Six Will Stand (First Draft)

Chapter 8

Morning—5:42
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Cade felt like he had been hit in the head with the flat of a blade. He reached up to rub his head, but as soon as he did he felt how some strands of his hair were stuck together by something...rust-colored and flakey...? Cade's eyes widened. Blood? His wound should've been nearly healed by now!

He reached over next to him to wake up Marion, but he nearly fell off his individual bed. Right.... The fact that he was in a bed all to himself was something shocking, but he really needed to fix his head.... He got out of the bed and headed toward the bathroom, looking at his bandages in the mirror. They didn't seem like they were loose. He took them off and looked at his wound. The scar tissue was healing nicely under his hair, and there was no sign of being cut recently. Which was really weird.... Cade cleaned his hair, then grabbed some new bandages from Marion's first-aid kit and replaced the old wrappings.

Once he finished, the blond headed back to his bed, but then he suddenly stopped in his tracks, one of his feet paused in mid-air. Today is...the banquet and dance.

Cade put a hand over his mouth to stifle a yelp. Beginning to shake all over again, he stumbled over to his bed, hiding under the warm covers. Why were they even 'guests of honor' in the first place? All because they were (pretty much) 'friends' with Josh and Caleb? Ugh, why couldn't they have just changed their names and have been done with it? Though he supposed it was too late for that....

Cade poked his head out from under his blanket, taking a deep breath. He looked around at everyone else's beds, where they all were still asleep. He wondered, for a moment, why he seemed to wake up before everyone else all the time, but maybe bad dreams was a factor. Cade sighed, resting his head back down and preparing to sleep once more.

Just then, the door opened, and Rain came in with a large bundle. "Good morning!" she sang cheerfully, putting her bundle down and opening the curtains. Golden sunlight streamed into the large room. "It's a new day; get up and face it!" She smiled as both Caleb and Josh got out of bed, groaning slightly as a result of stiff limbs.

Josh stretched and somehow managed to appear wide awake. Whether he was or not, Cade wasn't sure. He called to his niece, "Hey, Rainie! What's in the bundle?"

Rain smiled. "Clothes for today. I'll try to finish Matthew and Arthur's outfits for tonight in the next hour so that they can try them on. As for Elizabeth's...." She trailed off, grinning, "I couldn't decide between fabrics. So," she said as she removed four items from the bundle, "I bought four. Come here, Elizabeth. Which one is your favorite?" Rain's eyes sparkled with excitement as she displayed each fabric. There was one sky blue, one dark purple, one emerald green, and one deep crimson. All were intricately woven and beautiful. They looked ten times more expensive than even what they had worn to the dining room last night. "Well, come on, dear," Rain prompted, her blue eyes dancing with delight, "they're not going to choose themselves."

"Y-you bought...four?" Marion looked at the fabrics, eyes wide. "I wouldn't want you to do that.... Isn't that spending too much money? You were only going to make one dress; I wouldn't mind which color you picked."

Rain put her hands on her hips. "Oh, honey. I'm making you four dresses. I just need to know which one has to be done by tonight. So, come on. Choose." She held up the crimson. "This one really goes with your complexion, but this one," she gripped the purple one, "brings out those beautiful brown eyes. I can't choose."

"Th-the purple, then...?" Marion stuttered, looking around at Josh and Caleb frantically, unsure of how to react.

Caleb walked over to Marion and put his hands on her shoulders. "Rainie, you're scaring her." He knelt down to her level and looked in her eyes. "The purple would look lovely." He smiled at her.