When Merari saw her grandma wearing red, she knew she was dreaming. Grandma Minka had believed in modesty once married. There was no need to go around attracting suitors when you already had a husband.
'Merari Minka,' spoke her grandma in a rather regal voice. She sounded more like Merari's mother when she was trying to impress the king.
'Hi, Grandma, and goodbye. If I'm going to have a lucid dream, might as well—'
'I'm an old lady? Gross!' Grandma Minka's face crunched up in disgust.
'What did you expect? You have fourty grandchildren. You weren't about to be young,' Merari pointed out. 'Besides, you're dead in real life.'
'I'm not your grandma,' snapped Merari's grandmother. 'I am Sorita.'
'Wow, sounds like this would have been a crazy dream. Oh well.' Merari closed her eyes and tried to picture clouds and a unicorn, but when she opened her eyes, her grandma was still there. 'Dammit.'
'You certainly have imagination. That's why I picked you. Then again, I thought you might have a more flattering picture in mind. Try harder next time.' The spirit scowled at her old lady hands.
'To be honest, I always imagined you to be a... Can I insult you without being smited?'
'No.'
'I think you're lying but I'm rather attached to, you know, life, so I'm not going to risk it.'
Sorita chuckled. 'So much potential to be such an overwhelming personality... I look forward to seeing your journey, Merari Minka.'
'So, do I wake up and tell the Chèr or what? What if he doesn't believe me?'
'Don't tell the Chèr,' growled Sorita.
'Why not? Isn't that what we're meant to be doing?' Merari raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
'If it were up to me, I wouldn't have claimed you. But as it is, the Primracon has put extra pressure on everyone else and Gadeden, Toutelé and Ellux were being annoying.'
'The Prima-what now?'
'The spirits are more closely tied to their Eseterrians. It has... pushed me slightly. I hate to be pushed around,' whined Grandma Minka.
'Good for you. But why shouldn't I say anything?'
'You saw what happened to the last Eseterrians and you claim to be attached to your life,' said Sorita.
'Yeah, but I doubt that'll happen again. Have you seen the guard tryouts? I wouldn't mind them accompanying me everywhere. Besides, I'd rather get fancier dresses and the chance to dance with more cute guys.'
'You have a valid point, but I am a spirit so you'd better not tell anyone. Cines is in danger and quite frankly, I'm actually happy with how things are for once,' said Sorita, 'It's pretty fun to watch.'
'I'm glad you enjoy our suffering.'
'And I'm glad you're glad,' mocked Grandma Minka, 'Now, I need to go bug Ellux, but remember what I said. If you tell anyone, I'll make Codrus Bennet fall in love with you.'
'Gross.'
'Exactly. Next time make me hotter.'
'Whatever you say, grandma.'
The dream ended and Merari woke up. It was still dark and cold. Then again, it was practically always cold in Cines. Merari wasn't really one for cold climates.
She didn't understand what Sorita had said, but she didn't doubt it had been the spirit. As much as Merari wanted to share it, there'd been a certain desperation in Sorita's tone, so she'd lay low. For now, at least.
♤ ♤ ♤
There was nothing like an Eseterrian's tea party. Now that Emilee officially had friends, all her circle had been invited, as well as the other Eseterrians. Merari hadn't been invited, but Arcane had suggested she came anyway. Merari hadn't hesitated. The food was bound to be good.
Kaya, Arcane and Merari ended up huddled together in one corner. Emilee was busy trying to talk to everyone, Lavia and her twin by her side. This was actually their first time meeting Elanora since they'd decided not to make it obvious they'd had a quarrel and instead pretend they'd just been waiting for the tea party. Yeah, Merari didn't quite get it.
'So you're Toutelé's Eseterrian?' checked Arcane.
'Yeah. I probably shouldn't say this but I'd never have guessed an Eseterrian could be such a... you know... pompous ass,' Kaya groaned.
'Tell me about it,' grumbled Merari.
'What?'
