The Meeting

My mind is wandering once more, which seems to be a common occurrence these days. Despite being recently adopted, there are still a lot of things that have to be sorted out. So while Christine’s busying herself with paperwork and all that, I’m stuck here with a textbook in front of me. Why a textbook? For studying of course.

 

Christine foisted a stack of books on me, demanding I cover everything this week, and might I just say that it is the most boring thing ever!? There were books on history, literature, general science, foreign relations, and most annoying of all, etiquette. It’s not like I didn’t understand why she gave them to me though. If I wanted to fit into this society, I would have to learn this basic knowledge, but that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.

 

Right now, I’m sitting in Christine’s room, as arrangements for my own weren’t made yet, with a book sprawled out in front of me. It isn’t just any book, though. It’s something a bit more prevalent to my situation; a book on the accumulation of our knowledge of spirits. Christine had borrowed this from the city’s library and asked me to read up on it when I had the free time. What better time to read it than when I’m procrastinating on my other work?

 

And so, I spent the next couple of hours scanning over the contents of the book. In all honesty, it wasn’t really a history book but more of a collection of fables. It was said in the past that people used to worship spirits, yet sometime after, the lines started to get really blurry. The legends got more abstract and it was hard to discern much fact from them. Though apparently, in recent times, spirits are rare, except in certain areas in the world. Not much is understood about them, as they’re so eccentric. Many of the stories tell of them messing with humans, or outright tricking them. One such story detailed a young woman who was lured into the forest by a captivating light, only for the light to turn into a fiery inferno. Another spoke of a young man rafting out at sea when suddenly a glowing light swam underneath his boat. Wanting to take a closer look at it, he peered into the water. To his horror, the surrounding ocean instantly froze, cracked under his boat, and pulled him deep into the depths.

 

Most of the horror stories were just that. Horror stories. Even in our modern society, I couldn’t find anything to explain the myths, just so many cautionary tales. We know almost nothing of what they were or how their abilities worked. Though I suppose this is just nature working its magic.

 

To be honest, I was scared. These past couple of days, I’ve been avoiding a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. I didn’t ask Christine about what the darkness was inside me. As, well, I just didn’t think it would be the right decision. Instead, I poured myself through countless plant and botany books, before eventually giving up. There was nothing mentioning a flower with even remotely as strange of properties like the one I encountered. It just didn’t make sense.

 

The darkness never showed itself to me since that encounter, so I don’t really know what to make of it. Maybe it really was a dream?

 

As I was mulling over my thoughts, Christine burst into the room.

 

“Hey, stop procrastinating. We’re going out.”

 

Wait, what did she say? Go outside!?  I haven’t been outside since signing that adoption form. Or it would be better to say that I wasn’t allowed to go outside. Because of my weird floating hair that we absolutely had to hide from everyone, it would be extremely risky heading out into the city. 

 

I could just tie my hair up you say? Well, apparently it's not that simple, according to Christine. As it turns out, tying your hair up is reserved for “young adults”¹16 or older like Christine. Since I was under that threshold and looked even younger thanks to my short stature, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I would be allowed to tie my hair up anytime soon.

 

I asked Christine that if tying up your hair was for adults and mature people, then wouldn’t it be sensible for mature children to tie up their hair? However, she shot me down by explaining that it wouldn’t be the case, as kids could not be adults, however hard they tried. Pretending to be what you aren’t to say. As such, it was frowned upon.

 

I personally thought that it was idiotic, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. The only reason I tied up my hair back at Aeolian’s post was that it was an obscure area and it didn’t matter that much for impressions. However, now that I’m in a big city, and I’m technically a part of this noble family, I have to pay extra attention so as to not disgrace myself.

 

And so, this brings me back to our current situation. What the hell is Christine thinking by wanting me to go outside? Tying my hair up was the only way I could hide the floaties, so I eyed her with suspicion.

 

“Yeah, I guess you’re tying your hair up. There’s no way we’re getting around it. Tough luck”

 

Oh… That works too I suppose. Deciding not to question her for the time being, as we seemed to be in a rush, I headed to the dressing chamber. Apparently, noblewomen have servants dress them up, but Christine thought I wasn’t quite ready for that yet. Honestly, I agreed with her, so currently, she’s been dressing me to get me used to it. I still think it’s quite awkward though.

 

After getting ready, Christine quickly ushered me out to a dainty carriage with a bright and colorful design.

 

“Why the rush?”

 

“Ugh, stupid Fredereck calling a sudden meeting. He wanted to greet us and congratulate us on the adoption. At least, that’s what he says, but I’m sure there’s an ulterior motive as usual.” Christine griped as she heaved an exhaustive sigh. “Just how did he get that information so quickly? I’ve made sure you were cooped up inside this entire time.”

