Lost

A Sudden Knock

Night had fallen upon that house. Elias slept in his room; Chise slept in hers, Ruth curled up beside her bed. But yet the home was not still, for suddenly, a knock sounded at the door, alerting the ever-present Silky. She walked to the door and opened it to reveal their late night visitor.
She was tall, with long, curled, black hair that fell passed her hips. Her eyes were deep blue and gentle, made more prominent with the perfect amount of makeup and black markings painted under them. She was slender, with a curvy body, and the dress she wore fit her well. It had sweetheart styled chest and its hem line was in the high-low style. Its inner layer was deep violet and the outer was black, and it was trimmed white. She also wore black gloves lined white to match with a violet sleeve reaching up her arm to where it stopped slightly below her shoulder. She had white roses in her hair and white stones around her neck as a tight choker. But the pretty stranger's most striking feature was her pale skin that was tinged blue with cold.
Without a word, just a sweep of her kind hand, Silky invited the stranger into the living room. Shutting the door behind her, Silky moved quick to get ahead of her and light the fireplace. She then dashed into the kitchen, put a pot on to boil, and headed for Elias's room.
The stranger was nestled close to the fire by the time that Silky returned with Elias. The maid went fast to the kitchen, but the mage, his bony face hidden under his red cloth, stood threateningly over the stranger.
"Who are you?" asked Elias, and though his stature was alarming, there was not a hint of danger in his deep voice.
"Cold," answered the stranger. She glanced away. "I've not an idea what my name is, though. All I know about myself is that I'm cold... and quite hungry."
Elias looked to Silky whom had entered the room, pouring a cup of tea for her master and his guest. He didn't need to say a word, she just left to make food, content with her work.
"Beryl," the stranger suddenly spoke. "A name: Beryl."
"Yours?"
"No. But it's an important one."
Elias spent a quiet moment of thought.
"You may stay the night," he eventually said, " and leave with a full belly tomorrow. But I cannot have you stay any longer."
"I understand," she told him. "Thank you for your generosity. If I may ask for just one more thing? Will you point me towards the nearest town?"
"Sure," Elias agreed to the not unreasonable demand. He then turned towards the kitchen and told Silky, "She'll sleep here tonight. I'm sure we have an extra blanket here somewhere."
He then left without a response, for there was no need for one. Silky was a hard worker who did all of her tasks in silence, and he trusted her. He made his way back to his room and fell asleep again.
"Not very friendly," the stranger commented, sipping at her tea which was finally cooled enough. "But he is kind."
The stranger had downed her tea and Elias's, which had gone untouched, before Silky had returned with food. For her, it had been nothing much, but it was still quite the feat to have made what she had for that lost stranger.
"Thank you," she said politely as Silky set it down for her. "Tell me, does the name 'Beryl' mean anything to you?"
Silky thought, but she shook her head.
"Too bad," the stranger muttered, picking up her fork and twirling it through her slender fingers. "The name won't leave me alone. Beryl. Beryl. Beryl. I'm sure they're important to me, but I can't figure out why. A sister, perhaps? Or a lover? No, I'm certain that I don't like girls. Perhaps she's my daughter?"
Silky had no answers for the stranger, and the stranger smiled apologetically at her for talking too much. She thanked Silky again, and the maid left to find the blanket that Elias had spoken of.
"Beryl," she whispered the name again, then shoved food into her mouth. "Ah! Delicious!"
She ate everything quickly, then sat back contently full in the warmth of the gentle flame.
"Fire," she said, as if it were a clue, but her tired mind could not grasp the significance.
Luckily for her, Silky returned with a blanket then. She pulled the pillows from the couch but left one and spread the blanket over the couch, making it a next to perfect place to rest. She then gathered up the stranger's empty dishes and went to the kitchen to start cleaning them. The stranger watched her work, but got up when the maid left and walked to the door, peering out. It was hard to see due that darkness that had fallen over the land, but she could tell that it was snowing steadily.
"Snow," she spoke, and once again it was like her fingertips were grazing a memory that she had no hope of grasping.
Staying awake was pointless, and the pull to sleep was quite strange. But the pull to stay awake and search for the answers hidden away in her confused mind was equally as strong. She banged her head against the window, feeling the cold from the glass seep into her skin.
"Cold," she spoke, reaching out and pressing her hand against the glass.
Silky appeared in the room, and the stranger turned to face her. She frowned, but nodded. It was time to rest. Perhaps with sleep she could piece together the fragments. Staying awake, fretting over it all was not going to help anything. So under Silky's watchful gaze, she drifted to the couch and laid upon it, pulling the blanket over her shoulder, huddling in the warmth it offered. Sleep was easy to find, and it came over her with great speed, and she was gone for the night, like a candle that had been blown out.