SOUL OF FLAMES

chapter one: family pains

Khair shivered as the frosty rope bit into her skin, the frozen threads scratching her palms.

This is bullshit, Khair internally groaned as she put her entire weight into pulling the rope down towards her feet, lifting the pale of slushy ice water from the well. The wind whipped around her body, sending tendrils of her hair flying and biting her cheeks. Khair's golden skin, tanned from her heritage, rarely showed color, but somehow knew her cheeks and nose were flushed from the wintery weather.

Grasping the pale with her shivery, numb fingers, Khair brought it close, turning on her heel back towards the estate. Why was the freshwater well so far from the home, Khair had no clue. All she knew was the least memorable part of her day was fetching a gargantuan pale of ice water, while her brother lounged around reading various new novels and stuffing cheese down his throat.

The fur line caped provided some comfort from the elements as Khair trudged through the snow from the morning flurries. As she walked back, some of the ice water sloshed against the sides of the bucket, spilling over onto Khair already number fingers. Biting back a shriek, Khair ground her teeth together and continued on towards the house.

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Barging through the front entrance, Khair kicked off her shoes, both hands now wrapped around the bucket, holding it her chest. The warm air coated her face as she headed towards the kitchen, but did little for the heat-sucker resting in her hands. Grunting as she set the heavy pale down which was filled with now melted water on the counter, Khair shook the melted snowflakes out of her thick, wavy brown hair. Moving to the coat closet, she shrugged off her cape and yanked off her leather boots. She shivered, moving to stand in front of the raging fireplace in the living room. 

"You look like shit," A ridiculing voice came behind her. As she put her hair up in a clip, Khair craned her neck behind her, eyes narrowing.

There her brother sat, improperly, might she add, in the love seat behind her. His legs strewn over the armrests, a thick book in his hands, Fhai's face was lit up with amusement.

"Shut the fuck up," Khair hissed at her younger brother, rubbing her hands together in front of the fire. Eyeing the novel in his hands, entitled 'Royal Liasons', Khair rolled her eyes. Following her gaze, Fhai smiled boyishly.

"I can totally lend it to you after I'm done. The two love interests Ricardo and Alejandro are toe-curling. They do this position where Ricardo leans out a window of a 6 story tower waving at his royal subjects while Alejandro takes him in his mouth." He eagerly offered. Whipping her head back to the fireplace, Khair shook her head.

"Unlike you, I have actually responsibilities and chores to perform around the house. You know- like providing a basic living for our family." Khair intoned, her eyes alit from the flames that danced in front of her.

"I sincerely apologize that you were the born eldest daughter and with a chronic stick up your ass," Fhai sarcastically retaliated.

"You know what Fhai, I don't whether you're lucky or it's just borderline pathetic that our Father doesn't think you're man enough to get you to do basic living tasks," Khair bit out and then winced. Attacking his masculinity was a low blow.

Fhai's eye narrowed, his mouth widened ready to bite back when the living room door opened, presenting their father and sister, Leila. In the corner of her eyes, Khair watched Fhai hurriedly shove the leather-bound novel between the chair's armrest and cushion.

"Thank you for the water, Khair," her dad thanked, giving Khair a warm smile as he walked into the room holding a glass, which Khair only presumed was filled with her painstakingly obtained water.