 

“Fredereck?” I questioned as we sat down.

“Stupid old man. He’s technically a noble, but he’s near the bottom of the hierarchy. Always tries to get favor with me. He does have lots of connections though, which is why I have to comply with his requests. Poor but powerful. Such a strange mix.”

 

After a short, slightly bumpy ride, we arrived at our destination. The doors to the carriage opened, and I took care to not accidentally trip or step on my dress. It was especially difficult because,  as I was constantly reminded, I wasn’t allowed to look down. You mustn’t be uncertain about yourself, or something like that.

 

The entrance to Fredereck’s grounds was quite different from Christine’s. It was way more grandiose, befitting the centerpiece of a city. Well, it would actually be more appropriate to say that it is the centerpiece of the city. Though its appearance was different, it still gave off the same feeling as we pulled up a pristinely paved drive. The beautiful statues and fountains clearly distinguished this from the rest of the city.

 

We were greeted by a handful of servants, clad in gray robes. They gestured for us to follow them inside. We entered some sort of reception room, where a large, deep red carpet was spread out across the floor. There was a small chandelier illuminating the room, giving it a really warm and welcoming feeling.

 

We were led up a set of stairs, and after turning a corner, we arrived at a balcony that looked out over the main parlor. There was an elegant desk on the side that allowed one to work on things while overseeing the floor below, and a large, round table, presumably for people to meet and talk together, piled high with silver plates of delicacies.

 

“Greetings Lady Christine and Meitouh²The word for little sister in the Lyraxlu Empire. Since they’re situated close to the ocean compared to The Sovereignty, they often have loan words in their language… Lyrah, was it?”

 

“Ah, yes Lord Fredereck” I replied, curtsying. I was just about to give my words of greeting when I suddenly remembered an important facet of information. I have no idea what I’m supposed to say in this situation! I had the other greeting vaguely memorized, but even Christine said that that was only for that situation. Because we were in such a rush, I completely neglected to ask her about greeting etiquette!

 

Feeling a bead of sweat on my forehead, I decided to just go with the flow and make something up.

 

“Uh-, I thank thee for inviting us so graciously to this meeting, ordained by the stars above, the land, water, and sea,” I said as I did yet another curtsy.

 

“The land, water, and sea, huh? Nice improvisation. Indeed, it has been written in the stars for our gracious meeting. And the land, water, and sea have surely given us the blessing of the lands. It is without a doubt that Zesilious looks upon us with eyes of grace.” he replied.

 

He was mocking me I swear! I know I heard him purposefully enunciate water and sea to point out the blunder in my speech. As I realized how redundant it was for me to say water and sea together, I started blushing furiously as embarrassment coursed through me.

 

After Christine said her greeting, I asked Fredereck something that had been on my mind.

 

“Excuse me. As I’m not acquainted that well with this culture as of yet, I couldn’t help but hear you use the name Zesilious. If you may, would you explain to me who that is? I thank you ever so much”

 

“Zesilious is the constellation of change,” he explained. “Perfect for our situation, as you were recently adopted, correct? I do hope you’re able to adapt to this new society.”

 

Constellation of change, huh? I do recall reading something like that in the textbooks while I learned how to do greetings. Apparently, people here really like using the stars and skies for such things.

 

After the formalities, we all sat down at the round table, and we started discussing things. It started off more or less okay, with them just asking me questions on how I was doing. However, before I knew it, the conversation deviated into something out of my realm of understanding. It seemed like Christine was right when she said that Fredereck wanted something out of her. At any rate, since I didn’t have much knowledge about any of these things, I was just idling around.

 

I should be paying attention and learning a few things, you say? Pfft I can just blame it on the fact that I’m still a minor, and therefore, inexperienced. As if he noticed my thoughts, Fredereck then directed his attention towards me.

 

“Lyrah, as you’re still unfamiliar with most things, would you care to meet with the other children here and explore this abode?”

 

Why does it seem like he’s trying to get me out of here!? I glanced over at Christine for reassurance, and she let out an exhausted sigh. I took it as a sigh of approval, so I got up from my chair, did yet another curtsy, and expressed my utmost thanks and gratitude.

 

“Thank you so much for this opportunity. Now, if you may excuse me,” I said as I walked out.

 

To be honest, I was quite grateful for that situation. I was seriously on the verge of falling asleep listening to the two of them go on and on. It was quite ridiculous. Even though he was practically shoving me out, I didn’t care one bit.

