Cut From A Tattered Cloth

🌺Chapter 19🌺

Uzu Donny's nieces were nice.

At least, Melia assumed they were. She wasn't a hundred percent sure, since it was hard to keep up when they spoke to each other. It wasn't that they couldn't speak Zaramian. Quite the contrary, they both spoke better than Melia could, which didn't help. Adding to the confusion, they went back and forth between Zaramian and their first language, making Melia's head spin as she tried to keep track of which words belonged to each.

Melia thought they reminded her of the Rude Woman's attendant, Kaori. She would place both in their early twenties. And while Carolina was more outspoken than Aria, they both had the nurturing, slightly bossy, demeanor of an older sister.

In fact, Aria was an older sister. Melia was surprised she didn't see the connection sooner. With her red hair, tawny skin, and a spray of freckles across her face, she looked a lot like Alfred. Only where Alfred's eyes were dark brown, Aria's were a pale tan that was practically beige.

"Alfredo likes you," she said, winking after telling Melia who she was. "He says you're his good friend with all the fiori."

She tapped the plumeria tucked behind Melia's ear. Grinning, Melia twirled her wrist, growing two more. She gave one to each of them as they sat down around an empty table.

"Che bella!" Carolina said. She tucked her flower behind her right ear, imitating Melia. Carolina was tall. Skinny, yet not underfed. She had dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes. Melia wondered if she was related to one of the guards– the one who had thanked her for growing flowers at the entrance.

Melia turned back to Aria. "Alfredo," she asked, "is he...in his own space?" She gestured at her head, hoping that wasn't offensive. She had been curious about Alfred, though. Was he always that sick, or did he have some kind of condition? Melia was inclined to think it was the latter, given how his family had fussed over him.

Aria smiled sadly. "He got sick on our way here, and never quite recovered."

Melia frowned. "Why not?"

"Because someone poisoned him," Carolina growled.

Melia's eyes went wide. "Poison?" She hovered her hand over her throat, looking from one girl to the other to make sure she understood.

Aria nodded, wincing as though the memory were still painful. "Our family left home for a reason. Violence had broken out between two rival gangs, and we wanted nothing to do with it. My father had pressure from both sides to join in, but he refused." She shrugged. "When word got out that we were leaving, they tried to kill us on the boats."

Melia covered her mouth. "They poisoned all of you?"

"They tried to," Carolina said, brow furrowing into a scowl. "Mind you, we didn't have the money we have now. We came on the old shipping boats, not a cruise liner or one of the fancy airships Uncle Donny likes today. We slept with the cargo. Lived off of scraps. And when people started getting sick after every meal, it didn't take long to figure out what was happening."

"Getting sick?" Melia repeated. "They poison your food?"

"One of the gangs paid off the crew," Aria explained. "Asked that they make our deaths look like an accident. They even sent a few of their members to make sure the job was done."

"It ended up not working out well for them, though," Carolina added. "When we found out they were slowly killing us, our men rallied together and seized control of the boat."

"Seized?"

Melia didn't know what that word meant. She thought she'd heard it in her emergency response classes with the Junior Mages. Something about how people shook uncontrollably after experiencing trauma. Which could've happened if they were being poisoned.