Never before had I felt so useless in my life. I was in a strange village surrounded by strangers. Lori was extremely kind. She flited around the house tidying up here and there then she was back at the stove preparing some sort of delicious dish. She chatted the entire time as her two daughters ran back and forth retrieving her this and that. I soon learned that their names were Rebecca and Susan. Susan was the younger one who had sat on my bed eating her toast.
As if sensing my mood Lori passed me a bowl of some sort of grain then a smooth piece of wood. I held the bowl in my lap and the piece of wood in my hands looking at it. I looked at the bowl for a few seconds then glanced up to Lori who was looking at me with a strange expression. She then gestured for me to grind the grain. My face flushed and I attempted to imitate her actions.
"It's like you've never seen grain before." She commented softly.
There was more truth to that statement than she knew. As cooking and housekeeping went I was utterly and severely hopeless. I had always had a maid, cook, and housekeeper there was no reason for me to learn those things. Today as I gave my sad attempt at grinding the grain I wished that maybe I had tried to learn those things. It would have been frowned on by it would have been nice to know.
Lori walked over to inspect my efforts. She nodded at the grain that had been turned into a powder. She took the bowl away from me then poured more grain in. I set to work obediently grinding it into powder.
"Your hands are so soft." She commented looking at her own which were rough and strong from years of baking and doing dishes. Her nails were short and cracked and there was a bit of dirt under the nail of her thumb which she cleaned out. "What did you do in your village?"
"I uh.." I couldn't exactly say that I was a princess. "I was a seamstress." I lied smoothly. It wasn't a complete and total lie. I had had some experience with a needle and thread. Isabella had taught me a few things in secret after I insisted on learning.
"A seamstress really?" She asked in excitement as she looked around the room. "Perhaps you could help me." She said. She bounded off into the other room while I sat there and waited for her to return. She came back into the room with a large piece of fabric. It was a light brown with speckles of pink flowers. "I've been meaning to make dresses for the girls. But I've been so busy lately."
"I'll help if I can." I said questioning why I had claimed to be a seamstress.
"Thank you!" she practically cheered. The front door burst open and she promptly hid the fabric behind her apron as Susan and Rebecca entered.
"Rylan will be back soon." Said Rebecca with a wrinkled nose. "He's bringing Celia with him." The name Celia dripped off her tongue like venom.
"Rebecca." Lori warned. Rebecca simply shrugged and walked into hers and Susan's shared room. Their quiet chatter started up within a few seconds.
"She doesn't like Celia?" I asked. Lori took the grain bowl from me then placed another bowl in front of me full of peas in a pod. I began shelling the peas into a different smaller bowl.
"Nobody does." Lori said returning to the stove. "Forget I said that. It wasn't kind." She said picking up the wooden spoon her cheeks blooming red to show her embarrassment.
"It's true though!" Rebecca piped up from the other room. Lori and I chuckled together at her words as the front door opened.
"Hello!" Celia practically shouted at us. Her cheeks were bright pink looking as though she was either sunburnt or had gone running up a mountain. Her hand fastened on Rylan's bicep like a vice grip and she bumped into him as she walked.
Lori and I nodded to her. For a split second I saw Rylan's pained expression as she steered him to the table and sat down in a chair without an invitation.
"Oof." She sighed dragging the back of her hand across her forehead. "They were beautiful Rylan." She reclaimed his arm. "Just beautiful." She turned to him batting her eyelashes. Rylan looked uncomfortable at her proximity and inched away but she pulled him back with her grip on his arm. He looked like he would like nothing better than to peel her off and throw her out the door but he kept his mouth shut in one tight line.
"I'm glad that you liked them." he said in a flat tone that didn't indicate his gladness. It implied the complete opposite.
"It's a shame your father couldn't have gone with us." She said and I saw Rylan's face out of the corner of my eye. He looked as though he had been burned. For a moment Lori's continual stirring stopped.
"Yes." Rylan replied allowing for a thick blanket of awkwardness to settle around the room. The only sounds were the patter of peas falling into a heap at the bottom of my bowl and Lori's spoon scraping against the bottom of the pot.
"Rylan." She tutted. "You didn't introduce me to your houseguest." She pouted.
"This is Maria." He said
She extended her hand for me to take it looking at me as though I were below her in station. "I'm Celia." She said as I looked at her hand hovering above the table. She gave it a little wave as though to catch my attention but I didn't look up from my peas. She exhaled loudly through her nose then turned back to Rylan.
I ignored her as my thoughts turned to Rylan's pained expression when she mentioned his father. Of course he had a father I just hadn't met him yet. Rebecca and Susan were clearly his sisters with their strange golden eyes. They didn't get those from their mother. I wondered where he was and why I hadn't seen him.
Lori set out bowls of soup again. This time there was a thick piece of bread and peas. She didn't set a bowl in front of Celia. Celia huffed.
"Rylan walk me out, will you?" she asked standing up. Rylan didn't rise from his seat. Instead he leaned as far as he could and managed to snag the door handle. With that he pulled it open and his chair slammed down with a crack as the four legs once again touched down on the floor.
"Thank you." She huffed then pranced out the door. Rebecca bounced up to slam the door behind her.
"She's gone!" she said throwing her arms up in the air and doing a little dance.
"Rebecca." Lori warned giving her a disapproving look.
"You're thinking the same thing." Rebecca pouted as she slouched back to her chair at the table.
"LORI!" a loud voice called directly out the door causing me to jump. Immediately the family cleared the table as Rylan opened the door. I watched with wide eyes as four men entered the room carrying a door. Five men actually. On the door held between them was a man groaning in agony. Rylan rushed over and scooped me up in his arms as the men heaved the door onto the table. The groaning continued as Rylan took me to my mattress.
"Rylan what's going on?" I asked as he turned to leave me.
"My mother heals people. Now stay in here." He said. As if I could go anywhere anyway. Susan and Rebecca shuffled into the room. Both of them had a doll under their arm as they settled on the mattress next to me.
"What's her name?" I asked Susan.
"Poppy." She said lifting her doll so she did a little bounce.
"She's lovely." I said. Susan blushed as she returned to playing. "What's her name?" I asked Rebecca.
"Rosey."
"Well hello Rosey." I extended my hand and Rebecca pushed Rosey's cloth arm forward so I could shake her hand. Groans came from the other room causing both girls to look up with frightened expressions and I worked to distract them as much as I could. Eventually both girls fell asleep with their heads in my lap and their dolls under their arms. I leaned my back against the hard wall listening to the quiet in the other room. The quiet was better than the agonized groans from earlier. Rylan walked in and I put my finger against my lips to tell him to be quiet.
He looked exhausted as he scooped Susan up first and took her to her bed. He returned for Rebecca and I passed him her doll when it fell. He returned when he had put them to bed.
"How is he?" I asked referring to the man.
"He will have a hard time for a few weeks." He said.
"What happened?"
"He fell from his roof." Rylan replied.
"Does your mother do things like this a lot?"
"She takes care of people." He said with a shrug. "It scares Rebecca and Susan."
"You should get some sleep." I said taking in his tired eyes and look of exhaustion.
"Do you need anything?" he asked.
"No, thank you. Just go get some rest."
He nodded in agreement then staggered off leaving me to think over the things I had seen.