Oh my God. AP testing kicked my buttocks. I think I'm gonna go cry/nap/write some more...
Catharsis
By Gold Sparrow
Chapter 11: Light
"What?! Another meeting? Don't those bastards know you're pregnant?" Ester's words are fiery, overprotective, and annoyed. "The Elders, like, are totally ignorant of everyone else."
"Ester, dear…" Bathsheba lightly chides her, hand stroking her stomach. "The baby can hear you."
"Huh? Oh. Oops." Ester's cheeks lightly color as she gazes down at her mistress's swollen belly. "I, like, keep forgetting you're gonna pop."
Bathsheba laughs at her handmaid's words, finding the woman's attitude to be refreshing from the endless parade of polite, proper people at the palace. It brings her back to the days when she was a professor smiling cheekily at her students and friends during an expedition. She hasn't studied the latest studies using strength magic, actually. Maybe she should start researching again…
"Here comes the rival."
Hm?
Arba appears by Bathsheba's side, startling the pregnant woman.
"Mistress!" Arba lovingly says, before glaring at Ester on her other side. "How's your walk been?"
"Good," She says soothingly, now sensing the tension between her handmaids. She has increasingly become more aware of Arba and Ester's competition, and slowly began to create a hypothesis on why.
Arba is a magician born to be a perfect servant and guard to her. Ester is a normal woman without any training being placed into the same position as Arba. It's not all a matter of qualification and pride, Bathsheba knows, but also a mix of emotions toward their mistress. Arba wants Bath to be well taken care of, especially while pregnant, and is jealous of Ester's relationship with her. Ester also wants Bath to live a good life, but feels inferior to Arba, who performs her duties perfectly.
Bathsheba purses her lips.
"Arba, Ester?"
"Yes?"
"I have a suggestion." Bath's hands fist in her lap, looking at her handmaids with determination and intensity, preparing herself. She has read in books about this sort of thing, but has never done it herself. "We should go shopping."
The two other women stare for a while.
And burst out laughing.
Bathsheba's cheeks color awkwardly as she tries to understand what she did wrong.
"I-I've read that the best way for females to become friends is to share common interests!" She bursts out. "Should we go shopping, we can learn more about one another…"
"Mistress…" Arba giggles hysterically, a strange sound from the normally soft-spoken servant.
"Aw, Mistress," Ester teasingly pinches Bathsheba's arm. "You, like, have never had a female friend, huh? That's adorable, aru."
"I was just trying to…" Arba and Ester both go to their Mistress's side, each taking an elbow.
"Shh, it's okay," Arba coos as Ester sagely clucks,
"We'll get you out of the sun, aru."
"So, this is where you've been hiding."
The voice travels through the library with a hint of reminiscent humor and a touch of melancholy. The gentle rays of sun streaming through the window do not seem like a lot of light to work with, but a man still sits hunched over a desk, hand moving frantically over paper. He stops himself, looking over at his side with a bit of wonder and a splash of surprise.
"W-what're you doing here?"
"Can't an old friend come see where their co-worker ended up?" The other participant of the conversation, another male, comes to desk and smiles at the man behind it. "It's nice to see you again, Ugo."
"Yeah," Ugo says, before quickly standing up and trying in vain to straighten out his clothes and fix his messy braid. "Yeah! Wow, I haven't seen you and almost a year, Nathan."
Nathan nods his head, pulling out a chair and sitting in it. Around the two, books and papers are piled up to the brink of falling. The crumpled rejects sit in mountain-shaped mounds near a small, overflowing trashcan. Nathan ignores these facts, green eyes trained on Ugo from underneath his brown bangs.
"I have come for a reason."
Ugo's smile fades.
"Is it about Bathsheba?" He asks softly, his smile now a memory on his face. "How is she?"
"Well." Nathan answers, before pausing. He seems to struggle for a moment before adding- admitting- "She's pregnant."
Ugo's eyes snap up. Nathan bows his head. The brown-haired magician hadn't thought he'd be the one to inform Ugo of this news; the man is, now, working at the Royal Library. How a hermit like Ugo got admitted is unthinkable to Nathan, but has a suspicion that the Queen may have secretly pulled some strings once finding out her old companion applied for a job there.
"I'm sor...What I'm here for isn't just about Bathsheba."
But Ugo's still stuck in the moment Nathan revealed Bathsheba's pregnancy. What should be a happy thing brings him nothing but pitiful, unrestrained sadness. He manages to say,
"What are you here for?"
"..." Nathan looks steadily at Ugo, still caught off guard by the revelation. "I know it seems like those days back at the university seem unreal."
He waits for Ugo to nod.
"They seem fake...Too perfect. How was it possible that I was able to change my mind on so many things that quickly? I keep running over my memories, trying to remember how exactly I felt when I saw the other species. I don't even remember. I know I hated them, but I can't imagine hating them now. It's like everything's changed, but no one else has." Nathan takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. "What I'm trying to say is that I know Bathsheba feels the same. That's why she married David, to find a way into power and change this corrupt world from the inside out."
"...I-I never thought of it that way." Ugo murmurs, unsure how he feels about this sudden speech.
