The Raven

Chapter 3 - Elleya

With an improved posture and attitude, I entered through the door and back into the main room, the water pitcher sloshing in my hands. My father was laughing along with the 2 strangers, probably at Alrien's expense, seeing as his face was bright red. Quietly, I approached behind my father and filled his cup with cold water. He didn't even look up at my face as I did so. I then moved on the the strangers and my brother. 

Even now, the stangers keapt their cloaks buttoned full up, with hoods drawn down low on their faces, which were difficult to make out under all the cloth.  While Morin was totally engaged in a conversation with the men, my brother was solemnly staring at his plate. As I passed him on my way to the kitchen, I saw him slip something something out from his pocket and into his lap, no doubt a creature of some kind. My brother was almost a man, but still insisted on bringing small animals into the house. Knowing my brother, he had somehow sneaked it past the hawk eyes of my father. He was sneaky like that.

I continued on my way to the kitchen. The meat was slowly bubbling in its pot when I added the green onions and potatoes that my brother and I had prepared. I stirred the pot for a few minutes, trying to overhear snippets of the conversation that was going on at the table. I sighed inwardly. I was supposed to be there alongside my father, not here in the kitchen. 

Carefully, I ladled 4 bowls of the meat broth. With them balancing precariously on various parts of my anatomy, I made my way to the table. I gave my bother the first bowl. He eagerly set down whatever was in his lap and picked up the wooden spoon that lay to his right. He was already digging in before the bowl had even touched the table. I then gave to next 2 bowls to the guests. The first accepted the bowl gratefully and began eating right away. The second thanked me graciously, then continued his story to Morin. 

As I set the bowl before the second stranger, I caught his eye when I was straightening. His eyes were pure black, almost a wild color. He winked at me. Flustered by the move, I hastily put the last bowl in front of my father and turned to go back to the kitchen. In my impatience, my hand accidentally collided with Morin's water and set it sailing across the table. It landed in the center of the table and spilled its contents all over the wood. All conversation ceased, and I almost feinted with embarrassment. When I looked to my father for punishment, I only met a faint smile. He slipped me a cloth square beneath the table and I set straight about to cleaning the mess I had just made. It was dead silent as I did so. 

When I made my way around the table to get the spot between the 2 men, the one of the right glanced down at my feet. "No shoes?" I turned an even darker shade of red. I said nothing, not trusting my tongue to find the right words to say. "She's a free spirit." My brother piped up, finally looking up from his stew. I shot him a look and he returned to spooning meat into his mouth. 

My father just smiled. He never got angry with me, even when I accidentally mistook one of his tools for a kitchen aid and used it to cut fish. The man looked back up from my feet and into my face. "Free spirit indeed." He grinned a little and I saw his teeth. They were straight and perfect. "Don't let them wring it out of you." He added in a whisper. Good. I wasn't in TOTAL trouble. At least not yet. 

With a hasty spin, I rounded to the kitchen and ducked out of sight. When I was sure no one could see me from the table, I sunk to my floor, with my back against the thick, wooden wall. I hugged my knees like a small child. I had made a complete fool out of myself and my father tonight. I had been foolish not to wear shoes. I was not the woman I wanted to be. Forget trying to be a lady, I was only a little child, looking to my father for guidance for what was good and what was bad. I was nothing like my mother... I was a girl, trying to be a woman. I looked at my bare toes with disdain. They wiggled back at me. Instinct took over and I stuck my tongue out at them. Definitely. I was only a little girl at heart.