From the Ashes [Guilded Kingdoms: Book 1][Book sample; rest in KU]

Chapter 2

"Lael!"

Lael froze in the doorway as she heard her stepmother's worry filled voice.

"Yes, Stepmother?" She turned around to face the woman, steeling herself for another of her interrogations.

She looked slightly out of breath and her green eyes were shining with the same worry Lael had heard in her voice. Her dark curls which, usually, were piled and pinned perfectly atop of her head, were in slight disarray with stray locks hanging down.

"Lael, where have you been? I sent someone to look for you almost an hour ago," Nelissa asked as she stopped to stand in front of Lael.

"I'm sorry, Stepmother, now that it's spring, I was looking for any early blooming flowers," Lael explained, holding up the basket in her hand. "It's very unlikely they'd have been able to find me."

Especially considering that I've told them not to, she thought to herself with a silent laugh.

At hearing where she had been, Lael watched as her stepmother visibly started to relax, though her expression still carried a note of concern.

"You stayed within the manor grounds at least? You know that you're,..."

Lael sighed, and, not wanting to be reminded of the unreasonable restriction, interrupted her stepmother. "Yes, I know. I didn't go any further than the northern boundary."

It was only then that Nelissa softened and gave Lael a gentle smile. "Very good."

Her stepmother started to turn away, but then stopped to give Lael's basket a curious look.

"I see that you were quite successful in gathering your flowers." Suspicion clouded her eyes as she took in the fruit of Lael's search. "Whatever do you plan to do with so many?"

Lael tried to hide her nerves, fingers twitching as she shifted her grip on the basket's handle.

"It has been an unusually dreary winter, Stepmother, I thought I might brighten up my room with them seeing as I spend so much time in there," she answered, failing to keep her tone from falling flat as she said the last part. "I suppose I got a little carried away in my picking."

Apparently satisfied by her answer, her stepmother gave her a small nod and walked away, leaving Lael to sigh with relief at not being pressed further.

She hadn't lied, per se, it had been an exceptionally cold and long winter and Lael did intend to keep a few of the flowers for decorating her room. However, it hadn't been her only purpose in gathering the flowers and, if her stepmother had taken a closer look at the basket, she would have seen that it contained much more than just flowers. Below the over abundant flowers she had picked, there were what few winter berries she could find and other plants that Lael knew could be used to create pigments from if she had sufficient quantities.

Still, she felt a pang of regret at withholding her real reason for gathering the flowers. Once, she would have been excited to share her love of art with her stepmother and been met with equal enthusiasm in return, but those days had long since passed and Lael, for the life of her, couldn't understand the reason why.

Nelissa had never been anything short of kind towards her from their first meeting when Lael's father had started courting the young widow, and Lael knew that she cared for her as if she were her own daughter. It's part of what made her behaviour now so confusing.

Ever since her father died, Nelissa had become almost paranoid about Lael and controlling where she could and could not go and even more adamant in her refusal to allow Lael to continue her drawing and painting as she used to do. She could only recall a handful of times where she'd been off of estate grounds, even before her father's passing. Lael had always asked him to take her with him when he would go into town or away for one of his trips on business for the crown, but the answer was always 'perhaps next time.'