Excerpt: Three Sisters

Chapter 1

For two of the three young ladies, it was a party like any other. Their father had been especially withdrawn lately, but around this time of year, that was nothing new. Their mother had died in the fall, and the melancholy of the time sent them all into themselves. For Adell, it was entirely different.
Adell sat at her dressing table, alone in her room with the door locked. She sat in her dressing gown, looking into her mirror. Her black hair fell down her shoulders in perfect curls. Once she pulled her dress on, she would be the immaculate lady. But now, she wanted nothing more than to be the young girl she felt she was inside.
Tonight, her engagement would be announced. It wasn’t that she was afraid, but rather, she didn’t know how to handle it. Her twin sister, Ciadna, did not know yet. She could not bring herself to tell her. Breim wouldn’t care, it wasn’t in her nature. But her twin would hurt, and that hurt would also be her own.
A single tear rolled down her cheek. She hadn’t been a child in several years, and she knew it was her duty to marry. But damn it, she didn’t want to.
The guests were arriving. She could hear them. Wiping the tear stain away with a soft cloth, she tried to blink the redness away. She pinched her cheeks a bit, to hide her paleness. And soon, it was time.
Adell struggled into her gown alone. She had always disliked having help even to bathe, but needing help to dress as well had always seemed, well, helpless. She fastened and tied her dress as best she could, knowing her sister would fret over it later. She shrugged her mass of curls back over the dress and slid her feet into her slippers. Looking in the mirror, she thought that perhaps a black and burgundy gown was not the best choice for an engagement. Even so, it was one of her favorites, with its dark crystals glittering around the neckline and the wrists. And it looked so nice with her dark hair, giving it a reddish gleam.
She could hear feet shuffling outside the door. Adell didn’t want to face anyone that might be standing there. But tonight, she had little choice.
As she opened the door, she inhaled deeply, steeling herself for the night to come.
Her maid, Merin, was wringing her hands and pacing outside the door. “Lady Adell! You’ll be late for the—“ She rolled her eyes and shooed Adell back into the room, shutting the door behind them. “Oh, just look at you,” Merin muttered, fiddling with the notions on Adell’s dress. “You still need me.” She clucked like a mother.
Adell allowed her ministrations for the time being. It would end soon enough. Merin would not be coming with her when she left. “Are my sisters ready?” Adell inhaled deeply as Merin tried to tighten her gown. Merin slapped her gently on the arm. “Just not too tight again, please,” Adell whispered, not letting out her breath.
“Your sisters have been ready for quite a while. They’ve been asking for you. They can sense something in the air tonight.” Merin smiled sadly at her.
“Not by my choosing.”
“I know, my dear, I know.” Merin fussed with her hair and finally deemed her ready to attend her party. “Come now, nothing to fear here. You know your father wouldn’t do that to you.”
Adell inhaled and exhaled slowly. “Thank you, Merin.” She flexed her fingers, trying to work out a little of the tension she had been holding onto all day. Adell opened the door and began the long walk towards the Great Hall.

Many of the guests were already seated, sipping her father’s fine selection of wine. The small group of musicians Tomas kept in house was already playing. Tonight, the food and entertainment would be lavish and very few people knew why.
Ciadna and Breim were already seated at their father’s table, the seat to his right hand empty and waiting for Adell. A full glass of wine sat there, waiting for her. Her sisters sat with their heads together, whispering to each other. All in all, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
When they saw Adell, her sisters paled and gestured for her to hurry over. Instead, Adell moved slowly through the crowd, greeting friendly and familiar faces, curtseying to unfamiliar ones. There were many people there that she did not know, but she was sure they were all going to be important to her in some way in the future.
By the time she made it to the table, Adell was already exhausted. She was in no way a social creature, preferring small groups of people. Her sisters reached out their hands to her as she walked behind them toward her seat. She felt their fingertips brush her hand and her skirt. But she kept her head up and her eyes half-lidded and her smile static.
