Silk & Dagger (Vascan Empire #1)

Chapter Seven

9 years ago...

There was a thunderstorm raging that night. Valeria couldn't catch a wink as tossed and turned in her bed. She had been restless the whole day. She lifted herself up on her elbow to glance at the opposite bed.

It was empty. The neatly made bed remained undisturbed exactly as Karine left it in the mornings. Valeria frowned at that. She didn't know what time it was, but her older half-sister should have been in bed by now.

Karine had to clean the house and do the dishes every night before bed. Sometimes Valeria's precious mother left her an extra task or two. Or maybe more. But Karine was deft at handling anything and everything that her mother, Malena thrust at her. It irked her mother even more.

Valeria lied down and stared at the ceiling again waiting for her sister to turn up. The window doors swung in the wind wildly, the lock was broken. It was raining more heavily, water sprayed on her face. She turned her back to the window and jerked her thin sheet over her head. It did little to warm her. Karine never came.

Valeria was woken again by a loud smash. The damn window was swaying back and forth rapidly as if it would detach any moment and fly away.

She looked up and saw the unoccupied bed. It made her restless again. She had no special love for her sister. Or her wonderful witch of a mother. She didn't know what to feel about her step-father when he rarely acknowledged her presence in the house. Her own father was killed in the war long before she was pulled out of her mother's womb. She had remained an unloved being forever. Unloved, but free. Free from expectations. So, she never had to mull over the fact that there was no one in the world who cared if she lived or died. But she had herself and that was enough.

But Karine was different. In the sense, she had tried to include Valeria into her miserable world when her father had married Valeria's mother. She had been the only person to do so. Accept Valeria willingly. Everyone else behaved like Valeria's presence was a curse for a misdeed in their past life. 

Her mother swore to remind Valeria every day what a worthless daughter she had borne. Valeria was the ugliest child in the world in her mother's eyes. And when she saw Karine's beautiful innocent face, she was reminded of the failure her daughter was. She threw a fit every time she looked at the both of them together. Her anger was like a blinding tempest. And Karine had to bear the brunt of it. So, they never had a chance to grow a sister bond.

Her mother made sure Karine remained alone. Like her. 

Still, Karine was the only point of stability in Valeria's chaotic life. Even though they couldn't grow up like real sisters. So she tolerated her never-ending kindness and care.

When it was late enough and Karine hadn't come to bed, Valeria got up and quietly trod down the stairs to find out what her sister was up to. She prayed her mother had fallen asleep in her room after her usual couple of drinks. When she reached the kitchen, she found the dishes neatly stacked on the wooden counter and the back door slightly ajar.

A chill raced down her back when she heard a muffled cry from somewhere far. She opened the door and peered out. It was completely dark outside and the rain was pouring heavily. She noticed a faint glow coming from inside the barn and wondered what Karine was doing with the pigs in the middle of the night.

Another cry sounded. This time a little louder. She stiffened. Somehow Valeria's instincts told her it was not a wise decision to go look for her sister. But Valeria being the rule-breaker she was, ran bare feet all the way over to the barn and stopped at the door fully drenched as rain battered down on her. If her mother caught her like this, she was dead meat.

She heard quiet sobbing again and then it stopped. She hesitated to push the door open and barge in. She dropped to the ground and looked inside from below the wide opening before the door to the barn started.

Her sisters' dead glazed eyes stared back at her. There Karine lay on her stomach near a pile of hay with the back of her gown torn open. Valeria went still when she noticed her mother's gown swish as she moved and she dropped a horsewhip on the floor. She spat at Karine and went over to a nearby stool. She took a direct swig from her bottle. Karine's back was red with clotted blotted and even though her eyes were looking at Valeria, she was lost somewhere far away in her own world. Still, unmoving. Almost dead.

Valeria shivered, not from the cold or the rain hitting her sleep-deprived body. Somehow at the mere age of ten, she had a foreboding that her sister was inches away from death. She didn't know what would happen to her if her sister didn't survive the night.

Valeria had always been a spineless child and had never stood up for her sister when her cruel mother inflicted this type of torture on her. She never told their father. Neither did Karine. They knew they would only get into more trouble once their father left again for work.

Valeria's mother Malena moved again. This time towards the door and Valeria nearly startled in fright. She had nowhere to go. She got up and ran towards their house. But she wouldn't make it in time, she knew her mother would see her anyway. So she stopped suddenly and looked back.

The door opened and her mother stepped out in the rain. On one hand, she held an umbrella over her head and her other hand clutched the folds of her dress skirt, holding it up from mud and water. As if she was some gentle, delicate lady. She glanced up and her eye met Valeria's.

First, her eyes widened, and then her rage returned with a vengeance. Her face contorted and Valeria almost peed her pants. She took off towards the house again. Once she reached inside, she locked the door shut and raced up the stairs. The door lock wouldn't hold her mother out for long. She banged on it like a madwoman screaming loud enough to wake the dead. Her voice carried all the way to the second floor despite the storm.

Valeria threw their bedroom door open with a bang and rushed inside. Her hands trembled, as she bent down and lifted the wooden plank of her bed. Inside a small red velvet pouch lay among other trivial things she had collected over the years. She grabbed the pouch and made her way over to Karine's side of the room. She knew exactly where Karine hid her money pouch. Not that Karine had made an effort to hide it from her. Somehow, unwisely she trusted Valeria. It was always Malena she was worried about, that one day she would barge in and snatch the coins, her father left her on his visits out of spite. She was saving it up so she could run away. Valeria didn't know when.

She slipped her feet into the only pair of muddy boots she owned and grabbed her coverall.