Eastvale: Through Her Eyes, Chapter 21
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Chapter Twenty-One
Beneath the Unquiet Forest, Arborview - October 6, 5:20 p.m.
"So Ines, please tell me how it feels for the jailor to become the jailed," Lariska pressed her hand into her chin, she leaned forward and facetiously looked through the bars of the prison cell.
"You fiend, how dare you demand my imprisonment! What is the point of this? You're a no one in the council, I've held the position of personally raising our goddess for nearly twenty year--"
She turned her back and paused, candlelight gleaming in her tiger eyes. "And you lost her due to your own irresponsibilities. Now I must go and clean up your mess."
"Ladies, I shall return with our dark elemental once my voyage is complete. Watch over the captive in the meantime, and don't mind her predictable blubbering." Lariska brushed past the other witches in the room who watched her tread toward the doorway, the floorboards screeched with her every barefoot move.
Ines stood up, her face filled with loathing at this new predicament and the councilman to whom she answered. A handful of other convicts inhabited in the adjacent cells, witnessing the new inmate's attempt to refute her imprisonment.
"Please, sisters, please let me out of here," she gave the fellow witches a despairing glance, "There's no reason as to why any of us should be taking orders from that Venefican healer. What information would she know regarding the elemental's whereabouts anyway? It sounds all too suspicious. I don't understand why I must be locked up when I can prove useful to the elemental pursuit."
A witch, sitting on a wooden chair, looked at Ines in apathy; she had braided hair and eyes as black as the brick walls. "You know we wouldn't comply with this under any other circumstances, Ines."
"Don't you see this as suspicious? I may have done wrong by leaving our goddess alone and vulnerable, but I can't help with our mission from here."
Her face looked somber and unmoved by the words of the elder witch. "It upsets me to see a respected councilman behind magic-proof bars like this, but if agreeing to Lariska's conditions brings our goddess back, then so be it. If you truly care about the future of our beloved Dark Council, then you will cooperate for this timeframe."
The veteran witch conceded. The Dark Council. She turned away and folded onto the stool in her cell, placing her hands on top of her lap. She despised all witches of the Veneficus Council as their every emotion suggested artificiality; they were snakes that turned on their victims and delivered lethal bites without notice. Ines hoped that Lariska would prove different.
Ines exhaled, "You're right. For the future of our Dark Council, I will sit here and cooperate until that swiveling serpent returns."
The vine overgrowth overpowering the window of the semi-underground chamber turned into an interesting focal point for visual fixation. Ines let out a whisper to herself, contemplating the situation's purpose, "I just don't understand why I must remain locked up until her return..."
Lott Farmstead, Arborview - October 6, 5:46 p.m.
A crack in the clouds emitted a final afternoon golden light over the Lott Farmstead and its livestock. It would get dark soon in this autumnal season and the pine trees rustled in the wind, the sky greying with every minute until obscurity.
Still, Lariska could view the quaint farmstead on its Arborview hillside, surrounded by rows of corn and grapes for local wine blocking view of the home, an earth elemental shrine for crop prosperity nestled between the beds of corn. There was a man at the base of the steps leading to a bridge overlooking the pond below, eyeing the witch with wonder.
"Hey there, Lariska. We've been running into each other a lot lately, sure was nice sitting with you at the Unquiet Forest's Edge yesterday," Geor Lott greeted her.
"Greetings, Geor. I've come to visit your daughter, is she present?"
Geor shot her a look of irritation, the white dog nearby continued to sleep despite the approached guest. "Oh, she's here alright. Don't mind her, she's fussin' about her runaway groom, been locked in her room all day crying about it. I told her to be patient, it's only been a day, but that girl just won't listen to reason. Maybe you can talk some sense into her, Lariska."
"I believe I can."
Damn the pantheon for allowing such an emotional girl to be brought into this world, Lariska eye rolled, imagining the state Essie could be in. Juveniles like her are so unbearably difficult to deal with.
She strolled into the cottage, turning on several lights and noting the lack of decor of the entire place, it had been years since she'd entered the Lott's house. What struck her as even more peculiar was that their living space appeared exactly the same from the time Laretta Lott passed away. Nothing had changed much.
"Essie?" Lariska called through the closed door, gradually opening it. A figure lay stuffed beneath bountiful blankets and sheets. "Essie, are you alright?"
The floral comforter shuffled, "Go away, you big jerk!"
Essie looked up from the covers and sat up, "Oh, it's just you."
She tried to smile, her smile covered in tears and she looked about five years younger than her true age with her overall mopey expression. Bear plushies and butterfly chains lined the room.
"You promised me that I'd be getting married and moving out so I told allllllllll of my friends, Lariska! I don't even have a ring to prove it," Essie shoved her hand into Lariska's face, pointing at the naked ring finger. "On top of that, I don't even know where my fiancé is, he's nowhere to be found. All of my friends think I'm a total idiot because of you!"
Lariska muttered, her palm over her face in shame at this pathetic display, "Do you mean even more of an idiot than you already are?"
"What did you say?"
The witch's mouth curled into a smirk. "Oh, nothing. I came by to tell you to pack up, we're leaving for Greenmill. He wanted you to meet him there and for me to escort you. I must have left out that important detail earlier."
In a matter of seconds, Essie's swollen, puffy eyes and reddened face brightened, she wiped away tears, her attitude changed nearly instantly. "We're going to...to Greenmill? To meet my love?!"
"Precisely. Now get dressed and start packing, we've a lengthy journey ahead of us by foot."
