Shadow of Dusk

The Feast

Cailin halfheartedly put on her new dress, a long dark green shimmering gown, and placed a ring of white lilies in her hair. She had bought the dress in Fordra for the occasion, but she still did not want to go. Amine and Brielle were invited to the feast because of Daniel’s position in the Teardoran military. Brielle told Cailin that the king didn’t really know them, but he always packed the citadel with influential and high raking citizens, and thus they were required to attend. This made Cailin want go even less—she didn’t like being ordered around. But, Amine and Brielle went because it was their duty, and Cailin would support them.

As Cailin finished dressing, Brielle entered their room—as the little homestead only had two, Cailin was sharing with Brielle, which made her feel even more at home, as if she had a sister again. Brielle was dressed in a silver gown with a crown of small red roses entwined in her silky blonde hair. She grinned at Cailin.

            “You look very pretty, Cailin,” said Brielle, but paused, noticing how Cailin had left strands of hair covering her small veredian-ears. Cailin smiled back, flattening the strands over her ears.

            “You should be proud of your veredian heritage,” commented Brielle.

            Cailin glanced at her in surprise. She didn’t realize anyone had really noticed that she covered her ears. She shrugged. “I am proud. I just don’t want to answer a lot of questions.”

            Brielle shrugged as well. “They’ll ask a lot of questions, anyway.”

            “Yes, but if I can avoid being pointed at from across the room, the better for me,” replied Cailin. “It’s not to do with embarrassment of where I come from,” she explained as they walked into the kitchen. “I just hate crowds. And hypocrisy.”

            Brielle’s large eyes sparkled at her. “I know. I won’t leave you.”

            Cailin smiled gratefully at her new friend. It wasn’t as if no one would notice she wasn’t fully human, anyway. There were differences—striking—between veredians and humans. Veredians seemed to be chiseled out of the earth, with sharp angles and elevated features. They moved more gracefully, as if they really had just come out of the earth and moved easily in it. Humans were softer, more naturally built. All the veredians had long, pointed ears, and wide, bright eyes. Their skin was paler, without blemish. Humans were more fallible, with rounder ears, faces, and eyes. Their eyes were bright with eagerness, and the will to fight to live. Veredians lived because it was another thing they were good at. Their hearts beat with definite rhythm. Their breath came in even strides. Veredians were fighters—humans, though, were survivors.

Cailin, a liaman, had a mix of traits from the races she was descended from. She had small, pointed ears; wide, bright eyes; but a rounder, human body. She was fairly tall, but not stunningly so like her mother. But she did move with the grace of the earth, and anyone could see that when she moved. She was a good fighter, but had survived a lot of tragedy already in her young life. And though Cailin did not know it, those who knew her knew well said she had inherited her mother’s aching laugh, the one that made a heart swell with happiness and made it throb with yearning in the same moment.

            Amine greeted her daughter and Cailin as they entered the kitchen. Cailin felt a surge of affection. Cailin had been a bit apprehensive at staying in Teardor, but in the few days she had been here she had warmed up entirely to Amine and Brielle. They had welcomed her and made her feel at home.

Tonight, Amine looked so welcome, so home—Cailin couldn’t think of a better word for her—as she was dressed in a simple blue gown, and her cheeks were flushed to a rosy hue.