Myra and the Arcadian Lord

4. Homeless - part 1

It had been two days since her encounter with the demon stanger, and Myra didn't utter a single word about what she had seen back there in the abandoned path with anybody. Not that she had anyone close enough to talk about it with anyway.

Her aunt had screwed her up again that day when she had returned home late all soaked in the rain with a bag of ruined grocery items. Lyla even managed to make her niece starve that night as a punishment.

Unfortunately, Myra had caught a cold and couldn't stop sneezing. However, she continued to carry out her daily chores at home, and nobody seemed to care about her illness. Except for Peter.

Last night he had sneaked into her room without his mother's knowledge to give her a thick blanket as the one which she was using was thin and worn out. He draped it over her, saying, "Use this Myra. It should keep you warm."

For a ten year old, Peter was indeed way too mature in his thinking. He wasn't like the rest of his family, he was always caring and happy go kind of a boy.

As usual like everyday, that day was also no different. After the morning breakfast her uncle left for work at the market, peter ran out to play with his friends, her Aunt and cousin were in their rooms dressing up for the party, while Myra had just finished mobbing the floor and was preparing tea in the kitchen.

Upstairs, in one of the rooms April was getting ready to attend the luncheon hosted by the Laurel's family.

She twisted and twirled in front of the mirror stand admiring herself. The dress fit her perfectly well, enhancing her neck and collar bones. A little makeup and a neat hairdo did make her look pretty enough for young men to line up in front of her and she was looking forward for it to happen. Her intention of going to this luncheon was to somehow try and grab a rich man's attention.

In the past few months, April had received a lot of marriage offers from many eligible bachelors at just the age of seventeen. But she had rejected every single one of them, waiting for a proposal to come from Mr. Stevan Clark. However, it never came.

Clark was a vampire and also an Earl. He was young, good-looking, and extremely wealthy. According to April and her mother, he would be a good catch if he happened to fall for April's charms.

She was almost done with her dressing when her mother, Lyla, walked into her room carrying a small velvet box.

"Mother, how do I look?" she asked, once again twisting and twirling in front of her mother.

Lyla smiled at her daughter lovingly. "As always, you look beautiful."

Placing the box she had been carrying on the mirror stand, Lyla made her daughter sit on a stool facing the mirror. She then opened the box to take out a necklace, putting it around April's neck.

It was a simple gold chain designed in small leaf like patterns with a delicate rose pendent made of ruby stone attached to it. The chain was simple yet elegant, and it matched perfectly with the dress.

April gasped, looking at the necklace around her neck through the mirror, before turning around to look at her mother.

"Isn't this Amyra's?" she asked her mother quizzically.

"Actually, it is her mother's. Well, who cares since Grace is already dead, and her daughter doesn't need it. You can use it." Lyla shrugged casually, as if it was hers now.

Lyla Brooke had always been jealous of Myra's mother, Grace, as she was beautiful, kind, and graceful, just like her name. Wherever she went, people used to adore and respect her, focusing all their attention on Grace while ignoring Lyla.

Grace Brooke, after all, was a noble-born, a demon at that. In Arcadia, demons held the highest authority. They were extremely strong and mighty, with a very long lifetime. They don't age easily like humans do, even though everything about them resembled humans.

Next come the vampires, who are more powerful after the demons, followed by witches, werewolves, and elves. Humans stand last in the line of hierarchy, being the weakest and the most vulnerable ones.

Lyla also despised the fact that most of Grace's beauty and charms were passed on to her niece. She tried her best to hide the girl from the public eye. Never once took her out on functions, so that her daughter April could get all the attention instead.

After her in-law's death, Lyla and her husband took all their valuable items which was supposed to be Amyra's and shamelessly used them as their own while treating their niece as nothing more than a lowly servant.

"Hmm.. I think you are right mother" said April after a moment. "It won't matter. Since my dumb cousin wouldn't want it anyway. She doesn't have to go around impressing rich men like me, any lowly beggar would do", she added laughing and her mother joined in.

"Her parents death was the best thing that could ever happen in my life....If only they had taken their pest of a daughter along with them too...", Lyla commented with a disappointed sigh.

"Forget it Mother", April said looking at Lyla. "Why spoil your mood talking about her".

"That bitch, Grace had it all", Lyla commented. "She could have lived a life like a queen in a huge mansion with hundreds of servants doing all her work. If she hadn't eloped with your worthless uncle".

"They eloped?", April asked her mother curiously.

"Yes. Grace was betrothed with the Lord of Stonefort". April gasped after hearing this.

"Aunt Grace's family was that rich?".

Lyla sighed. "Unfortunately Yes. Grace was from a wealthy family. But, that Dumb whore, lost it all when she made a stupid decision of marrying your uncle Frederick instead".

"Does her family know about Amyra?", April questioned.

"They know that Grace had birthed a child. Eight years ago, a man had come asking for the your cousin, but your uncle and I somehow managed to convince the man that, Myra is dead" Lyla said. "We even had to dig up a fake grave with Amyra's name carved on the headstone to make the man believe".

Myra who was standing out by her cousin's room with a tray of tea in her hands and had heard the conversation between the mother daughter duo. It was not like she had intended to eavesdrop on them, but they were way too loud for her to hear everything.

She waited for a few more minutes outside listening to their conversation before deciding that she had enough.

The fact that her aunt and April was talking so lowly about her parents made her blood boil. She didn't care that they treated her badly all these years but she just couldn't stand there and listen to her aunt rattling nonsensical things about her mother. Gritting her teeth with anger, Amyra tapped the room door rather too sharply.

'Wait until I teach them a lesson' she thought. Not caring about the outcome, Myra opened the door and walked in, ready for some drama.