CrystalLili- I give up. Who? Hehe. Yes well, I've gotta have a plot and all that. Though, I suppose I could have had a pretty good plot with her not giving in. *muses* Ah well. This works too. Thanks!
BrilliantCrescentStar- Now why is it all of you automatically assume that Ethan's a good guy? Don't any of you realize that I don't balk at being very mean to my characters? *evil laughter* Revenge on her father? Don't count on it. Ethan turning evil? We'll see.
CherryChica- Nope, only third. Not bad, eh? See, the later you review the closer to the top you are. Cause they come up opposite of the order they were received. So people who reviewed first are at the bottom of the list, savvy?
AnastaziaSilverwind- I'll second both of those. Thanks so much!
Musicalbooke- Yet another gullible soul who thinks Ethan is nice. *pats reader sympathetically on the head* Thanks!
DandyLion- This is a complete alternate universe, so there is no real set time. I would tend to lean towards the idea that it takes place around the same time period as TP's books, but are only based on her settings, not her characters. Make sense? Thanks!
ElspethElf- Yet another gullible one. (See Musicalbooke and BrilliantCrescentStar's replies.) Ethan is a very important character…I think…
Black Jaguar12- Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so very pleased that you are liking it.
Alexis of the Westlands- Sure thing, thanks for reviewing!
Gabriyalle Kylie Burman- Nah, I've finally figured out how to spell this. It's peachy. More detail, eh? Would be directly referring to the fact that I do not describe anyone in my fic in the slightest? If so, yes, I've noticed that too. *scratches head* It's odd too because in my other one's I've always tried to give hair and eye color and basic appearance. Do you think the lack of description takes away from their personality? *Yikes!* Ok, I'll work on that. May not change until later because the next chapter is already written. I'll add some more detail when I go back to edit after the story is complete though for sure, if not sooner. Thanks a lot. I like to know what people do and don't like about what I write. For the meantime though, use your imagination. *smiles*
Rahlei of Her Own Destiny
Thunder Rumbles
Chapter Five
Ethan attempted helping Rahlei down from the wagon but she once again refused his assistance. She glanced around at what was to be her new home. It was nice enough. The house was fairly large and with an upper level; something uncommon among the working class people of Tortall. There were two large barns and fences filled with horses.
Rahlei's jaw dropped. The horses. Over a hundred of them in every size, color, and stage of growth grazed peacefully in a lush pasture. They were beautiful.
"Like horses?" Ethan asked, coming up behind her.
Rahlei closed her mouth abruptly.
"No," she said shortly.
"Oh," was all Ethan said, looking slightly crestfallen. "What do you like?" He asked as they walked back to the house.
"Nothing."
"Oh," he said again, looking even more dejected. "Sorry for the mess," he added apologetically, opening the door and letting her in.
There were still breakfast dishes on the table and the fancy doilies on the arms of the settees were slightly askew, but other than that, the place was spotless.
"I'm really not home that much," he began, clearing away the dishes. "I'm usually delivering horses to someone, but if you need anything, just ask."
Rahlei nodded mutely, fighting back tears.
Ethan glanced at the clock over the mantelpiece. "I'll uh…get dinner started, I suppose," he said suggestively.
Rahlei knew a prod when she felt one, no matter how gentle. "No, I'll do it," she said softly. You probably have chores to do."
Ethan nodded and went into the kitchen to show her where things were. "Dishes are in this cupboard," he said opening a door and closing it. "Baking supplies in this one. There's a few dried things in the cellar and a canned goods in the pantry too," he added, opening a trap door in the center of the room that was covered by a throw rug. "Cold things are in the freeze box." He opened a large wooden chest in one corner. Chilly air emitted from it and Rahlei peered inside to see milk, butter and various forms of meat inside."
"What keeps it cold?" she asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
"Mages. It's been spelled to stay cold," he explained.
"We never had one of these," she said, slightly awed, running a finger through the ice crystals along the underside of the lid.
She stood and rolled up her sleeves, making her way to the washbasin to wash her hands before she got dinner started.
Ethan followed, watching her closely.
"What happened?" he asked, touching a dark bruise on her arm as she dried her hands.
"Nothing," she snapped, trying to tug her arm away.
"Just a second," he said softly. His fingertips glowed a faint green and he touched the bruise with an icy finger. It faded completely. He released her arm.
"I'll be back in a bit, then," he said, ignoring her speechless look and going outside.
