Maji Born

02 - A Royal Dilemma

Lavinia was wide awake. She could not pinpoint the hour, but the soft chirping of crickets outside her window led her to believe that it was near dawn. The shouting from below had woken her hours ago and she had been unable to return to sleep.

She had recognized Carsire's gravelly voice, echoing up from floors below, but had not been able to make out his words.

Lavinia had lain in silence, listening for a reprise of the shouting, but they had not come. Now her mind spun. She had contemplated attempting a nighttime stroll through the castle but thought better of it. The patrol would be on high alert, thanks to whatever had caused the disturbance, and if her brother caught her she would never be allowed out of a maids sight again. Not to mention she would likely lose any rights she still retained. No. She had best stay put.

Instead, she rose from her bed. She slid out from under her covers, pushing the silk sheets aside with practiced fingers. She sat up, turned, and lowered her feet slowly down to the floor. She shivered as her toes touched the cold marble, momentarily debating returning to the comfort of her sheets. She was no longer tired and it would be pointless to pretend to be, it would be better to rise. Instead, she stood and holding onto the bed for support, shuffled her way across the hard stone in search of her slippers.

They hadn't gone far, in fact, they were exactly where she had slid them off the night before, three steps toward the bedpost. She slid them on. Much better. She pulled the top blanket from her bed and gathered it about her shoulders. She felt for the bedpost, orienting herself to the room.

The window was about ten steps from the bed. Lavinia reached it and fumbled momentarily with the latch. It lifted easily and a swift breeze swept into the room. She leaned out slightly, gripping the sill with one hand, the other kept the blanket from falling to the floor. She breathed in deeply, relaxing with the cold morning wind.

Her white-blonde hair whipped about her face gleefully leaping to meet the weather in a chaotic and wild way. Lavinia let go of the window ledge, opting to reach out into the void, she liked to imagine she could fly. She could have been for all she could tell, it felt wonderful.

After a long while, the twitter of larks and jays began signalling the true start to the day. Lavinia pictured them flittering passed, landing on the tiled roof, playfully gliding together down into the courtyard. She could hear their feet colliding with the roof tiles above her with soft scratching and clicking noises. But she couldn't picture them.

Carsire had tried to explain them, feathered, with small boney mouths or beaks as he had called them. The larks were small, about the size of a closed fist. They were common with beautiful speckled brown feathers. Once he had brought her a feather so she could feel it, it had been soft and thin, but it was sturdy, much more than expected. Carsire had told her that the jays were more extravagant, a bit like her brother, always finely tailored with their blue feathers proudly displayed.

She could feel her face began to warm as the dawn approached, and with a soft sigh, Lavinia turned away from the unknown and returned to her well-trodden abode, wishing she could witness the sunrise. She took the known path to her dressing table and carefully lowered herself onto the waiting settee.

There was a mirror, a mere pretense, and a laughable one. It felt like one more cruel joke being played by her mother. Give the blind girl a mirror, that would fix her. Lavinia felt around for her brush and began to methodically pass it through her thick wavy hair. It was funny how soothing the action could be. With each stroke, the tension of her surprise awakening melted away. She had a routine, it helped her cope with the mind-numbing boredom of her pitiable existence.

Lavinia was used to finding herself tasks. She spent most of her hours alone in her room, though once a day Carsire, or a maid if he was busy, would take her down into the courtyard for a stroll around the garden, a brief escape from her tower.