Myra and the Arcadian Lord

1. The demon stranger - Part 1

Year 1763

It was sometime in the evening and was pouring down heavily all over the land of Arcardia. Lightning would strike, brightening up the darkened sky accompanied along with the rumblings of thunder, that could be heard at frequent intervals. People usually preferred to stay indoors due to the unexpected change in the weather.

In one of the houses not far from the capital village of Arcardia, a young girl placed a log of wood beneath a large vessel filled with water and gently blew on it with an iron blowpipe, causing the flames to burn more brightly. The fire in the hearth crackled, radiating warmth and infusing a feeling of coziness.

Satisfied with the warmth of the fire, the girl stood up and lightly touched the surface of the water in the vessel, feeling its moderate heat. "Perfect!" she thought, smiling to herself.

She picked up a mug from an empty bucket and began pouring the warm water from the vessel into the bucket until it was full. Once finished, she arranged all the bathing accessories on a small wooden slab next to the bucket of hot water before leaving the bathroom.

"Uncle your bath is ready", Amyra informed her uncle who had returned home from the market all drenched in the rain and had asked her to set up a warm bath for him.

Uncle Ravin who was sitting on a rocking chair in the veranda was lost in his own thoughts staring at the rain drops with a forgotten cup of coffee in his hand. An air of melancholy had surrounded him. He didn't even respond to what Amyra had said, making her doubt whether he had actually heard her in the first place.

Once again she repeated her words, this time her voice coming out a bit louder than before, "Uncle, your bath is ready". Thinking that he hadn't heard her the last time.

"I know" came a bored reply from her uncle who was still looking at the rain "I heard you the first time".

Ravin didn't seem to be in a hurry and he took his own sweet time in finishing the cup of coffee. After what seemed like ages to myra, he handed over the empty cup to his niece, who was patiently standing next to him. With a huff, he got up from his chair and went to take a bath without uttering another word.

The Brookes were an average middle-class family who earned their living through trade. Myra's parents had passed away in an accident when she was seven, and since then, she had been living with her paternal uncle, Ravin Brooke, and his family.

Amyra was on her way to the kitchen when she heard someone call her out, making her stop on her tracks. It was her cousin April walking in her direction holding a heap a maroon colored clothing in her hands.

"Stitch this!" she dumped the cloth into Myra's hands. "That's my favorite gown, and it is slightly torn in the back, stitch it. I am going to wear it to the soiree held at the laurels household" she informed.

"Okay, I'll stitch it once I'm done preparing the dinner," Myra replied. The sky was getting darker, and her aunt Lyla had ordered her to prepare food a bit early that day due to the cold weather. She wanted her children to eat and retire to bed earlier than usual.

"NO! I want you to mend it now!" April can be stubborn sometimes and she sounded a bit irritated too. "Dinner can wait" she said with finality.

Myra sighed; her cousin April was two years younger than her and was the most pampered child of the family, or rather, one could say the most spoiled child. If she didn't heed to April's demands now, she would undoubtedly throw a tantrum, drawing everyone's unwanted attention at home, and Myra didn't want that at the moment.

Having no other option, she went to her attic room with the gown and retrieved a wooden box containing different coloured threads from the table drawer. Then she sat on the wide window sill comfortably.