'Oh, Medea's been complaining about the spirits to us. I love her but that girl needs to stop ranting,' said Arcane.
Merari hid her relief by teasing her best friend. 'Oh, as if you don't complain about the Chèr.'
'I can't eat anything all day because of him. Speaking of which, I need to go into isolation in ten minutes.' Arcane aggressively sipped tea.
'What if I just come along and tell you stories for nine hours?' suggested Merari.
Arcane glared at her. 'Are you trying to make me go insane? I think that's even worse than isolation.'
Merari frowned. Arcane added salt to the wound by stealing a piece of Merari's sandwich. 'Hey! You're not meant to be eating!'
Arcane shrugged nonchalantly. 'The Chèr isn't here to see.'
The girls chatted for a while longer until the Chèr showed up. 'Arcane, it's time to go. Kaya, go to the entrance hall. A man is waiting there to train you in combat for your self-defence course.'
Kaya's eyes lit up and she actually hugged the Chèr. Her ears perked up like a cat's.
'Well, I guess you're going to abandon me.' Merari fake wiped a tear from her eyes, although she genuinely felt disappointed.
'Duty calls,' said Arcane.
The girls and the Chèr vanished, leaving Merari alone. She sighed. She should be one of them, experiencing their madness, but Sorita wished otherwise. Then again, sword fighting sounded like work.
Merari left the tea party. She didn't exactly fancy awkwardly standing around for the rest of her time. Lavia and Elanora both gave her the creeps, they kept fishing for compliments, although Lavia was sickly sweet whereas Ela was sour.
With no clue where she was going, Merari strolled through the palace. She had nothing planned that day and all her interesting siblings were busy. In fact, Cleo was at the guard tryouts.
She smiled at the idea of visiting him. She couldn't help but be excited by the idea of watching more of the guard tryouts. Not that there was more to watch. They had reached the point where it was down to Medea to test whether people were trustworthy or not. Still, there was bound to be someone milling around.
It was freezing. Merari had put a mauve cotton cape on over her puffy white gown. The result was a shivering, but beautiful girl. At least she had a petticoat and her chemise on, as well as her corset. They meant her teeth weren't chattering.
She watched the people pass. Some were tryouts, others nobles. An occasional servant went racing past on some errand. Eventually, she saw a familiar man walk past.
'Hey blondie!'
He glanced over with a confused expression. When she waved at him, he nervously came over, then bowed.
'Do you... know me?'
'Nope. But I'm about to.'
He stared at her in confusion.
'Merari Minka,' she introduced herself, holding out a hand. She wasn't wearing a glove, so it was ice cold.
'Hjalmar Solberg...' He shook it. His gaze kept darting away.
'My friend says you're from Surtren. Have you been here long?' she asked amicably.
'I came after the war.'
'So you were a soldier,' she speculated, poking his leather armour.
He took a step back. 'Yes.'
'Merari Minka, stop harassing my next victim,' called out the Voire from a palace window.
'Typical,' she muttered with an eye roll. 'I guess the Voire will see you now?'
'Do you know the Eseterrians?'
'Yeah, I am an—' she panicked—'one's best friend.' She smiled, proud of her recovery.
He nodded slowly then marched off. Rude.
'Miss Minka? Over here.'
Oh no. She recognised that voice.
'Lady Northwick, how lovely to see you.'
'I was just talking to your brother, Cleo. He is a charming boy, truly.'
Merari nodded glumly, waiting for the question.
'Count Northwick and I are having a little soirée tonight. We'd be delighted if you made an appearance. Your whole family will be there.' The funny woman clapped her hands together. Did she really think Merari's five siblings being present would persuade her? She must have done because although she had been a friend of Merari's parents for a long time, she'd only started showing an interest in Merari once Arcane had been claimed.
'I'm afraid I'm busy this evening. I am, uh, carving soaps for all my friends.'
'Oh...'
Yeah, Merari did not feel at all bad for letting her down. In fact, she felt a certain satisfaction. That old bat only wanted someone memorable at one of her soirées. Merari had better things to do, namely sit around all alone.
