A/N:
Err…this chapter is rated PG13 for a tantrum.
Chapter Two
A Great Loss
"I heard it from Lady Valene's own lips," Paulina, one of the servants, whispered very quietly. "A letter just came to her thirty minutes ago."
Soft murmurs sounded throughout the kitchen. Every single servant in the household had gathered around to hear what happened to their master, Sir Michael. For the past few days, Sir Michael had been staying at his older brother's house for medical attention. His older brother was a physician.
"So…he's really dead?" someone asked softly.
Paulina nodded gravely. "Yes."
Suddenly, a loud wail erupted throughout the silence of the kitchen. Everyone was taken aback. Daria, who was now a young lady, felt her heart skip a beat.
It was from Babelle. "Ohhh, the masteeeeeeeeeeerrr! I can't believe he's deeeeaaaaaaaaad!" she moaned. She covered her face with her large hands, and wept like a three-year-old.
"Hush, woman!" the gardener growled. "The mistress will hear you!"
But Babelle wailed on. "Noooooooooooooo! The master is gooooonne!!!"
"Hush! Hush! Hush!" the gardener repeated.
"YOU NEVER LIKED THE MASTER!" Babelled suddenly screamed at the gardener. (Everyone winced at how thunderous and shrill her voice was.) "YOU NEVER KNEW THAT HE WAS SO KIND, GENEROUS, AND FAIR! OH, YOU HAVE A WRETCHED HEART! IF THE MASTER HEARD YOU NOW, HE'D HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY! BUT......BUT......HE'S ISN'T!!! HE'S GOOOOOOOOOONNE!! WHAAAAAAAAA—"
She suddenly stopped because Afrella slapped her right on the face. Hard.
"Calm yourself!" Afrella ordered.
Babelle shut her mouth, glared at Afrella, but said nothing more. Everyone thanked Afrella in their minds, but not aloud.
"The mistress won't appreciate us talking about her husband," a manservant whispered.
Afrella nodded. "That is why we must be silent." She shot a fierce look at Babelle, who scowled at her.
Then a quiet shout followed, which panicked everyone in the kitchen. "The mistress is coming!"
The reaction was incredible. Everyone broke off, and ran to different directions. Some went out into the garden, some went into the banquet hall, someone went up to their rooms, and some stayed in the kitchen. Daria stayed in the kitchen, pretending to wash some dishes. Afrella was pretending to make dough. The others were doing whatever they thought looked convincing enough.
Then Lady Valene entered the room. She was clothed in a mourning dress, but there was no sign of grief or sorrow on her face.
"Everyone, leave," she said quietly. "I want to talk to the girl."
Everyone who was in kitchen immediately scrambled out. They knew that the mistress was talking about Daria.
When she was left alone with Lady Valene, Daria turned to the mistress with neither terror nor alarm. She was an attractive sixteen-year-old, but her beauty was entirely covered with black ash and soot. Her blue-green eyes showed noticeable boldness, which angered the mistress even more.
"I despise you," Lady Valene said quietly.
Daria said nothing.
"I have despised ever since you were little. I hate the expression in your eyes, the movement of your muscles, the words that come out of your mouth. I hate everything about you."
Daria remained silent.
"I have always wanted to dismiss you, but my husband kept on defending you. He pitied you. As you already know, like all the other servants in this house, my husband is dead. There is no one to defend you now."
Daria stood motionlessly, still as quiet as before.
"You are dismissed from this house. You will be gone by tonight, or you will certainly hear from me."
Daria clenched her fists when she heard the crude words. She was furious rather than terrified. Still, she said nothing. She stared at the tiled floor in order to control her boiling anger.
This enraged the mistress. "Did you hear me, you filthy wench?!?!" she yelled. "Answer me!"
"I HEARD YOU!!!" Daria screamed. Her body shook with rage. She stared at the mistress with nothing but hatred. "I heard every word you said!!!"
"Do not raise your voice at me!!!" Lady Valene screamed back. "YOU ARE A MAID! YOU'RE NOTHING! YOU'RE EVEN LOWER THAN ROTTEN VEAL ON THE DIRT ROAD! YOU WILL NEVER BE ANYTHING, YOU DIM-WITTED LUMMOX!! YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE NOTHING!!!"
"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!!" Daria screamed
"WITH PLEASURE!" the mistress screamed back. She turned around in a dramatic way, and stormed off.
