Chapter three...
Again the story continues...i need to edit it, so just remember its a raw version. I would love some feedback. :)Chapter 3
The resounding sound of horse hooves fell away as they left the cobblestone path for the dirt road. Eira peeked her head out the window, but the dust and dirt would let her see nothing. Inwardly she said her goodbyes “I will miss you all” her mind rushed to the forest, the drewyds, Mena, her brothers, her elegant mother, and then finally Tanik. Her belly gave a little flop as she thought of him. Her father noticed the sudden sadness in his daughters face “Ahh my little miss…homesick already?” She smiled “Oh no father, I’m truly excited, but I shall miss home.” “Well my little miss time will go by so quickly and you mustn’t forget you will be seeing your sister.” Eira’s face lit up “Oh yes!” She stared out the carriage window thinking of all the things she had to tell her sister. But soon her mind stirred back to Tanik “Father?” He turned to his daugheters voice, his long red beard brushing his tunic “Yes?” “How long must we be away?” His face lit up with a soothing smile “Ah my dear, you know that this will be a long journey and that it is a rare occasion that we venture to Caer. So we may be gone for at least one winter and summer, but don’t be sad. You will be so entertained, the days will just fly past.” She flashed a smile back at her father and leaned her head against the carriage wall. Soon the rhythimic sounds of the hoof beats had lulled her to sleep.
At first Tanik was too busy to feel the loss of Eira. The first day they were gone was rather hectic and he feared he was not ready for the responsibility. Young stable-hands were Rushing about and soon Tanik realized it was a well oiled machine. They knew their chores and the only direction they needed was to keep them from slaking off. So Tanik kept a watchful eye on them most of the time, but couldn’t keep track of them every minute of every hour. The day went along rather uneventfully. At the midday meal Mena did not voice her worries, but she wore them on her outward appearance. Her hair was frizzy and her nails were ragged and rough from being chewed on. “Mena you mustn’t fret so! You’ll drive yourself mad before she ever returns.” Tanik gave her a reassuring pat on the back and sat to eat. Sun flooded in as Mena stood looking out the window; the sunlight making her hair sparkle as it hit her patches of grey. “Tis so easy for you to say! I ain got no children but these nes are like my own. I raised them since babes!” Try as he may Tanik couldn’t calm Menas frazzled nerves. He finished his meal and hugged Mena. As he started to head to the stables he noticed he was the only one heading back even though he was the last one to get his meal. The stablehands were all chatting and none made a move to go back to the stables. “Are you all done eating?” Davyd looked up “Yes” and then turned back to the other stablehands. They all giggled until Mena smacked two of them, one being Davyd, on the back of their shaggy heads. “Don’t ye mean yes sir? I don’t think John would be happy if he knew how y’all was actin. He might just take a whip to your hides.” Tanik smiled at Mena “Yes well I’m off to the stables.” The pack of boys followed at the heels.
Mena brushed her hands across a dirty muslin apron as she headed over to a plain brown bucket filled with dirty soapy water./ One by one she plucked the dishes out and cleaned them in a large wooden basin filled with cold clean water. She plunged her rough hands into the water and wiped the grime off of a bowel. She laid it out to dry and then repeated the process with another bowl. She worked robotically, her eyes fixated on nothing. The room around her was a blur instead she saw a crisp daydream of Eira. At first they were innocent, she thought of how Corryn must’ve changed and Eiras greeting with her sister, but soon the thoughts turned worrisome. She worried that Caer would swallow such a pure innocent young girl. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice, barely louder than a whisper.
“Ahh Mena, what shall we do with ourselves?” Mena turned and wiped her wet hands on her stained apron. “Oh Ma’am, I don’t know!” and she broke down in tears. Lady Rhiann wore a long blue dress that billowed out around her as she glided toward Mena. “ Oh Mena, Don’t let this vex you so! She will be back before you know it.” A thin pale arm peeked out of the sapphire dress as she lifted her hand to pat Mena on the back. Mena gave the misses an adoring smile and watched her graceful movements as she left to the garden. She wandered into the rows of plants and thought about her daughter. She too was worried that her daughter was not yet ready for the hustle and bustle of city life. Mena watched on as she saw that vived blue dress disappear behind a sullen gray stone wall.