Essie bounced up and down with her hands clasped together in excitement. Her tears seemed to disappear, the absolute change in her emotions was unreal to Lariska. "Oh wow, how exciting, I've never been outside of Arborview before!"
" - Oh Lariska, do you think we can handle ourselves? I mean, we are two of the fairest maidens and my handsome fiancé won't be there to protect us! He's such a man of mystery, making us travel to Greenmill! T.T"
"I can more than take care of both of us. Hurry up and quit daydreaming, be prepared to leave for Greenmill soon," Lariska groaned.
Arms wrapped around Lariska, this youthful girl had practically leapt onto her in a forced embrace. Essie bursted in action, the widest beam on her face, "Eeee Lariska, I knew you'd make things work out, but not like this! Oh Lariska, you care about my wedding even more than I thought, you're so wonderful! Good thing I don't work this weekend - oh the timing, it's just perfect! My prayers to the elementals must have channeled this perfect timing!"
She responded unenthusiastically, "Praise the elementals indeed. I'll be back to check up on you, get packing." Girls at this age and their meager dreams...irritating.
"Yup yup, sure thing! Now we can be Larrie and Essie, the two delicate flowers of Arborview journeying for the first time to Greenmill...oh joy! :D Oh oh, by the way, can I call you Larrie? I totally forgot to ask!" Essie bounced even more, grinning.
Lariska shot an exasperated death stare toward the hallway, "Absolutely not."
Abbington Manor, Portwillow Seaside, Eastvale - October 6, 11:48 p.m.
The tide washed in and out across the shore and the waves echoed in my slumber. Boats and lighthouses gestured and their rays of light danced onto the sheets I rested on.
Was I really somewhere in Eastvale? Sleeping in a bed provided time for my mind to relax and like the sand beneath the sea outside, allowed me to sink in all that had happened: I was now in Eastvale, recalled here by the country's queen and escorted by a knight under her orders, and now I resided in a manor of some Eastvalian region's overseer. The overseer.
It felt like I had slept an eternity in this surreal manor but I knew that this was no longer a daze but reality. I noticed the tropical flowers and moonlight swept across the robin's egg blue paint in the dusk. How late could it be?
Light poured from the cracks of the door and my mind drifted, was the overseer here? Earlier, Mare assured me that the overseer would return by the time I had awakened. I felt compelled to receive answers after the silence that both Orin and Mare left me in.
No matter what, I couldn't question an overseer in this condition. I could both see and smell the stench of my clothing, the same wardrobe I'd worn for days. I hadn't any shame and I was willing to find any clothing that lingered in the room so that I could save myself the embarrassment of introducing myself to a political figure in this current condition.
An overseer watched over a particular district of a kingdom, one of society's most prominent members. I didn't wish for an Eastvale overseer to spot my slovenly clothing or for me to depict a poor presentation of Arborview.
Shuffling around in the near-empty dresser, I discovered an article of clothing that luckily fit me although a tad large. I welcomed the clean, fragrant scent of the wardrobe I now wore and opened the door to the hallway.
Nutmeg and tea roses permeated the air, pleasant and aromatic scents unlike the mustiness of my home in Arborview. I wandered about each corridor unhurriedly, halting to view the inevitable paintings of noblemen on each wall.
I would normally not care to browse my surroundings, they'd proven dull; haphazard cluttered messes of potted plants bound by cardboard boxes and bricks. The manor's grandeur reminded me of this contrast between Arborview and Portwillow in Eastvale. I continued on.
In the next hallway, a shadowed person peered out from an upcoming door. Mare.
"Good evening. I thought I heard you up and about, miss," she smiled and pressed her hand into the lace apron, surprised by my wardrobe change.
I turned to her and crossed my arms, speaking with as much confidence as I could channel, "I'm ready to meet the overseer."
"Splendid! Right this way. And I hope you rested well," Mare's hands wavered and motioned me into the doorway of the room beyond.
"Overseer Abbington."
"You can call me Minette, you know," the voice responded. I could only view the glow emitting from the room.
"Oh fine - Minette, you've a guest. The one you've been waiting for." The one you've been waiting for? Mare turned and pointed to me, "Come."
"Here she is, your most recent guest," Mare gestured.
Light now proliferated and my heart opened like a moonflower. Throughout all of the perplexities of this pilgrimage to Eastvale, familiarity presented itself at last.
The golden foliage painted on the walls blurred and my mouth dropped. "You...you are...I've seen you before."
Her white hair, like a pearl oyster's inner shell, radiated. Everything about her paralleled with the splendor of her manor and although her hair shone colorless, her eyes sparkled and her features were youthful. I knew that she was the lady in crochet garb confronting my mother from a previous evening.
"And it's a blessing to finally see you, Vitala."
Return to Chapter Twenty
Notes
As guaranteed in a past comment, Lariska and Essie would soon return and now have! I hope that their returns weren't too late. :P
I've been without Internet due to a power outage and then to switching providers so I'm glad to finally have Internet, woot!
I was surprised to get back online and to see so many simfics with updates, whether wrapping up with a final epilogue like collidingwithme (What an emotional roller coaster mixed with smiles for Kismette and Zaelem's future, and the sadness of knowing that this is the conclusion for your story, Ning :) or viewing teasers to stories I loyally follow on simstorytellers.
As always, it's such a treat to see the simfic community still very active. It's even more of a treat to read these wonderful updates, especially after lacking Internet for quite a bit.