She missed Arcane. Ever since Arcane had been at court, her days had been interesting. Now not even Kaya or Medea had time for her. How quickly things had changed... When Arcane had come to the court for the funeral, Merari had been the one planning stuff. She knew all the people worth spending time with, all the nobles that threw killer parties. Most of them didn't invite her anymore out of fear that Arcane would come along and they'd be found out. Whether it was by the Leere or the spirits was anyone's guess. Her days were spent catering to Arcane's whims which led to plenty of entertainment, but meant boredom should the Eseterrian not be available.
In the end, she settled for exactly what she'd told Countess Northwick she was doing. She sat down with three bars of soap and set to work carving each one. Pastel yellow for Emilee to match her light, red for Kaya to match her temperament and white for Arcane in honour of all her puffy white shirts. She went from there, using the colours to pick a design. She created a sunflower for Emilee's, the stalk incredibly thin to make it bear more resemblance to a sun. For Kaya, she carved a lizard. As far as she knew, Kaya had no connection to one, but Merari felt like making one. She needed to get a new lizard, Anise had released hers.
Once she'd carved a sloppy swan for Arcane, Merari seated herself at the piano and played a few etudes. Why did she never have any really nice etudes to practice? They always felt like such a chore. Then again, she got the impression that she was one of the few people that actually practiced them.
As soon as she was about to start a piece she actually enjoyed, there was a knock on the door. While she walked over, she grumbled, 'Can't have anything nice here.'
Outside was the Chèr. Immediately, Merari panicked. Did he know? He looked rather distressed.
'I have a favour to ask of you.'
No hello or anything. Rude.
'Is it cool or not?'
He ran a hand through his tousled hair. 'I think you might just enjoy it. You'd get to give Arcane her drink every three hours. First sip didn't go well, she almost cussed me out.'
'And that's meant to be fun?' Merari rose a bemused eyebrow.
'You're weird. I thought you might just think that was a good pastime,' he nonchalantly replied.
Merari waited a moment, then inquired, 'Why? Why can't a Leere do it?'
'We've had news of another Eseterrian. We fear there could be difficulties with the spirit having delayed claiming her for this long, so we wanted all our resources available.'
He had a valid point. Merari didn't believe that the assassination had been Sorita's only reason for telling Merari to hide her identity. Something bigger was at stake. Her brain wasn't quite certain, but her gut knew it and that was the body part that did the thinking for her.
His next reason caught her off-guard. 'Not to mention, Sorita hasn't claimed anyone yet and her Eseterrians are always... oh boy. Then again, it could be Arcane.'
'I am—' she changed course in time—'sure it'll work out...'
'So you'll do it?'
She almost answered before reconsidering. If this girl had been claimed late too, she might just know more. Maybe she had also been told to hide, in which case Merari could help, even if it meant falling out of the Chèr's good graces.
'What's her name?' she inquired.
He hesitated, then said, 'Sabrina Edris.'
'Sabrina?' Merari's eyes widened in fake surprise. 'I know her!'
'Do you now?' He raised a skeptical eyebrow.
'We're distantly related. I know it may be hard to believe, but my family breeds like rabbits. I've got a lot of kin.'
He frowned. 'I guess inheritance wasn't distributed especially fairly.'
'Eh, we had a guy who was disowned for wanting to be a bard. Good old Uncle Jem.' Merari smiled fondly.
The Chèr ignored her. 'So you'll do it?'
'I have a better idea... If you leave a Leere with Arcane, I could come along,' she suggested.
'No. Why would I let you come along?'
Geez, how does somebody that rude end up so high up? Oh, I guess sometimes a question's an answer.
'You said you were scared there'd be trouble. She's my cousin—give or take a few, uh, I don't know. If you send the Leere in, you're going to scare her out of her mind. Have you seen how Kaya stiffens up everytime she sees one? Emilee stares at the floor whenever any religious folks are around. You're not exactly sunshine and roses,' she pointed out.
