Post by Keeper of the Wood on Jun 13, 2005 14:12:49 GMT -5
All right, this isn't what one would call fanfic, but I need someone to read the first chapter and tell me what they think!
Chapter One
Lanyen gave her adopted brother a withering glare. As usual when in a fight with someone larger than herself, she found that she was pinioned under his weight with other children shouting encouragement to him. "Enough!" her adopted father bellowed, suddenly coming into the courtyard, "Both of you off the ground at once! The rest of you, leave now or I'll tan all your hides!" He picked Jestilus and shook him fiercely by the back of his shirt. Lanyen picked herself up and brushed away the tears that were forming in her eyes as the other children sheepishly disappeared one by one.
"How dare you fight your sister!" her father continued to berate him. "She is part of the family, and if that isn't enough reason, she is also a young lady, which we as men are bound to protect by oath! You are of age to know better." "She is no sister of mine," the fourteen year old spat in defiance, "nor is she a lady. She is a Minook! People of her kind are barbarians, gypsys, and never will I..." he was cut off by a blow to his head which caused his ears to ring and knocked him over. Lanyen winced as he fell, though she knew he deserved it.
There was nought she could do, he would be beaten, not with a cruel whip, but shamed by being beaten none the less. Lanyen did not wish them to be enemies, but it was in their blood, and that she could not help. All in the household had welcomed her with warmth, except for Jestilus.
Scarcely a year older Jestilus was her worst enemy. Any time he was upset about something, he would take his anger out upon her. She had tried everything she could think of to generate peace, but to no avail. In the presence of their father he simply ignored her and sat stone faced. When they were out of his sight however, it was another story altogether. He would torment her and even tussle with her when his friends were about. Her father usually found out later, but nothing he could do would silence the upstart in this boy.
Now as he lay on the ground he blazed hatred as he looked into her sad eyes. She turned and walked slowly away, silently sobbing with grief that none could console. She could feel his angry eyes on her back, and she quickened her pace.
Quickly Lanyen walked into the barn and ran to her favorite horse, a bay gelding, called Cider. She buried her face in his mane and wept. The horse (being smarter than those of this country), nuzzled her gently, as if to comfort her. After a while she looked up, all tears shed, and asked, "Why did the Minooks have to leave me in this place to be sold to a family that will not love me? Ah, but you are a horse, unconcerned with the affairs of men beyond your next meal. Is it not so?" He shoved her playfully with his nose. "All right," she laughed, "you may have a sugar cube, if that's what you're after." His hastey taking of the treat answered the half question. Her smile faded at the sound of the barn door opening. She put on a bland face and swiftly grabbed a nearby brush, pretending to groom him.
In limped a none too happy Jestilus. He walked over to Lanyen and said nastily, "Well, it looks as if our gypsy girl has learned her place, grooming the horses in her Natheel master's stable." She made no comment, but then realized she had nothing to fear, for if he dampened her spirit he would have gained something over her, and by all her unknown ancestors, there would not be a day when that happened.
True to here Minook blood, she smiled in her quiet way and continued brushing Cider. "What do you smile at, daughter of a thousand cursed ones?" Her smile only grew broader. Now, nothing would have delighted Jestilus more than to remedy her of this sudden joy, but when he looked her in the eyes, there was something threatening in her gaze that he had never seen before, a wild, forbidding look that his hatred could not match. Slowly he lowered his eyes in a sign of submission, and with not another word, he left.
After finishing with the horses she made her way to the kitchen. There would be dinner left over, and since she mostly lived on her own schedule, it didn't matter if she missed a meal. Being good friends with a couple of the servants, it was easy to find vittles about.
Washing at the well she went through the back door, and there found the cook, Leitis, a short heavy woman in her forties with sandy brown hair and blue eyes, with the two other kitchen maids. Leitis was cleaning, but the other two, who were supposed to be washing the dishes, were in reality talking more than working.
At the sight of her hair, the girls suppressed laughter. Lanyen, upon realizing what it must look like after being in a fist fight, tried to smooth it a little, which only caused them to giggle more loudly. Hearing this Leitis turned and saw her. She smiled in a kindly way, "You must be hungry, you are much later than usual."
