Book of Aniela: Sins of Amphaesia

Chapter 1

Alora had bad luck. It felt almost as if some outer force was doing everything possible to make her miserable. Since waking up thirty minutes prior, she had stubbed her toe, spilt water down her shirt, and burnt herself while making eggs--something she's done hundreds of times. She was turning 15 today, and, like on all her birthdays, Mathias seemed to have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. While she was making herself breakfast before starting on her day's work, she felt the darkness of his gaze on her. She glanced up, only to see him look away, his heavy brows set in a tense, angry curve.

It always hurt her to see him this way. She knew she wasn't his child. He had made that very clear since as early as she could remember. She had always heard him and her mother yelling at each other, for no reason obvious to her. Nothing except Mathias holding a grudge against her mother.

He seems much angrier than he usually is though, she thought. Something else must have happened.

Multiple times, she had asked her mother why they were still together if he hated them both. And everytime, her mother had answered her the same way.

Love, she said. Love.

As she sat down to eat her breakfast--eggs and bacon-- she wondered why he would treat them that way if he loved them.

Whatever the reason was, she never pried. Never asked too many questions. She had never been much of a talker, always preferring to sit quietly and listen and infer what she needed to know, without getting too involved.

Alora opened her mouth, about to reluctantly say good morning to Mathias. Before she could, her mother came out of her and Mithias's shared room. Her mother smiled at her and Alora got up to hug her.

"Happy birthday, angel."

"Thank you, mom," Alora held her tightly. "When is Nico coming?"

"We got a letter this morning," Mathias' deep voice responded, "He has exams, but he'll be home right after he gets done and his break begins. It'll be within the next month or so."

Alora sighed. She missed her brother, but she wasn't surprised he wasn't able to make it again. Her birthday was the second of Sani, beginning of the summer months and the beginning of Nico's final potions exams for the year.

Nico had big dreams and studied hard, and Alora had always admired him for that. They were polar opposites in personality, although they had the same red hair and the same tall and lanky build that ran in her mother's side of the family.

She had never been bothered that he wasn't there on her birthdays.

I hope he returns sooner, Alolra thought. The poor treatment had been getting worse and worse from Mathias, and she wasn't sure how long she could take it. Nico was Mathias' favorite, naturally. He knew how to distract him from Alora.

*****

The Aniela Library felt wrong today.

The library she worked at was her happy place. It was a little far from her, about a twenty minute walk down a large, well lit road. She felt safe walking home at night, considering how many shops and pedestrians were always out. It was in a good part of town, near the Church of Aniela which was the biggest church in the country.

She didn't earn much, but she was okay with it because she didn't need much, either. Most people came in to check-in and check-out their books in the morning and afternoon, so towards the later hours of the night, after the sun had set, she was free to settle in a corner with a good book, and get lost in another world, one where she didn't have to think of her own.

"Happy Birthday!" Ariel, one of her friends and only coworkers said when she walked in, her light country accent accentuating her words.

Ariel walked over, almost skipping with excitement and an infectious smile on her face. In her hand she held a little white box. She pulled off the top by the pretty silver bow that decorated the box, revealing a small cake with pretty, pale yellow frost on it, just big enough for the two of them to share.

Alora had a warm feeling in her chest as she took the box with the cake out of Ariel's hand and placed it on their check-out table. She was almost knocked over with the force of Ariel's hug, which she knew was coming.

Seeing Ariel was always the highlight of Alora's day. She was always so happy that it was hard to be sad or upset around her. She was a little ray of sunshine in her sea storm of a life, made borderline miserable by Mathias.

They sat and split the cake, sharing irrelevant banter about what had happened since they had last seen eachother yesterday afternoon. Before long, they had to open the library and get to work. The slight nudge of that negative-something she felt when she walked in grew, but was quickly forgotten as the first visitors of the day arrived.

Person after person streamed in until about mid noon, when they finally got a moment to sit and relax, take a sip of water. Ariel began packing her things, usually staying no later till one o'clock.

"Can you stay a little longer? Please? You don't have to do any work. I just want to talk to you for a little longer before you leave," Alora looked down, almost sheepish.

Ariel smiled, put down her back and said a quiet but happy, "Of course!" and sat back down next to Alora.

"How have things at home been?"

Alora grimaced, "Not the best... I'm a little nervous to go home. I know nothing bad will happen but I'm still worried. Everything has felt just a hair off today."

"Hey, now. Don't worry 'bout nothing. Even if something was to go wrong, you're an independent woman who can handle herself. Mathias needs to get his damned-to-May attitude under control, you know?"

Alora looked down. She knew it, alright.

*****

The slight bit of wrong she had been feeling all night had been an understatement of what she came home to. She opened the door to silence. Dishes were smashed. Furniture was flipped. There was screaming in the kitchen.

Mathias, clearly no longer sober, was yelling at Alora's mother. Gods, it hurt. She felt so helpless. She wished she could do anything to make this stop, to make her mother and her husband happy again together.

Then something clicked. Mathias was always so angry at her mother because of her.

She sneaked past the kitchen, hearing more plates being tossed and smashed. She ran into her room and grabbed a large straw bag, stuffing it full of all the clothes she could find, some money she had saved, and lastly a small painting she kept on the stand beside her bed. It was a painting of her and her mother, smiling with their elbows interlocked. She grabbed a piece of parchment, quickly scrolling down some words.

Leaving the note on the table in her room, Alora snuck past the kitchen again, and out the front door.

Then she ran.