Bloodlines

Chapter 2

Dedicated to inlovewithskittles

****

One thing Layla hated more than the sleepy village of Mocking, was chores.

Chores!

Detestable things, chores were. She'd rather do anything - hang around with Liam, watch the Knights at the border wall, count sand - than to do chores.

The mages could create great metal objects that flew in the sky, couldn't they device a simple pot scrubbing potion?

Useless. Utterly useless.

After hours of seemingly endless torture Layla was finally doing her final chore - laundry! The joy!

Muttering, she toted the last set of clothes to the Great Sable River (quite a foolish name for a river) and dumped it with a vengeance. She was doing Liam's laundry today (she lost a bet) so as she spread his tunics on the washing-flat and began to spread a cleanse potion on them.

It was evening, the sky a wash of orange and pink. Evening was symbolic to Layla. Her father died at dusk. She first met Liam at dusk.

Done with the laundry, she dumped the clothes in a basin and meandered into the meadow by the river path. She sat down at the top of a grassy knoll, watching the evening breeze dance with the wildflowers.

Soon, she won't be able to idly sit in meadows and watch the sunset, or complain and bitch about chores. Soon, she'd be washing bloodstained rags and nursing solders. That's what Gran told her women did in wars. Heal and nurse. They never let them fight--at least, not humans.

Why would a mage army want to attack Mocking Village? It just didn't make sense. Perhaps they just wanted to-- no. Mage warriors had no need for human soldiers. They wouldn't want to recruit the villagers. So why?

Sighing, she got up and dusted her skirt. Thinking won't do her chores, no matter how serious and un-frivolous the thinking was. Besides, it was getting quite late. Her mother would be worried. Ha! Served her right for giving her chores. She was hungry, though.

She gathered the magically dried clothes in the basin (the peddlers washing potion was simply divine, the clothes even smelled like lemon!), but as she was folding the last of Liam's shirts, she felt a presence behind her. She was no longer alone.

She froze, then spun around, then was face with a woman. A girl, really. She was around Layla's age and height. She had shiny grey hair, so she was a mage(the mages were oddly coloured beings, really), in battle armor, so she was in the mage army, and a sword pointed at her neck, so Layla was screwed. The girls mischievous grey eyes twinkled as other riders poured out of the trees.

Soon, she was surrounded. Her heart began to pound hard. The mage army. They were here already. What could they want?

"You're Layla Hart? I expected someone... taller."

" You don't look so tall yourself, Ghost Girl." Layla replied coolly, trying not to panic, as she watched what appeared to be the leader, a woman in black armor, move towards her.

The girls smug smile faded and she glared at Layla, her overly expressive eyes filling with anger.

"Very funny, 'cause I have grey hair and eyes I'm a ghost righ--"

"Enough, Eunice. I'll take it from here."

The woman disembarked from her horse as Eunice stomped back to hers, muttering all the way to her steed.

"Hello Layla. Sorry for that. We're not enemies, are we?" She smiled, a genuine one, which surprised Layla.

"I'm Mae Sterling, Lieutenant of the Mage Forces. We went to see your mother, she told us we'd find you here."

"What do you want from me?" A village girl with a bleak future in child bearing.

"Well, Layla, we're here to escort you past the badlands to the Pearl Valley. The Mage Lord requests your presence at once. We leave at dawn."

Dread crawled down Layla's spine as she chuckled nervously.

"Well. There goes Liam's laundry."

***
Filler chapter yo. Sorry for the late updates, exams are killing me right now.

Check out 'A Deal with Chaos' and 'The Lying King', both by the amazing random_Nigerian_girl! Show your luvvvvvvv by voting and tell everyone to tell everyone to check it out.

Don't forget to Comment, Vote and Share!

Love, Iteoluwakiishi (popularly referred to as Queen of All Mortals, Overly Amazing Person, or simply Kiishi)