Post by Aelflaed no Eglantine (D) on Jun 10, 2007 20:06:44 GMT -5
Dancing my way through my chores after lessons, humming a merry tune in time to my rhythm and mood, I heard my mother calling me. This call was different than anything I think I had ever heard. It was not angry, nor happy, nor sad. It was almost a lethal combination of the three, laced with relief and guilt. Curious, I went running, and she smiled weakly as I came running towards her. Taking my hand, she told me we had an errand to run. And I danced with her out of the house.
Winding through the city streets, my eyes were wide at the sights around me. You could just hear snippets of a lute player here, laughter there, and noise everywhere in between. The pulse of the city inspired a new groove inside me and laughing, I twirled about as I walked along with my mother, skirts billowing out in joy and delight. Looking at me with an annoyed look only a mother could give, she grasped my hand firmly and led me up to the base of a hill. I looked up at thirteen magnificent houses and realized where we were; this must be the famed Night Court.
Dragging me up the hill, with more strength than I could’ve thought my mother possessed, I just wanted to stop and take it all in. All of the different scents, the calm quietness of it all, the way everything even looked different, just bombarded my senses. This place had a different feel than the rest of the city; it invoked a sense of quiet passion that swelled and raced through my veins, and I began a slower rhythmic dance, still held fast in my mother’s hand.
Finally, we reached the top, and mother knelt down in front of me. She quietly explained that she and father hadn’t a clue of what to do with me, but they wanted a better life for me. They had decided that I could make a better life here than anywhere. She told me to behave, be good, and follow my heart’s desire, for here is where I could, and that she and father would send a small sum of money up till I turned sixteen, when she told me that, Elua willing, I wouldn’t need it anymore. I didn’t quite understand her, but I nodded my head and hugged her tight. Going up to the door, she told me she loved me, knocked, and fled. So there I was left, on Cereus House’s doorstep, to be found and taken in, just another step in the dance of life…
Winding through the city streets, my eyes were wide at the sights around me. You could just hear snippets of a lute player here, laughter there, and noise everywhere in between. The pulse of the city inspired a new groove inside me and laughing, I twirled about as I walked along with my mother, skirts billowing out in joy and delight. Looking at me with an annoyed look only a mother could give, she grasped my hand firmly and led me up to the base of a hill. I looked up at thirteen magnificent houses and realized where we were; this must be the famed Night Court.
Dragging me up the hill, with more strength than I could’ve thought my mother possessed, I just wanted to stop and take it all in. All of the different scents, the calm quietness of it all, the way everything even looked different, just bombarded my senses. This place had a different feel than the rest of the city; it invoked a sense of quiet passion that swelled and raced through my veins, and I began a slower rhythmic dance, still held fast in my mother’s hand.
Finally, we reached the top, and mother knelt down in front of me. She quietly explained that she and father hadn’t a clue of what to do with me, but they wanted a better life for me. They had decided that I could make a better life here than anywhere. She told me to behave, be good, and follow my heart’s desire, for here is where I could, and that she and father would send a small sum of money up till I turned sixteen, when she told me that, Elua willing, I wouldn’t need it anymore. I didn’t quite understand her, but I nodded my head and hugged her tight. Going up to the door, she told me she loved me, knocked, and fled. So there I was left, on Cereus House’s doorstep, to be found and taken in, just another step in the dance of life…