If it were not a serious situation, Daria would have laughed until she her sides ached. For the first time, Lady Valene had obeyed a command from a furious and tormented maid.
But the situation was serious, and Daria did not even let out a soft chuckle. And even without the presence of Lady Valene, she was still angry. She walked back and forth in the empty kitchen, forcing herself to calm down.
But she couldn't. Her anger was unwilling to die down. Her clenched fists were horribly pale from the pressure she was exerting.
"Argh!" Daria yelled. Her shout echoed in the kitchen. She marched to the copper sink where she pretended to wash dishes. She grabbed a wet and soapy dish, and threw it with all her might across the enormous kitchen.
It landed on the hard floor, and broke into a thousand pieces. At the exact moment, Afrella re-entered the kitchen.
"Daria!" she bellowed furiously. "What is going on here?!?!"
"Nothing!" Daria screamed. She reached over to grab another dish, but Afrella stopped her in time.
"Calm down, lass!" Afrella shouted angrily as she held on to Daria's wrist to prevent her from getting a dish. Then she tightly held Daria by the shoulders, and shook her to get her into her senses. "Calm down!"
"Let me go!" Daria screamed as she struggled to get free.
But Afrella was a strong woman, and she did not let go. "No!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "I will only let you go once you calm down!"
Then there was a long pause between the two. Gradually, Daria's blood pressure went down. Afterwards, Afrella spoke, and this time, her voice was soft.
"Daria," she pleaded gently, "please look at me."
Daria sighed angrily, but she did not scream. Afrella had always been there for her throughout the years, and she was there for her now. She looked up at Afrella's tired, brown eyes. They looked concerned rather than furious.
"That's better," Afrella whispered. She released Daria from her grasp.
Daria groaned, and then fell on her knees. "What should I do, Afrella?!" she asked frantically as she looked up at her guardian. "She dismissed me!"
"I know, Daria. I know," Afrella replied. "But you must handle this sensibly. You must not lose your temper again, do you understand?"
Daria just nodded. Then she sighed and said, "I feel… I feel…" She tried to search for the right word.
"Lost?" Afrella said quietly.
"Yes."
"I understand, Daria. I truly do," Afrella said. After a short pause, she said, "Why don't you go up to my room, and after I clean up the mess, we'll talk this over?"
Daria shook her head. "No," she said. "I'll clean up the mess since I was the one who broke the dish."
* * *
"What should I do?" Daria asked herself and Afrella for the umpteenth time. The two were all alone in Afrella's tiny bedroom. Daria was sitting on an extremely small bed with Afrella's arm wrapped around her.
Afrella sighed. "I do not have any relatives at all for you to stay with, which makes this even harder. Believe it or not, Daria, I do not know much about the outside world either."
"Oh, this is hopeless!" Daria exclaimed as she abruptly stood up. She faced Afrella. "I have to be away from here by tonight!"
"The best plan I have right now is for you to find another job as a servant in another household," Afrella said. "However, the problem is, I do not where the other manors are located! I am poorly educated."
"It doesn't matter," Daria said. "I'll survive and find my way…somehow."
"Oh, Daria," Afrella said as she shook her head. "You need to prepare yourself first. Pack a lot of food, a warm shawl, and other necessities."
* * *
Daria was prepared to leave after sunset. Everything she needed was inside an old carpetbag, which was given by Afrella. By then, the news of her dismissal had reached everyone's curious ears. No one gave her the slightest bit of sympathy. Babelle was even happy about it.
Daria heard a noise by the door of her room. She turned, and saw Afrella.
"I tried to look for a map of Frell in Sir Michael's study, but there was nothing there," Afrella said. "I'm sorry."
Daria shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I'll manage somehow." She gave Afrella a forced and weary smile. "I'll be going now."
"I guess," Afrella said softly.
Daria sadly wrapped her arms around her guardian, who was trembling with sadness. "Our paths will cross again someday," she said.
"I hope so," Afrella replied. They broke apart, and Afrella gave Daria a wobbly smile. "My days will be miserable without you." Then she held up an old, brown pouch. "This is for you."
Daria realized what it contained. "Afrella! I can't accept that. It's your money, and you've already done enough for me."
"I insist," Afrella said firmly. "There are three silver KJs inside. That is enough for one night in an inn. I want you to take it, Daria."
"A-are you sure?" she asked.
Afrella waved her hand impatiently. "Yes, yes. I'm sure."
