The Sparrow

Oɳҽ

Her throat felt dry and her palms were laced with sweat as she stood outside the door to her father's study. The quiet of his conversation with another man could just be heard as she craned her ears towards the cracks in the door. And not even for a single second did she like what she was hearing. She had known it was going to happen one day, it had been inevitable. Whilst her father was but a mere baron, he still had influence and pull amongst the ranks of nobility. Most importantly however, he also had money. A lot of it.

Hearing footsteps approaching, she whipped her head in the direction they had come from, eyes widening with fear. Had she just been caught? Would she get in trouble? What would happen with her? Her worries were thrown away when she saw who it was; her brother. His gaze focussed first on her before drifting towards the door she had been standing by. With a quiet sigh, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down the corridor until they were far enough away.

"Eavesdropping is terribly unbecoming of you, Scarlette. Why are you standing outside Father's study like so?" he looked at her expectantly, his blue eyes almost seeming to bore holes into her soul. She remained quiet though and when she didn't answer, he sighed again and shook his head. "I'm not going to tell him of this or get you in trouble, just tell me why."

She swallowed thickly, rubbing her palms on the dark material of her dress. Although he kept reassuring her he wouldn't tell, she still was anxious about their father finding out. If he knew she had been listening in, he would not be a very happy man. Finally, she looked up at her brother, biting her lip. "I needed to know what they would decide, Aloysius. And well... it is exactly as I expected, which is unsurprising. I'm basically being sold away because it benefits our town or whatever that means."

At first, her brother - Aloysius - was silent, processing what she had told him. Much like his sister, he had expected this to be the case so hearing it was going to happen didn't much surprise him. He knew she didn't want it to happen though but there was little they could do. Eyes creasing sadly, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close for a tight hug. She may have basically been a fully grown woman, but she was still his little sister and he could hardly let her just suffer.

Eventually he let her go, but kept his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "I know there is not much we can do about this which is... awful. If it helps in any way, although I doubt it will, from my travelling with Father to their region, I did hear some stories about the Lord's son. Aside from his tendency to get into fights and brawls, the general consensus seems to be that he is a nice lad. But... I'm sorry, it's just... unfair."

"Nice or not, what difference does it make? I don't exactly get much of a choice in any of it," she murmured, a bitter edge biting into her words. "I have to get over it and face the hand I have been dealt in life. A daughter of influential nobility looking to gain more influence and alliances, it was my sentence since I was born. The least I can do now is attempt to approach it with my dignity still intact."

"There's the Scarlette I know and love," he chuckled at her resolve, giving her shoulder a light pat before letting her go. Although she was facing less than desirable circumstances, in fashion true to her, she wasn't going to let it pull her down. At least on the outside anyway. Of course, she was far too stubborn to conceive defeat on the outside; he doubted she wanted to give their father the satisfaction of seeing her miserable.

The sounds of a nearby door opening dragging him from his thoughts and he looked over Scarlette's shoulder to see his father and a heavyset man exiting his study. The pair spotted the siblings and strode towards them. Almost in sync, Aloysius bowed respectfully whilst Scarlette sunk into a curtsy; they had been drilled and rehearsed on this since the moment they could walk. Their father wasn't about to let his children embarrass him.