A World Without Lillia

Part 1

It's early! And brought to you in full by my HORRID case of procrastination. :) Who said procrastination is a bad thing? Enjoy, my lovelies! 

P.S.: Check out the song on the side. And worship it. If it were not for this song, inspiration would not have socked me in the kisser with a shoebrush, and Lillia would still have an unknown and untold story :) 

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This journey marked the first time Lillia ever traveled without a companion, and she did not like it one bit. Not only was she subject to her wandering fearful imagination, she was lonely. Never in Lillia’s life had she been lonely! She was always surrounded by people who kept her entertained in some form; she was not used to being closed away in a carriage for days at a time. Suddenly she understood why her sister Scarlette loathed riding in carriages, and she was biting at the bit to get onto a horse.

She had three more days’ worth of travel, as she was heading to her home after a week’s stay with her sister after the public wedding that she and Evrett planned. The wedding was beautiful. Lillia found herself crying before Scarlette took her place at the altar, and she did not have the power to stop until half way through dinner when Scarlette hugged her close and did not let go.

Lillia thought Scarlette was equally as choked up about the whole affair. The two of them lived together since babyhood, and suddenly they were separating to opposite sides of the country. The very thought of it was enough to make Lilli begin to tear up on the spot! But she did not cry, she refused to allow herself to! Scarlette was not the only stubborn sister; she could be just as stubborn as Scarlette!

One would assume that Lillia felt like the favorite child, being that she was the one whom her parents had success with taming, but that was not the case. Scarlette was the sister that everyone knew, either because her extroversion led her to introducing herself to them, or because her reputation preceded her. She was the prettiest sister, the more interesting sister. Lillia loved her sister more than anything in the world, but it was wearing that Lillia was always so forgettable.

That was one reason why Lozen’s betrayal was so hard on her. She liked the idea that she would do something first. Marriage was supposed to be her legacy! Yet instead of her own wedding, Lillia just attended her sister’s. And so the story goes, Scarlette reached the finish line first.

Perhaps Lillia is simply too nice? Or mayhap it be her standards? Not that she had much room to budge on her standards; she could not marry a man her parents did not approve of.

But Scarlette did.

Another downside of being the younger and more obedient child was that she was the one on who’s shoulders the reputation of the family name lay. It was her duty to make a proper and acceptable marriage that will either sustain or further their station. Being the youngest in a family with two girls was not an easy job. If only Scarlette and her new husband would have stayed as Duke and Duchess of the Northlands! Then Lillia would not have the responsibility to make an advantageous marriage. Honestly, she wanted nothing to do with marriage any time soon. Though at nineteen she was considered old for marriage and there was not much hope of her parents not sending her to court to find a suitable husband.

With a sigh, Lillia let her head drop back against the wall of the carriage.

She just had to get out and stretch.

Like the driver was reading her mind, the carriage rumbled to a stop. A rough and jarring stop, but a stop nonetheless. Lillia laughed to herself at her luck and opened the door to step outside, but she didn’t get a foot through the door before a large body was thrown against her, pushing her back into the carriage and slamming the door behind them. Needless to say, Lillia let out a shriek that would have made a warhorse bolt out of fear.