Motioning Lanyen to the table where a bowl of stew awaited her, Leitis sent out the other girls with a wave of her hand and proceeded to clean what dishes they had left. "Such lazy girls I have never worked with in my life!" she muttered. "So," she said, once again paying attention to Lanyen, "How did you manage to get that mud in your hair?" Lanyen stopped eating and touched her hair; Leitis was right, it was crusted with mud. "Curses, this isn't going to be easy to wash out." "But how did it happen?" Leitis persisted. "I had a little trouble with Jestilus." Lanyen said quietly, looking down.
Leitis stopped her work and turned around to face the table Lanyen was sitting at.
"Jestilus? He was at it again? That boy! If I were his mother, such a blow I would give him with my ladle!", but stopped abruptly, for she had been punctuating every word by hitting the table with her ladle. As she finished her tirade the ladle landed in the middle of a partially finished bowl of soup, causing it to splatter.
"Ah! See what just the thought of him does to me!"
Lanyen turned her attention to her meal, not wanting to laugh openly. Leitis was a good friend, and Lanyen would never hurt her feelings by doing such a thing.
After Leitis had finished cleaning she sat down with the girl and began to talk. "What were you doing today before your problem with Jestilus?" she leaned on the table with her elbows, and pulled her chair in further.
"I had been running across the hills. I wish I could go to the Natheel Forest, but it is much to far to travel to in a day." Lanyen said between sthingyfuls of soup.
"That is a dark place, and it is said the Minook raiders are lingering there this time of year."
"Leitis, all Natheel say it is frightening, but as a child the forests were my home. I lived on the edge of a forest and roamed in it as soon as I could walk."
Leitis smiled. "You must have a long memory remember that much, you were taken here as a very small child." Lanyen nodded, and looked more sobered. She missed her life living with the Minook, although she could not remember much of went on. Since she had been bought and adopted by this Natheel family she had come to understand her nationality was not well liked.
Her adopted father protected her as much as he could from her brother, and the insulting remarks from those who passed by, but it was not easy. The Minook tribes raided the Natheels every chance they could get, but then would vanish from sight when the small Natheel armies came to attack them and put a stop to their thieving ways.
When Lanyen was done with both chatting and eating, Leitis prepared a bath in Lanyen's chamber so she could clean herself, and returned to the kitchen, leaving the girl to enjoy herself. What a luxury a warm bath was in these times.
Finishing with this, Lanyen jumped into her soft bed, and was quickly fast asleep.
The next day she was up early, and had a breakfast with the servants in the kitchen. In the morning it was much louder than the evening, because everyone was in a hurry to get the master of the house and his son a meal. There was much clattering of pots, skillets, and various other kitchen utensils.
Lanyen got out of the kitchen as soon as she could, being one of those people who can't stand noise in the morning, let alone while she was having breakfast, which in her opinion should always be a very quiet affair.
Using the back staircase, she made her way to the upstairs library, set up for the use of the family. Mainly Lanyen's adopted father's wife had seen to it that she had the largest collection possible.
Lanyen had heard little about this, for anything brought up about the woman was very sad indeed. She had died shortly before Lanyen had come to live in the house. The only things Lanyen knew about her, were that she loved books, and was a very pretty person.
Upon arriving in the room she directly crossed to the desk she usually claimed as hers, and picked up the book she had left there. It was a book of maps she had been studying. Many were of places she had heard of, and just as many she had not. In some places the maps were very vague, and Lanyen wished she could explore these lands, and add to the charts. In the back were blank pages, and Lanyen had made up her mind to draw a map of the small area she liked to wander.
Taking a bottle of black ink that she had carefully prepared the day before by sealing the cork on with wax so that it wouldn't spill. After this she grabbed a quill, and stuffed these in a small bag she could wear across her shoulder while riding.
With these supplies in tow, she bridled Cider, mounted him bare back, and started off. She knew the exact place to go. The highest of some grassy hills would be perfect. She had a bit of a view, but there was a fringe of small trees she could use for shade when the sun rose high, and she could tether her horse to them.
At this spot she halted and sat down with her drawing materials. She did not look up again until the sun was riding low in the sky, but to now and again remember exactly where things were. Even this was rare, for she knew this place very well.
