AN: I was in the mood to re-write a chapter, so this happened. Please ignore any irregularities you may find, I was kinda tipsy whilst writing this and couldn't be bothered to go over the previous chapters to make sure that everything flowed. For those who didn't catch onto this in the previous chapter, Viv's 'bindings' are the Merasan equivalent to a bra. I couldn't be bothered to come up with a better name, so it's sticking with that at this point.
Please enjoy this new chapter!
-amphimere
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1st night hour
Vivien's house
Mount Api
4th Year of Lord Tante's rule
The young man from Twister's shop sat down gingerly on one of the three chairs around the table near the washbasin, his eyes carefully averted from the pile of bloodstained, dirty clothes in the corner. He could not seem to bring himself to look me in the eye either, after our earlier confrontation at the front door. The wraith remained seated quietly upon my bed, a prominent figure in the room, and yet, unnoticed by the young man. Not that I was complaining at this point - the less weird questions he asked, the better.
I had pulled on Annabelle's dress from my trunk, and now sat uncomfortably on one of the other chairs by the table, doing my best to ignore the chair currently in the middle of the room, which I had been sitting on when interrogating the wraith. Gods, he must have thought that I was a complete weirdo. Neither of us said a word as many minutes passed, the sounds of revelry growing and fading in volume as parties of people walked up and down the street outside.
Finally, he broke the silence that was expanding in awkwardness. "My name's Blaze. Uh, you're Vivien right?" I gave him a deadpan glare, then rolled my eyes in exasperation. Was he for real?
"It would have been fucking awkward for you if I wasn't Vivien, wouldn't it?" I replied sarcastically. He chuckled, looked down, and rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand nervously. His feet, enclosed in smart leather boots, began tapping out a rhythm as he stared down at them rather than meet my eyes. The silence continued after that, but didn't last long.
"Umm. You were Will's best friend - uh, sister, I guess - right?" I nodded as I couldn't be bothered to give such a stupid question an articulate answer. Will was known all across Merasa, and thus, his family was as well. I had been his family for almost as long as I could remember, and everyone knew me in relation to Will because of that. Some people may have known me more because of my tendency to get in trouble with the Lords and Ladies of the mountains more than as Will's sister, but the point still stands.
"Of course, right, that was a stupid question. Uh...I - uh - I guess...I knew Will too. He was a good friend." Blaze blurted out, cheeks flushing once more with embarrassment. This made me sit forward on my chair. When I had seen him in Twister's apothecary, I had not thought for a moment that he might have a connection to Will. He had just seemed like a traveller to the region, going to do business with Twister for whatever reason, and had gotten roped into whatever plan Rowan and Rael had concocted.
"How did you know Will?" I asked, shifting so that I was sitting on the edge of my chair, ready to threaten him with my daggers for information if he didn't tell me quickly. He made note of this, I could tell, as his eyes moved sharply between my hands and the daggers in their sheath buckled around my waist. His legs tensed, ready to move out of the way if I came at him, but I was confident enough that I could get to him before he got out the door.
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you! Just please, don't stick me with your daggers." I crossed my arms, and began tapping my foot, waiting. He seemed to be able to tell that I was waiting for him to speak, so he began, rather quickly, I might add.
"I met Will when my mother left Merasa to join Lady Hannah's kaula in the Badlands-"
I had to interrupt him there, already confused. "Kaula? Lady Hannah? What are you on about?"
He looked slightly amused at my questions, but carried on regardless when I made a show of pulling one of my daggers out to clean it on Annabelle's dress. "Right, quick lesson on the barbarians then. Um, Lady Hannah is the current leader of the Barbarians, and I use leader in a very loose way because the barbarians don't really follow the structure of a hierarchical society that Merasa does. The barbarians are made up of multiple clans, each with a head family that ensures the welfare of everyone in their clan. Lady Hannah rules over all those head families and ensures that justice is equal throughout all of the clans. Since she can't be in many places at once, she has kaula, female followers who have dedicated their lives to serving Lady Hannah's family. They travel throughout the Badlands and meet with the clans, enforcing Lady Hannah's rule in her place. They also engage in trade with merchants who stop at the Temple of Penjaga. My mother left her family here after my youngest brother was born to become a kaula. Apparently her mother had done the same thing years ago. It was a family tradition, I guess."
