In The Lair of the Draca (Book 2)

In The Lair of the Draca (Book 2) Chapter 72: Love Lost

Zee stared broodingly into the flames of her mother's hearth.

"And what on the heaven's Twin Moons could be bothering you tonight, dear heart?" drawled Zeechek, stumbling in through the lodge door. Zeechek was slurring her words again, which made Zee think of the fermented drink her mother couldn't seem to stay away from when the Matron hosted her dice-throwing contests late into the Night. It hadn't even been two weeks since Waru's death, and already Amiechek was up to her old haunts: parading up and down Looks Thrice in her finest garments; hosting more games than she attended; and stretching out her heavily-bangled arms so that the mothers of the village could hang on them adoringly, each hoping to put in a good word for a daughter near marrying age, so as to take advantage of the Matron's lavish wedding gifts.

Meechek, who was set to marry Luka in only one month's time, hadn't been able to keep her mouth shut about the opulence that the Matron had bestowed upon her: a basket full of nothing but bejeweled bracelets; six containers full of night linens and daytime chemises; two milking cows rather than the traditional one; and six carefully embroidered baskets of baby diapering moss. Zee didn't know how many others suspected the truth, but she was sure Amiechek would not have been so generous had Gormaq not renounced his daughter in front of the People. Ever since that time, Gormaq-- already old and hunched-- had become even greyer and thinner, a mere husk of the man he had once been.

"Nothing's the matter, Mother. Why on the heaven's Twin Moons, as you say, would anything be wrong with me?" Zee's lips drew in on themselves until they were a single puckered point.

"Are you getting smart with me, girl?" The door slammed. Zeechek collapsed against it for a few moments, trying to catch her breath and collect herself. Zee dared glance behind her. There was a large stain on her mother's chemise where she had obviously spilled her fermented drink, and the too-tight shawl she had shrugged over her shoulders did a heinous job at accentuating her sagging breasts.

Zee took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Of course I'm not getting smart with you, Mother," she lied, "but this is only the third night you've been out in a row. Do you know how many things I have to put up with from the girls at my lessons who know that you go drinking at every lodge in the village when the star-light dims?"

Zeechek tottered over to her sleeping bench, pinwheeling her arms crazily before her, and sank into the bedsheets with a satisfied sigh. "You shouldn't listen to what any of those girls say," she said haughtily, "especially when none of it's true. They're liars, all of them, and those Matron-hugging mothers of theirs as well. Do you know what I went through to take care of you, to bring you into this world, to raise you without a father while the other girls whispered behind their palms? They were married. Their babies never cried in the Night. Their children walked first, talked first, rolled over first, took their first bite of mash..."

Zeechek droned on and on, swaying back and forth all the while, and Zee fought a strong urge to slap her.

"...and don't forget, little Zee, that you're no better or worse than me, the woman who carried you in her belly for five months! You think I have a problem with the Matron's fermented drink?"

"No. I--"

"Of course you do. Spoiled little wretch! But you forget so easily the time I came in here and found you just as drunk as a mole swimming in a bottle of Amichek's ginka berries. I had to hide you in here for two days until the effects of the drink wore off. And you have the nerve to question me?"

Zee whipped her head around and glared at her mother, flint eyes snapping like sparks. "Mother, I was four years old! I got into the drink in the first place because you'd left me here alone for two hours, and the bottle was on one of your lower shelves where anyone could have gotten to it. What would you expect a toddler to do?"