When finally she realized how late it had become, she put away her things and rode back to the mansion her Natheel father lived in. As she put away Cider, she noticed that there was a stranger's horse in the stable. Quickly she washed herself at the well, knowing this most likely meant her father had company, and would expect her at the table.
Arriving at the table she slid into her seat and looked across the table her father, over to the place where Jestilus sat glaring at her, and then finally to her father's guest. He was a young man, and a bit of a gossip, but that was to be expected from one of the capital. He had come on business to their small town of Stremp, of which her adopted father was governor.
She smiled at him, causing him to look down at his plate embarrassed.
She did not take much notice of his seemingly one sided conversation until she heard him say, "It's the worst plague ever hit our people. No doubt carried by one of those accursed Minook. One day you're fine and then the next you're flat on your back with a terrible fever and if your body doesn't receive it well then you're quite likely to die. Accursed Minook. Tell me, sir, what do you think of these people?"
"Why not ask Lanyen, she being one herself." her father held a napkin to his mouth, but Lanyen could see merriment in his eyes as he watched the red faced young man.
"You mean she? Well, please except my apology...that is to s-s-ay..." he stammered in his confusion.
"None taken." Lanyen said warmly, for as said before, she was used to such talk, and couldn't help but feel bad for the poor chap. A moment later though, she suddenly fell into a fit of coughing to hide her laughter.
After a there-after nearly silent dinner Lanyen made her way up to her bedroom where she undressed and prepared to get into bed. Sitting down in front of her polished bronze mirror she let down her hair from the tight knot that was the style of the Natheel women and sighed. She not only was a Minook in blood, but she fully looked the part. With her skin naturally a sun-browned hue, her eyes the frequently found hazel color of the Minooks, and her hair a dark brown, nearly black in fact, her nationality was clear in contrast to the fairly complexioned Natheels.
How she longed for the days when she was quite young (seven winters in fact) and still roaming with her people, when her hair was the length where it only came to her shoulders, as most Minook women would leave it to keep it out of the way, and she could practice with her favorite weapon, the blinch.
Ah, but how long ago those days seemed now, for she had already forgotten her parents and any other important people in her life. She sighed again and climbed into her bed, tears of longing filling her eyes, little did she know how soon she would be reunited with her people.
Chapter One
Lanyen gave her adopted brother a withering glare. As usual when in a fight with someone larger than herself, she found that she was pinioned under his weight with other children shouting encouragement to him. "Enough!" her adopted father bellowed, suddenly coming into the courtyard, "Both of you off the ground at once! The rest of you, leave now or I'll tan all your hides!" He picked Jestilus and shook him fiercely by the back of his shirt. Lanyen picked herself up and brushed away the tears that were forming in her eyes as the other children sheepishly disappeared one by one.
"How dare you fight your sister!" her father continued to berate him. "She is part of the family, and if that isn't enough reason, she is also a young lady, which we as men are bound to protect by oath! You are of age to know better." "She is no sister of mine," the fourteen year old spat in defiance, "nor is she a lady. She is a Minook! People of her kind are barbarians, gypsys, and never will I..." he was cut off by a blow to his head which caused his ears to ring and knocked him over. Lanyen winced as he fell, though she knew he deserved it.
There was nought she could do, he would be beaten, not with a cruel whip, but shamed by being beaten none the less. Lanyen did not wish them to be enemies, but it was in their blood, and that she could not help. All in the household had welcomed her with warmth, except for Jestilus.
Scarcely a year older Jestilus was her worst enemy. Any time he was upset about something, he would take his anger out upon her. She had tried everything she could think of to generate peace, but to no avail. In the presence of their father he simply ignored her and sat stone faced. When they were out of his sight however, it was another story altogether. He would torment her and even tussle with her when his friends were about. Her father usually found out later, but nothing he could do would silence the upstart in this boy.
Now as he lay on the ground he blazed hatred as he looked into her sad eyes. She turned and walked slowly away, silently sobbing with grief that none could console. She could feel his angry eyes on her back, and she quickened her pace.