Rain poured down onto the carriage roof and Eira awoke. She rubbed her eyes “Father where are we?” Her father looked up from a book “Ahh, well I assume we shall be reaching the Lions inn soon. Sleep well?” He smiled lovingly at her and placed his book on the black carriage seat. “Not well, I’m not used to being thrown about so much. It was more a daze than a sleep or maybe something in between.” The carriage took a sudden turn and Eira slid against the opposite wall, her father laughed “Well I do believe we have reached the Inn.” He took off his silver spectacles and tried to straighten his wrinkled tunic. Eira took the cue from her father and began to fix her appearance. She tried to flatten her wild hair and smooth the wrinkles out of her dress. She felt a bit drab in her brown muslin dress, but her mother said it would be best to travel in. Eira assumed this was because traveling could be rather dusty as she had seen from various people visiting the castle after long journeys.
The carriage came to a halt and they sat there for a few moments until the carriage door was opened. “Sir, we have arrived” John put out his hand to help them out. Eira was surprised by his professional tone. Cool air blew against them and rain soaked them through as they hurried across the mud into the Inn. They entered and the room was dimly lit. She saw tables in the center of the massive room and booths cloaked in shadows against the walls. At the far end was a long bar where a few men stood. The place smelled of stale ale and cooking meat. Eira stayed close to her father and they made their way toward a bar as they came closer she noticed wooden stairs next to the bar a little farther down. Her father spoke to the man at the bar, but Eira was staring at the woman making her way down the stairs. Her hair was fire red and her clothes matched her hair. She wore a gold necklace and gold bangle bracelets. She flashed Eira a smile as she passed and Eira watched as she made her way around the room. She had never seen anyone quite like this woman. She could only watch for a moment longer until her father ushered her along. They followed a middle aged man up the stairs and down a candle lantern lit hall. At the very end of the hall was a window and as they reached it the man turned toward them and stopped.
“Here we are Lord Rhiann. Yer normal chambers are ready fer ye.” He handed Lord Rhiann a key and then to Eira “And here ye are young miss. This here is one of our perdyiest rooms.” He smiled showing almost no teeth and those left were brown. “Thank you sir” she felt the cool metal as he dropped the key into her hand. “Jameson should be bringing up yer luggage.” “Thank you so much Jones. If we need anything we shall seek you out.” Jones bowed causing his dirty grey hair to fall into his face and then left back the way he came.
“Father, how long shall we be staying here?” He smiled “Only a few days. We need to give the horse’s time to rest up.” Eira smiled back and gave her father a hug then headed into her room. There was a small candle burning on a table by the four poster bed. The room was a medium size and seemed to be furnished rather well. At the wall directly opposite her was a small window that was flanked by an armoire and a desk. In between the two and directly under the window was a wooden bench. On the wall to her right was a large four poster bed with dark blue curtains and directly opposite the bed was a table with a porcelain basin and jar. Above the basin was another small window that let the moonlight in. The room had two wooden chairs, one sat in front of the desk and the other sat next to the table with the basin.
Someone knocked on the door and she turned to open it. A boy looking to be a little older than her held her black trunk. “Excuse me Ma’am. I’m here to bring ye yer trunk so where would ye like it.” He made his way past her and into the room “Oh…well I guess I would like it at the end of the bed, thank you.” He waited a moment and then began to walk out the door. “Oh, you wanted something for your effort didn’t you?” she blushed embarrassed that she hadn’t realized it before. “That’s alright ma’am.” “Oh no its not…Just wait here one second.” She disappeared out the door.
Jameson stood by the door waiting for her return. He was a short slender young boy. His hair was a dark black and his skin was tanned from many years in the sunlight, though you wouldn’t know it because he was covered in dirt. He brushed his tunic and tugged at it to make it lie straight. He stood tall with his hands behind his back as Eira entered the room. “Thank you for waiting. Here you go.” She smiled and dropped two silver pieces into his hand. “Oh thank you ma’am.” He rushed out the door and Eira closed it behind him.
She made her way to her trunk and opened it. She dug through it until she found a little blue pouch and opened it. She dropped a bunch of coins into it and tucked the pouch back into her trunk. Seeing nothing to do she pulled off her brown dress and pulled on a nightgown to sleep in. She blew out the candle and pulled the curtains back on her bed. It was not as soft as the one she had at home, but she was able to fall fast asleep rather quickly.