The Chèr considered for a while, then curtly nodded. 'Dress for riding. It could be a long journey. We'll meet you at the stables.'
Merari could have leapt for joy. As it was, she smiled a bit wider then she should have, so she explained, 'I've been bored all day.'
♤ ♤ ♤
'This is the village,' announced the Chèr.
'I don't think I can get off my horse. My body's seized up.'
They'd been riding for three hours. Dusk was nearing its end and the first stars were appearing in the sky. Fortunately, this time Merari had actually wrapped up, wearing a deep blue coat.
'You should offer her a hand down, Chichi,' one of the younger Leere teased him.
'I thought I told you not to call me Chichi, Nora,' he said, begrudgingly offering Merari a hand down.
'And I thought I told you to cut your hair shorter, but did you? No. Now you've got a bird's nest on your head.'
The town was quiet at this time of day. Candles and fires lit up windows and the occasional face observed them. Merari pulled her hood over her face, trying to hide.
'That's the house. Good luck.'
The house was a small bungalow, made from wood that was peeling. A small windchime made Merari jump when she heard its eerie tones.
'You've got this, Minka,' she mumbled to herself as she pushed on the door. It creaked open. Chance had it, she should have knocked.
'Who's there?'
Evidently Miss Edris didn't live alone, this was a male voice. And that looked rather like a male face peering at her.
'Let me in. Please. It's important.'
'You're a stranger,' he growled.
'I know but this is about Sabrina having been claimed.'
His eyes widened. Merari took advantage of his hesitation to squeeze past him.
'Hey! Get out—'
'Look, the Chèr and Leere are outside. Would you rather they come in?'
That shut him up. Merari couldn't help but to smile proudly.
'Xaviar, what's going on?' called a voice.
'I... I don't know.'
'Sabrina Edris, I'm here because you're an Eseterrian.'
There was a clattering noise. It sounded like Sabrina's shock had cost them a plate.
'She's... She's not an Eseterrian.'
'I assumed you knew... The Chèr said you were.'
Now an antler peeped out of the doorway. Merari couldn't conceal her surprise.
'The Leere are here?' asked Xaviar.
'Yes.'
Now the girl came out. She was pale and her dark eye was wide with fear. Merari couldn't help but stare at the empty socket for a moment.
'Why are you in here instead of them?'
'I thought you knew. I thought you were hiding... I... I wanted to give you the chance to run.'
'Do it,' said Xaviar without hesitation.
Sabrina shook her head wearily. 'I can't. Even if I wanted to risk it, they'd find me.'
'Do you... Do you still have a power?'
She nodded slowly. 'I used it too. Recently enough for the Leere to be able to detect me.'
Her brother walked to her side. 'You don't belong in that court,' he murmured.
'Maybe not, but I have no choice. If they've got it in their head that I'm an... an Eseterrian, I have to go along with it. How many Leere are there?'
'Six out of the seven are outside.'
'Plus you and the Chèr...' She wandered off, then reappeared with a tray of cinnamon cookies. 'There are still a few for you in the kitchen, Xaviar.'
'Don't go.' Tears swam in his dark eyes.
'I have to.'
Merari took the tray of Sabrina so that she could hug her brother. Her antlers got in the way. Merari had to suppress a laugh.
'What happens if they're wrong?' Xaviar stared right at Merari.
'I dunno. But I get the impression they've got damning evidence.'
'I'm ready.' Sabrina took the tray back and took a deep breath. 'I don't need to pack anything, right?'
Merari shook her head. 'But please act like my cousin.'
'Why—'
Merari tore the door open and came outside. The Leere had already circled the house, ready for difficulties, but relaxed when they saw the calm Rindea with a tray of cookies.
'Are they lactose-free?' asked Nora, already snatching one to put into her mouth.
'No.'
♤ ♤ ♤
A/N: Merari chapters are something else. That's why she's one of my favourites.
So, all five Eseterrians have been claimed. Do you have a favourite?
Also, I anybody has any theories as to what's going on, I'd love to hear.