Junia 105 C.D

The Palace

Eliza had just left her kids in the company of their peers while she followed the Lady towards the garden. They had been walking the pathway for a while now without anyone having uttered a word. Out of respect, Eliza walked a step behind Lyra. She understood her standing exceptionally well. The events just before their departure played in her mind like a loop. Adrian had publicly called her his mother. 

The concern she had was not entirely based on that matter but that Lyra had reacted with a smile instead of saying something. Eliza felt something was at play here, something her mind was too fragile to comprehend.

They finally reached the garden. Lyra took a seat without hesitation. She then glanced at Eliza, who stood in front of her. 

“Have a seat, Eliza; we have much to discuss. Would you like some tea?”

“Ye-Yes. Thank you, your grace.”

Lyra proceeded to pour some tea into both their cups, after which she placed one in front of Eliza. She then picked hers and began taking in the aroma, followed by a sip. Eliza noticing this did the same. When she brought the cup near her mouth, she was immediately drawn in by the aroma emanating from the tea. She knew it was extremely high quality just by the smell. She hesitated but took in a sip. As it entered her mouth, Eliza felt the strong taste attacking her taste buds. 

She understood why rich people enjoyed such luxuries, even she wouldn’t blame them for spending so much on so little. It was delectable.

“It’s good, isn’t it? It was imported from the Eastern Continent. So, Eliza, I have much to discuss with you about your children.”, Lyra took a pause along the mellow atmosphere to get serious.

“Adrian will be taken care of by us from now on. You can continue to act as his careta…‘Mother’ if you wish. But you are not allowed to interfere in what we do. Your daughter, she can stay and accompany Adrian. We will take care of her, but she will not be allowed to be anything more than a maid in the palace. Considering your past, that is the maximum we can do for her. Of course, you have the option of raising her as you choose, but in that case, she will not be welcome to the palace anymore.”

Eliza was at a loss for words; all the joy and harmony she had experienced so far were all of sudden snatched away from her. The reality began to set in. She had many aspirations for her daughter from the day she was invited to the General’s mansion. Now she realised that it had all been an illusion. Her conditions had only barely improved from the past.

Seeing Eliza sit there silently, Lyra continued to enjoy her tea. She was giving the woman time to make a choice. She knew what the answer would be. She had known from the moment Eliza had entered the hall.

“Am I clear, Eliza?”

“Ye-Yes, your grace.”

“Well, hurry up and answer then.”, a sense of disdain began to erupt from Lyra’s tone.

“I-I will take my daughter. Ad-Adrian can continue at the palace. Bu-but your grace wi-will we be all-allowed to see him often?”, Eliza state of being was in turmoil as the words that came out of her mouth were a jumbled mess.

“Of course, you can see him every night as long as he isn’t accompanying Max in his endeavours. He will still be under your care. The only thing that has changed is that the boy will now spend more time at the palace.”

“I-I un-understand your grace.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want it any other way. Thank you for your cooperation Eliza.”, Lyra had leaned over to emphasise her previous statement. It had made Eliza’s hair stand. She felt as of she was sitting on a chair made of spikes.

After their main discussion was over, Lyra introduced random topics to chat with her while Eliza only gave the bare minimum replies. The uneasiness within her did not subside no matter what Lyra did. Lyra smiled as she was unfettered by what Eliza felt.

Having finished their discussion, Lyra stood up and began walking towards the hall where the children were playing. Eliza followed soon after. This time she walked two paces behind Lyra. Soon they reached the hall and entered to find that it was a complete mess. Parts of sweets were lying on the floor while there were areas where lamps had been broken.

As they looked around, they understood chaos had taken place here, but since the soldiers did not act, it meant no harm came to the children. Lyra searched for her children and soon found the culprit for the mess; Eva was holding a leather ball in her hand. Instantly all the pieces fell into place within Lyra’s mind. She was amused. The same could not be said for Eliza.

“Adrian! I told you not to bring that ball to the palace. Why didn’t you listen to me?”, Eliza was both scared and furious as she grabbed Adrian by his arms.

“N-no, I-I just wanted to play. Nothing bad happened.”

“You think! Look around you; everything is in tatters. Do you even know how many expensive things you’ve broken!”, Eliza got down to Adrian’s eye level as she held him by the shoulders, jerking him. Tears began to form in the boy’s eyes. Riya, too began to tear up as she hid behind her brother, afraid of their mother. 

Eliza’s eyes were scaring both of them. Looking at their terrified faces, Eliza realised that she had overreacted. She soon hugged both of them and whispered, “I’m sorry, Adrian Riya. Mama was just scared that you would be hurt. It's not your fault, so don’t cry. Everything is alright now.”

She continued to pat their heads as she tried to console them as well as herself. Her conversation with Lyra had led to this moment. It was an abject failure on her part to not be able to control her emotions.