Daria reluctantly accepted the pouch. "Thank you so much." She embraced Afrella again. "Farewell."
"Farewell, and be careful."
"I will."
* * *
Daria stared at the mysterious world before her. The air was breezy and cool, and luckily, the moon shined at its brightest.
In a way, she felt wonderfully free, but there was also a huge terror inside her. What was she going to face?
Sir Michael's property seemed to be isolated from the rest of society, for Daria couldn't see a single house or market. She was facing a long and straight road that stretched before her horizontally, and she had no idea whether to turn left or right.
Finally, she decided to head towards the palace of the sovereigns. There should be households around that area that required a maid.
But where was the palace? Daria couldn't see it at all from level ground, so she walked towards a nearby tree, and climbed it easily. When she was about fifteen feet off the ground, she looked around her. (She praised the bright moonlight at the same time.)
Finally, she spotted the shadowy figure of the palace. Her heart fell. It looked so far away. She had stopped climbing the sycamore tree at Sir Michael's manor when she was twelve years old, and now, four years after, the palace looked farther away, as if it had moved by itself over the long and hard years.
After Daria figured out which direction to take, she descended from the tree with a discouraged spirit. But after she realized that she had no other choice but to head on towards the castle, she forced herself to stay focused.
"I can do this," she whispered to herself.
She turned right, and began to bravely walk on the empty road.
* * *
How many hours have I been walking? Daria thought to herself. It was late at night, but she had no intention to rest. She still had the strength to go on.
Suddenly, Daria heard a noise behind her. Before she could turn around, two strong arms wrapped themselves around her arms, by the waist.
"HELP!!!" Daria screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Save your breath," a young man said breezily. "No one is around but my comrades." He stood in front of Daria, and even if she was in a dangerous situation, she couldn't help but think that the man was rather handsome with his blond hair and grey eyes. He looked about two years older than her. Four men with cold eyes and a muscular build stood beside him. They looked like his followers, which was odd since they also looked way older and stronger than him.
Daria struggled violently to set herself free, but was unsuccessful. She stomped at her capturer's foot, but he did not react.
"Save your energy as well," the handsome lad said. "Arnaud is a very strong man."
Daria still struggled. The young man couldn't help but notice her feistiness. He was suddenly impressed with this courageous girl.
"I'm telling you," he said, "you won't be able to get away."
A moment later, Daria's energy was gone. She was now weak, which even made her more vulnerable. She stopped resisting.
"That's better," the young man said. He smiled at Daria.
"Don't you dare do anything to me," Daria said with a fierce voice.
The man chuckled. "I'm only here for the goods," he said. "Besides, I'm not that kind of guy."
"What a gentleman," Daria said sarcastically.
"Why thank you, my lady," he answered with an amused grin. He reached over and grabbed Daria's carpetbag.
Daria's heart fell instantly. Everything was inside that carpetbag…her shawl, her food, her money, her journal…everything.
Then she remembered that she still had one item. Her bracelet was on her right wrist, and her wrist was well-hidden by her long sleeve. Daria prayed hard that they wouldn't find her armlet, the one thing she treasured greatly.
"I guess that's it, my lady," the young man said very politely. "We'll be on our way."
"You can't leave with my carpetbag!" Daria said furiously. "Everything I own is inside it."
The lad shrugged. "We're thieves," he said simply. He bowed deeply, and reached for Daria's right hand. Her heart froze. The man brought his lips to her hand, and kissed it like a gentleman.
Please don't find it. Please don't find it. Please don't find it, Daria chanted in her brain.
But luck was not with her at that moment. The charm collided with the chain, and when it did, there was a soft noise.
But it was loud enough for the young man to hear. A bewildered look appeared on his face, and he pulled Daria's sleeve up.
He laughed. "My lady, why didn't you mention to me about this fine piece of jewellery?"
"Please don't take it!" Daria pleaded. "I beg you not to take it! Please!"
The man shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said as he took the gold bracelet and placed it in his pocket. "Good night, my lady."
Then they all disappeared into the night, leaving the young and hopeless girl behind.
The girl swallowed as she stared at the direction where the men disappeared. There was an enormous lump in her throat, and silent tears slipped down her cheeks.
She fell on her knees, in the middle of the road.
A/N:
This chapter is longer than usual because I want to you guys to be happy!!! (Awwww…) I enjoyed writing this one, especially the last scene. Don't you feel sorry for Daria? Till next time… (Oh yeah, please review.)