor did she want to think about it. She was out of money, but her knife might get her what she needed. She saw a servant dusting in the sunroom.
Kaderayna pushed the servant into a corner and pulled out her knife. Terrified, the servant begged for her life. Kaderayna demanded to know where Elessar kept his wine; the servant girl shakily pointed a finger towards a staircase, saying it led to a wine cellar.
"If you tell anyone at all that I asked you this, I'll slit your throat," she threatened, then slunk away to the wine cellar as the servant girl collapsed in a dead faint. Funny, how no one could ever figure out why they found her on the floor like that that one afternoon.
Far too eagerly Kaderayna ran down the stairs. Deprived of alcohol for less than twelve hours, she was desperate. The wine cellar was amazing. Rows and rows of top notch wine, even beer barrels. And, in one small cabinet, there were all sorts of liquor that Kaderayna had never seen in her life. She tried those first.
The first one she grabbed was a cider-colored liquid, and burned as it slid down Kaderayna's throat. 'Dizzy after one sip,' she thought, delighted. In twenty minutes the top shelf of the cabinet was consumed, and the empty jars to prove it lay strewn across the floor. Kaderayna finally got what she had wanted, the blissful state of unconsciousness. Her last thoughts were about how foolish Éowyn was to send her there. Then she passed out.
~
Elessar missed her at dinner, and since she was no where to be found, contacted Éowyn. The next day Éowyn's message arrived: "She is any place that can get her drunk," was all the letter said, and so he promptly had a servant check the wine cellar. He prayed to the Valar that the she didn't find Kaderayna down there, but it went unanswered.
"Your Majesty, your guest from Ithilien is down there."
Elessar sighed. Again. "Did she say anything to you?"
"I believe, your Majesty, that she is quite dead." The servant chose these words hesitantly and immediately excused herself.
Elessar ran down the stairs. He didn't want to believe what the servant had just told him, and he thought that maybe she was mistaken, but all the same Kaderayna must have been in somewhat poor condition for the servant to have said such a thing.
In the last row of wines Elessar found Kaderayna. She was face down on the floor, surrounded by empty bottles of specialty liquor. Stone drunk. Elessar couldn't believe it.
He turned her onto her back. Holding his hand over her mouth, he could tell that she wasn't breathing. How long had she been lying there? He called for servants to bring her upstairs into her chambers, meanwhile doing his very best to stay away from her; she reeked of alcohol, a scent Elessar was not particularly fond of.
~
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Dork! Sigh, oh well . . . it's being re-casted. I'll post new chapters if I see reviews for them. So yeah.