A/N: Wow! Thanks to Faded Soulfire for pointing out a heinously stupid typo I made. When I looked at it I nearly choked. Is something wrong with my spell check? The sentence 'Suspicious of me, she took the seat and I offered her a bowl berries that I hbegun tot eat from' Sheesh. It's supposed to be: Suspicious of me, she took the seat and I offered her a bowl OF berries that I HAD BEGUN TO eat from.
After I put away my belongings in the provided chest of drawers, I lay on my bed peacefully looking at the ceiling, until I remembered Cerdames. I scrambled to my carpetbag and took out the mirror, and unfolded the cloth that I had put around it, to protect it.
I took down one of copper framed mirrors in my bedroom and replaced it with Cerdames, who woke up at that moment.
"Morning, lady." Cerdames yawned.
"Whoa. Morning Cerdames." I scratched my nose. "Can you take on a different appearance please?" I felt guilty somehow, as if Cerdames was only a cheap imitation of mother.
Cerdames understood, uncannily. "I… I can lady, but as who?"
I thought for a second. I didn't know.
"I don't know!" I whined. I stomped my foot angrily. It was as if I was a little child again, and my father wouldn't buy me an outrageously expensive toy.
I started rambling on. "How about me? Can you change yourself into myself? What if I'm ugly? Will I-"
"LADY!" Cerdames screeched. Her voice was surprisingly low, which I had never noticed before.
Then I asked a question that I wanted to ask Cerdames since I had checked in. Actually, there were quite a few questions that I wanted answered. I started with a simple question.
"Cerdames, are you a boy, or a girl?" I bit the inside of my cheek trying not to laugh as Cerdames crumpled my mom's face up in confusion, just like Mother would do. I burst into giggles at the memory, but then, I remembered that Cerdames wasn't Mother.
"I'm actually a girl. Satisfying?" She answered sarcastically, pouting.
"Quite! Next question: That strange girl… is she human? She seems slightly… different." I was referring to the girl who supposedly thought I was her brother's stalker. I walked to my bed and sat on it my feet dangling off the edge, then I kicked my legs so forcefully that I flew on the bed on my backside, so that I lay down.
"Her name is Riccia, and she's half elfish. Her older brother Darren is too."
"Half elfish? So she's half human too, right?" I asked dumbly.
"Nope, both Riccia and Darren are half elfish, half fairy blood." Cerdames wrinkled her nose.
"A fairy? A real- as- corn fairy?" I breathed.
"Yes Lady, but I wouldn't go asking them about it if I were you. Things like that can get them into real dangers." Cerdames said, sternly.
"Hey, is Darren related to Chenate? They have the same name…kind of, and that name isn't too common around here." I rubbed my tired eyes.
Cerdames opened her mouth to speak, but just then, we both heard a knock on the other side of my door.
"Excuse me, I'm the maid and I need to turn down your bed for the night."
Grudgingly, I got up from my position on the bed and up to the door. As I looked back to Cerdames, we both nodded and she disappeared, leaving a mirror image of the bedroom in her place.
I was impressed.
I opened the door, to find an older woman with a cart of bed sheets and pillowcases.
"Hello, sweet. My name is Jadriella, and I am your maid for the remainder of your stay," She smiled, welcoming me. I looked at her, and decided that she was nice. I thought her calm and sweet. I could imagine her young, with a handsome beau. Her hair was gray, but you could tell she was once a beautiful blonde maiden. She looked no older than sixty, and she seemed to love her job.
She was shorter and with a plump figure, but I was guessing that she had many grandchildren that she loved to spoil. It was the spark in her eyes that remained young and fancy- free.
After she turned down the huge bed while we made small conversation, she closed the door and then she left with a warm smile.
***
It was then, I remembered Cerdames. Her mirror was still acting like an ordinary mirror, so I called her name to make her come out again.
"Cerdames! Cerdames? Where are you?" I called.
Nothing happened.
I knocked on her frame, and still, nothing happened. I was confused. What was I supposed to do?
Then I rapped swiftly on the glass. No answer.
For the better part of an hour, I tried to get Cerdames to come out from … I didn't even know where she was!
