AN: Sorry this is moving so slowly, but this is the sort of story that demands more of a slow pace, since it's told from the main character's viewpoint and you find out everything along with her. Now we can get started with everyone's favorite thing: Family Feuds!
Third Chapter: Of Foxes and Falcons
What was waiting beyond that door was not exactly what Seiryah had expected.
There were about eight people clustered in two knots of four each, glaring at each other. Both men and women alike wore formal coats. Those on the right had bright red hair, excepting one blonde, blue-eyed woman who appeared to be the leader, had white coats with golden birds flaring at their shoulders, while those on the left had black or dark brown hair and green coats with some sort of four-legged animal in red-brown that she'd never seen before. Although, it did look vaguely like a Bunnycat. And the golden birds really didn't look that much like Bluebirds of Happiness, but that was her only reference point.
Bunnycats and Bluebirds of Happiness. Somehow, she didn't think that the present company would find much humor in that. So, instead of thinking of that and risk bursting into laughter, she instead focused on the individual people in the hallway.
The nearest to her, a woman in her early twenties wearing the four-legged animals on her shoulders, also seemed to hold the least hostility. Black curls framed a mellow face, and instead of seeming like steel sharp enough to cut, her silvery-gray eyes seemed more like… reflections off of slow-running water, somehow. Calm, but with a lot more underneath the surface than one might think. When her eyes fell upon Seiryah, a smile blossomed on her features. In addition to the animals at her shoulders, morning glories climbed up her sleeves. Seiryah filed that away and decided to ask Liris about the significance of them later on.
"It is good to see you up, cousin," she greeted warmly, walking over to Seiryah and hugging her. "I have missed you. It is so hard to find someone who appreciates good books."
Her voice and movement drew the others from their glaring match, and seven sets of eyes glared at them in disapproval. Something in the glare of the three remaining who bore the animals on their shoulder said that they disapproved of the display of emotion, while those with the golden birds seemed simply to disapprove of the woman. And all other animals fade away when Foxes and Falcons come to play. That sounded like a broken piece of a lullaby or nursery rhyme that had been dragged out from behind Melodia's seal. She quietly memorized it and turned her attention back to the people surrounding her. They were more important than some children's stories.
The other three who bore the animals on their shoulders were all men, ranging from the ages of about sixteen or seventeen by her guess to maybe seventy at the outer end. All had the same gray-silver eyes that Seiryah herself did, and all of them seemed to be calculating for some reason. The four people on the right, in comparison, were almost all women for some reason, the only male smiling cheerily at her.
"Why so confused, little cousin?" he asked, breaking the somewhat awkward silence. "You'd almost think that you didn't remember Maisra. As if you couldn't, the way you two were always off chatting about some monster of a book…" he grimaced at that, although whether for the length of the book or for the company, she couldn't tell.
"I don't," she said, knowing it was a mistake as soon as the words had left her mouth, but plowing on anyway. She didn't want to insult… Maisra, Maisra Sheyol. Perhaps another friend in this strange world? "I don't remember anything. I'm… sorry."
"Really?" asked a regal and stern-looking woman in her mid forties, who seemed to be the leader of the Bird People (Seiryah decided that calling them Bird People and Animal People would make things easier to keep track of in her own head.) Her blue eyes were cold enough to rival the Animal People, pale azure ice as opposed to piercing steel. "We had heard, but… that is a shame. I… we…" she nodded her head to indicate those standing with her, but clearly not those standing on the opposite side of the hall, '…are sorry for your losses. Have you been told about your family?" Her voice was comforting, but her eyes… ice. Cold enough to make Wazn feel like Alfard.
"Yes. I accept your condolences." She bit off a sarcastic in the manner that they were given that tried to tack itself onto the end of the sentence. This woman seemed to be as powerful in her own way as Saishra was in her own house. She was also the only one of the bird people to wear jewelry, a string of red stones that she knew weren't rubies set in gold. Instead of morning glories climbing up the white sleeves of her coat, red roses that matched her hair color perfectly seemed to arch stately towards the golden birds on her shoulders. What did the designs at the hems mean?