Rahlei stared at the spot he had been moments before, still slightly awestruck. She had never personally known a healer besides Miss Lena, who really wasn't all that gifted. And here she was married to one. Funny how things work out, she thought vaguely as she began rummaging around in the cupboards for dinner materials.
She started a fire in the wood stove that long since gone cold with no one home to tend it. She then put what appeared to be lamb chops in a pan and set them on the stove to fry. She put potatoes in a pot of water on the stove to boil as well, and set to mixing up some biscuits. She took butter out of the freeze box and put it on the table to soften and went to turn the chops that had begun to sizzle. She drained the water from the potatoes when they finished cooking and mashed them up, placing them on the warmer so they didn't get cold. She took the golden biscuits out of the oven and wrapped them in a clean towel and put them on the warmer also. The table was set and the meat had just finished cooking when Ethan came back.
"Smells good," he commented, washing his hands and sitting at the table.
Rahlei slapped a pork chop on a plate and set it before him with a louder than necessary clatter. She brought out the potatoes and biscuits and put them on the table as well. She sat down too, but only picked at the food, her appetite lost somewhere during the day.
Once the leftovers had been put away and the dishes washed, Rahlei sat down in the parlor to do a bit of mending. It was a task that she normally hated, but for some reason, she felt an undying need to do something and mending was the only thing at hand at the time.
Ethan watched her for a while, something she found rather annoying but said nothing about. "We don't have to sleep in the same room if you don't want to," he said somewhat awkwardly.
She glanced up at him through her eyelashes, successively pricking herself with the needle in her lapse of concentration.
"I mean, I know you were sort of forced into this and you'd probably rather be anywhere but here," he finished hastily.
"My, aren't you perceptive," she said sarcastically, casting her attention back to her mending.
Ethan sighed impatiently. "Look, it wasn't my idea anymore than it was yours to be here. Now, I know you don't like it but I'm doing the best I can so you can stop acting like the entire world is against you!"
Rahlei bit her lip. I will not cry. I will not cry. She repeated to herself before looking up at him. "What do you mean it wasn't your idea?"
"My mother was worried about who would keep house for me after she left. She learned that Matthew had a daughter that he was looking to…well, that was of age to be married. They talked for a bit and agreed that after she left, we would get married. I could hardly back out after they had already made plans, and I did need someone to cook and clean, so who was I to argue?"
Rahlei carefully set her mending to the side. "I think I need some fresh air. Please excuse me," she said, brushing past him and heading to the door.
A full moon lit the crisp night air almost as bright as daylight. She walked to the fence where the horses were and finally let the tears fall. Before she knew it, she had dropped to her knees and was sobbing for all she was worth. A few horses sauntered up to the fence, sticking their noses through and snuffling in her face.
Rahlei wiped her eyes and looked at them, an idea forming in her mind. With all these horses, Ethan wouldn't possibly notice one missing until it was too late, she reasoned. And he did say he was often gone for extended periods of time. That would give her enough time to plan and execute a reasonably well thought out escape. There was still the 'where to?' issue to deal with, but she decided then and there that she would cross that bridge when she came to it.
Rahlei stood up and brushed off her skirts. As soon as Ethan left for one of his horse excursions, she would grab herself and mount and go her own way. She was bound to find some kind of work that could support her until she could find a life that suited her better than this.
Once inside, she didn't pay Ethan so much as a glance before retiring to her bedroom and closing the door behind her.
The next morning was grey and dreary. When Rahlei came out of her room,
Ethan was nowhere to be seen. She opened the door and peered outside into the mist. She could hear some faint shouting and whistling and figured he was herding the horses to different grazing grounds.
She began preparing breakfast, scrambling eggs, frying bacon and heating left over biscuits. Ethan came in to eat some time later and told her he would be going to a neighbor's house to help repair a barn that had been damaged by a recent wind storm and to not bother making him lunch. She nodded silently in reply and continued cleaning up the kitchen. It wasn't until she heard the door slam that she knew he had left.
The rest of the week continued much as the first day had. It seemed Ethan was finding every excuse possible to not have to stay with Rahlei. Not that she cared. She hated it when he was home. It had occurred to her at some point along the way that she really didn't have it that bad. Ethan was, or at least appeared to be, a very decent young man that would no sooner hurt a fly than he would her. But it didn't matter how nice he was. His kindness didn't take away from the fact that she had been forced into this. And she was going to show the men in her life that they didn't own her and they by no means were going to decide how she was to spend the rest of her days. She had a plan.
~*Kayden~Eidyak*~