A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I appreciate the feedback.
Chapter Two
Fandessa fidgeted in her chair, playing with the folds of her favorite gown, and glanced once more at the time candle in the center of the table. Another half-mark, and it would be midnight, and still, Lord Dane had not arrived.
Maybe something happened, she thought, allowing herself to feel an inkling of hope. Sitting at the dinner table for four hours, unable to eat until Lord Dane was there, would be worth it, she reasoned, if the selfish bastard were dead.
Once more, she looked down at her lap, taking her eyes from the trencher before her. Best she not look at the food, lest her stomach get the better of her common sense. Of course, they'd long since sent Aris to bed with a bit of bread and cheese to ensure she'd fall asleep. Fandessa wished she was five years old again—any food would be welcome now. But they knew from past experience that to eat ahead of Lord Dane would be perilous, especially since it couldn't be good circumstances under which he was returning so soon from Haven.
Just as the time candle had burned down to mark the midnight hour, they heard the approaching sound of boots ringing on the stone floor, and Fandessa glanced up at her mother. Lady Thena gave her a small, encouraging smile and rose to greet her husband as he came into the room.
Lord Dane, Fandessa noted, did not so much as acknowledge their presence before sitting down and immediately beginning to eat. He'd not taken more than two bites of his stew, however, before he spit it out in disgust and looked up at his wife.
"Who made this slop?" he demanded, but before Lady Thane could answer, he ploughed on. "Is it so much to ask that a hot meal be on the table when I get home?"
"No, of course not, dear," she replied, "but we had anticipated your arrival several candlemarks ago. You said in your letter—"
Lord Dane's face darkened. "Oh, so your incompetence is my fault? Is that what you're saying?"
Fandessa saw her mother visibly pale. "No, Dane, of course not," she said. "I'm to blame, not you."
Fandessa had the sudden urge to draw her eating dagger and plunge it into his chest.
"And where is Aris?" he demanded.
"She's in bed," Lady Thane replied. "She was not feeling well."
Lord Dane slammed his fist on the table, rattling the dishes. "I don't care if she's bloody nigh dead! She eats when we eat." He looked over at one of the servants who was cowering in the corner. "Go get her."
The servant caught Fandessa's eyes, and she gave a slight nod, which, unfortunately, did not escape Lord Dane's notice.
"And just who do you think you are," he asked, "giving permission to a servant to do what I've ordered?" And he began to draw his fist back.
Lady Thena rose from her seat and darted over to her husband. "No, Dane, it's my fault." For the briefest of moments, she glanced at Fandessa, before turning back to her husband. "I've been ill, so I thought it would be a good time for Fandessa to learn how to manage a household, to prepare her for marriage, while I rested."
Without a word, Lord Dane backhanded his wife across the mouth. "Then you should have also taught her that when I am here, I give the orders."
Watching her mother dab at her cut lip, Fandessa had all she could do to keep from throwing herself at Lord Dane. But just then, the servant returned with a sleepy-eyes Aris in tow.
Lord Dane took one look at her and nearly flew into a rage. "What the hell is this?" He grabbed his daughter's arm with one hand and a fistful of her nightdress with the other. He looked down at her. "Is this how you show yourself to your father? Dressed in nightclothes?" With one, swift motion, he ripped the gown and then looked up at Lady Thena and Fandessa, rising from his chair. "Am I to have no respect in my own home?" He picked up his trencher and threw it on the floor. "This isn't fit for pigs!" He turned to Aris, who by now was cowering where she stood, visibly trembling. "And neither are you!" And he backhanded her as he had Lady Thena, the force of his blow sending her flying. She crashed into the floor, her head slamming down onto the hard stone, and lay, unmoving.
Lady Thena cried out and dashed over to Aris' still form as Fandessa shoved her chair back and moved around the table as quickly as she could. She glanced at Lord Dane, who was just standing there with a slightly stunned, almost concerned, expression on his face as he looked at Aris. A moment later, however, his familiar mask of rage was firmly in place.
"See what you've done! This is both your faults!"
Heedless of the consequences, Fandessa ignored him and knelt next to her sister. Blood from a wound on the back of her head was matting her hair. They would need to staunch the flow immediately. Without thinking, she tore a long strip of cloth from her gown and wound it around Aris' head.
"We'll need some tea for the pain and swelling that's likely to follow," Fandessa said to her mother.
She heard Lord Dane snort derisively from above her. "Women. She'll be fine. I'm going to bed."
Fandessa did not bother to watch her father leave the room, but once his footfalls had faded, she looked up at the servants. "Fetch some clean rags and make the tea. She'll need it as soon as she wakes up." She glanced up at Lady Thena, who had tears streaming down her face. "Anything is better than this, Mother. Anything."
Lady Thena did not reply, and Fandessa only helped her lift Aris and carry her back to their chamber. They dressed her in a new nightgown and tucked her into bed. Fandessa set about to starting a fire and putting on some water to boil. It was going to be a long night, and there was no telling when Aris would wake.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lady Thena took her daughter's hand in hers. "I should stay."
"No," Fandessa replied, rising from the hearth. "Lord Dane will be furious if you're not in his bed. There's been enough violence for one night. I'll watch over her."