She cast around for her grandmother, and found the woman standing behind her, observing her actions. Why?
"I believe that we should put pleasantries aside, Melindrha, and decide who will help reacclimatize Seiryah to life here. After all, for one such as her, there are many pitfalls here in Daisra." Her tone left no question as to who would be doing that: Saishra Sheyol, naturally, or someone handpicked by her. What was Daisra? The country she was in, or maybe a city. Surely a city at the very least; she could not picture any of these people deciding to live in anything small enough to be called a town.
"I believe that should be left to us," Melindrha Veranen said coldly.
"Really? I am her closest living relative with her parents dead. By law, her care should be left to me."
Melindrha snorted. "Really, Saishra, Seiryah is not of your house. Someone of her house should have her education, not an outsider like yourself."
Saishra smiled a chilly smile to mach Melindrha's eyes, "Really, Melindrha, you would think I meant to turn her against you. Why so suspicious? I only have my granddaughter's best interests at heart."
Liris mumbled something, the first words she had spoken since being dragged into the hall. Seiryah didn't catch all of it, but she did hear something about the sun turning green, in sarcastic tones. Seiryah had to agree with the sentiment. Even though Saishra Sheyol was her grandmother, she knew someone with an agenda when she saw one.
"If I may speak?" Maisra asked, raising her voice once again. Even though her face remained placid as ever, her eyes had changed. Silvery light reflected off of rushing rapids. She continued without waiting for either of the women to give her the permission she had requested. "I believe that in a situation such as this it would be best to bring in a third, neutral party. After all, we of houses Sheyol and Veranen have been at one another's throats since the founding of this kingdom eleven hundred and four years ago. It is unrealistic to expect either of us… don't look at me like that Melindrha, Vanyel, Deirdre, Aisra, you Veranen pretend to be pure enough, and I guess some of you are, but you can manipulate right along with us foxes when you feel it necessary."
"Do you have any… suggestions, girl?" Saishra asked through gritted teeth.
Maisra smiled as if she had missed the emphasis on 'girl', but Seiryah wouldn't have bet a Rotten Food magnus on it. "Why, Liris Reina has been her roommate ever since she left her parents' home about three years ago. Furthermore, as the daughter of the esteemed Doctor Galinet Reina – and probably the only person who knows where he is, since his retirement – she might possibly be the best choice for helping Seiryah to recover her memories. And I know how eager we all are to have our Seiryah back as she was before." Everything sounded straightforward and devoid of sarcasm, but Seiryah thought she detected a hint of irony in the last sentence. Every set of eyes seemed to lock on Liris as soon as her last name was mentioned. Instead of hanging back as she had been for the entire conversation, she returned their glares with equal venom.
"I would be more than happy to help," she said, twisting her lips in something that might have been a smile.
"Now hold on just a minute, girl, do you honestly think that we are going to just let you…"
"Excuse me, Aunt Saishra, but unless I miscount, Seiryah is twenty years old as of… three months and nine days ago. Under the law, she has the right to decide. So, what do you want to do, cousin?"
"I want Liris to take me home," she said, knowing that her answer wouldn't please anyone there. Scowls blossomed on several faces but diminished somewhat in intensity as they realized that the other side had failed to procure what they were after. Maisra's face was neutral, but her eyes seemed to dance as if she had won a great victory, and perhaps she had. Although, with the way the other Sheyols werelooking at her, Seiryah hoped that the woman would be careful in the immediate future; her family was not happy with her at the moment.The boy with the Veranens looked relieved for some reason. Maybe because this way she was free? Another potential ally?
"Fine, but I do have a stipulation. A reasonable stipulation," Saishra said.
"Ask me and I will answer," Seiryah replied. She wished they would stop talking over her head. She had lost her memories, not her wits.
"You are to spend one day of each week with your respective families to relearn our traditions," Saishra replied, as if taken aback slightly at being challenged."That is not too much of an imposition, is it granddaughter?"