The table was different tonight. Her sisters sat on a bench together. Her father had his regular large chair, but she had a smaller one set at her place. It had been her mothers. The seat to her right was empty at the moment, but it was also a chair. To the right of that chair, the seating continued on as benches. She took a deep breath and sat down.
It was strange, sitting in this chair. Her mother had held her on her lap in this chair, ages ago. She rested her hands on the carved arm rests. Her fingers fit into the carvings as if they were made for her. As she had seen her mother’s fingers fit into the carvings when she was just tall enough to see that high. Adell remembered putting her hand over her mother’s hand while it rested right there; her tiny hand over her mother’s pale hand. It was almost like her being here.
She wondered briefly if her mother had felt dread in the pit of her stomach when her marriage to Tomas had been announced. A faint smile flickered across her face. Of course not, their marriage had been made for love.
“For a moment, I’d hoped that smile might be for me,” a male voice said from beside her.
Adell jumped and gripped the armrests even more tightly. When she saw who it was, she relaxed and smiled genuinely. “Matteus,” she said, her relief clear.
“I was hoping to speak to you before dinner,” he began to say, but was interrupted by Lord Tomas’ arriving at his seat.
She smiled apologetically at him and turned her attention to her father. The three girls had known Matteus and his family since birth. Their estates were neighboring properties. It had been an ongoing joke between the girls that one of them would marry Matteus or his brother and they would join their lands.
Tomas noticed Adell looking to him, as well as Matteus standing beside her. He gestured for her to be free to continue her conversation. She nodded slightly and turned back to Matteus. “How is your sister Lily? She must be nearly eighteen by now?” Adell kept her eyes scanning the crowd, though she directed her voice toward Matteus.
“Ah, yes, she just turned seventeen. Just about Breim’s age. I had always hoped they might be friends, but you sisters stick together so closely.” Matteus chuckled.
Adell smiled and glanced over at her sisters. They were whispering to each other and gesturing. “That we are.” She looked up at Matteus. “Do you wish your siblings were so close?”
He pretended to look shocked. “Dear gods, no.” He laughed. “Boys are different. And poor Lily, being the only girl in the family.” He laughed again.
“Is she here this evening?” Adell cast a searching eye over the crowd. “I haven’t seen her in years, I’m not sure I’d know what she looks like now.”
“No,” he said, sounding a little sad. “She’s not well right now and the physicians have insisted she stay in her rooms.”
“Oh no,” Adell said, gasping in surprise. “What’s wrong?”
Matteus glanced around, as if checking to see who might be listening. “The physicians aren’t sure yet. Your guess may be as good as theirs, Adell. She’s refusing to sleep; she barely eats. She’s as pale as a ghost and there are even rumors starting that she is a ghost already. Part of me is glad that Mother and Father are already dead.” Matteus sighed. “Adell, I don’t know what to do and that scares me.”
The glimmer of a thought flitted across Adell’s mind, something about him entrusting her with these words and these feelings. Before she could chase it down, her father stood up and rapped his knuckles on the table. “Everyone, your attention please.”
The room slowly quieted down and everyone turned to face their table.
Tomas took his goblet in his hand and opened his arms wide. “I welcome you all to my board tonight and hope that you are enjoying yourselves. Tonight, I have the pleasure of an announcement to share with you all.”
Murmurs crossed the Great Hall in waves. Ciadna and Breim looked over at Adell and saw her pale. They knew now what she had been holding back for a week. They knew why she wasn’t sitting with them. They knew why she gripped her mother’s chair so tightly. And they knew that the same would be coming for them.
“It is my pleasure and joy to announce the upcoming wedding of my daughter Adell to Lord Matteus Tegued.”
Matteus gently helped Adell to her feet as the applause erupted around them.
To Matteus? Adell felt lightheaded and thought for a moment that she might faint. Married to Matteus. For some reason, the thought filled her with rage. She had considered Matteus a friend. Perhaps given the right timing and atmosphere, it could have even happened on its own. But for both Matteus and her father to neglect this detail, it was unforgivable. She straightened her back and held her head up. She smiled prettily for her father’s sake, but her hands trembled with anger.