Quickly Lanyen walked into the barn and ran to her favorite horse, a bay gelding, called Cider. She buried her face in his mane and wept. The horse (being smarter than those of this country), nuzzled her gently, as if to comfort her. After a while she looked up, all tears shed, and asked, "Why did the Minooks have to leave me in this place to be sold to a family that will not love me? Ah, but you are a horse, unconcerned with the affairs of men beyond your next meal. Is it not so?" He shoved her playfully with his nose. "All right," she laughed, "you may have a sugar cube, if that's what you're after." His hastey taking of the treat answered the half question. Her smile faded at the sound of the barn door opening. She put on a bland face and swiftly grabbed a nearby brush, pretending to groom him.
In limped a none too happy Jestilus. He walked over to Lanyen and said nastily, "Well, it looks as if our gypsy girl has learned her place, grooming the horses in her Natheel master's stable." She made no comment, but then realized she had nothing to fear, for if he dampened her spirit he would have gained something over her, and by all her unknown ancestors, there would not be a day when that happened.
True to here Minook blood, she smiled in her quiet way and continued brushing Cider. "What do you smile at, daughter of a thousand cursed ones?" Her smile only grew broader. Now, nothing would have delighted Jestilus more than to remedy her of this sudden joy, but when he looked her in the eyes, there was something threatening in her gaze that he had never seen before, a wild, forbidding look that his hatred could not match. Slowly he lowered his eyes in a sign of submission, and with not another word, he left.
After finishing with the horses she made her way to the kitchen. There would be dinner left over, and since she mostly lived on her own schedule, it didn't matter if she missed a meal. Being good friends with a couple of the servants, it was easy to find vittles about.
Washing at the well she went through the back door, and there found the cook, Leitis, a short heavy woman in her forties with sandy brown hair and blue eyes, with the two other kitchen maids. Leitis was cleaning, but the other two, who were supposed to be washing the dishes, were in reality talking more than working.
At the sight of her hair, the girls suppressed laughter. Lanyen, upon realizing what it must look like after being in a fist fight, tried to smooth it a little, which only caused them to giggle more loudly. Hearing this Leitis turned and saw her. She smiled in a kindly way, "You must be hungry, you are much later than usual."
Motioning Lanyen to the table where a bowl of stew awaited her, Leitis sent out the other girls with a wave of her hand and proceeded to clean what dishes they had left. "Such lazy girls I have never worked with in my life!" she muttered. "So," she said, once again paying attention to Lanyen, "How did you manage to get that mud in your hair?" Lanyen stopped eating and touched her hair; Leitis was right, it was crusted with mud. "Curses, this isn't going to be easy to wash out." "But how did it happen?" Leitis persisted. "I had a little trouble with Jestilus." Lanyen said quietly, looking down.
Leitis stopped her work and turned around to face the table Lanyen was sitting at.
"Jestilus? He was at it again? That boy! If I were his mother, such a blow I would give him with my ladle!", but stopped abruptly, for she had been punctuating every word by hitting the table with her ladle. As she finished her tirade the ladle landed in the middle of a partially finished bowl of soup, causing it to splatter.
"Ah! See what just the thought of him does to me!"
Lanyen turned her attention to her meal, not wanting to laugh openly. Leitis was a good friend, and Lanyen would never hurt her feelings by doing such a thing.
After Leitis had finished cleaning she sat down with the girl and began to talk. "What were you doing today before your problem with Jestilus?" she leaned on the table with her elbows, and pulled her chair in further.
"I had been running across the hills. I wish I could go to the Natheel Forest, but it is much to far to travel to in a day." Lanyen said between sthingyfuls of soup.
"That is a dark place, and it is said the Minook raiders are lingering there this time of year."
"Leitis, all Natheel say it is frightening, but as a child the forests were my home. I lived on the edge of a forest and roamed in it as soon as I could walk."
Leitis smiled. "You must have a long memory remember that much, you were taken here as a very small child." Lanyen nodded, and looked more sobered. She missed her life living with the Minook, although she could not remember much of went on. Since she had been bought and adopted by this Natheel family she had come to understand her nationality was not well liked.
Her adopted father protected her as much as he could from her brother, and the insulting remarks from those who passed by, but it was not easy. The Minook tribes raided the Natheels every chance they could get, but then would vanish from sight when the small Natheel armies came to attack them and put a stop to their thieving ways.
