South of SomeWhere (-Editing-)

|Peppermint Tea|

•2 Weeks Later•

Scritch. Scratch. Scriiiiiiiiiii....tch....

"Blast!"

"Charlotte! You know it is improper to swear."

I peer up from under my lashes.

Clank!

Charlotte opens the bottle of ink and dabs a sharpened quill into the glass. A small smirk forms its way onto my face, and when I can't squelch it, I hide it behind my tea cup.

Clink...

I pick the dainty tea cup up off the tea plate and take a sip. Warm liquid oozes down my throat. It's sweet, tastes like peppermint, and has my taste buds dancing.

Charlotte begins writing again, the sound of the quill scraping like an annoyed squirrel.

Scritch, scratch, scrrrrrrriiiiii....tccchhh...

I can practically hear the blot of ink on the spotless white paper holler in victory.

"AHHH!" Charlotte screeches throwing the quill onto her desk. "I can't take it anymore Mum. Why can't I just learn to write pretty cursive with a nice ballpoint? The humans, no offense intended Avery (I tip my cup, and shake my head.), have created advanced technology in nearly every aspect. Phones, cars, televisions, and we still insist on using," she picks up the quill and shakes it for emphasis, "primitive methods of writing!"

When Auntie peers over her newspaper her mien is passive, and she is expressionless as a brick wall.

"Aren't you going to say something?!" she asks exasperated.

"No."

"Fine then," she retorts folding her arms, "I quit." Slumping back in her chair, a petualant look plasters itself onto her face, and her eyes stare out the window.

Auntie shakes the folds out of her newspaper and goes back to reading. "You'll just have to do it later then, after you finish the piano practice you have to do."

A laugh bubbles in my throat. It's been two weeks since I was unceremoniously dropped in armory, and the majority of the time Char and my Aunt haven't stopped arguing. I haven't actually been around Avexx since that day in the fairy hovel. The only time I've even gotten a glimpse of him is when he was slinking around a corner of the kitchen with a bundle of what I guessed was extra food and surprisingly when he and Fae were having an argument in the castle garden. Ah...there can indeed be trouble in paradise. The only time Charlotte or Auntie stopped arguing was when Cahrlotte and I were shopping or Aunt was giving me a tour of the castle.

"I have better things to do then write Shakespeare's Hamlet over thirty times. A...," Char begins ticking off the reasons on her fingers. "C, it's depressing! I want to talk happy things like...like say the ball for instance." Charlotte starts.

My stomach churns suddenly, and I put down my tea cup hastily.

'Pleasant thoughts, pleasant thoughts...'

I settle on one of the castle. I never knew how confusing a castle could be. Even after a through go over of each level (there were four in total plus the six towers), I still was getting lost. It took me an hour yesterday to find the breakfast room and much to my dismay, the coffee was cold, and the eggs were somewhat slimy. I decided to satisfy myself with a bagel and orange juice. After I had sat down and was munching merrily on my food that was when Charlotte decided to drop the bomb.

"So," she began around a mouthful of egg. "What style of dress are you going to wear to your introduction ball?"

I nearly choked on my juice, and a minute followed of me coughing dramatically. "You can't be serious, right?" I asked when I had sufficiently recovered. "I heard you mention a having a ball for me, but don't you think it's a little..." I searched for the right words. "...old fashioned?"

"Certainly not!" Charlotte exclaimed as though the idea of not having one was hideous. "I had one. Mama had one. It's tradition and thus you will have one as well."

"But..." my stomach cinched.

'All those people,' my mind said.

"All the money," my mouth said.

"Oh dear," she reached over and patted my hand. "Money is no option. We are extremely wealthy," the last part said with evident pride. "Just think though. What a marvelous feast we can throw for the commons. We usually spend some money feeding them when we have a big party. It's only fair. We can't have all the fun." Her smile is wide and fake.

"Food for the commons?" I asked.

"Of course," she agreed.

"Fine," I conceded.

Fast forward two days and the inner court of castle walls are bedecked with large tapestries and flags so brilliant it would likely make your eyes drown in color. Servants hustle to and fro, heads of the kitchen barking commands like officers in a state of war. It's complete and utter mayhem, and I hate it. Even the library isn't a place to find solace. It just so happened to be the place that Auntie decided to set up shop and give orders. Servants would walk in every minute, and Auntie would look over her newspaper and nod if something was right or yell if something was wrong. Then, she would go back to her reading.

Even my room wasn't safe. Seamstresses were always finding me to make alterations for my ball gown. Fortunately, I didn't have to be bothered with color since it was a black and white event, but I never knew there could be so much hemming, cutting, lengthening and sewing. It was positively...

"AVERY!" Charlotte cuts into my thoughts.

"What?" I pick up a biscuit from a plate on the side table.

"Haven't you heard a word I said?" she asks.

"Yes of course, but who is Rutherford?" I ask innocent enough while taking a cautious sip of my tea.

"A man suitable to be your king," she squeals.

I spit my tea across the room. Great. Just great.