The Spider's Web
By: Ariebelle
Chapter Two: Zella's Request
A/N: Hello again! Welcome to the second chapter (third update) of The Spider's Web. Sorry it's taken so long. But I'm getting it up today before I go on vacation for a week.
Warning: This chapter contains a very brief mention of lovemaking. It's so brief I don't think it's even named but if you're not comfortable with that, I'm sorry. You can sort of skip that part. It is important to the story though…
And now, dear friends, the next chapter.
Arania did not get a chance to ask her mother about her past the next day, or the day after that. Zella remained in her bed, sometimes crying out to people only she could see. She wept, screamed, and spoke in a strange voice. Arania spent both days driving the servants away from her door and meeting with villagers who were concerned about Zella. By the time she found a way into her mother's room, she was sleeping.
On the third day after the doctor's visit, Arania met with more villagers. She was getting tired of explaining the same thing over and over again. She was getting particularly annoyed with the man she was speaking to now.
"I 'eard she was tryin' to kill 'erself," the man said for the third time. "That's what I 'eard, your ladyship. She tried to jump off the roof and kill 'erself. Gil the miller told me and 'e's mighty reliable, that's what 'e is. 'E said—"
Had he heard nothing she'd just told him? Arania suppressed the urge to shout down the old man's ear. "My mother did not try to kill herself. She is not mad. She is ill and until she is better, I am taking her place. I don't want you spreading that ridiculous rumor around anymore. Is that clear?"
"I 'eard—"
"You heard wrong! Go away!" Arania leapt to her feet and screamed at the man. "My mother is ill! She's just ill! She's not going mad!"
The old man scurried away, muttering to himself. Arania sat down heavily in the chair. Now he'd probably go off and say that she was losing her mind too. She had acted like an angry child, yelling like that. It was no way for a lady to act. With a sigh she rose and walked out of the room. She told the servant to send the other people away for today. She didn't want to talk to any more villagers. The only person she wanted to talk to was her mother.
Zella was still in her bed. She was staring at the canopy above her. Arania sat down in a chair near her. "Mother?"
Zella turned her head. "Darling!" Arania was pleased to see that her eyes looked normal and that she was smiling.
"Are you feeling all right, Mother? I need to ask you something."
"I feel fine, dearest. Ask away."
Arania paused, trying to find a way to phrase the question so that it wouldn't upset her mother. "I was wondering, Mother, if you could tell me, um, well, how you came here."
"How I came…" Zella trailed off. Arania bit her lip, hoping she hadn't done something wrong. But then Zella began to speak again. Her voice was still fairly normal but she did not look at her daughter.
"I was almost nineteen. He was in the forest and I suppose he heard Hildegarde calling me. When it was night, he called me and I pulled him up. He said he wanted to be my friend. I had never had a friend before, except Mother Hildegarde. He was nice. We talked all night until I let him down again. The next night he came back again, and then the next night. I think I was falling in love with him then, though I didn't know it at the time.
"One night he hugged me. It was the first time I'd ever been hugged. Hildegarde was never very affectionate. As the nights went on, we began doing more than hugging. I'll never forget the first time he kissed me. It was like magic. The next night he came back again, but he was different. I asked to do more kissing, because I had liked that. He said he wanted to teach me something new, something better than kissing. Fool that I was, I let him. When he left that morning, I was no longer a child. I had become a woman.
"The next night he came back and again he was different. He didn't remember the night before. But I asked him if we could do it again and we did. Then he promised to marry me. I would have to weave a ladder so I could climb down but then he'd take me to his home and we'd be married. Foolishly, I believed him, and I let him go.
"Somewhere in those two nights you were conceived, Arania. I didn't know it until my dresses started feeling tight. I asked Mother Hildegarde what was wrong with me. She knew. She figured it all out and grew angry. She cast me out into the desert. I never saw him again.
"I wandered in that wilderness until I reached Greta's porch. She took me to Bernard, who gave me a home here. You were born a few months later. I tried to forget it all but now, now at last it's all catching up with me."
Zella sighed and closed her eyes. Arania sat in the chair. Her mind was working furiously to figure out everything she had just heard. So, it was like Greta had said. Her mother had been taken advantage of. Twice. And she had never seen the man again. Had he really planned to marry her? Or was he just saying that? Where was he now? Was he alive? Did he remember her mother? Was he married to another woman now? What had her mother meant by all that climbing up and down? Who was Mother Hildegarde? There were still so many unfinished pieces of the puzzle…
Zella grabbed her hand, startling Arania out of her thoughts. "Find him for me," she said, her voice taking on the strange tone that prefaced one of her fits. "Find him, and tell him that I hate him and I wish he was dead!"
"I will, Mother." Arania meant it. After hearing her mother's story, she wanted to find her father. She wanted to tell him exactly what she thought of him. How could he have abandoned her mother? She would find him and let him know what he had obviously not known back then: he had a daughter.
Zella relaxed on the bed. She closed her eyes and gradually fell asleep. Arania slipped out of the room and began packing her things. Tomorrow morning she would begin her search for her father.
And that's all the time we have for today. I'm leaving for Disney World in justa few hours! I know the chapter is short. Zella's story is really vague. There actually is a really long back story to this but obviously if I gave it all away, you'd know the plot. Hee hee.
The next chapter is going to be important to the story, but it's not about Arania going on a quest. You remember her twin brother? The one who Zella rejected? Yeah, he's the star of that chapter. There's a short preview after the reviewer thank yous.
Thanks to the following reviewers:
Evo422: Thanks for the review! It didn't go through the first time but I got the second one. I'm glad you like the story. It is sad that Zella sent her son away. He did remind her too much of his father. He'll come up again at some point. So will Arania's father. But that's all I'm saying. I don't want to give away the whole plot.
Aria DeLoncray: Thanks. It is indeed sad.
Aureusangel: First of all, do you know how hard it is to spell your name? Second, thanks for the review. My phrasing has always been a problem…I think your feeling is right. But is it that obvious? Oh boy…
Biancarobinson: Thanks. I'm glad you're interested.
And now, a small preview of the next chapter:
Andrew wiped his brow with the back of his hand. The manure left a brown streak on his forehead. He continued shoveling. The work was disgusting but he had to do it. It was his job, and it earned them a bit more money to put food on the table.
"Are you trying to look like a savage, Andy? Or are you just experimenting with the benefitial properties of manure on the human skin?"
Andrew looked up. Rachel. Great. That was just what he needed. He raised his hand to wipe his forehead again but remembered that there was more manure on it. It wouldn't do any good. He changed the gesture into a wave. "Good morning, princess. Here to ride your horse?"
Rachel grinned. "Nope. Just here to bother you."
"As always." Andy rolled his eyes. Rachel was his best friend—except for her brother Daniel—but he liked pretending to be annoyed with her.
Okay, that was kind of a long preview. I hope you liked it. Please review this chapter and I'll get the next one done shortly after I get home. I hope…
Toodles!
--Arie--
