The days that followed were filled with quiet anxiety. Every servant in the manor feared for the well-being of their lords and ladies, who seem to have become unhinged and more uncontrollable after their parent's death. Among the most worrisome of them...is Keres. They felt the change and they could only trust their lady to come out of this brewing battle alive.
One day, as Keres walked down the hallway, she ran into Lilith and Yor. She meant to pass them but her sister paused and so did her friend tiger.
"Lilith?" She tilted her head.
'Can I have a word?' read Lilith's notepad.
Keres nodded softly. "Of course, sister."
Lilith led her to her room, a simple room with a canopy bed and a luxurious carpet for Yor. She barely comes in here, but every time she does, one part of the wall always intrigues her. Undoubtedly, Lilith's room is the most mysterious among them. As Keres entered with light footsteps, her eyes found the bizarre painting on the wall again.
It was a painting of a red eye, with white scribbled incomprehensible words around it and a simple black background.
Not one of them has bothered to ask what it meant... because it was not a painting Lilith purchased. She made it. At first glance, the painting is magnificent, a work of art. But the longer you look, a disturbing feeling will nestle inside. Mayhap a day will come when Lilith shares the meaning behind her bizarre painting.
Lilith led her to the small lounge area of her room. Silence lingered, broken only by her attendants placing down two cups of tea on the table.
"Whyever do I sense awkwardness, sister?" Keres feigned a chuckle. Her sister had no reaction, however, and retained her serious mien. "My... what did you want to talk about?"
Finally, to Keres's relief, Lilith started to scribble in her notepad. Yor lay rested on its place on the carpet. The room was quiet and the weather was nice. But Keres felt anything but settled.
'This may sound bizarre. I apologize.'
"It's alright, go on," she encouraged.
'Do you hear the wind whispering, sister?'
Her sister innocently stared at her and watched her reaction. Keres frowns.
"There is no wind when the windows are closed, Lilith." But Lilith shook her head at Keres's literal answer. As Lilith scribbled her reply, Keres shifted uncomfortably. Does she...? No. She can't. Definitely not.
Lilith raised her notepad again. 'They're not from the wind. Static wind or not, they're there. You can hear them, can you not?'
'Some call it the language of chaos. Tell me more about it.'
The language... of chaos.
"Ridiculous." She laughed humorlessly. "What are we talking about exactly, sister? You're not one to waste my time with this silly bit. That's more of the twins' forte."
But her sister was serious. More nervous than serious, actually. And this was the longest Lilith had ever kept a conversation going, which led her to think she was serious about this. As her sister persistently asked about hearing whispers, Keres was getting to a point that she refused to acknowledge it. Her 12-year-old sister could not possibly know about it. It's impossible.
"If you shall keep with this nonsense, I'll—"
Lilith's next words made her pause. Her eyes darkened. The change in her expression did not go unnoticed by her sister. An unknown emotion flashed in her eyes.
'Voices, sister. Can you hear them?'
· • —–٠ ☀ ٠ —– • ·
Eli and Lilith bid their goodbye to Keres, bound South to follow their older siblings. Eli's forehead creased with worry as he looked out of the carriage to Keres's shrinking figure as well as the manor behind her, while Lilith merely stared—a strange expression on her face.
After their talk, Lilith's suspicions rose to an unprecedented height. She wished she was wrong, but her instincts had never failed her. And her sister's reaction was too guilty to pass. If the sorcerers were right, then it would make sense why they chose her. Lilith lowered her head in deep thought.
Keres's eyes lingered on the carriage a little too long.
After a while, she returns inside and climbs to her room. She rests her chin on her palm as she looked out her window. Lilith knew something about the voices in her head. How?
She racked her brain, trying to reach a sensible assumption but comes up blank. This never happened in her last life. Mayhap it did, she just could not recall.
Keres blamed her lack of focus and inattentiveness to her surroundings. She mentally wrote it down to the list of mysteries she must uncover else her plan will be compromised; it was second to the walking mystery that is Meiji.
Putting those aside, she has a far more urgent mission at hand.
"Ready my horse! I shall leave at once."
The servants scurry upon hearing her order. She was helped to change from her mourning dress into a more comfortable, working middle-class dress. It was to avoid questions about her status on her voyage, and... these cheap dresses are easier to wear.
In her lone journey, she will have no attendants to help her change. Of course, her striking features are certainly an eye candy, but she'll have to trust herself to fend off any approaching men away.
"I must implore you to think this through, my lady," pleaded one of her attendants as she mounted her house. Keres flung the wind-carried strand of her from her face and looked down on her attendant.
"I'd prefer it if you wished me well on my journey instead," she says, smiling gently.
The latter merely frowned and stepped back, her hands clasped together, as she replied, "We have been praying for you and the other lords and ladies' well-being... But we are still restless. We cannot bear to lose another Trivith so soon..."
"Worry not," she assured. "I shall return once I have brought justice to those that wronged us. I promise, after that, I'm done."
And she meant it.
Once justice is served, their fate is guaranteed, and her family is safe... she will rest.
She will gladly take a step back.
But since those are yet to be achieved, she will be unstoppable.
Amarantha, she thought as she looked off into the distance atop her horse with the wind swaying her hair, I will come for you and take away everything you live for. This I promised on the day I was judged and scorned.
YOU ARE READING
Siege
FantasyTeaser: Eventually, the malevolent voices welcomed themselves into her mind. It was anything but forceful. And as she left her sanctuary, Keres took them with her. To the outside world. Where she can finally execute her plan. A new God was born from...