"…I think that is for the best," Seiryah agreed. Truly she did need to learn some of Sheyol and Veranen, before one orthe other or bothmanaged to drag her down. Maybe from Maisra and… Vanyel? That sounded like a boy's name the only remotely masculine name that Maisra had brought up when she listed the Veranens, and surely her other cousin seemed much more pleasant company than any of the other Veranens that had come to see her.
Melindrha scowled again. "What need has she to learn of Sheyol? She is not of your house, Saishra, and…"
"Oh do give over, Mother, you sound like a broken record…" Vanyel(?) sighed, rolling his eyes. "Saishra made her decision, and you have to live with it. Whether you like it or not."
Melindrha glared at her son, and Seiryah felt briefly sorry for the boy. Melindrha Veranen didn't seem like a woman to be crossed lightly. "That is enough, Vanyel. You speak out of place."
"My most humble apologies, my lady Mother," Vanyel(hah! She had guessed right!) replied, sweeping a grandiose bow and kissing her hand. He tossed Maisra of all people a roguish wink, and she rolled her eyes at him.
Seiryah heard Liris this time: "The day he's humble, the sun really will turn green!"
The assembled people exchanged barbed comments and veiled threats for a few more minutes and then departed. Vanyel waved cheerily at her, while Maisra came over and gave her another hug.
"Call me if you need anything," Maisra whispered in Seiryah's ear. "You should still have my number in your phone book. Ask Liris for help if you can't remember how to use the phone."
"I will," Seiryah replied, briefly wondering what a 'phone' was. "By the way, who were all the people here? Not everyone said anything."
"Ah… I'm sorry, but I can't stay and tell you about them, they'll get suspicious if I stay here talking too long and they're angry enough with me already for derailing their precious plans. Ask Liris, she should know most of them. Talk to you later!" With another hug and a warm smile, Maisra followed her family out.
Liris blinked several times. "I can't believe Maisra got away with that. Probably because it's so rare to see her outside of the library that they've all forgotten what her voice sounds like."
"Why didn't you tell me that we were living together?" Seiryah asked.
"Well, between all your questions and all the unexpected things that happened, I never really got a chance."
"Then… we were friends?"
Liris snorted. "Your parents helped me out when I first came to the city – alone, thanks to that worthless father of mine – to be a nurse. We've known each other since I was eighteen and you were fifteen. Yes, we're friends, Seiryah. We have been for years." Liris laughed bitterly. "Really, I should strangle Arvel. If I could figure out exactly what's going on, that is."
Seiryah still remembered the conversation she had eavesdropped upon, and made a mental not to ask Arvel exactly what was going on the next time she saw him. "By the way, where is Arvel?"
"At work. He's a reporter, or all things," Liris sniffed. "Amazing that he was able to keep his job after that debacle eighteen months ago."
"What's a reporter?" Seiryah asked, deciding to shelve her questions on her relatives for a little while. After all, she could always ask Maisra on the …'phone'… later on. After she figured out what a phone was. And how to use it.
AN: Did anyone else find the Bluebirds of Happiness/Bunycats analogy as funny as I did? Ooh, idea! Can anyone think of an animal I can compare to a Greythorne?
By the way, a note on Seiryah's world: It is a lot like ours, although different in some ways. Like religion. And some exotic plants/animals that I made up. And magic. Can't forget the magic. And government…
I'm trying to keep the differences to a minimum, which leaves me with a lot less things to explain.
So, the big family meeting. Surprisingly calm. No one blowing each other up with guns, although don't think that they wouldn't have been doing so if they had been given the chance and a way to get away with it. Sheyols and Veranens HATE each other. Think Montagues and Capulets, if you've ever read Romeo and Juliet.
What did you all think of Maisra and Vanyel(Yes, I stole the name from Mercedes Lackey. Bite me.)? They're probably going to become important characters, in case you didn't figure that out on your own. Maisra is going to be the one who teaches Seiryah how to read and write again, I know that much.
Special thanks to Frozenleaf, Toki, and Rebbe for reviewing!
Next Chapter: A little more on Arvel and Mihkal, and some revealing of the Super Secret conspiracy. I don't have a title. Yet.
(Sorry this chapter was so much shorter than the last one, but you got a faster update. Doesn't that make you happy?)