A Siren's Echo

Chapter 9: A Place of My Own Pt 1

I walk down the halls to my mothers room. I knock first and here her voice tell me to enter. When I open the door I see a beautiful room. There is a large wooden bed with deep purple sheets and pictures hung of fruits and other still paintings. When I see her sitting on the edge of the bed brushing her hair I can see that she is tired. Her perfect face has bags beneath her eyes. And its clear she's been crying. She looks up at me, brushing her hair softly. "Echo, how did practice go?" she asks. 

"It was incredible mother. I looked through one of the servants memories and felt the thread. And saw memories."

Her eyebrows furrow and she looks at me strangely. "Threads? Honey there arent threads. They are just thoughts. You pick a thought or memory and think and you see it."

"No mother there was a large black room. I saw a giant ball of thread and the threads showed me memories." She continues to look at me strangely. "Echo I've never heard of that before. All of our ancestors described it the same way. Are you sure you did it right?" she asks

"Yes I did everything you described just with the room of thread."

"Well maybe your power is just different. I guess we cant all be the same." she says. She stands up and walks over to the large wooden dresser and sets her hairbrush on it then turns to me. "I'm sorry. I wasn't the best mother. I know that. I tried to do my best. I needed to get us a home and I wanted us to have nice things."

"Thats the point. I didnt want nice things! I wanted you! And you were always gone!" I say and then my voice drops to a whisper "I felt like I didnt even have a mother."

"I know I'm trying to apologize! I'm trying to make it up its almost your birthday!"

"I understand that but I'm still angry!"

"How angry are you going to be when I'm dead. Because of you!" she screams at the top of her lungs. Venom seeps from her words and I turn and run out the door.

"Echo no wait! wait! I didnt mean that." I hear her voice behind me still calling from the room. I turn a corner tears falling from my face and run straight into Fiona. I feel her arms wrap around me and pull me to the floor. She sits up against the wall holding me to her while I sob, curled in a ball. Part of me is embarassed that a woman I barely know is watching me cry and the other part of me couldn't care less because I cant stop. She doesnt say anything but pets my hair and says "Shhh its okay" over and over again like some sort of mantra. I didnt ask to be the reason she dies but I know she resents me for it. She has always resented me for it. She will always resent me for it. I look up at Fiona with red puffy eyes. "She was always gone. Every birthday." I whisper. Fiona nods her head and continues to pet my hair. "I know honey."

"Every single one. She would just leave and go drink and she never came home till the next day. She was just counting down the years till she died." Fiona stares at me and then squeezes me tightly. Its incredibly strange to see a woman tear into a servant and then turn around and hold me while I cry. I know I've already said too much so I figure I might as well keep going. "I would sometimes wait up and stare out my window down at the streets and watch from the direction she left, hoping I'd see her. Maybe this year would be the year shed come home with something for me and tell me she wasnt going out and we could spend time talking. But she never came. I would just sit in the random houses and wait." I say. Fiona waits a few minutes to see if I am done and after she realizes I have nothing else to say she speaks. "You can't live angry at her. She is going to die soon and you cannot bare that weight she has put on your shoulders. If you do you will just imprison yourself for her crimes. You have to forgive her. She will never be able to fix what she's done but you don't have much time." I nod. "Come with me." she says. 

Fiona stands up and wraps one arm around my shoulder we walk down the hall and all the way over to the left wing of the house and then we continue walking towards the back of that wing. We walk far down the halls passing many doors and when we get to the end there are golden double doors. Fiona opens them and I gasp when I see whats behind them. Its an entire other wing of the house but instead of tight halls and corridors with the occasional large sitting room this wing is completely open. It is curved in a semi circle with us in the middle.I can see the two levels. The bottom level has  two single doors on the left and a set of double doors and a single door on the right. The top level is open as well although it has railings surrounding it. The top floor has a set of double doors on the left and a set on the right. Down the middle of this whole wing is the best part. Its a large set of red stairs. The fabric on the stairs is so beautiful I want to touch it. The stairs look so regal like they are straight out of a royal castle and do an incredibly gorgeous job of dividing the wing. At the top of the stairs dividing the top wing is a hallway that cuts straight in half between whatever the double doors lead to. We walk towards the stairs and I can hear the clicks of Fiona's small heels on the marble floors. As we near the stairs I glance at the doors hoping to see labels but I dont. The one set of double doors to the right of the stairs, however, has clear glass and I can see that it leads to some sort of garden. There are hedges lining a cobblestone path with beautiful flowers blooming and I want so badly to go explore. 

"This way" Fiona says and we turn left at the top of the stairs to walk over to the double doors. The doors are lined in gold with handles shaped like 'D's and glass that is made to blur whatever is inside. I realize now that this must be Dimitris personal room. Fiona knocks twice and we hear DImitri's voice say come in. When the doors open I look around taking everything in. There is a sitting area in the front with chairs and a coffee table. Back further is a set of double doors going to the balcony. To the right of the doors is a little nook with a desk and chair and even further right to that is a large wooden bed with deep blue sheets and golden etchings on the headboard. The pillows have golden 'D's on them.  Next to the bed the walls jut out with a small door which must lead to a closet and to my right is another door that I assume goes to a bathroom. The room is heavily decorated in the deep blue and has daggars and swords hung on the walls. The most obvious thing I notice though, is Dimitri. He is dressed quite formally but sitting on the floor with dozens of fabric swatches. 

I look at Fiona and she gestures towards Dimitri. As I walk to him I notice the big smile on his face. And then it disapears. "Whats wrong?" he says as he starts to stand, worry plastering his face. "Nothing." I say as he walks over to me. Dimitri looks at me for a while and then I hear Fiona's voice. "I will leave you two alone." Dimitri smiles and I wave goodbye as she exits out the double doors. "Now whats really wrong?" he says as he leads me to the couch. We both sit and I run my finger across the couch looking for threads to pull at but I dont see anything. "I got into an argument with mother. " 

"Ahh. About what?"

"A lot of things. The past."

"I see. The past is a very tricky thing to argue about. You can't fix it but you also have to keep the scars with you." I nod and he pats me on the back. I bet you're wondering why your'e here."

"Yes and I'm also wondering what you do for a living because it sure isnt owning one bathhouse."

Dimitri throws his head back laughing and then looks at me with a huge grin showing his perfectly straight teeth. "You're right. I actually own all of the bathhouses."

"On the whole island?" I squeak.

"Yes. All of the bathhouses in Auria. And quite a few restraunts. I'm also a noble so that helps with money a lot." he says" Anyways back to why you're here.This is my room and on the other half of this wing is yours."

"You finished my room already?" 

"I had hoped that you would say yes and it has been worked on for quite sometime waiting your arrival." I blush and I can feel the heat on my cheeks and neck. I don't think I realized how happy he was to have me stay.

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything its my gift to you and I'm just happy you said yes and I wasn't left staring at an empty wing. I designed it all myself. Of course I asked around for some opinions but I think you will love it." he says. I cringe a little. Looking at Dimitri now he seems more like a dad and I can't possibly imagine him knowing what I would like. I imagine billows of pink tulle draped everywhere and creepy dolls. I smile as kindly as I can to him. Even if its not what I wanted it will still be more than I could ask for because its a home.