When Lanyen was done with both chatting and eating, Leitis prepared a bath in Lanyen's chamber so she could clean herself, and returned to the kitchen, leaving the girl to enjoy herself. What a luxury a warm bath was in these times.
Finishing with this, Lanyen jumped into her soft bed, and was quickly fast asleep.
The next day she was up early, and had a breakfast with the servants in the kitchen. In the morning it was much louder than the evening, because everyone was in a hurry to get the master of the house and his son a meal. There was much clattering of pots, skillets, and various other kitchen utensils.
Lanyen got out of the kitchen as soon as she could, being one of those people who can't stand noise in the morning, let alone while she was having breakfast, which in her opinion should always be a very quiet affair.
Using the back staircase, she made her way to the upstairs library, set up for the use of the family. Mainly Lanyen's adopted father's wife had seen to it that she had the largest collection possible.
Lanyen had heard little about this, for anything brought up about the woman was very sad indeed. She had died shortly before Lanyen had come to live in the house. The only things Lanyen knew about her, were that she loved books, and was a very pretty person.
Upon arriving in the room she directly crossed to the desk she usually claimed as hers, and picked up the book she had left there. It was a book of maps she had been studying. Many were of places she had heard of, and just as many she had not. In some places the maps were very vague, and Lanyen wished she could explore these lands, and add to the charts. In the back were blank pages, and Lanyen had made up her mind to draw a map of the small area she liked to wander.
Taking a bottle of black ink that she had carefully prepared the day before by sealing the cork on with wax so that it wouldn't spill. After this she grabbed a quill, and stuffed these in a small bag she could wear across her shoulder while riding.
With these supplies in tow, she bridled Cider, mounted him bare back, and started off. She knew the exact place to go. The highest of some grassy hills would be perfect. She had a bit of a view, but there was a fringe of small trees she could use for shade when the sun rose high, and she could tether her horse to them.
At this spot she halted and sat down with her drawing materials. She did not look up again until the sun was riding low in the sky, but to now and again remember exactly where things were. Even this was rare, for she knew this place very well.
When finally she realized how late it had become, she put away her things and rode back to the mansion her Natheel father lived in. As she put away Cider, she noticed that there was a stranger's horse in the stable. Quickly she washed herself at the well, knowing this most likely meant her father had company, and would expect her at the table.
Arriving at the table she slid into her seat and looked across the table her father, over to the place where Jestilus sat glaring at her, and then finally to her father's guest. He was a young man, and a bit of a gossip, but that was to be expected from one of the capital. He had come on business to their small town of Stremp, of which her adopted father was governor.
She smiled at him, causing him to look down at his plate embarrassed.
She did not take much notice of his seemingly one sided conversation until she heard him say, "It's the worst plague ever hit our people. No doubt carried by one of those accursed Minook. One day you're fine and then the next you're flat on your back with a terrible fever and if your body doesn't receive it well then you're quite likely to die. Accursed Minook. Tell me, sir, what do you think of these people?"
"Why not ask Lanyen, she being one herself." her father held a napkin to his mouth, but Lanyen could see merriment in his eyes as he watched the red faced young man.
"You mean she? Well, please except my apology...that is to s-s-ay..." he stammered in his confusion.
"None taken." Lanyen said warmly, for as said before, she was used to such talk, and couldn't help but feel bad for the poor chap. A moment later though, she suddenly fell into a fit of coughing to hide her laughter.
After a there-after nearly silent dinner Lanyen made her way up to her bedroom where she undressed and prepared to get into bed. Sitting down in front of her polished bronze mirror she let down her hair from the tight knot that was the style of the Natheel women and sighed. She not only was a Minook in blood, but she fully looked the part. With her skin naturally a sun-browned hue, her eyes the frequently found hazel color of the Minooks, and her hair a dark brown, nearly black in fact, her nationality was clear in contrast to the fairly complexioned Natheels.
How she longed for the days when she was quite young (seven winters in fact) and still roaming with her people, when her hair was the length where it only came to her shoulders, as most Minook women would leave it to keep it out of the way, and she could practice with her favorite weapon, the blinch.
Ah, but how long ago those days seemed now, for she had already forgotten her parents and any other important people in her life. She sighed again and climbed into her bed, tears of longing filling her eyes, little did she know how soon she would be reunited with her people.
