Vanilla 3
Author: tjatorra
Prompt: Vanilla 3 - chores
Title: Upkeep
Word Count: 743
Rating: G
Verse: The Scarlet Hourglass
Summary: Getting children to do chores is easy with Kia at the helm!
In antiquity, the enormous room Lucas stood in had likely been used for great feasts - he could almost picture the roaring fire in the enormous fireplace at the far end of the room, a long wooden table that could seat dozens of guests, music and laughter in the air as the patrons dined on young pigs and roasted vegetables. What a grand sight it would have been, the lords and ladies enjoying the excess of the better times, before the Gold King took the land, before poverty became the only manner of living that any of the people were accustomed to.
Now, the great room was a combination eatery and classroom, filled with small bodies as the youngsters scurried about under Kia's watchful eye, tending to their morning chores. Some scrubbed the floor beneath the tables, removing crusted oatmeal and sticky bits of fruit, while others swept ash and bits of burnt logs from the mouth of the hearth. In the corner, a handful of the older ones ran bent needles through patchwork clothing and well-loved books, mending tears in seams and binding alike. Occasionally the wind would gust at his back as another pack entered, reporting back to Kia for further instructions or to communicate a job finished, and he couldn't help but stare in awe at them - he'd admittedly not spent much time around children in his life, but he was more used to them running about like feral cats than taking instructions in such an organized, almost regimented manner.
Kia spotted him as she did a quick survey of the room and her eyes darkened, her mouth pinching into a white line. If her frown didn't make it clear that their argument the previous night hadn't been forgotten, her crossed arms and the stomp in her gait - as she maneuvered around a pack of little ones folding bedsheets - certainly told a story.
"You're still here," she said, her voice dripping ice.
"For a while I thought that you would need my help around here," he said, stepping back as a pair of teenagers dashed between them with armloads of kindling, "but obviously you have this slave labor thing under control."
"They're not slaves. They're earning their keep, same as anybody else."
"Except there isn't anybody else." When she said nothing, her eyes growing more brittle, he gestured broadly around the room. "The whole time I've been here, you're the only adult I've seen. Where are the parents? You didn't tell me this was some sort of orph-" He was abruptly silence as she lurched forward and clamped a hand across his mouth, trying to keep her movements subtle when various pairs of young eyes were watching them at any given moment. She was mostly unsuccessful - the ruckus of the room quieted noticeably, the children doing their best to pay attention to the two adults while going about their assigned tasks, and Kia's face flushed in frustration.
"Listen," she said, removing her hand and stepping close, lowering her voice to a murmur. There was that curious scent on her skin again, something floral that pricked at the edge of his memory. "There were others, until those things you saw in the woods -"
"Zaman's dragons?" he asked, and she nodded.
"The Encai. Anybody who went out there, they took. Some of the older ones, though, they're fast enough to get around them, get to the snares and traps and back, but -"
"Wait, you send kids out with those things?" When she simply stared at him, he took a step back and covered his mouth with one hand, peered around the room at the curious faces. "Lords and Ladies," he breathed. "You can't just -"
"How do you propose I feed them, then?" she hissed. "The looters and scavengers cleaned out the stores long before we got here. The villages were all raided by the King's men weeks ago. The only other option was to let them starve!"
"But they're children," he insisted. Behind Kia, one of the youngsters with the bedsheets - and he couldn't have been more than six, all gangly limbs and scruff of unruly hair - tripped over his own feet and fell into the pile of folded linens, where he flailed about as he and his companion giggled madly. Kia looked over her shoulder, briefly, and her expression softened, her eyes growing distant.
"Not anymore," she said quietly. "None of them get that luxury, now."
Prompt: Vanilla 3 - chores
Title: Upkeep
Word Count: 743
Rating: G
Verse: The Scarlet Hourglass
Summary: Getting children to do chores is easy with Kia at the helm!
In antiquity, the enormous room Lucas stood in had likely been used for great feasts - he could almost picture the roaring fire in the enormous fireplace at the far end of the room, a long wooden table that could seat dozens of guests, music and laughter in the air as the patrons dined on young pigs and roasted vegetables. What a grand sight it would have been, the lords and ladies enjoying the excess of the better times, before the Gold King took the land, before poverty became the only manner of living that any of the people were accustomed to.
Now, the great room was a combination eatery and classroom, filled with small bodies as the youngsters scurried about under Kia's watchful eye, tending to their morning chores. Some scrubbed the floor beneath the tables, removing crusted oatmeal and sticky bits of fruit, while others swept ash and bits of burnt logs from the mouth of the hearth. In the corner, a handful of the older ones ran bent needles through patchwork clothing and well-loved books, mending tears in seams and binding alike. Occasionally the wind would gust at his back as another pack entered, reporting back to Kia for further instructions or to communicate a job finished, and he couldn't help but stare in awe at them - he'd admittedly not spent much time around children in his life, but he was more used to them running about like feral cats than taking instructions in such an organized, almost regimented manner.
Kia spotted him as she did a quick survey of the room and her eyes darkened, her mouth pinching into a white line. If her frown didn't make it clear that their argument the previous night hadn't been forgotten, her crossed arms and the stomp in her gait - as she maneuvered around a pack of little ones folding bedsheets - certainly told a story.
"You're still here," she said, her voice dripping ice.
"For a while I thought that you would need my help around here," he said, stepping back as a pair of teenagers dashed between them with armloads of kindling, "but obviously you have this slave labor thing under control."
"They're not slaves. They're earning their keep, same as anybody else."
"Except there isn't anybody else." When she said nothing, her eyes growing more brittle, he gestured broadly around the room. "The whole time I've been here, you're the only adult I've seen. Where are the parents? You didn't tell me this was some sort of orph-" He was abruptly silence as she lurched forward and clamped a hand across his mouth, trying to keep her movements subtle when various pairs of young eyes were watching them at any given moment. She was mostly unsuccessful - the ruckus of the room quieted noticeably, the children doing their best to pay attention to the two adults while going about their assigned tasks, and Kia's face flushed in frustration.
"Listen," she said, removing her hand and stepping close, lowering her voice to a murmur. There was that curious scent on her skin again, something floral that pricked at the edge of his memory. "There were others, until those things you saw in the woods -"
"Zaman's dragons?" he asked, and she nodded.
"The Encai. Anybody who went out there, they took. Some of the older ones, though, they're fast enough to get around them, get to the snares and traps and back, but -"
"Wait, you send kids out with those things?" When she simply stared at him, he took a step back and covered his mouth with one hand, peered around the room at the curious faces. "Lords and Ladies," he breathed. "You can't just -"
"How do you propose I feed them, then?" she hissed. "The looters and scavengers cleaned out the stores long before we got here. The villages were all raided by the King's men weeks ago. The only other option was to let them starve!"
"But they're children," he insisted. Behind Kia, one of the youngsters with the bedsheets - and he couldn't have been more than six, all gangly limbs and scruff of unruly hair - tripped over his own feet and fell into the pile of folded linens, where he flailed about as he and his companion giggled madly. Kia looked over her shoulder, briefly, and her expression softened, her eyes growing distant.
"Not anymore," she said quietly. "None of them get that luxury, now."