Chapitre 20: Hinedere
It didn't take too long for Roderick to come back. "The Madam agrees to your terms and is waitin' for you in the study." He said as he entered the room and gave a courteous bow to Ariana. "Good. I will leave after Cayden has been attended to." Ariana said as she settled herself more into the chair.
She watched as a vein appeared under Roderick's right eye. "Be beggin' your pardon youn' Miss but it best not to keep the Madam waitin' too long." Ariana looked at him indifferently and then moved her gaze to Cayden. "He's waited long enough, move him then I'll move." She said coolly. Charles chuckled to himself as he moved.
"Calm down Roderick, I will move the boy. Young Miss please do not anger the Madam by making her wait. I promise to take good care of the boy and our Miss, so please leave them in my hands and attend to the Madam."
Ariana gave a deep sigh before she started to move from the chair. She stood up as Charles lifted up the rag like body from the floor. His head hung back, as his golden hair gently swayed with every step Charles took. Satisfied Ariana walked towards Roderick, until she was toe to toe with him.
She looked up and matched his gaze. "Well? You said your Madam is waiting, why are you not moving yet?" Roderick flushed a deep crimson red before he turned. "Follow me then!" Ariana looked back for a second and allowed her body to relax when she saw that Charles had laid the boy gently onto the fold out bed.
Ariana took a deep breathe as she steeled her nerves again and took a step forward, following Roderick out of the room. They both walked in silence as the walked down the hallway, down the stairs and made their way into the study. The lights were turned off, a fire was still roaring in the fireplace, Countess Drake was sitting lazily in a giant crimson wingback silhouette chair with a diamond-tufted detailed pattern. Each button was done in gold and the frame of the chair was done in mahogany.
Countess Drake was wearing a light green, shear lace bodice night gown and a light green, satin over coat that hung loosely around her shoulders. Her hair was down, she had a glass of red wine in one hand and she absent mindedly watched the flames dance in the fireplace. "Madam, the young Miss is 'ere." Roderick said as he bowed to her silhouette that extended towards the ceiling. "You may leave." She said indifferently as she waved her free hand in the air.
Roderick raised his head and straightened up his back. He gave Ariana a dark look before he exited the room and closed the door. Ariana kept her eyes fixed on the Countess, who was still sitting in the slightly turned chair. "I won't attack you, so speak freely." She said casually as she took another sip of her wine.
"Fine." Ariana answered with hostility as she approached the chair. "My... aren't you a ball of fire. Don't you ever tire of suspecting everyone child?" Countess Drake asked with a laugh. Ariana furrowed her brows as she looked into the woman's face. "Don't you ever tire of pretending to not care for your children?"
Countess Drake allowed a sly smirk to appear on her face. "Are you trying to tell me you are wiser then your age or are you trying to get on my nerves? Do you think I would explode and what? Reveal my most inner thoughts? Ha! I run a tight ship in my yard, it doesn't make a difference to me whether it's my home or the military camp, I will not yield to a child."
Ariana started to inspect the ends of her hair, completely indifferent to the Countess. When she was satisfied that her hair's health she allowed the locks to slip between her fingertips ad she looked up to see the Countess's face. The corners of her lips tugged up and turned into a bright smile. "Really now? I would say there is no one in this world that can hide their intentions entirely...." She decided to sit on top of an ottoman that was close to the Countess. She brought both hands up, balanced her elbows on her thighs and cradled her head.
"You flinched when you saw the colour of my eyes, you wanted to keep your daughter close so you imprisoned her within your estate under the pretense of meeting the council tomorrow and even now you agreed to meet with me just because I asked?"
"You have nothing to talk with me about, you haven't even tried to interrogate me and try to act like your indifferent. Who are you trying to fool? You're a mother who loves her family and doesn't know how to show it, you my dear soon-to-be grandmother seem to be a 'hinedere' and that has peaked my interest." Countess Drake clutched the neck of the wine glass as she started to fix her posture in her chair.
"What is a hinedere?" She asked coolly as she stared down at Ariana's beaming face. Ariana giggled as she brought her knees up higher and swayed them back and forth. "Do you want to know?" Countess Drake threw her cup of wine towards the fireplace as a scowl produced on her face. "Of course I want to know! What have you called me child?!"