"I have. I can't stop thinking about it." Nathan stands up, looking at the window letting in the light to the dark library. "It's like this thing keeps on biting me whenever I try to avert my eyes. Like I'm betraying that woman- my best friend- if I pretend that I don't know what I know."
Shamefully, Ugo looks down at his half-written formula. He can see mistakes in it now, imperfections that can never be salvaged.
"But I do know." Nathan's pacing now, troubled and burdened. His shoulders sink down as his gaze drops to glare at the floor. "Sometimes I hate myself for knowing, but I know. Which is why I've decided to take up Bath's position."
The genius magician looks up at the other, shock written across his face.
"What? You're taking the professorship position?"
"And the Species Analyst job." Nathan says solemnly. "...I'm also taking up a new title as well."
"What kind of title?"
The brown haired man just smiles a bit sardonically, standing behind the chair. He grips the wood of it, hanging his head just slightly.
"Man...Sara hates me for it." He complains, as if everything's normal. "But I...I've decided…"
His eyes, emerald and sharp, look up into the gentle red eyes of Ugo. What the older magician sees there brings him to complete silence as Nathan stands up straight.
"To not stop fighting."
Six months. The child in my wife's womb is six months along. Which leaves three more left over for me to bemoan, but my excitement grows each day. Bathsheba takes her pregnancy with grace, not once complaining about becoming pregnant. She does, however, complain about being pregnant. I never knew a woman to be so free with her aggravations.
She also has decided that, in order to disgust me into never sleeping with her again, she'll relay to me every piece of "pregnancy pain" she feels. Swollen feet, aching back, [underlined several times] moodswings. [striked out] I feel as though I'm pregnant.
But there are moments in time where I'm tired and she's perched peacefully in the rocking chair in the child's room- Bathsheba insisted we have one ready, in case it's premature- and we spend a while just sitting. Sometimes, if she's not rocking, I'll lay my ear on her stomach and listen. I don't hear anything most of the time, but if I'm patient and Bathsheba puts a hand on top of my head, I can make out a rapid second heartbeat. It's strange, you know, the beauty of that sound. It beats in such a quick tempo that it fills me up with energy, and yet I cannot move as Bathsheba's fingers intertwine with the strands of my hair. Feeling the baby's life fills me up with life, and for a moment, I think about the preciousness of this world and of the lives of others.
Then it's dinner time and I forget once more. After all, we're all connected, all one life. We are not singular, nor are we individuals- though it seems that way due to our own passions and whims. Every action one takes affects another, more often than not in a negative way. I must stop that. I must correct that. Bathsheba, I'm certain, will forgive me for doing this; though I know she will disagree, and will stage her own mini-revolt against my ideals while stuck in the gilded cage of the capital.
It's so adorable how she always defies God's will. But just watch her try to defy mine.
"Obligation," Saul bursts out, holding the hand of Bathsheba. The young girl looks up at him with slight confusion, but follows her teacher dutifully as he walks down the street. "You see, little one, we have obligations."
"To whom?"
"What a bright question!" He laughs, squeezing the little hand. "You're so bright."
"Saul."
"Yes, yes, I'll get onto it." Saul tuts, unhappy his cooing was rejected so harshly by the girl. "We have obligations to everyone and everything in this world."
"What do you mean?"
"We have an obligation to society to behave. We have an obligation to our betters to be respectful. We have an obligation to our parents to thank them for everything they've done for us." Bathsheba's gaze drops. Saul watches it go. "Do you know what I'm telling you this?"
The thirteen year old shakes her head after a moment, not wanting to confront the real reason. Saul decides that if she's going to pass up the opportunity to talk about it, then he'll let her. Most of the time it hurts more when a person knows what you're hiding but doesn't ask about it.
"The other species," Saul announces, lifting his chin.
"H-huh?" Saul smiles dryly down at the girl. She lowers her face to the ground they walk upon once more.
"We also have obligations to the other species. Do you know why there are so little factual books about the other species?"
"No." That seems to strike Bath. "I never thought about writing about them."
"Well, think about it. It's not as though people haven't tried. It's just that we're being censored."
"Censorship?" Bath's mouth falls open. "B-but-"
"What? Do you naively think the Elders of the Church are all holy, righteous men?"
Her jaw clamps shut.
"You just need to find the books that weren't caught in the web. The books written by the people who've recognized their obligations, and tried to bypass the laws of this world."
"What do you mean?" She tilts her head. "Where are these books?"
"The books? They're everywhere, little one! Just look through the tricky light and see what shouldn't be seen. Someday you'll know how to hide them there, under empty names, their meanings hidden inside condescending words." Saul ruffles the child's hair. "And, if you're afraid you'll have to teach yourself, be calm."
He smiles sneakily down at her.
"For I shall teach you!"
God do you ever just love your OCs with a burning passion? Because I feel that way right now with Ester and Saul. Strangely enough, I want to punch Nathan...But maybe that's because I've written a character that will soon become a catalyst for something much bigger than himself, that may or may not end well...Ah well *WINK XINFINITY*
Got any questions or suggestions? Something wrong about the chapter? Grammatical errors, something you didn't like? PM me or leave it in the reviews, I will reply and see what I can do to make the story better/clearer for y'all to understand. ILY MY DARLING READERS!
BYE~~~~~~~