"Fandessa, I've told you—"
"Don't you dare defend him!" she cried, heartily sick of her mother's familiar rebuke. "Not after what he did to Aris! If you want to respectfully suffer his fists on yourself, then fine! But don't expect me to do the same!"
"He is still your father," Lady Thena replied, near hysterics, "and I won't have you speaking to me in that tone!"
Fandessa flushed. "I'm sorry, Mama," she said. "I don't mean to disrespect you. But while that man may have seeded your womb, he is no father to anyone, least of all me."
Lady Thena burst into tears, and Fandessa hurried to her side, kneeling in front of her. "Let's leave, Mama. Let's just take Aris and go, before winter sets in."
Lady Thena just continued to weep.
"Please, Mama," Fandessa urged.
Lady Thena just shook her head. "There's nowhere we could go that he wouldn't find us." She visibly struggled to regain control of herself. "And we can't leave until Aris is well anyways."
"Please, Mama," Fandessa repeated, taking her hand. "Just think about it."
After a moment's hesitation, Lady Thena nodded, and then rose. "I must go." She glanced down at her youngest. "Let me know the moment she wakes."
"I will," Fandessa promised.
Lady Thena departed without reply, and Fandessa heaved a sigh. She knew her mother was terrified of Lord Dane, but surely they could find somewhere in Valdemar where he wouldn't find them! And if not, there was always OutKingdom. It didn't matter to Fandessa. Even Karse would be better than staying here. Still, her mother had agreed to think about it. That was something, and far more than Fandessa had expected, if truth be told.
Fandessa crossed the room to retrieve her harp and returned to sit at her sister's bedside. She tuned the instrument and then began to play softly until her head nodded, and she leaned back in her chair, finally giving in to the heaviness of her eyes.
She dreamt that night of silver and blue.
The sun in her eyes woke her the next morning, and it took her a moment to remember where she was—and why.
She immediately started from her chair and glanced at her sister. Aris' face was a sickly shade of gray and her lips were muted blue. With a cry of dismay, Fandessa placed her hand on her sister's chest, and bent her ear to Aris' mouth.
She felt nothing in either place.
"No!" she wailed, and gathered her sister's body in her arms, rocking her back and forth. "Aris, no!"
Her cries brought the servants to her door, but she ignored their knocking. In spite of this, she vaguely heard them enter the room, heard voices, and felt her sister being taken from her arms, and replaced by a warm, comforting body. She clung to it, and wept herself into unconsciousness.
When she woke, it was to a setting sun shining through the opposite window, and her mother's red-rimmed eyes bent over hers.
"How are you feeling, dear?" she asked.
Tears welled up in Fandessa's eyes, and she sat, throwing her arms around her mother's neck. "Aris is dead!" She pulled back to gaze in her mother's eyes, her own pained and anguished. "I fell asleep, Mama," she confessed. "I didn't mean to—"
"Hush now," Lady Thena said. "It wasn't your fault. There was nothing we could do."
Fandessa looked at her mother's face, the cut lip and puffy eyes. "Let's leave today, Mama. Please? There's nothing left for us here now."
Lady Thena looked away for a moment. "Your father is distraught over what happened, Fandessa. He personally dug Aris' grave and laid her in himself."
"I don't care," Fandessa cried. "He isn't worth it!"
Lady Thena lifted her eyes to meet her daughter's. "He swore that he'd never lay a hand on us again."
"He's said that before, Mama," Fandessa replied, exasperated.
"But he means it this time," Lady Thena replied. "I know he does. If you could have seen him with Aris—"
Fandessa pushed herself away from her mother. "He killed Aris, Mama! Or have you forgotten that already?"
"This family is broken apart enough as it is, Fandessa!" Lady Thena cried. "Would you make it worse?"
"I know you're scared, Mama," Fandessa replied, "but we can do this. I know we can."
Lady Thena rose. "You need your rest. Your father has suggested that I bring a supper tray to you tonight, since you're feeling so poorly."
Fandessa could see the hope in her mother's eyes, the hope that Fandessa would forgive Lord Dane, and acknowledge that he really had changed.
She turned her head to stare at the wall. Permission to be absent from the table could not make up for even the slightest bruise, to say nothing of her sister's death.
It wasn't until she heard her mother close the door that she looked back. She blinked away tears. Lady Thena's accession to consider leaving had given Fandessa a hope of escape she hadn't felt in years. Now, however, she knew with certainty that her mother would never find the courage to leave Lord Dane, regardless of how frightened she was. And her fear must be great, Fandessa surmised, if she had convinced herself that Lord Dane had changed. How else could her mother survive, except to believe in that fantasy? Lord Dane, she knew, would never change, and every last part of her hated him. She hated him for who he was, hated him for what he did to Aris. Most of all, however, she hated him for intimidating and beating any hope of escape from her mother's heart. Lady Thena would live and die in her own personal hell, never truly realizing—or believing—that there was a way out. Death, she determined, was preferable to such a life.
Fandessa, therefore, did not intend to allow Lord Dane to do the same to her. She could not save her mother, but she could save herself. No longer would there be nothing she could do. Aris' death had changed all of that.
"Forgive me, Mama," she whispered to the closed door.
Come midnight, she would be gone.