Sun poured in through holes in the curtains and Eira lifted her self to a sitting postion. She saw patches in many places on the curtains and the holes let little wisps of sunlight in. She pushed the curtains back and took in her surroundings. The room was lit up by the sunlight pouring in through the two small windows. At night the room had looked rather elegant but in the sunlight nothing was hidden and the room seemed rather shabby. The furniture was scratched and worn. The floor was dirty and the windows were smudged with dirt. She jumped down from the bed and ran over to her trunk. She threw off her nightgown and put on her favorite green dress. Then she rummaged through her trunk and found her little blue pouch and stuffed it in the layers of fabric in her dress. She grabbed her chamber key and left out the door.
She went straight across to her father’s chamber door and knocked. He opened it and let her in “Ahh my daughter is awake! I wondered when you would be stirring from sleep.” Eira smiled and followed her father over to a fireplace and sat in a chair next to him. His specticales were lying on a book placed on a table in between the two velvet chairs. She took a look around and noticed that his room seemed to be as worn as hers, something she had not noticed in the moonlight. “Did you sleep well?” her father questioned. “Yes, very. Father?” “Yes” he looked over to her ready to answer any question. “What is there to do today?” He laughed causing his beard to dance on his tunic. “Well I doubt there is much to do for a child, but I’m sure you will find something to occupy you for the day. How about we start with breakfast?” Eira smiled suddenly becoming aware of how hungry she was. Her father ushered her to the door and together they made their was down the stairs and to the room in which they entered.
In daylight the room took on quite a different appearance, though it was not fully lit up by sunlight for most of the room had no windows. They took a place in one of the booths and were greeted by a woman who took their order. She also returned and brought them mugs of water. As they waited for their food her father chatted away about what the city would be like and Eira took in the room around her. The chairs and booths were worn and the floor was covered in dirt. Only a few people sat throughout the room. She also noted a fireplace that she had not noticed the night before. It was directly across from the booth she sat in and it had a large bench in front of it. It was made up of various dirty stones and the ones lining the mouth of the fireplace were blackened with smoke.
Soon the woman returned bringing them their food. Eira ate the eggs and bacon that she had been served. Her eggs were sunny side up and she slit the tops and half cooked yoke poured out. She dipped a chunk of bread into it and popped it into her mouth. After she finished her eggs she ate the salty pork and then drank a glass of water. The meal was no where near as tasty as Mena’s but it was good. As soon as she finished she slid out of the booth and kissed her father on the cheek and then skipped out the Inns front door.
She was surprised to find that they were in a little village. The inn was separated from the rest of the village by a small creek and a dirt road. The creek was had a small flat bridge that allowed carriages over it. Behind the village stood beautiful grey stone mountains and these were the same mountains that the Drewyds lived in. They seemed so close, but were actually very far in the distance. She could only see the peaks for the rest was hid behind a beautiful green forest. The village was made up of various wood and stone houses each with thatched roofs. Little children in dirty tunics ran up and down the main street. She wandered down the main street in the village and received many stares. To her dismay there was nothing there to really see. A couple men tried to sell her various fresh fruits, but she just smiled and said “no thank you.”
She thought about wandering out into the forest, but something about it seemed uninviting. Hawks flew out of the trees and Eira turned back to the village. That was the first time she noticed the stables next to the Inn. It was set farther back and that was most likely why she had taken no note of it when she had left the Inn. She made her way back to the Inn and across the little bridge. As she reached the stables she noticed her horse in the first stall and that’s when it hit her. She ran deeper into the stables and found Jameson the boy she had seen the night before. He looked very different in the daylight. His dark hair held a mystery about him and his muscular tone seemed to remind her of someone, though at the moment she couldn’t think of who. He was a bit taller than her and seemed only a few years older than she.
“Hello.” The boy spun around quickly looking quite shocked to find her standing in front of him. “Hello, what brings you here ma’am?” She giggled “Well you don’t need to call me ma’am. My names Eira yours is Jameson isn’t it?” His hair fell just above his ears and it swished about as he nodded. “Why yes. Why..” Eira interrupted “Ahh yes, you asked what brought me here. I was hoping to brush my horse, Midnight.” Jameson’s face seemed to light up with shock “Oh well yes. Let me just get you a brush and bring out your horse.” He had a nervousness about him that Eira found quite cute and she watched him did what he said. “Thank you” She flashed him a smile and brushed the blonde hair back from her face. Then she turned to brush her horse, Jameson stared for a couple minutes but then wandered off to finish his chores. A soon as Eira was alone she began to hum one of her favorite tunes. Her mother had sung it to hummed it to her as a babe and now she hummed it to herself.