Ariana dropped her knees and removed one of her hands from under her chin. She brought her index finger up and started to wave it left then right. "We need to trade information my little hinedere or else how are we to benefit from one another?" Countess Drake eased up her glare on Ariana and leaned back into her chair. She brought up one leg and crossed it over the other as she created a temple with the tips of her fingers. "You want to exchange information?"
Ariana couldn't hide her excitement as she watched Countess Drake. "Oh yes, but for equal information though. I'm not going to ask you anything too complicated or personal." Countess Drake raised her eyebrow and brought her hands down on to her lap. "What do you want to ask me?" Ariana started to grin and she brought up her legs and crossed them on top the ottoman. "The cuff that Cayden is wearing, what is it exactly?"
Countess looked confused for a second, she allowed a few moments to pass by before she cleared her throat. "Are you sure this is what you want to ask me?" Ariana nodded her head vigorously. "Why?" Ariana's body tensed up, she wasn't expecting the Countess to want to know her reason and even if she was curious she wasn't expecting her to ask, Ariana turned her head to the side, brought her fist to her mouth and coughed. "He's my friend…" She answered in a small voice.
The Countess nodded her in understanding. "It's a magical item made of holy gold and platinum. A scale from the Thunder Bird is then ground up and infused with the platinum and acts like a barrier between people so mind control can be eliminated while the holy gold can block the slave markings from harming the body."
"You see we have been trying to capture the Thunder Bird for some time now, we want to tame the beast so that it stops creating destruction to our land and utilize its abilities for the betterment of everyone within our kingdom." Ariana's eyes startled to sparkle as she sat silently and listened. "So you are showing your kindness in a round about way?" She said when the Countess became silent.
"You may believe whatever you want, kindness, compassion or whatever weak emotion you choose to label me I have no opinion. All I want to know is what this 'hinedere' is." The Countess said coolly as she shot Ariana an icy, cold glare. Ariana started to giggle and jumped off of the ottoman. She lunged onto the Countess and gave her a giant kiss on the cheek as she wrapped her arms around her neck.
"I'm sorry I called you a hag and a prune, now that I know you're a good person I will speak more respectively towards you." She said as she let go off the Countess's neck and walked towards to door. The Countess snapped out of her initial shock and clutched the arm rests of the chair as she pulled herself forward. "Wait! What about our deal!" She demanded as Ariana placed her hand on the door knob.
She looked back after she opened the door and smiled angelically. "I love you grandmother! No matter how arrogant your attitude is, no matter how cynical and sarcastic you are with that people are around you, you are still a big old softy deep, deep, dee-eep down inside. A true hinedere but a word of advise. If you want to repair your relationship with my mother be more honest, remember she is someone you love." She said and quickly made her escape, leaving a very dumbfounded Countess alone in the study.
Ariana laughed all the way up the stairs until she reached the bedroom door. She leaned her forehead against the door as she waited to catch her breathe. With a giant grin on her face she threw up the door and skipped in. "Grandmother is not a bad person!" She announced. Lady Zula and Charles looked at her stupidly as she skipped up to them.
"Sweetie what do you mean she's not a bad person? What did she do or say to you?" Lady Zula asked her cautiously but Ariana waved her hand. "She did nothing to me, she didn't even ask anything off me. She's a little hard to understand but once you do you can see she is a very loving person."
Lady Zula stood up from her seat and walked over to Ariana. She grabbed her chin and started to inspect her eyes. Then she looked at Charles. "Leave now!" She demanded but Charles didn't budge. "I'm sorry Miss but I can't leave your side until you leave the estate." Lady Zula's eyes started to blaze with hatred as she looked at Charles. She then went on to undressing Ariana.
"Sorry sweetie but I need to check your body to see if she implanted anything on you, a tracking bug, some mind control crystal, slave markings, or something to make you think anything good about that hag! She is vile!" Lady Zula shouted as she tossed Ariana's nightgown onto the bed.
Ariana pointed over towards Cayden. "Charles is there another cuff like that? I can wear it and prove I'm fine." Charles shook his head. "Sorry, no young Miss. This a rare item and we were lucky enough to have one in the Madam's personal inventory." Ariana thought for a second and allowed herself to be turned around. Lady Zula moved her hair aside and started to poke around her back. "I guess there is no way for me to prove that I am speaking of my own free will then?"
"You could always take the cuff off the boy and wear it." Charles said indifferently. "Doesn't he need it? I don't want to see him in pain again." Ariana said as she dropped her gaze to the floor. She had thought of it for a second but refused to let the words leave her mouth. "Ariana what is this underneath your shoulder blade?"
