Cedany's Voice

"Merek, I need a half an inch wrench! This bolt isn't coming lose!" Cedany hollered across her father's Smith shop. She was stuck underneath old man Thatcher's metal chart trying repeatedly to finish re-bolting the decrepit old thing but one of the axis bolts was not coming lose so she could not fix the wheel. She had wondered why Mr. Thatcher did not just get a new chart; it would save him so much time and money than coming down to the shop to have her father fix it up time and time again. "Terryn, will you please get me a wrench!" She hollered for one of her other brothers, no one had answered her and she sighed frustrated that she had to get up from her work. As she was about to pull out from under the cart she caught sight of her brothers, all of them surrounding their father, through the window. Cedany could barely make out what was happening until she heard the wail erupt from her father. She bolted out of the shop and to her family, she ran as fast as she could but it did not seem fast enough. She had reached them when the tears began to fall from all fourteen eyes. Her father was kneeling on the ground and sobs racked through his scar-hardened body.

"Father?" Cedany had hesitantly asked as she tried to understand what could have brought her father to his knees. Men like him were strong and nothing could ever hurt them but this... this sight frightened Cedany.

"Cedany." Bryce warned as he shook his head and wiped away a straying tear from his cheek. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close to his chest. He burried her head deep into his arm and tightly wrapped both arms around her. Her brothers had tried not to cry in front of their younger sister but many of them had wet faces.

"Bryce, she must know what we have heard about Mother." Hadrian whispered into the youngest brother's ear. Bryce stood up straighter and shook his head, denying to tell anything about the news to her. All of the brother's wore somber expressions as they looked from their father to their sister. Their father had remained sobbing on the ground and their sister lost in a haze of confusion.

"Merek...Terryn...Bryce...Gavin...Carac... Hadrian..." She pulled away from her brother and looked into all of their faces, "What is going on. You must know! You must and you do not speak the truth!" She cried in frustration. All their eyes misted over and sad. "Please." She begged to them, she walked over to Carac and grasped the eldest brother's callused hands. Her green eyes pleading, and showed uncontained fear. Her lower lip quivered as she blinked back tears.

"Cedany, Mother has gone missing." Gavin spoke out; his voice cracking as he slowly said the words. He did not want to hurt her but the news was like a thousand rocks crumbling on her. She fell to the ground and shook. Tears did not fall but the shaking was endless. She was silent as the news sunk in, her Mother, her only friend, was gone. She was alone now.

"Mother is gone? How?" she whispered not believing a word of it. She knelt by her father and wrapped her well-muscled arms around his shoulders. She placed her head in the crook of his neck and the older man turned himself and tightly hugged his youngest child. She was just a child, now she was mother-less, and he did not know what he could do. He pulled her onto his lap and combed his hands through her hair. Cedany had the same beautiful brown curls that her mother Jacquelyn had.

"Cedany now is not time to worry." Her Father spoke up for the first time since she had come outside. He slowly stood up and lifted his little girl up; he held up her chin and starred into eyes that were his own. "Cedany, it is time to be strong. Mother would not like to see us sad, she would want us to be strong and that we are. If we are not strong then why am I named Tybalt Strongstone? Com' on my children, let us feast for your mother." Her Father's voice gaining strength that astonished the brothers.

"Yes Father, let us feast and I will prepare our best hog for a roast." Gavin said supporting his father in bringing the family back together after the horrid day. All the boys went doing their own thing, Terryn and Merek brought out logs and set up a large fire pit where Gavin would roast the hog. Bryce was getting both wine and hard cider and Hadrian bringing out one of Mother's finest dress.

The dress Hadrian brought out was her mother's favorite dress; it was a pale blue dress that seemed to shine brighter in the sun and made her mother only look like she was Cedany's age. It had beautiful lace work on both sleeves and down the back and pinned to the front of the dress was an ivory pendant that was given to Mother by her own mother before her death.

The father choked back more tears as his son place the dress on a flat stone, which he placed besides the fire. Cedany had made her way into the kitchen and began to chop up vegetables at the counter. After slicing and dicing the vegetables, she placed a pot full of water over a fire to start heating up. She began to cry as she chopped onions, peppers, and turnips. As she was placing the chopped vegetables into the now boiling water, she heard the moan of the slaughtered hog and shuddered. She smoothed out her pants and started adding spices to the vegetables but she was not paying them much attention.

Her mind was whirling with thoughts, the kind that always seemed to get her in trouble. She was thinking that if her Mother was only missing that meant there was a chance that she could still be alive! And that if she, Cedany Strongstone, saved her own mother she could change the views on women in Morlodeum. That she could change laws and standards of everyday women...

"Cedany, I know that look. Stop it." Bryce said sternly as he began to stir the contents of the stew. His light brown hair was naturally highlighted blonde from spending so many days travel on horseback to many of Father's customers who could not make it to the shop on their own. His hazel eyes watery but it did not stop the smile from playing on his lips. "Com' on sis, lighten up. Tonight we celebrate Mother's fulfilling life. We remember our mother as Mother and all the wonderful things she has done with us. She went through seven pregnancies to have all of us and loved us all equally and made us the finest clothes in the village because of her amazing skills..."

"Bryce, what if Mother isn't dead? What if she is out there waiting for us to come and find her? What if I went out there and found her and brought her back!" Cedany blurted out interrupting her brother. Bryce's eyes grew big and full shock.

"Are you trying to hurt Father more? Sister, that is a stupid idea to begin with! Mother is gone! Stop it now; stop it before you do something stupid." Bryce yelled, he did not mean to but he was totally taken back by what his sister had just said.

"Bryce, gone doesn't have to mean she is dead." Cedany whispered. Bryce's hands tightened into balls and he stormed out but before he had left he said something that rung in Cedany's ears.

"Cedany, stop being so heartless! You are not the only one god damn hurting right now. Just deal with the fact that Mother isn't coming back. Ever!" He stormed out of the room with tears sliding down his face, and it was not because of the freshly cut onions. Cedany stood in front of the pot and stared at it not noticing the salty tears rolling down her cheeks.

Bryce, out of all her brothers was the one she trusted the most. They had been through a lot together when they were younger. She was with him when he had gotten the awful scar along his left cheek. In addition, he was with her when a rabid dog had attacked her. However, there were times, like this one, that they fought and could not talk to each other. That they could not find happiness. Cedany understood what Bryce had yelled at her and why he had, she was in denial and that alone was going to ruin the relationship between brother and sister. It was going to ruin the family because she would be the only one not accepting that her Mother was gone.

Deep down in Cedany's heart, accepting her Mother's death would kill her. Nevertheless, to protect her family from herself she would act liking she was accepting it. She would never give up on her Mother, ever.

"I will find her. I know she is alive! Mother, I swear by my heart that I will find you and I will make a change to the world." Cedany said madly at the stew. Little did she know that her Father was standing behind her and he heard every word she had said. And that he was considering on sending her away for a while  so she could get better and that her life would go downhill from there.