 

As it wasn’t really a formal way of actually “letting me meet everyone else”, I was kind of left to my own devices. Or at least, that’s what I thought until I realized that there were servants posted outside, making sure unaccompanied children didn’t wander off. I needed an excuse quickly, so they would leave me alone.

 

“Umm, excuse me, but can you point me in the direction of the restroom?”

 

Aha! I thought this was an ingenious tactic. Who would want to walk a little girl to the restroom? Besides my potentially slow walking pace, they would have to leave their post. And since I was just asking them to point me there, they didn’t actually have to walk me all the way!

 

However, much to my dismay, it didn’t go according to plan at all. Even though I implied that I just wanted directions, they insisted that they walk me all the way there. Excuses this, excuses that. They were talking about how they needed to treat a guest, especially a child, with utmost diligence and everything. How absurd!

 

So, they led me to the restroom, and might I just say that this place is actually fabulous? The floor was tiled and so sparkly clean and there were intricate marbled structures lining the walls! I knew I experienced it when I was living at Christine’s place, but it still gets me every time. However, as I didn’t actually need to use the restroom, I just went in to pretend.

 

I expected them to just leave me alone, to be honest, and go back. But when I got back outside, they were there waiting for me. Huh… So this is what it feels like to have servants. A strange experience to say the least. They motioned for us to head back, but I had to tell them what Fredereck suggested.

 

“Uhh, actually, Lord Frederek asked me to meet the other children here and explore the place.”

 

They eyed me with suspicion, but probably unwilling to disobey an order from their lord, they nodded and started walking me towards… my destination, I guess? We passed through various hallways and corridors until we arrived at what seemed to be a living room.

 

Looking around, it was overall a nice place, like everywhere else here. There was a boy and girl, a bit younger than me, who were running around playing some sort of game, the older looking one being a boy.

 

The servants accompanying me seemed satisfied and promptly left. I gave them their farewells and began my plan. There was no way in hell I was staying here, wasting time with a couple little kids.

 

Looking around, I noticed two doors connected to this room. Not paying any mind to the children, I headed straight towards it. However, I made a fatal error. Ahh! How could I do this!? I’m honestly such an idiot. When the children noticed I was trying to sneak away, they started chasing me!

 

I was worried deep down, that if they caught me, my hair, and secret, would be exposed. It was the one thing I absolutely could not afford to have happen. And so, I ran and ran to the best of my ability. It was honestly difficult, and I could feel my breath failing me. I even lifted up my skirt so as to not accidentally trip over myself. Seriously, just how persistent are these kids!? Left, right, through doors and corridors, I whirled around corners and bolted away. To be honest, there was no way I would be able to outrun them. Besides being younger, they simply have more energy and stamina than me. But I still can’t let them expose me! 

 

It also didn’t help that as I was running, my hair was slowly coming undone. Damn it, why couldn’t things just go smoothly!? After who knows how long, I managed to throw myself past a door. Slamming it shut behind me, the room was drenched in darkness. Soaked in sweat, my breath was heavy as I desperately pushed against the door, attempting to keep it shut.

 

Where I just ran off to, I had absolutely no idea. In fact, I would probably have a great deal of explaining to do if I was caught right now. But on the bright side, I successfully hid my true nature… for now. I could hear the kids on the other side of the door laughing as they tried to pry it open, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold off for long.

 

Squinting my eyes as I adjusted to the darkness, I noticed something was amiss. The atmosphere itself felt unbefitting for a mansion of a noble, almost a bit too ordinary. Although the place looked appropriate at a glance, everything looked too in place, too correct, too… perfect. There was a staircase not far away that led down into a deep abyss. I swear I could see something dark emanating from it, though that could’ve just been my imagination.

 

As I took in the eeriness, I unconsciously let my guard down. Cursing under my breath, I heard the door burst open and as the kids crashed into me, we tumbled down the flight of stairs. We smashed against the cold, hard, stone floor and I felt my body be crushed under their weight. My shoulder screamed in agony as the wound from my previous battle with Anniumpa flared up.

 

When we hit the bottom, there were two things I knew should’ve never happened. Two things that were everything. What little I had built up and was in store for me in the future was gone to the wind. It was a dark and dingy cellar, but I could just about make out bars in the distance. Yes, iron bars. The same rustic, metallic, filthy ones you would see in a jail cell. My jaw dropped as I froze in shock. The little boy, the little slave that I met back in the lower city, that I had so regretfully left alone, was locked up and chained to the floor. As his head drifted upward, and he made eye contact with me, in that moment, I knew.

 

My hair having come unbound, was now flying freely for everyone to see. The children around me.... and the boy in the cell. Under no circumstances should it have gone this way.