Frustrated, I took her off of the hook and examined the back of the mirror. Nothing. I finally put her back on the hook.
Immediately, Cerdames "woke up" again.
"Lady! Why didn't you wake me up?" Cerdames raised an eyebrow. I had nothing to say to that. I just shrugged.
"Didn't you even try?" She pouted. My jaw dropped. It was only halfway down the bottomless pit when I remembered to close my mouth.
"I don't know how! Grigiah!" I cursed in elfish.
Cerdames rolled her eyes. "Listen, lady, there are two ways to wake up a fairy mirror. One way takes a quarter of an hour, and the other way takes ten seconds. One way is to take a mirror off of a hook and put her back, or put a cloth or something over the glass. Then you take it off, but it will take a quarter of an hour. I don't know why, I believe it's some fairy rule." She huffed. The other way is to chant 'Mirror mirror on the wall…' even if the mirror is not on a wall. Got that?"
I glared at Cerdames for not telling me earlier.
Then I thought of home and my anger vanished.
"How's Father doing…?" I asked. "Please tell me." I said softly.
"Oh, I can do better than that," Cerdames winked. "Come closer, lady." She beckoned, as I cautiously stepped forwards.
***
Cerdames and the night sky background faded and my father's silhouette became prominent in the mirror. Color became more evident, and the picture was clear. "Father!" I cried. But he didn't move from his position. "Father!" I shouted louder. Cerdame's voice said, "He can't hear you, Sweet."
I pouted, but stayed quiet to watch the scene unravel before me.
Father sat sullenly in the dark quiet study.
It was my favorite room, over fifty feet tall, thirty-five feet wide and with rows and rows of books. Books, some hundreds of years old, lined the walls and not once space off wall was visible. But now, the room was eerie with silence and dark.
My father was facing the flickering fire and watching it intently from his favorite, plush blue chair, a gift from the king. Out from his pocket he took out a pad of paper and a piece of charcoal.
Mesmerized, I watched as he broke his concentrated gaze to look down at his paper. He sketched a well- drawn picture of a face. Details were added, and the hair became longer and darker. When he finished, he sat still unmoving.
I recognized the picture almost immediately.
But I couldn't tell if the picture was Mother or I. I looked closer, without hitting my head on the fairy gift.
Father sighed sadly. I noticed that he looked like a little puppy that had been kicked around too often.
Suddenly, the grand mahogany doors flew open with strong force that the windows rattled. A blond sergeant from the king's third strongest army burst in. I could tell he was from the third strongest army because he wore a forest green mail shirt. The strongest and second strongest armies wear navy blue and brown.
Father stood up suddenly, anxious of any news. The light from the hall let me see father better, and I noticed that his hair stuck up and I could now see silvery hairs near his temples, as if he had lived a long life in little time.
"Sir Peter Snow," the big, surly man began. "Your daughter is dead. Killed by an assassin. I'm sorry for you." He took off his hat and held it behind his back, as father broke down and started to cry.
I bit my lip trying not to scream out and tell him that I was okay.
Then out from behind the door, Desdemona crept in.
She looked from the army soldier to father, and back to the sergeant. I saw a wicked, little grin painted on her face.
"Oh, Dahlin' what's wrong?' She crooned to father, rushing at him into a one- sided hug.
"Annabelle is dead…" He said, dryly. Desi looked up at Father, still hugging him rather tightly.
"So?" She asked, rather stupidly. The fire started to die, and the shadows were getting creepy, especially the shadows around Desi's face. It just made her look more ugly than attractive, which was the look she was going for. Oh, she could be attractive. All she had to do was put a sack over her head. Who was stopping her? Not me.
He just looked at my step- mother disapprovingly, and patted her on the head. After a few minutes, the sergeant left, his hands curled behind him like a puppy's tail.
Desdemona snuggled closer and began to giggle.
Father didn't even notice!
~*~*~
Short chapter, I know. I had some small writers block. Please forgive me.
DiD yOu KnOw? The name Desdemona was first used in the Shakespearean play Othello
Almost nobody puts me in his or her fave authors/fave stories list. Boo hoo ;_;