Moments later the boy passed her with a bucket full of water and poured it into a troth for the horses. “What is that yer humming?” He questioned as he made his way past her. “Its called Dance of the Leprechauns.” She smiled and went back to humming it. “Its beautiful” and before Eira could thank him for the compliment he had left again. Eira went back to her horse and allowed her mind to wander. Suddenly her thoughts flooded back to the first time she ever brushed a horse. The memory ran through her again and she felt those butterflies in her stomach as she pictured Tanik. She could still feel the warmth of her body against her and his slow rhythmic breathing. She drifted away into her memories and then soon drifted into day dreams of what could be someday.
An hour or so passed and soon Eiras hand began to ache and it seemed that she had brushed every inch of Midnight. She placed the brush on a nearby bucket and led Midnight back to her stall. She leaned against the stall door and petted Midnight. She couldn’t seem to think of anything else to do until Jameson walked by. She twirled around and faced him as he passed. “What do you during the day?” He turned to her “Chores. “ She crumpled up her face “Is that all there is to do!?” He laughed nervously “Well yes.” She seemed displeased by his answer “Oh.” He shifted nervously and then turned to go “I must get back to the chores.”
She watched as he wandered off and then headed back toward the Inn. The sun was going down and the Inn was beginning to take life. The night was when business was best, men from the village came to drink and eat. The dining room filled with all sorts of men and women. Eira made her way across the room and up the stairs. Just as she turned to go down the hall a woman made her way out of her room. It was the same woman in the red dress from the night before, but tonight she wore a gold dress. Its color complimented her skin beautifully and as she passed Eira could smell the perfume lingering. Eira stopped to watch her disappear into the dimly lit room below and then continued onto her fathers chambers.
She knocked twice on the door and heard the shuffling of feet on the other side. Her father met her with a smile and let her in. He ushered her to the same chairs they sat in earlier. “So what did you find to amuse you for the day?” He peered at her over the rims of his specticles. “I took a stroll throughout the village and then brushed Midnight from head to toe. There isn’t a whole lot to do around here.” Her father smiled causing wrinkles to form around his eyes, framing them. “Did you at least go into the forest? I thought you would spend your whole day there?” Her face turned serious “No I didn’t, I guess it did not suit me. It wasn’t like the forest at home, it just had a different feel to it.” “Ahh, that’s my daughter always relying on her feelings. I ordered dinner for us, I
believe it should be coming up soon. I knew you would find your way here sooner or later.” Eira brushed the wrinkles out of her dress “Thank you father. I’m famished.” At that moment there was a knock at the door and her father rose to answer it. The same woman who had served them food for the morning meal came in carrying two plates of food. “Your food sir, Where would you like me to set it down?” He took a glace about the room and then turned back to her “The table by the window will be fine thank you.” He stood by the door as she placed the food at table directly opposite her and then made her way back to him. He handed her coins as she left.
“Eira dear, pull up that chair to the table and we shall dine.” She followed her fathers orders and pulled a chair to the table. She sat across from her father and ate quietly. “Well I think I have some news that will brighten up your mood.” She looked up “What is it?” He swallowed what he had been chewing “Well I spoke to John today and he says that the horses seem to be well rested and that if the weather allows we will head out tomorrow morning.” Eira’s whole face lit up “Oh that is wonderful news father! So where will our next stop be?” Her father thought for a moment “I do believe that we shall be staying at the Emerald Inn. It is in a little bigger of a village and tends to have a bit more travelers crossing through.” Eira could barely contain her excitement and if she had her way they would leave that moment.
After they finished the meal she bid her father goodnight and crossed the hall to her room. The candle was out and Eira had to scramble in the dark to grab it. She crossed the hall to her fathers chambers so that she could light her candle with one of his. Then she made her way back to her room and placed the candle on the bedside table. She threw off her green dress and folded it neatly and placed it in her trunk with her sapphire bag. She had hoped to buy something in the village, but there really had been nothing to buy. She pulled on her nightgown and then pulled a silver brush out of her trunk. She sat in the chair next to the basin and slowly brushed her long hair. It took a good amount of time brushing it and soon her arm was tired and her hair was smooth as silk. She put the brush back and climbed into the bed falling fast asleep almost before she hit the pillow.
posted by My life @ 7:46 AM
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