She looked to her sisters again, knowing that Matteus was smiling at everyone and holding her arm up with his fingers twined with hers. They were only slightly more shocked than she. She could see Breim beginning to grind her teeth. This would be damaging and hard to repair. She sighed slightly, enough that only Matteus noticed. He glanced at her, expressing some concern through his eyes. Adell shook her head slightly, trying to pass off any emotion as his imagination. It must have worked, he looked back to the crowd.
Raising his free arm, Matteus silenced the crowd with an open palm. The applause faded away quickly. “I want to thank all of you for your approval. Tomas and I are both delighted to bind our families together in this way. We hope that all of us can benefit in some way from this union, though I’m sure none more than myself.” He winked at the crowd, rousing a good hearted laugh from many. He removed his hand from hers and put his arm across her shoulders. He pulled her close and she allowed it. His hand was warm and his strength comforting. The guilt she felt from those two thoughts was nearly overwhelming. He was still her friend. But now he had to be something else. How could she reconcile the two?
To Adell’s surprise, and thankfulness, her father began to speak again. She didn’t bother listening, but rather sat down once all eyes were off of her. Matteus sat down next to her and leaned in to whisper. “Are you all right?”
She softened her immediate reaction and replied quietly, “Of course, what could possibly be wrong?” She saw his eyes widen for a moment before he turned away from her, his smile never fading. Noble born and trained without a doubt.

***

In the dark outside on the countryside, something stirred. A deep voice spoke. “It has begun.”
A feminine voice responded. “It has been known for some time.”
“But only now have the players taken their places.”
“Forgive them for taking their time.”
“I forgive nothing.”
“Even with destiny, my love, there are things left up to chance.”
The male voice was silent. He would bide his time. Things would move, and they would be of his doing, not hers.
“I have allowed this,” the female voice said. “Do not forget.”
He remained silent again. No matter what she might say, this land belonged to him now. And he would finally taste blood again. And after so long, he would savor the taste.

***

Tomas had hired a troupe of delightful performers to celebrate the evening. After the food had been served, the performers began. Breim found them intriguing. But better than that, it gave her an idea. The performers would be leaving in the morning. She planned to go with them, whether anyone knew or not. With one sister getting married soon and the other planning something, Breim didn’t want to be here when things turned sour. And they would, they always did.
“Breim, would you like some more beef?” Ciadna gestured for the serving boy to come around to Breim’s side of the table.
“Oh,” she said, suppressing her startle reflex. “No, thank you.”
The boy walked on down the table before Ciadna spoke again. “You’re up to something.”
Breim did her best to look innocent, blinking her baby blue eyes a few times. Ciadna tugged her younger sister’s brunette braid. “I know you,” Ciadna said, “what are you up to?”
“Trying to be a good daughter, like our sister. Obedient, pleasant, charming.” Breim primly folded her hands together in her lap.
Ciadna pinched the back of her arm. When Breim barely contained her yelp of pain, Ciadna smirked. Breim fumed for a few seconds and then smiled again. She would miss Ciadna.
Ciadna was the eldest of the three girls and had taken on the mantle of mother to Breim after Veryyn died. However, she made sure to treat Breim more like a sister than like a daughter. Veryyn had died when Breim was four years old. All she remembered of her mother was what she saw in her sisters’ faces. How she turned out to be the fair-haired and pale-eyed child she was surprised everyone. Ciadna and Adell looked exactly like their mother. Dark hair with rich curls, dark eyes full of mystery, and a naturally pale complexion. Everyone claimed, especially their father, that Breim looked much like her grandmother. But staring at portraits of the woman revealed nothing to Breim. She looked as much the outsider as she often felt.
After the food was cleared away and the dessert wines served, the crowd moved aside to watch the performance that was about to start. There were orators, tumblers, dancers; anything one could dream of being. They entertained for a while before the dancing started. Breim was the only one to notice Adell excuse herself and leave the Great Hall.

***

When she got to the hallway outside the Great Hall, Adell took a deep breath and exhaled with a great sigh. She wanted to be alone, but if she went to her room or to either of her sisters’ rooms, she would be found quite easily. So, outside seemed the only option.
She followed one of the servant hallways out toward the high wall walkway. It would be cool and a little windy, but Adell would still be alone.
The moon was half full and clear. It loomed over the land outside the walls. The stars sparkled crystal clear in the sky. There was a bite to the air, autumn was rushing in on summer’s tail with a vengeance.
Adell walked around the wall until she made it to the southwest facing side of the keep. Her father called it an estate, but this was more than a mansion on a plot of land. This was a fortified and defensible location, suitable for ruling people from. Adell and her sisters had never had any misgivings about what their home was and who their father was. Being a good ruler had not stopped him from being a good and loving father.
She stopped for a moment. Adell wondered if Matteus would be a good ruler and a good and loving father. She snorted a laugh, and continued on to the spot she wanted to look out from. There was a rise in the wall near the southwest corner, as if it the land had begun to rise up until the stone until it realized the foolishness of such an action. She stood there, on the highest spot and looked out into the distance.
There were three mountains in a row there, proceeding south west. They were often referred to as the Three Sisters. Adell, Ciadna, and Breim had more than once claimed they were named for them, never minding that the mountains were as old as time and they had less than sixty years between them all.
The mountains were snowcapped year round and Adell had always dreamed of climbing them someday. She knew she never would, but it was times like this that she dreamed again of it. To run away, brave the unknown, and accomplish something. Maybe slaughter untold horrors and become a hero along the way. There were days when Adell wished she had been born the son her father had always wished for.
“Adell?” It was Matteus, he had followed her.
She sighed and turned around. “Yes, Matteus?” She held her tongue, wishing she could lash out verbally at him, assaulting him physically for assaulting her privacy.
He came close to her and reached out a hand to push her hair back from in front of her left ear. She leaned back and he pulled his hand away. “Are you angry with me?”
She wanted to scream at him, to pummel her fists against his chest. To let out these feelings of betrayal. Instead, she pulled herself together and crossed her arms. “I am angry, yes, but there is nothing you can do about it.”
“But are you angry with me?”
Adell rolled her eyes. “Frankly, Matteus, I am. With you, with my father. Would it have been so hard to simply tell me that you would be my husband? Why couldn’t you have come to me? Why did I have to wait only to find out in front of hundreds of people that it would be you?”
Matteus frowned. “Your father approached me. I never dared to dream that you would ever be my wife.” He walked over to the wall and rested his hands on the cool stone, facing out toward the mountains. “Gods, Adell, when you grew into such a beautiful woman, I—“
“No,” she interrupted him. “No, you’re not going to make this some romantic love story. You betrayed me and I am furious.”
He turned to look at her. Before he could speak a single word, she stepped closer to him. “I will do my duty and it will be my honor to do so,” she said, her voice dangerously low. “But have no illusions in your heart, Matteus, it will not be done out of any love for you.” She turned sharply and walked back the way she had come, taking the winding route back to the Great Hall.
Matteus watched her walk away. He wondered if coming up here to her had only made things worse. He had never seen Adell like this. Nor her sisters. He should have known better, though, than to assume none of them had a temper. Of course she had a temper. He smiled.
Footfalls behind him warned of someone’s approach. Matteus turned around. It was his friend and adjutant Thayer. Thayer was his taken name, not given, and Matteus had always only known him by that name. “So, Matteus, enjoying your intended?” Thayer smirked.
“Oh, she injures me constantly,” he replied, a bit too dramatically.
Thayer leaned against the wall. “She’s angry. You can’t expect civility when you may have just destroyed everything she’s ever known.”
“Taking her side so soon?” Matteus glared at his friend good-heartedly.
“I’ve learned to always take the lady’s side,” Thayer said, nodding wisely. “So long as you’re not wounded unto death, I believe we should return to our host’s party.”
“Ever the diplomat, Thayer,” Matteus replied as he brushed his hands clear of the stone particles.
“And always right.” Thayer smiled and led his friend and master back toward the Great Hall.
They walked in silence down to the Great Hall. Thayer stopped Matteus outside in the hallway. “Matteus, just let her be. Do not push her any farther.”
“Would you have me be ruled by my wife?”
“I would have her believe she ruled you. It will take time for you to fall that far to her wiles.” Thayer grinned. Matteus rolled his eyes and passed Thayer into the Great Hall.
Thayer followed, but diverted his attention to the crowd. Adell’s sisters had joined them and were dancing amongst the guests. It was interesting to watch these young women. Ciadna was graceful yet still stiff and formal. Breim, however, was still young enough to be joyous in her movement and less cautious in her social graces. Over and over again, his eyes were drawn back to her.
She had developed a confidence that she had not had earlier in the evening. Thayer didn’t believe it was due to too much drink. She had only had one glass of wine, and watered wine at that. And she kept noticing that he was looking at her.
He tried to stay relatively invisible no matter where he was. No one before had ever focused on him so intently. Her attention bothered him and he wished he had carried some weapon with him, even in Tomas’ Great Hall, however impolite that would have been. He didn’t even have any of his charms and all thoughts of invocation escaped him. He tried to focus his own attention back on Matteus; perhaps she would forget about him.
Matteus seemed absorbed in conversation with Lord Tomas. Perhaps they were discussing terms of the marriage. Thayer didn’t really want to know. He wasn’t interested in lordly business. He had deliberately avoided that life and he intended to keep it that way. Being Matteus’ first in command was fine. It allowed him to honor an old vow. But he would never be a ruler of people. A commander in war, yes, but never a ruler.
He felt eyes on him. Breim was watching him. Interesting. He decided to slowly make his way over to her. Stopping to speak with many people, some of whom had traveled with him. He was asked all sorts of questions, even some about when they would be going home. Soon, he hoped, but then again, it wasn’t up to him.
By the time he had made his way across the hall, Breim had settled down on a bench to watch him. She had a smirk on her face. It seemed that these sisters all shared a rather wicked sense of humor. Matteus would be fine with Adell for his wife.
“Lady Breim,” he said, bowing to her seated form.
“I’m afraid I don’t know your name,” she replied.
He straightened up and smiled at her. “Then allow me to correct that oversight. My name is Thayer and I am the adjutant of Lord Matteus.”
“I see.”
For a moment, Thayer was thrown by her brief remark. He sat down next to her. “I noticed you this evening.”
“I know.”
He wished she would stop doing that. “Would you like to dance?”
“That depends, are you a good dancer?”
“Fair enough, I suppose.”
“I’d rather not.” She crossed her arms in front of her in a pout. He saw her watching the tumblers again. He watched her closely for a moment as she was distracted. Something was going through that head. Was she infatuated with one of the performers? There didn’t seem to be one particular one she was focusing on. How odd.
“Sir Thayer, if I might ask,” she said quietly, “how is it that you came to be where you are?”
He looked at her questioningly. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I’ll be honest with you, you look like and act as a noble born son. Everyone says you are not, but you, well, as adjutant, you’ll have none of the ugly responsibilities and essentially all of the freedoms.” Breim looked embarrassed to be saying such things.
He smiled at her. “Lady Breim—“
“Please, call me Bree.”
“Bree,” he began again. “It is a long and bloody story. I saved someone’s life once and he promised me anything I asked for. It changed my entire life and not in a way that I would wish on anyone else. Perhaps some day, I will tell you all about it.” He paused. “I will tell you now, there are only three men who know the entire story, and none of them are here tonight.”
Breim looked at him in awe. He had her now. He smiled at her. “I will bid you good evening, Lady Breim.” He stood and held out his hand for hers. When she hesitated, he gently tugged her arms, unfolding them, and then delicately kissed the palm of her right hand, closing her fist when he lifted his lips away. “Until we meet again.”
She nodded, wordless. When he let go of her wrist, she stood up involuntarily, and as he stepped away, she took a step toward him. It took her a moment to gather her wits. What had she been thinking?