Ariana looked back and saw Lady Zula's face pale. "My birthmark... why?" Lady Zula grabbed Ariana's nightgown from the bed and tried to dress her as fast as she could. "We need to leave now." Ariana was confused and struggled to stay still. "Why? What's wrong? Grandmother is protecting us here so why are we rushing to leave?" Lady Zula ran to gather their belongings and circled around Cayden a couple of times as she bit her knuckles.
"No, we can't stay we have to go." She said then started to smack Cayden's face. Ariana was alarmed and ran to her side to try and stop her from assaulting Cayden. "What are you doing?" She shouted in a panic but Lady Zula shook her off her arm. "If I can't wake him then we are leaving him behind. Go! Go pack your things we can't stay and I can't adopt you." Ariana felt like a bucket of ice water hit her in the face. "Why? I thought you wanted to be my mother?" She said as tears started to pool up in her eyes.
"Not now Ariana, I can't take you to the grand council! I can't put my finger on it but someone wants us here hell it could be the whole council! Right now we can't be legally mother and daughter but I will take care of you as my own, so please honey get your things." Lady Zula pleaded as she smacked Cayden one last time. A groaning sound came from his lips and Lady Zula let out a sigh of relief. "Cayden! Wake up Ariana is in danger we need to leave!"
Cayden eyes shot right open and adrenaline was pumping through his veins. "I understand." He said and started to get himself out of the bed. His strength barely returned and he lost his footing when he jumped out of the bed causing him to stumble onto the floor. "Cayden are you ok?!" Ariana yelled but Lady Zula stepped in front of her. "Get up or we leave you!" Lady Zula hissed.
Cayden started breathing heavily but he hauled himself up. "I won't be separated from her again." Lady Zula stared down Ariana until she started packing again. "Miss you can't leave. It's late..." Lady Zula shot Charles a dirty look and grabbed Ariana's bag. "I'd like to see that hag try and stop me!"
Within minutes Ariana, partially carrying Cayden and Lady Zula started descending the stairs when they saw James, Roderick and a maid blocking the main doors. "Move aside!" Lady Zula yelled as she waved her hand in the air, motioning them to move. "I'm sorry Miss but we can not let you leave." Lady Zula's face turned bright red from anger and she was ready to tear James a new one when a familiar voice interrupted her. "You can leave once you tell me what's wrong."
Everyone turned towards the direction the voice came from and were surprised to see the Countess walking towards the main doors. Lady Zula stormed up to her mother, her eyes were bulging, veins popped out on her forehead and cheek as she raised her hand into the air. The Countess surprised everyone again by stopping the smack Lady Zula was preparing to give her and pulling her into an embrace instead. "Please talk to me... I'm sorry for being such... such a..."
The Countess started to say but it was Ariana that was able to help her. "Hinedere?" The Countess tightened her grip on Lady Zula. "Yes a hinedere... I have reflected on my actions and I shouldn't let my arrogance and pride get in the way. Ariana's your words were nothing but the truth and I should at least let my guard down around the ones I love, just like I did with your father. You and your siblings are the products of him and I and I should treat you better. I'm so sorry, please forgive me and talk to me."
Lady Zula's eyes widened, she wasn't sure what was happening and stayed frozen like a statue within her mother's embrace. Ariana couldn't hold onto Cayden any longer and slowly helped him into a sitting position on to one of the steps. "You know you should hug your own mother back when she willing to take a huge risk, I mean she could easily be rejected and have her heart pushed further back into a shell but the choice is yours... I don't think there is any child in this world that doesn't want their mother's love."
Lady Zula felt her eyes sting and her lips tremble. Her hands started to shake as she slowly brought them up and wrapped her arms around her mother's body. "Why did you chase my fiance away? Why have you avoided me? Why have you locked me up so much? Why didn't you come looking for me?!" She started to cry and the Countess started to stroke Lady Zula's curly hair.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should have talked to you, told you everything! Please stay, there are some bad people out there that want to harm you and this little girl and I don't know why yet. All I know is your trip down here was a trap and it's someone with in the council that is pulling the strings. Please understand I'm trying to protect my family." Lady Zula clutched her mother's satin robe and whispered something into her ear. The Countess's eyes grew wide and her face paled. She released her daughter from the embrace and looked at Ariana with fear.
"James ready 4 coaches, we need to get them out of this City now!"
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone