"Nice to see you too," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Standing, he glared at me a little. I bit my lip, feeling bad. Hell, Warren had been nothing but a nice guy this whole time, and just because I was feeling a little pissy at his entire family, I was being a bitch to him.
Rubbing my arm from the ground, I said, "I'm sorry. I have no right to take out the fact that my life is miserable because of your relatives on you…" Pulling my hair out of my face, I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. He looked at me for a few moments, and then smiled at me lopsidedly.
"Hey. I get it. You feel as though your life was ruined. My relatives do it a lot." He shrugged, and then held out a hand to me. "Like a hand?" I grinned. I guess that was 'apology accepted'. Taking the hand, he quickly pulled me to my feet. "So why are you up? These aren't exactly the normal hours of the day." Glancing at him, I figured I'd give him a try. 'Just treat him like any other normal guy, Grace. You can do this.'
"I would ask you the same thing." I said. "But since you asked first; I couldn't sleep."
He nodded thoughtfully. "I know what you mean." I looked at him expectantly, and he remembered that it was his turn to share. "Yeah… I stay up because a lot of the materials I work with don't like too much light. It's just easier during the night."
"Materials you work with?" But it dawned on me when I remembered that Mama Thistle had said that he expressed magic through his inventions. "Oh yeah! Mama Thistle said something about your inventions. Wish I could invent stuff. I imagine it being pretty nifty."
Smiling modestly, he shrugged. "It's just something I do. The designs speak to me… I really can't explain it." He paused, which gave me time to think. Kind of like how the volta had spoken to me earlier tonight, I realized.
The pause continued, and we stood there with nothing to say for a few moments. It was awkward. I grimaced. "Late, innit?" I laughed gently at the two of us standing there, trying to be polite and friendly. He returned the laugh.
"Mmmm. Can't find much to say. I was headed to my work room, and don't have much else on my mind…" He stopped, and then beamed. "Hey, come with me? Since you can't sleep, you might as well see something more interesting than the halls."
I paused. I didn't know much about the guy, and I wasn't sure… but I was curious, and he had a point when he said that I didn't have much better to do. "Sure. Why not? Lead on!" He began to lead me through the halls.
As he lead, my eyes strayed all over the place. My candle gave me the ability to see some of the portraits that decorated the walls. They were done masterfully, but the subject matters ranged from cheerful to quite dark. While my eyes strayed, I saw a hallway from which emanated a delicious smell. At the end was a pair of doors.
As I watched, those doors swung open and a dirty looking girl was dragged out by the ear by a woman wearing a fine white gown. Or what would have been a fine white gown if it were not for the large burgundy splotch running down the front.
The woman looked furious, and the young girl looked terrified. She was probably a servant. Stopping, I watched for a moment longer, only to see the woman slap the girl across the face brutally. The kid fell to the ground, and whimpered.
Running forward, I said, "Hey, stop!" I wasn't going to stand by and let some woman abuse a little kid.
The woman turned to glare at me, eyes flickering yellow. Apparently their eyes did vary. "And who might you be?" She spat at me darkly.
"What does it matter! You're abusing this poor girl," I exclaimed.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "When a slave pours wine over one's dress, they deserve to be punished." Pulling the girl back up to her feet, she hissed, "No one wants her anyway. She's just a mortal, and can easily be replaced with something less clumsy." She shook the child a little bit at this.
"I'll take her," I said without thinking. The woman stopped at this, and tilted her head at me slightly.
"And you have the nerve to assume that you, a mortal, hold any power over me." She moved fast, and had me pinned against a wall. "You should learn your place."
"I've heard that a lot lately. Getting really tired of it, actually," I spat. I kicked her, and she stumbled away from me. While she reeled, I reached for the girl's wrist and pulled her behind me. I could at the very least act like a shield for the child. She clung to my hips, and I sighed. Dancing wasn't going to be much of any option now.
The woman recovered quickly, and glanced at me, eye blazing. "Do you know who you're dealing with, little girl?"
I responded quickly saying, "Do you?" I saw her begin to approach me. However, Warren called to me and she froze at the sound of his voice.
"There you are! You wandered off and I was worried that my father would be angered by our late arrival. Come along, now." He began to lead me off, and I was careful to drag the little girl – who remained stuck to my side – along with me.
The woman wasn't about to forfeit the fight. "My prince!" she called out, "She's taking my property." As she gestured towards the girl, I felt the blond child stiffen and dig her nails into my arm. I wrapped a protective arm around, and glanced wildly at Warren. I would fight about this one.
He returned my look. "Lady Rowan… I'm sure that there is something we can give you in return for the girl." Warren looked at her hopefully.
"You cannot allow her to steal my property! She is mine to punish as I wish and I wish to punish her!" Lady Rowan exclaimed furiously. She made a move to grab the girl, and I moved so that she grabbed my arm instead – the girl was safely on the other side of my body. The woman glared into my eyes. I returned said glare evenly. This was a picnic compared to the King. "Your defiance tires me, girl," she hissed.
I felt myself jerked away from the girl, and tossed to the floor. Grimacing, I barely had time to recover when she swept me up and gripped both of my arms. Grinning widely, she leaned forward to whisper, "You know something? If you want to protect the human girl you can just work for me in her place. You seem to be a strong human. Less liable to drop things."
I was ready to agree. I would much rather have myself working for this bitch than have a small girl working for her. However, Warren interjected, "That would not be befitting of Lady Lanora's daughter." Rowan looked at me for a few moments, and then let me go.
"Lanora's…" She glanced at me, and I saw her eyes darken in fury. It faded in a few moments. "I see the family resemblance." Her voice dripped with ice. "This is the one who is to marry you or your brothers?" Warren nodded solemnly. She glanced at me, and I saw the bitterness in her eyes. Rubbing an arm, she nodded slowly. "I see. My apologies."
Lady Rowan began to saunter off. "Keep the girl. Consider her to be an early gift for the coming wedding." I felt myself chill at the mention of a wedding. Yes, I know what it means to have to… marry one of them. But marriage? That had somehow been neglected from my mind.
Picturing myself walking down to aisle in a big white gown to be greeted by one of them… I could see Arion smirking at me from the end, and I stopped myself. 'Calm down. You're not going to get married to any of them. You still can escape.'
I almost didn't want to accept the girl, but I would take it as a small victory for today. My eyes set upon her, cringing against the wall. I knelt beside her, and slowly turned her around. She looked to be about six, but her eyes were dark and looked like they had seen too many things. Dirt and tears streaked her cherubic face. "Hey, kid, you're going to be okay. You're with me, now. That monster in a gown can't hurt you anymore."
She responded by clinging to me and sobbing. I looked angrily at Warren. "Your people make children work for them?"
Warren sighed. "It's an old custom. Several large conflicts have been bred over whether or not we should maintain the human slavery. Most feel as though it is our right; we are more powerful, they should serve us. Some, however, would rather use that power for some semblance of good. I am of the latter. I don't keep any humans as servants." He paused, and then counseled, "And I would be careful as to whom you call a 'monster in a gown'." Leaning over, he whispered, "True as it may be, Lady Rowan is of an old line and extremely powerful in her own right. That is a woman you do not wish to anger."
I shook my head angrily. "Anyone who treats children like this will not get civility from me. Fake or otherwise." Gently, I pried the girls arms off of me. Looking into her gray or blue or green eyes (they seemed to shift as soon as I had decided) I asked, "So, what is your name?"
She shook her head vehemently, and tapped her lips, still shaking her head. I frowned, trying to figure out what she was saying. Until it dawned on me. "You can't speak?" I asked, shocked. She nodded. "Can you write?" She shook her head. Damn. There goes that idea… "Do you have a name?" She nodded, and pointed to her chest.
Boy, this was going to take a while if I had to learn to understand her signs. "Chest?" I guessed. She shook her head, and frowned. She then pointed at me. "Me?" Once against she shook her head, and then tapped the spot over my heart insistently. "Heart?" She beamed at me. Phew. "Why don't we go back to my room, get you cleaned up, fed and put in some new clothes?" I glanced at Warren hopefully, and he nodded.
"You know where you're going, I take it?" He asked. I nodded. As we began to walk away, I turned and mouthed, 'Thank you.' He nodded, and walked the other direction.
One our way back from the room, we had to walk past the Queen's portrait. Heart paused in front of it, and I nearly didn't catch that she had stopped. First I looked at her, and then at the picture. "Terrifying, isn't she?" I said. The blond just shook her head slowly and looked knowingly up at the portrait. I could have sworn I saw her mouth something, although what I couldn't be sure. Shaking her head, she then turned to smile at me. "Let's keep going," I said, ignoring the odd pause.
I swept her into my room first, and nearly followed her in when someone grabbed me from behind. The door closed, and I panicked momentarily. I was pulled around the corner and into a small alcove by my attacker.
"Stay away from Tiernan," the person demanded. I recognized the voice quickly; Rowan.
"Hey, I don't want him. I don't want to be Queen. I just want to get out of here and go home." I was spun so that I could see her. She stared at me.
"And if I were to help you escape…?"
"I would leave. Gladly." She smiled at me, although I couldn't say that it was a kind smile.
"I will help you, Halfling. Meet me here tonight." With that she left, and I returned to my room feeling lighter and happier than I could have thought possible.