…

A while ago 

Inside the hall, the children had begun playing ball as they continued to throw it at each other. Max was by no means athletic; he had dropped the ball on multiple counts. Eva, on the other hand, went out of her way in trying to catch it. She made showy theatrics while catching the ball, trying to make it seem even more complicated than it really was. Riya tried copying Eva but ended up dropping it, so she reverted to her own method. Adrian had played this game many a time with Riya, so he was just his natural self.

“This is fun…sooo fun. Do you do this every day, Adrian?” Eva inquired as she threw the ball towards Riya.

“Not every day, but yes, mostly this is the game I play.”

“Yess…Addy is very good at making games.” Riya interjected as she threw the ball towards Adrian.

“What other games do you play, Adrian?” Eva continued.

“Umm…there is hide and go look, catch and run and playfight, " Adrian said as he passed the ball to Max.

“Wh-what is hide and go look?” stuttered Max as he was drawn into the conversation as well.

“It's where one person counts till 100 while the others hide, and then he has to look for them. He wins if he finds everyone and loses if someone touches him before he says their name.”

“Oooh-ooh, let's play that game. I like that.” Eva said in a commanding tone. She had always had her way. This would be no different.

“Addy will find. RUN Everyone!”, Riya had declared without even giving Adrian a chance to say something. He watched helplessly as they ran, looking for places to hide. He relented and began his count.

After touching a hundred, Adrian began to look around. At first, he tried to read the soldiers to get hints, but they were emotionless statues. Seeing this, he moved on to look for them outside the hall. Adrian saw the light enter from the hall doors. He assumed they must have left from there, so he, too, made his way outside.

Once he was out, Adrian began to follow the arching pathways in his search for the others. Soon he found Eva hiding behind one of the soldiers. 

“Aww-how did you find me?”

“I wouldn’t have had it not been for your long dress.”, Adrian laughed as Eva puffed her face in dissatisfaction.

“Now go back to the hall; you’ve been caught. You can’t leave from there, okay?”

“Next time, you won’t find me”, Eva ran away after saying her piece. 

Soon he found the others and told them to go back to the hall as well. He didn’t go back. He was using this opportunity to find good hiding spots for the next round.

Adrian continued to look around, soon he stumbled upon the garden. From a distance, he could see his mother and the Lady talking to each other. His mother’s face was down as she looked distraught. Adrian wanted to approach her, but he heard what he shouldn’t have as soon as he got closer. 

“…We will take care of her as well, but she will not be allowed to be anything more than a maid in the palace. Considering your past, that is the maximum we can do for her. Of course, you have the option of raising her as you choose, but in that case, she will not be welcome to the palace anymore.

Am I clear, Eliza?

Ye-Yes, your grace.

Well, hurry up and answer then.

I-I will take my daughter, Ad-Adrian can continue at the palace. Bu-but your grace wi-will we be all-allowed to see him often?

Of course, you can see him every night as long as he isn’t accompanying Max in his endeavours. He will still be under your care; the only thing that has changed is that the boy will now spend more time at the palace.”

‘Ma’

Adrian blanked out when he heard those words. He simply couldn’t comprehend what had just occurred in front of him. Despite his inexperience, he could see the distress in his mother. That was enough for him to know that she was being bullied like the times before. She was acting the same way she had done when he had called her mother.

Adrian left immediately; he did not want to hear anything in anymore. He made his way to the hall, and in the hall, he found Eva talking to Max. As he looked around, he saw that they had created a mess while playing with the ball.

“What have you done?”, Adrian questioned.

“It's nothing; we were just playing fast, so some things broke.”, Eva said as she looked around.

Riya came to her brother, “Addy, they threw the ball very fast, and that’s why thi-things broke. Will mama get angry?”

“It-its okay, Riya, she won’t say anything to us since we didn’t do anything.”, he reassured her as he patted her head.

As they were talking, the hall doors opened, and Lyra came in, followed by Eliza. Adrian was sad at seeing his mother’s disposition, but before he could say anything to her, she immediately came up to him. She grabbed him by the arms and lashed out at him.

Adrian was not expecting this from his mother, coupled with his distress from the conversation before he started tearing up. Although Eliza soon mended her behaviour, the act was already done. Adrian remembered that the Lady standing in the distance was the cause for all this. As he looked at her while being hugged by his mother, he saw her smiling in amusement.

Adrian felt rage within him, he couldn’t describe why he felt such a strong urge, but his eyes told everything. Adrian left eye glowed for a moment, it subsided as soon as it had appeared, but sharp people would have noticed it. Lyra, however, failed to, but she did notice that Adrian was looking at her. She smiled at him to appease him, but the boy didn’t react much. 

“It's okay, Eliza, they are children. These things are bound to happen.”

“Ye-yes your g-grace. I will teach them to behave the next time. By your will, we would like to take your leave now.”

“Alright. Don’t forget to visit us tomorrow, young Adrian. Children, say goodbye to your friend now.”

““ Bye Adrian, Riya””

Adrian didn’t say much as he waved at them. Riya was still sniffling as she was carried in Eliza’s arms. They slowly departed as the soldier took them back to their residence. Today had been a tough day for everyone.