Admittedly, she hadn’t been. Thayer had mesmerized her. But it wasn’t just him. It was the promise of freedom, the music, the wine. It was everything about the night. And whether she should blame her father, or Adell, or even herself, she had no idea.
At the thought of her sister, she looked around the Great Hall for her. Adell was sitting next to Ciadna in a corner, her eyes red and puffy. Perhaps she should go to them, and—And what? Promise that nothing would change between them? Share a room with her sisters tonight and then abandon them? That was her plan, after all. But could she do it? She did love her family desperately. But everything was falling apart. Or was it?
Breim went over to her sisters. When they looked her, in their uncanny twin way, Breim hurried over to their father and begged their leave. All she had to do was nod toward Adell and her father understood. She curtseyed and then rushed back to her sisters. Ciadna tugged Adell to her feet and Breim went to her other side. The three young women quietly and discreetly left the hall.
Breim went ahead when she felt Adell relax. Shooing the maids out of the room they sometimes shared, Breim stoked the fire some and pulled a chair near to it, for Adell to sit in. Ciadna led Adell over to the chair and urged her to sit. She knelt before her sister and took off Adell’s slippers. Breim quickly closed the door and bolted it. They needed no intrusions.
No sooner had Breim shut the door than Adell began to sob. She bent forward in the chair and rested her elbows on her knees while holding her hands over her face. Her sobs shook her entire body. Breim held back for a moment, surely a wedding announcement wasn’t that terrible. Especially since she wouldn’t even be that far from home. It was a full day’s ride, if that, from Matteus’ residence. Breim sighed, but tried to smother the sound. She found a handkerchief and offered it to Adell.
Adell began sobbing anew as she took the handkerchief and covered her face. Ciadna looked to Breim, helpless. She knelt before her twin and took her hands down from her face. Clasping them between her own, Ciadna spoke softly, motherly. “Come, Adell, let’s get you into bed. Things will be brighter in the morning.”
Adell yanked her hands back and stood up so quickly Ciadna fell backwards to the floor. “Do not coddle me, Ciadna. You, at least, have a say in your future.” She picked up her skirts and stepped over her sister’s sprawled body and stomped toward the door.
“Don’t ever be too sure of something like that, dear sister.” Ciadna’s voice held both kindness and venom, a tone she had only ever used when speaking to her twin.
Yanking the door open, Adell ran out into the hallway, ignoring everyone who was standing outside, waiting to see if the girls needed anything. “Where is she going?” Breim sat down on the footrest by the fire.
Ciadna picked herself up off the floor and brushed her dress off. Sitting down in the chair Adell had abandoned, she sighed. “Who cares? She needs to settle down and act her age. She knew marriage or something was coming. And she knew it wouldn’t be her choice.”
“But Father married for love.”
“Yes, and look at Father now. So lovesick still that he could never remarry despite what would have been best for everyone.” Ciadna stuck her feet out and kicked off her slippers. “She bitter because I decided long ago what I was going to do with my life, with enough time for Father to accept it.”
Breim looked up at Ciadna. Always this vague talk about the future, but never any depth. “So, what are you going to do?”
Ciadna smiled, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m going to join the Order.”
Breim gasped. “Become a Disciple?”
“What else, become their maid?”
“You would though,” Breim replied tartly.
“No,” Ciadna said with a sigh. “Within the Order, everyone works, everyone does something, and all for Her eternal glory.”
“They sleep a lot.”
“They dream a lot.”
Breim crossed her arms and frowned. Dreaming. That could be done here, with me. Everyone is leaving. So will I.
Ciadna yawned and stretched. “Best go find Adell, make sure she didn’t throw herself from the wall, or anything stupid like that. Make her go to bed. I know things will seem less desperate tomorrow.” Ciadna stood up and yawned again. “You coming with me?”
Breim shook her head. “I’m not tired.”
“Very well, but do get some sleep, little sister.” She patted Breim on the head lovingly and with a sleepy smile on her face. “I love you, little sister.”
Breim smiled, weariness washing over her. “I love you too, big sister.” Would this be the last time she would say that?
 
End Chapter 1