Dro'gan, called NiteFlier wrote:
I was born Lady Chrysanthemum Halara la Deindra, of House Deindra, in
the village of Winged Haven, where my father had his summer residence.
Ordinarily noblemen don't actually live in a village but near one.
The priestess who blessed my birth also told my father that in no
uncertain terms, that when I was of age I would come to the capitol to
be trained in the ways of Laynwyllyn.
At least, that's what they told me.
My parents were good followers of the Faith, and as such, were
overburdened with children. They could not keep track of all of us at
any one time, so they concentrated on the best of their children. And,
of course, the worst.
I was, by my own design, in the latter category.
You see, I craved attention then, but there was absolutely no way to
compete with Ardan. He was too perfect, for his golden hair and pretty
from his
face, to his long legs and tapered boots.
I hated him.
Truth to tell, I hated all of them, from my parents who expected
everything from me, to my obnoxious siblings who never questioned the
words of the priestesses and their parents, to Ardan, that too, too
perfect bastard who could never see past his own accomplishments.
I did whatever I could to demolish their fragile, closed world.
Later in life, I came across a curious saying from a Wizard, "Which came
first, the chicken or the egg?" The logic problem applied very well to
my early life. Was it they who mistreated me first? Or I who would not
follow their calm directives? They tried to constrict me, and I tried to
tear them apart.
The other children teased and played tricks on my, but even the older
on my what?
boys never tried to roughhouse with me. Not after I sent my eldest
brother, Lordan, to the temple healers when I broke his leg. No one ever
got into a fight with me again.
But other methods of oppression were in full effect, and the teasing and
tricks never stopped until the day that they sent me to the Temple.
One could almost say that I was an orphan, all alone in the world, for
my parents scorned my very existence, and my siblings ostracized me when
they were not looking down upon me. Even my youngest sister, barely out
of the crib, found my presence distasteful, and could not be comforted
anytime I was near.
any time
I took solace in animals where I could not find it in my own kind. One
of our stable sauruses took great liking to me, and the stablekeeper
ew. Can't you make the plural "sauri"?
grudgingly allowed me to ride him around the paddock occasionally. But
that bit of fun was taken away when I was seven springs old, for Ardan
came into the stable one day and claimed Rhodan as his own. I was never
able to ride him after that, but did remind the saurus quite frequently
with carrots and other treats.
I still think he likes me better.
I never tried to run away, mostly for the part that in Winged Haven
there were more than enough people to hunt me down before I got even ten
leagues away,
I find that implausible.
A: Sure the thought would have occured to her that nobody might care
enough that she was gone to come after her.
B: Since she wanted attention, even of the negative kind, she'd get
a certain pleasure from running away and then getting caught.
and in the capitol I was not streetwise enough to survive.
At the very least, I knew my limits.
Without exposure to the dangers of the street I doubt she'd
appreciate them. Also, she's physically dangerous enough that
she'd probably have a respectable chance of surviving long
enough to learn.
But Damned be the day I found out.
Inappropriate capitalisation.
* * * * *
We were set to jobs and tasks by our overseer, a Priestess who had
obviously not had to climb many stairs laden with burdens or run around
cleaning and ordering things. I know, for she made us do it. Those of us
who could write were luckier, finding ourselves tasked with copying down
scrolls and books for the Temple, instead of forced to physical labor.
But it occurred from that, something that got me mad.
That sentence just doesn't work. Delete it.
One of the youngest of us, Adel, had been tasked to ferry a item of
fragility from our obese keeper to another Priestess, yet despite its
nature it was quite heavy, too heavy for a child to keep steady. The
direct result of this had Adel back in the Priestess's study, with those
predictable result
of us copying things looking on.
The Priestess berated Adel for a quarter of a mark, each insult to her
self and her heritage driving Adel's self worth down visibly. I had
gotten mad at this within the first minute, but when the bloated worm
raised her hand to strike the child I found that I hadn't reached the
level of anger needed to deal with her.
That doesn't make sense.
The Priestess looked in shock as the downward motion of her arm was
arrested by my hand. I looked her straight in the eye and told her
succinctly, "Don't. You made your point long ago. Don't strike her, or I
will be forced to do something you would regret immensely.
