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I woke up the next morning as the sunbeams danced from the window and tickled my cheek.
In the fresh rosebud golden pink light of dawn, the room was quite beautiful. The light flooded the room, gleaming off the white washed walls and lending warmth to the cold stone flood, staining its tiles with a sweet color.
Even the loom in the corner looked less sinister than the night before. I shivered as I remembered the ominous curls of darkness from the night before. There was now a strange burn symbol on the place, a dark eye with white pupils halved with a line. Hesitating, I reached out and touched it, and flinched as a cold, burning numb sensation shot up my arm.
Most normal girls would have now been scared to death and emotionally traumatized had they been through the same ordeals as I had. But I wasn't normal, and I was no delicate, fragile noble young lady made of glass who cracked under the slightest bit of strain.
I was as Ona most unflatteringly put it 'tough as old boots,' and the mark only aroused my curiosity, not any sense of real fear.
Looking at the one remaining grass robe, I frowned; and then pried open one of the many tiles and slipped the robe through. I didn't want anyone to see it yet.
I opened the door and stood on the wide balcony. Breathes of fresh air hit me and I smiled, feeling the sun on my face. No matter how worried I am, it's impossible for me to be sad with the morning dawn sun on my face. I'm strange like that, and like the way I hate all seasons except for autumn and spring.
Rerlre, capital city of Thyreles looked beautiful in the dawn light. I'd never been outside the first wall that contained the noble's district and wealthy merchants like my own family, but from what I'd read and what I'd heard later in the servant's quarters, Rerlre was separated into five different districts.
The first was enclosed by high walls, which were impossible to scale. The royal palace and nobles and rich merchants lived here. Over the distance, I could just make out the second wall, a well-kept district with respectable buildings and shops. Commoners lived there and craftsman's and merchants made up most of the professions.
The third district, segmented by a wide track, housed commoners, bars and tavern and most of the cities population lived there, hardworking and honest people. The third district ended as the River Mere flowed through, slicing the city in two. Inns lined the edge of river as sightseers often came to great ports and industries that made up the forth district which was even more heavily defended than the walls of the first district.
Lastly, the fifth district. This was the reason why the fourth district was so heavily defended. It was a maze of twisted roads and cobbled streets, with rowdy bars and pleasure taverns. Every child of the city has grown up hearing about the fifth district, how murders and drunks lurked at every corner, with sharp knives that could slice through your throat like butter... Most people returning home or visiting bypassed going through this district, preferring to take the side road which led to the bridge that crossed River Mere and forked to the forth district.
A bell tolled, it's heavy sound echoing around the square. I frowned as its dull gongs disturbed the peace of the morning. Why was it ringing? Only for royal marriages or deaths or on holidays it ring. Or for public notices of importance.
Like executions.
I gasped. Pulling on a on a pair of outrageously old shoes and wrapping a grubby green cloak around me and tying back my thick masses of ruddy hair away from my face, I ran down the stairs and unlocked the door. To my surprise, no one tried to stop me. I had a feeling that Ona had commanded them not to.
I ran all the way to the square, my feet hitting the cobbled ground hard. A crowd of servants from various estates and as was the rule; the head from every House had turned up.
Elaine, disgusting woman, was already there, her pug face eager and spiteful. Jewel had not turned up. She was probably at the Rotenburg House for Baroness Gavotte's party. No doubt there would be plenty of young suitors for her to flirt with there.
They led Silvia up. Even wearing a thin tattered dirt smeared gray dress; she still looked beautiful, with her long white hair whipping around her face, and her back straight proud and defiant. I could see the young noble men who had come to represent their Houses look at her, their chests heaving and eyes filled with lust.
Watching her, an odd mixture of feelings consumed me. It makes me sound heartless, but I was not sad, only regretful and angry that such a cruel being such as Elaine could order the death of someone. She was my half sister, but we had not been brought up to like each other. The hate in our household canceled out most love and affection.
The post stood, straight and stiff. A taut rope hung from the top, and a stool was below it. The Executioner stood beside it, his face cool and impassive under a cold metal mask, muscled arms crossed. A priest in his black robes stood beside him, his pale face sweating as he performed the old rituals with his sacred Prayer Magic, required for the execution.
