The Rose of Anthacena

Chapter 13

Arin sank into his chair and sighed. He had no idea why in the world the girl unnerved him like she did. It certainly wasn't because she posed a threat to him. He chuckled to himself. No, it wasn't that. Violet was so-tiny. So frail and delicate-looking. She could never hurt him.

No, it was something else-something he couldn't name. He didn't know what it was. But he knew the way it made him feel when he was around her. He felt-awkward, and clumsy, and huge, and-and above all: terrifying and ugly. She unconsciously made him hate himself even more than he had before she came.

Next to everything she was, Arin saw more clearly the glaring difference of what he was. To him, Violet was practically an angel; while he--to everyone, including himself--was a monster. She was beautiful; he was hideous. Her character, her soul, was everything good and lovely; his? Ooohh, his was the exact opposite. And he knew it. Yes, he knew it well--and he hated himself for it.

Arin got up and went to a table hidden in a dark corner of the room. He let out a long, deep sigh and sat in the chair that was waiting for him by the table. Closing his eyes for a moment, he sighed again and leaned over the table.

"Show me the girl," he commanded softly, staring at the dark surface. It began to shimmer here and there, then a white post spread from the center until it covered the whole thing. It then slowly faded to show Violet, curled up in her bed. She was sleeping, and Arin smiled to himself. Her face was relaxed by the lines of sleep, and a smile played on her lips. Little moonlight made its way into the room, but Arin had excellent night vision, and could see her clearly.

He sighed and rested his head on his hands. He stayed like that for a long time, watching her sleep until at last, he, too, was claimed by the darkness.

* * *

Violet opened her eyes the next morning and groaned. Her legs hurt, her feet hurt, her back hurt...she just ached all over. She didn't know what she was going to do that day, but she didn't think she could handle another day of walking around.

She gingerly got out of bed, wincing when her feet hit the floor. It took her quite some time to get dressed and ready for the day, since she had to move extra, extra slowly so s to not make herself hurt more than was absolutely necessary.

At last, however, she turned towards the door, feeling slightly more ready to face whatever this new day brought her. Violet slipped out the door, and went downstairs, this time remembering where they were. It only took her a short amount of time today to find the room that contained her breakfast.

After she finished eating, she once again found the piano room. Violet spent the morning playing random pieces from the assorted books that sat on top of the piano. When lunchtime came, she took a quick break for it, and then went straight back to the piano.

About halfway through the afternoon, she was working on finding another song to play, and suddenly heard a voice.

"You play very well, miss, if I may say so," a timid girl's voice sounded close to Violet's ear, making her jump. "I'm sorry, miss," the voice said hurriedly, a little further away this time. "I didn't mean to startle you-really, I didn't." Violet took a deep breath in an attempt to coax her heart rate back to normal. She guessed that the voice belonged to one of the invisible servants.

"Who are you?" Violet asked. "What's your name?"

"Sarah," the voice replied somewhat shyly. "Sarah Turner." Violet smiled.

"Lovely name," she said. "I'm Violet O'Reilly."

"Oh, I know, miss!" Sarah said excitedly. "They're all talking about you downstairs, you know." Violet tilted her head.