I caught her other fist coming at my face in the palm of my hand, and
squeezed it just enough to hear a light crackle from the bones.
Suddenly, moving faster than I could credit her form and weight, she
wiggled out of my grasp and ran out the hall.
I hugged Adel, and calmed her, telling her all the things that she
needed to hear, and when she was no longer shaking, handed her off to
Carrie, who I had been working with.
As expected, the Priestess quickly came back, with others. I stood with
my arms crossed, but did not even have time to react as one of the other
Priestess raised her hand and said something I could not understand.
What I did understand was the bolt of light that flew from her palm at
me, throwing me back against the bookshelves. I lapsed into darkness.
* * * * *
When I came to, I feigned unconsciousness for a time, listening to the
Priestesses chattering around me.
"She attacked me!
"Oh, really, then you have some markings on you? Or perhaps she tapped
you so lightly your own rolls soaked it up.
"Quiet! It doesn't matter. She stood up against a Priestess, as we saw
when we entered. You ought to be taken from your position, Halthre! You
ve allowed them the freedom to think, and look where it got you!
You've
"It's not my fault!
"So sure, Heifer?
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!
"*SILENCE*!! Thank you. Wake her.
I felt a rough nudge in my side, and obediently opened my eyes, but kept
the pretence of just awaking. I stood, and saw three other Priestesses
with the one that I knew. That was odd, because I had only heard three
voices.
The obese woman I knew puffed up. "So what do you have to say for
yourself, gutter trash?
I straightened up as befitting of a lady of House Deindra and told her,
"That if you attempt to strike another of those under my care, you will
get ten times worse to yourself! And I am not 'trash', and any of my
siblings would be willing to take you to task for that!" That last was a
calculated bluff, for none of my family would go out of their way for
me. The House, yes, but me, not a chance.
The tall silver haired Priestess snorted. "Who do you think you are
girl? A daughter of one of the Great Houses?
"Yes." I looked her straight in the eye. "I am Chrysanthemum Halara la
Deindra.
Three of the Priestess immediately broke out into yelling at each other
and me, but the oldest of them looked sharply at me, and said quietly,
"Silence.
The other three became immediately still, and I realized that this was
the one who had not spoken before. She rose unsteadily from her seat,
and came to me. I looked up into her eyes and realized that this woman
was nearing her death.
"How did one of House Deindra get mixed up with the third ranks?
Especially with..." She frowned, and turned to the others. "Put her back
where she was. She has seen too much, and is of a temperament to
too
unbreakable to become one of us. Sister Halthre, you are relieved of
your duties. I shall personally find another to take your place.
The obese Priestess gaped like a landed fish and looked like she was
going to argue, but I was escorted back the area of the Temple I knew
well.
* * * * *
Another Priestess was assigned to us, a bit more standoffish than the
last, and we gained a bit more freedom. I think it was because of me,
and that they did not want to anger House Deindra, even though I had no
way of communicating with my family.
The woman let me be, and I organized the group as I wished. We kept the
same jobs, but I spread them differently. For a time, the younger ones
were rotated in to the study to learn how to read and write, and learned
quickly, for we were not given extra paper to teach them with. The older
ones took up more of the manual labor, until the spread was equal in age
as I could make it. After that, there were regular shifts in tasks.
I gained two lieutenants from the girls, one was Carrie, who kept watch
in the study, and the other was Shara, who watched over the girls
engaged in more physical activities.
I learned from them what I had not realized before: All of them but me
were born commoners, the "street trash" that Halthre had misnamed me.
But I cared not for that little distinction of birth, and treated them
Delete "little". Or replace with "minor", which would flow better.
all as my sisters. They were, in a sense, for among them I found the
sense of belonging that was lacking with my birth family.
I spent my spare time in the study, copying down documents for the
future. Most of the girls didn't care to remember the words they wrote
down, but I found several interesting books that caught my attention.
In them were diaries and histories, but, as one wandering Amazon told
me, if you know the past, you can be better at predicting the future. I
learned much from those.
Those who fail history are condemned to repeat it.
I haven't the foggiest idea how this connects to any anime, but that's OK.
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