Dryads and Nymphs

Chapter 6-Bound and Banned

"Everyone up? Good." She said smiling, oblivious of the tense atmosphere inside the house. Despite her age, she was slender, and looked younger still because of her height. She had auburn hair and twinkling green eyes. Often people mistook Ariana to be her little sister. Ariana had inherited her mother's willowy figure and her green eyes, but other than that, she was her father's feminine reaction. She had her father's brown hair. She loved to travel, she shared the same love for nature her father had. She became just as dedicated and stubborn as her father did when she thought of something. But in some ways, she was very different from her parents. Her parents were athletic, but Ariana hated sports. She hated the weapons her father had tried to teach her to wield, when she had been little. She hated horse riding. In its stead, she liked to write stories, and sketch. She was good at what she did, and after sometime, her mother had come to her aid, and her father had stopped trying to make her try wielding weapons.

Ariana started out of her daze and blinked. Rose was tugging at Ariana's sleeve saying something.

"Ari!" she exclaimed.

"Yes?" Ariana asked, leaning forward.

"Story!" Rose exclaimed, clapping her little hands.

"Another one?" Ariana sighed. She hadn't written anything for a couple of days.

"Maybe tomorrow, Rose. Okay?" Ariana said trying to sound reasonable. Rose sulked, pouting slightly, crossing her arms on her chest, leaning back against the chair, looking away, frowning slightly.

"Hey Rose, come on now," Ariana protested reaching across the table for Rose's little hand. Rose knocked her hand aside, her frown deepening. Ariana could see Rose's green eyes swimming with tears.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you a story just not right now. Instead, we can do something else today if you want. The two of us," Ariana surrendered. Rose cheered up instantly, and smiled. Ariana smiled back.

Her mother who had been bustling about in the kitchen, turned around and said, "You could go to Maryse's house. Little Clove would love to play with Rose."

Ariana considered it. It had been a long time since she had seen Maryse. She missed her good sense of humor, her cheerful nature. She decided to go as soon as she finished her breakfast. Bent over her plate of eggs Ariana wondered if she should tell Maryse about the prince. If she did, she would have to explain how she had come across the lake in the first place and even though she trusted Maryse, she didn't want to tell her about the lake. And besides, she thought, the less people that know about what happened, the better.

Opposite her, Rose was humming to herself, as she stuffed mouthfuls of mashed potatoes in her already full mouth. Rose loved potatoes. Ariana recognized that she was humming the lullaby their mother had been singing to her the night before. Instantly, she mind flashed back to Aron, though she didn't know why. Maybe it has something to do with princes and love songs and moonlit villages, Ariana thought, shrugging unconsciously.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Ariana picked up the dishes and put them in a neat pile near the sink, and waited for her mother to come. When she did Ariana said in her sweetest voice, "Mother you said yesterday that I should spend time with Rose more, so I was wondering if I could take her to Maryse's, right now?"

Her mother smiled and patted Ariana's cheek.

"When I said that I actually meant that you should spend more time with your father and me, and lend us both a hand once in a while. You spend about enough time with Rose," She said, smiling.

"We'll be back before noon." Ariana promised, and then added "Please," fluttering her eyelashes.

Her mother looked amused, like she had decided she wouldn't let her go, but then she said, "Okay, you can go."

Ariana smiled, but before she could turn to go, her mother caught her arm, and leaned in, and whispered in her ear, "When you come back I want to talk to you. Okay?"

Ariana's eyes widened in surprise. "Why? What happened?"

"I'll tell you when you get back. Now go or I'll change my mind and hand you some chores."

"Okay, okay. I'm going, but I want to know as soon as I get back."

Her mother nodded absently lost in thought.