Dralin

Chapter 13

Ebudae’s grand suite was on the third level of the west wing.  It consisted of three bedrooms, a bathroom, an office, a library and two other rooms Ebudae kept locked and wouldn’t show Pelya.  Lady Pallon didn’t know what the rooms were for and honestly didn’t care what the girl did.  Frath had mentioned once that the lady was angry at her daughter for dumping the child off.  He told Pelya that Lady Pallon wanted Ebudae to grow wild as revenge.

Pelya didn’t even bother knocking.  She went inside, slammed the door and ran over to the window seat where she could see the backyard with her mother’s fountain and rosebushes in the distance.  She could see that the roses were blooming and considered going down to sit at the fountain, but didn’t want to risk running into Lady Pallon or anyone else.  There was no way she was going to let anyone ruin her day further.

Tears started to flow again.  She looked around in panic for Ebudae in fear that the girl might observe her weakness, but didn’t see her in the room.  There was a good chance she would be in her secret rooms, which was fine with Pelya.  Looking back through the windows at the top of the fountain, she wished her mother hadn’t died and could come hold her.  The tears turned into heaving sobs that racked her body as she curled up into a ball.

When the anguish had finally lessened to the point where she was staring out the window miserably, Ebudae came in.  Pelya didn’t hear her or notice the look of shock in the girl’s pearly pink eyes at seeing her there.  For a minute, Ebudae studied the warrior girl.  Realizing she had something in her hands that she didn’t want anyone to see, Ebudae snuck back to her room.  A minute later, she came back out and approached the window seat.

Pelya was startled when Ebudae sat down in front of her.  The girl was wearing a fancy black and white dress decorated with lace.  When Ebudae had learned to sew, she started making dresses out of anything but pink.  In addition to that, she had a black hat with purple roses in it.  The use of the roses out of the garden was a habit that bothered Pelya deeply, but she didn’t say anything out of sympathy for the girl having to live with Lady Pallon.  The lack of color in her dress made the pink eyes stick out all that much more.

Tears began to well in Pelya’s eyes again and she looked helplessly at the girl who didn’t really like her.  Ebudae’s eyes widened at the sight and then became sympathetic.  Pelya felt her bottom lip quivering and just didn’t know how to stop it.  Everything seemed so hopeless and terrible.

Ebudae held out a hand and wiggled her fingers for Pelya to take it.  She did so, and the girl led her into the bedroom where she normally slept.  Pelya usually had a different room in the suite for the rare occasion when she spent the night.  Ebudae climbed onto the bed, dragging Pelya along.  She sat up against some pillows at the headboard and then patted her lap.

Pelya stared at her for a moment.  Ebudae patted her lap again, so Pelya put her head down in it and curled up.  When Ebudae pulled the ponytail out of Pelya’s hair and began running fingers through it, Pelya burst into tears again and lay there shaking.

She finally fell asleep in exhaustion.  The day had been emotionally draining and there was no need to stay awake for any more abuse.

***

Pelya didn’t open her eyes right away after waking up.  Fingers were slowly running through her hair still, although it felt like she was lying on a pillow instead of a lap.  Someone had covered her and it was nice and warm.

“You don’t have your longknife,” Ebudae said.  Her voice was tranquil and low.  On the rare occasion she did speak, it reminded Pelya of a silk blanket.