As was her right, the priest offered her one chance for redemption for painless death by poison if she confessed of practicing dark magic against the king. Come on Silvia, I thought. Lie and confess. Everybody knew that death by poison was virtually painless, and you could die peacefully.
She shook her head, and not a word dropped from her lips.
The Priest nodded to the executioner, and Silvia stepped up on the stool
There was a terrible jolt, and the earth shook. I could feel something going on, a lurching of the land below me. The ground tumbled and roared against me. The air was thick and heavy through my lungs. The small trees surrounding the crowd expanded and grew taller and taller. I could hear the rush of movement behind me like the lurching and tumbling of waves. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the blue green of the sea, and the brilliant red of the fire.
The strange thing was, I could sense these changes, but nobody else could. The priest could though. His eyes were a terrible pale blue and his mouth was open. He held up his hands in a pathetic parody of resistance, before a burst of darkness consumed him.
It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. It was like with my two eyes I could see two different scenes. With one eye, my brain vaguely registered the priest having a heart attack, and the crowd-rushing forward to help him. In the other, I was in a terrifying world of color and flame.
Yes, alright, I was terrified.
The priest was no longer there. In his place was a withering worm of darkness, fast consumed. Flame, Water, Darkness, Wind and other forces I could not yet identify rose up to consume him.
And in this center of this chaos, was my sister.
She was a shining beacon of purple light, and her eyes were two deep red pits of hatred. They were searching calculatingly around. I could tell that she sensed my presence, and I cowered from it. I cowered, and hid myself.
'Come out... I can sense your presence...' Her voice was like the slide of a snake and the braying of mares.
I struggled against her command and ran, and as the two realities emerged into one again, I heard her hiss;
'I will find you, and defeat you Rose girl. And you will be sorry.' ~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~ Review A/N It doesn't seem to have much to do with B&B at the moment but it will soon, I promise that all this is crucial to the plot.
I woke up the next morning as the sunbeams danced from the window and tickled my cheek.
In the fresh rosebud golden pink light of dawn, the room was quite beautiful. The light flooded the room, gleaming off the white washed walls and lending warmth to the cold stone flood, staining its tiles with a sweet color.
Even the loom in the corner looked less sinister than the night before. I shivered as I remembered the ominous curls of darkness from the night before. There was now a strange burn symbol on the place, a dark eye with white pupils halved with a line. Hesitating, I reached out and touched it, and flinched as a cold, burning numb sensation shot up my arm.
Most normal girls would have now been scared to death and emotionally traumatized had they been through the same ordeals as I had. But I wasn't normal, and I was no delicate, fragile noble young lady made of glass who cracked under the slightest bit of strain.
I was as Ona most unflatteringly put it 'tough as old boots,' and the mark only aroused my curiosity, not any sense of real fear.
Looking at the one remaining grass robe, I frowned; and then pried open one of the many tiles and slipped the robe through. I didn't want anyone to see it yet.
I opened the door and stood on the wide balcony. Breathes of fresh air hit me and I smiled, feeling the sun on my face. No matter how worried I am, it's impossible for me to be sad with the morning dawn sun on my face. I'm strange like that, and like the way I hate all seasons except for autumn and spring.
Rerlre, capital city of Thyreles looked beautiful in the dawn light. I'd never been outside the first wall that contained the noble's district and wealthy merchants like my own family, but from what I'd read and what I'd heard later in the servant's quarters, Rerlre was separated into five different districts.
The first was enclosed by high walls, which were impossible to scale. The royal palace and nobles and rich merchants lived here. Over the distance, I could just make out the second wall, a well-kept district with respectable buildings and shops. Commoners lived there and craftsman's and merchants made up most of the professions.
The third district, segmented by a wide track, housed commoners, bars and tavern and most of the cities population lived there, hardworking and honest people. The third district ended as the River Mere flowed through, slicing the city in two. Inns lined the edge of river as sightseers often came to great ports and industries that made up the forth district which was even more heavily defended than the walls of the first district.
