Post by Princess Azabel de Somerville on Apr 16, 2007 19:47:23 GMT -5
“You are taking all of them, my lady?” The timid attendant asked in shock.
I whirled around and faced her. Ah Elua! We had grown up together; the years had just flown by. Claire was a year my senior, and I did not realized until I was eight or nine that she, being the daughter of our cook, would be my attendant when she reached the proper age. That she, like her mother, was distended to always be a servant. I cocked my head to the side and looked at her. I was quite puzzled. I laughed, “Don’t you know me by now Claire? Yes, all of them.” I emphasized this point by waving my arm at the massive shelves of books that lined my study.
“Can’t you sell the ones you have already read? The ones you have memorized? I can’t see your father approving of moving all of these books.” Claire looked nervous. I knew she didn’t want to see me move to the city. I had not delivered the surprise news that she would be going with me. I smiled and took her hand, “I’ll worry about father. You worry about helping me pack. It is only a week away you know.” A troubled and worried expression crossed her soft features, “Yes, I know.”
The two of us stayed up well into the night packing my books. We passed the time by recalling days of our youth. Boys we loved; boys we fought over. Her insatiable crush on my older brother, which lasted Elua knows how long. We discussed the numerous stable hands I had bedded in my quest to learn the art of the Servants of Naamah. We laughed at the time I got Claire drunk on joie and tried to take her to bed. She thought I was drunk too; I wasn’t.
We laughed and cried until my father came in to open the curtains. “Ladies, do you not know it is dawn?” We glanced out of the window and laughed some more. My father excused himself from the room. As he made his exit I distinctly heard him mumbling something about never understanding the ways of young women. We both watched my father’s form disappear down the dark hallway. Claire looked back to me with tears in her eyes. She took my face in her hands and stared deep into my eyes. “Ah love,” her voice was no more than a whisper, “I shall miss you.”
“Then come with me. There is nothing to hold you here. You are my attendant. Elua knows my father can part with some household staff. Your mother has been dead for three years. You have no other family. And besides,” I could not help but grin, “my brother is in the city too.” She glanced at me with reluctance but blushed deeply. I knew Claire’s moods as well as my own. She was brooding. Since she was appointed my attendant, she had become to think of herself as something less than human.
“Do you want me there?” She had so much doubt in her eyes. I leaned forward and kissed her. Not a kiss of desire or passion. A kiss of love and need. She hesitated for a moment then let herself go. Her lips seemed to dissolve under my lips. I did not want to seem too forceful or pushy; I waited a moment longer then pulled away.
Sitting back on my heels I took her hands in mine. “Of course I want you there. I need you there. You are my best friend. Please go with me.” She had always been the only female I could confide in one hundred percent of the time. I could see her old self-glimmer in her eyes at that moment. That girl was lost the day her mother died. A smile crossed her lips and grew wide. “Ok, I will. Oh my, I have to go pack,” she jumped up and rushed off down the hall. I laughed and leaned out of the door of my study, “You had better hurry. Now we only have six days.”
I whirled around and faced her. Ah Elua! We had grown up together; the years had just flown by. Claire was a year my senior, and I did not realized until I was eight or nine that she, being the daughter of our cook, would be my attendant when she reached the proper age. That she, like her mother, was distended to always be a servant. I cocked my head to the side and looked at her. I was quite puzzled. I laughed, “Don’t you know me by now Claire? Yes, all of them.” I emphasized this point by waving my arm at the massive shelves of books that lined my study.
“Can’t you sell the ones you have already read? The ones you have memorized? I can’t see your father approving of moving all of these books.” Claire looked nervous. I knew she didn’t want to see me move to the city. I had not delivered the surprise news that she would be going with me. I smiled and took her hand, “I’ll worry about father. You worry about helping me pack. It is only a week away you know.” A troubled and worried expression crossed her soft features, “Yes, I know.”
The two of us stayed up well into the night packing my books. We passed the time by recalling days of our youth. Boys we loved; boys we fought over. Her insatiable crush on my older brother, which lasted Elua knows how long. We discussed the numerous stable hands I had bedded in my quest to learn the art of the Servants of Naamah. We laughed at the time I got Claire drunk on joie and tried to take her to bed. She thought I was drunk too; I wasn’t.
We laughed and cried until my father came in to open the curtains. “Ladies, do you not know it is dawn?” We glanced out of the window and laughed some more. My father excused himself from the room. As he made his exit I distinctly heard him mumbling something about never understanding the ways of young women. We both watched my father’s form disappear down the dark hallway. Claire looked back to me with tears in her eyes. She took my face in her hands and stared deep into my eyes. “Ah love,” her voice was no more than a whisper, “I shall miss you.”
“Then come with me. There is nothing to hold you here. You are my attendant. Elua knows my father can part with some household staff. Your mother has been dead for three years. You have no other family. And besides,” I could not help but grin, “my brother is in the city too.” She glanced at me with reluctance but blushed deeply. I knew Claire’s moods as well as my own. She was brooding. Since she was appointed my attendant, she had become to think of herself as something less than human.
“Do you want me there?” She had so much doubt in her eyes. I leaned forward and kissed her. Not a kiss of desire or passion. A kiss of love and need. She hesitated for a moment then let herself go. Her lips seemed to dissolve under my lips. I did not want to seem too forceful or pushy; I waited a moment longer then pulled away.
Sitting back on my heels I took her hands in mine. “Of course I want you there. I need you there. You are my best friend. Please go with me.” She had always been the only female I could confide in one hundred percent of the time. I could see her old self-glimmer in her eyes at that moment. That girl was lost the day her mother died. A smile crossed her lips and grew wide. “Ok, I will. Oh my, I have to go pack,” she jumped up and rushed off down the hall. I laughed and leaned out of the door of my study, “You had better hurry. Now we only have six days.”