Journey

Chapter Two~ Disappearance

I woke up the next morning with the sun on my face, I sighed and remembered what today would consist of: Mom torturing me with a lesson for most of the day. 

I rolled out of bed to get dressed. There was already a dress on the edge of my bed. I slipped it on and headed for the "tea" room. That's what I called her favorite room, it was a very open room that had tons of plants and huge floor to ceiling windows. 

Mom has always tried to teach me everything she learned from her mother. However, never remember most of it. Today it would be how to pour tea like a "lady" I scowled at the thought. I hated tea. 

I bounded into the room. She sat with Margret, one of the house maids. Mom put her tea down, "Ah! Annie. Join us." 

I walked over to them and took a seat. She handed me a cup of tea and told me to drink it. Which I did, and after a few sips I purposely spilled on my evening dress. 

Mom looked down at the floor sadly, "Annie, go put on something that is not tea stained." she said. Before I was out of earshot, she muttered to the maid, Margret, "I will never be able to make her into a proper woman."

"What she needs is training to defend herself, My lady, not lessons of how to be a woman of court."

"I don't disagree, but if she is trained she will gain more strength and power. He will find her sooner if he feels her get stronger."

Questions bubbled up inside of me: Why was I beginning to hear these conversations now? Who is this "he" everyone is so worried about?

I sighed and made my way to my room, I would think about that earlier. Mom was having dinner with her friends; she has a lot of friends. And I needed to be there. I changed out of my evening dress that I wore for a few minutes. 

...

After an hour the people poured in; those friends like to bring other friends. I stood next to Jared and watched Mom greet them all with a smile. I saw the Dustain twins come into the room. After they talked to Mom, they started straight for me and Jared. I smiled at them then looked at Jared, the look on his face tells me he didn't want to be here as much as me. Kal on the other hand was delighted, once he saw those girls come towards us, his face lit up like a child on Christmas morning.

"Hello Kal," Sarah said not looking at Jared, "Annie," she nodded at me. I nodded back with a smile. Trying so hard not to scowl.

The other one, Neita, was all over Jared, "Oh, Jared you look dashing this evening," she tugged on his arm, "Come dance with me."

With that, I walked away gagging. Neita wasn't the prettiest thing in the room thats for sure. I stalked away to one side of the ballroom where the crowd hadn't settled in yet. The music was a classic that allowed the people to dance slowly around the room.

I watched as Dad slithered into the library. I began to sneak towards him, dodging people who wanted to dance or talk. He moved his eyes through the crowd seeing if anybody saw him. He found me standing outside of the spewing of pent up gossip. He smiles and put his finger up to his lips telling me that I didn't see anything. I smiled back and put my finger up to touch my lips, telling him that I saw nothing, nothing at all.

Soon after that I slipped out of the ball room and went to get Sengen. I was halfway up the stairs when a maid caught me. She held my arm tightly. "You're not going back so soon, are you," she asked quietly in a nervous manner. I watched her eyes as they filled with... Fear?

"I'm just going to my room" I said with a smile. hoping it wouldn't be that dangerous. Anyone could have seen us leaving last night. We didn't exactly stay in the gardens and we were gone for a while. She gave me a look, almost like she knew something I didn't.