He trailed off for a moment, giving me time to process the influx of information just relayed to me. I had had little to do with the barbarians over the years, besides Tessa's introduction into Will's family almost 6 years ago, and the slaughter of my family at the hands of a group of barbarians that had broken into the city during the Years of Indecision. I had never really been interested in learning about the barbarians and their social structure, having been far more interested in the Other-World Portals and trying to learn how to wield as many weapons as I could get my hands on. You could say that I had a very full on childhood, and honestly I don't know how Twister dealt with me, an angsty Will, Rin as a toddler, and Rosa as a newborn all at the same time with no help from any sort of mother figure in our lives.
"...Paddy was assigned to help my dad with adjusting to life as a single father, as part of his early training to become a Tanah leader." Blaze had begun speaking again, so I resumed paying attention to what he was saying. "Will was staying with Paddy for some reason early on after my mother left, and we became friends when Paddy came over to help. He'd dragged Will with him, and then left him with me and Janna, my twin brother, while he helped my dad with my youngest brother. My sisters were a lot older than me and Janna, and had already married off to Udarah men. The rest of the family blamed my dad for my mother running off to become a kaula, and refused to talk to us for a year. I spent a lot of time with Paddy, Will, and Janna that year. We've all been friends since. I was out of the city on a trade run with Janna when Will had his Test, and I only got back a couple of days ago. I hadn't realised that he would be gone so soon."
"Well I now know more about your personal life than I ever wanted or needed to. Wonderful." I stated sarcastically, though deep down I was incredibly proud of Will and Paddy, the boys they had been, and the men they had grown up to be. "Thanks though. It was good to hear about Will. He kept a lot of secrets from me, and it's just now coming to light exactly how many there really were."
"You know that he was just trying to keep you safe right?" Blaze interjected softly.
"I know. But sometimes, I'd rather know what he was hiding rather than look like a fool who has been kept in the dark about all the important things in my brother's life." I muttered, scratching lines into the table with the dagger that was still in my hand. Blaze put his hand over mine on the dagger, and I looked up to meet his eyes.
"It's time you know the secrets now Vivien. Will kept you in the dark to keep you safe, but with him gone, it's become safer if you know everything. Will you come with me to Twister's shop, and I'll explain everything?"
I raised my eyebrows at this, and pulled my hand back from Blaze's, tucking the dagger back in its sheath. "Right now? It's late; the shop isn't even open at this hour." I wasn't ready for sleep, like many would be at this hour, but I wasn't up to traipsing down the mountain to Twister's shop only find it closed, and then have to traipse back up the mountain to come home again.
"Twister makes exceptions sometimes."
"I'm sure he does..." I muttered, and stood up. "Well, if we're going, I'm not wearing this. Go outside and wait, I'll be out when I find something else to wear, that isn't a dress or completely covered in blood.
"Blood? Why were you covered in blood?" Blaze asked inquisitively, standing up as well, and moving to hover just behind the chair he was sitting on, one hand balanced lightly on the back of it.
"That is a story for another time. Now, shoo. Out." I told him sternly, waving my hands in front of myself to shoo him out. When he didn't move, and simply continued to stand behind the chair, staring at me with a slight head tilt, I shrugged and unzipped the dress at the side where the two halves met. This caused Blaze to realise that I was serious about undressing, and he squealed before bolting out the door, slamming it shut behind himself. I rolled my eyes at his actions, but still felt the flush in my cheeks due to the embarrassment I felt at doing what I had done. I may be a bit of a wild child, but I still valued my modesty, no matter what my previous actions may indicate.
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Everything after this is the old story. There will be many irregularities if you dare to continue reading. Seriously, I don't recomend it. I've changed the plot so this chapter does not line up with the next one at all. Please don't continue reading.