Lastly, the fifth district. This was the reason why the fourth district was so heavily defended. It was a maze of twisted roads and cobbled streets, with rowdy bars and pleasure taverns. Every child of the city has grown up hearing about the fifth district, how murders and drunks lurked at every corner, with sharp knives that could slice through your throat like butter... Most people returning home or visiting bypassed going through this district, preferring to take the side road which led to the bridge that crossed River Mere and forked to the forth district.
A bell tolled, it's heavy sound echoing around the square. I frowned as its dull gongs disturbed the peace of the morning. Why was it ringing? Only for royal marriages or deaths or on holidays it ring. Or for public notices of importance.
Like executions.
I gasped. Pulling on a on a pair of outrageously old shoes and wrapping a grubby green cloak around me and tying back my thick masses of ruddy hair away from my face, I ran down the stairs and unlocked the door. To my surprise, no one tried to stop me. I had a feeling that Ona had commanded them not to.
I ran all the way to the square, my feet hitting the cobbled ground hard. A crowd of servants from various estates and as was the rule; the head from every House had turned up.
Elaine, disgusting woman, was already there, her pug face eager and spiteful. Jewel had not turned up. She was probably at the Rotenburg House for Baroness Gavotte's party. No doubt there would be plenty of young suitors for her to flirt with there.
They led Silvia up. Even wearing a thin tattered dirt smeared gray dress; she still looked beautiful, with her long white hair whipping around her face, and her back straight proud and defiant. I could see the young noble men who had come to represent their Houses look at her, their chests heaving and eyes filled with lust.
Watching her, an odd mixture of feelings consumed me. It makes me sound heartless, but I was not sad, only regretful and angry that such a cruel being such as Elaine could order the death of someone. She was my half sister, but we had not been brought up to like each other. The hate in our household canceled out most love and affection.
The post stood, straight and stiff. A taut rope hung from the top, and a stool was below it. The Executioner stood beside it, his face cool and impassive under a cold metal mask, muscled arms crossed. A priest in his black robes stood beside him, his pale face sweating as he performed the old rituals with his sacred Prayer Magic, required for the execution.
As was her right, the priest offered her one chance for redemption for painless death by poison if she confessed of practicing dark magic against the king. Come on Silvia, I thought. Lie and confess. Everybody knew that death by poison was virtually painless, and you could die peacefully.
She shook her head, and not a word dropped from her lips.
The Priest nodded to the executioner, and Silvia stepped up on the stool
There was a terrible jolt, and the earth shook. I could feel something going on, a lurching of the land below me. The ground tumbled and roared against me. The air was thick and heavy through my lungs. The small trees surrounding the crowd expanded and grew taller and taller. I could hear the rush of movement behind me like the lurching and tumbling of waves. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the blue green of the sea, and the brilliant red of the fire.
The strange thing was, I could sense these changes, but nobody else could. The priest could though. His eyes were a terrible pale blue and his mouth was open. He held up his hands in a pathetic parody of resistance, before a burst of darkness consumed him.
It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. It was like with my two eyes I could see two different scenes. With one eye, my brain vaguely registered the priest having a heart attack, and the crowd-rushing forward to help him. In the other, I was in a terrifying world of color and flame.
Yes, alright, I was terrified.
The priest was no longer there. In his place was a withering worm of darkness, fast consumed. Flame, Water, Darkness, Wind and other forces I could not yet identify rose up to consume him.
And in this center of this chaos, was my sister.
She was a shining beacon of purple light, and her eyes were two deep red pits of hatred. They were searching calculatingly around. I could tell that she sensed my presence, and I cowered from it. I cowered, and hid myself.
'Come out... I can sense your presence...' Her voice was like the slide of a snake and the braying of mares.
I struggled against her command and ran, and as the two realities emerged into one again, I heard her hiss;
'I will find you, and defeat you Rose girl. And you will be sorry.' ~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~ Review A/N It doesn't seem to have much to do with B&B at the moment but it will soon, I promise that all this is crucial to the plot.