Childhood

[Amoonsinas]

© Crystal Siemens, March 2006

I could feel myself floating in a sort of nether world as I stared deep into those beautiful icy blue depths of hers. Seeing short flashes of various things and places that seemed to have a significant memory or meaning to her, in a time that I had only heard about through stories from older people in my many travels. I floated for what seemed like forever to me, lost in a timeless dimension and trapped in a world that was neither here nor there. I was feeling all of the various emotions that she had ever felt in her life. I could feel the love, the anger, the frustration inside of her, each seeming to have their own colorful aura that danced around me within her mind. The colors swirled around my vision so intensely that they made me want to laugh, to cry, to scream out for help and to beg for more all at once, fluttering through my mind like the ribbons of a Maypole in the soft spring breeze.

It wasn't until I could see a misty vision that I started to remember why it was I was in this utopia of delicious and uncontrollable mixture of feelings that had me more intoxicated then I had ever felt before. I could slowly make out a small thought... a memory perhaps. A memory of a time even before chivalry, when things were so brand new that every second that passed was a beginning to a new and wondrous adventure.

This world was like nothing I had ever seen before, naked and new and still waiting to be influenced and marred by the errors of human kind. All the things that happened in our past, even far before my own bloodline had begun to form on this earth. I couldn't even put a timeline to anything I saw here from the stories of the past that I could dig from my own memories.

But there was something else about this world of hers, something hidden and secret. Through my eyes, everything looked so wondrous and beautiful, but somehow inside of my soul I could feel as if the entire world was recovering from a devastating tragedy, hiding away its wounds under a perfect looking world by masquerading them all in beautiful lies. This only made me want to know more! I couldn't absorb anything she had shown me fast enough. I had to know more, I had to know why i felt so compelled to know everything about this woman and this mysterious place!

Suddenly the smell of a fresh spring morning flooded my senses, making me forget about all the questions in my mind of this place, of where it was, and why things were the way they were. I felt so intoxicated and swept up that I couldn't help but smile and sigh at what I felt and saw. I was part of her completely now; watching everything from her eyes, feeling every emotion she felt as it unfolded in her cache of memories. I was a helpless but happy prisoner to each passing swirl of color as I sank back into my chair and let her world unfold inside of my mind.

I'm sure that the moan that I had heard pass through my lips had been echoed by everyone else as we all let the aura that surrounded her body and engulphed the room surround us. The colors in her mind swirled and tangled in an errotic dance with my soul, blending us together and making me feel completely whole for the first time in my life... making me one with her. I closed my eyes as the exotic dance of our souls continued, surrendering to the tentacles of what I could only imagine was our life essence. I was letting her take me over completely, shaping and molding me to her will as I flowed around her, jelling seamlessly into the memories of her life as if I was meant to be there all along.
~~~~~~~

Allissa awoke to a beautiful summer morning and stretched a long, lazy stretch within the embrace of the soft silk sheets. Opening her eyes slowly and letting her eyes adjust to the light , she blinked the first images of the new morning into her memory and welcomed them with a long and happy sigh. The thick handmade blanket draped over the sheets she laid under, curling around her body protectively as she lay under it and making her feel blessedly warm and comfortable within it's soft confines. She had nearly thought to close her eyes again and curl back into the warm depths of her bed while succumbing to sleep's embrace once again. Turning onto her side, she felt the blankets move with her as she stared out the large bedroom window at the outdoors that called to her on the other side of the open window.

A smile widened on full, ruby lips as the sounds of the morning slid through the open window, its song finding the way into her willing ears and filling her with the urgent need to go outside and dance in the crisp morning breeze. Closing her eyes, she envisioned herself spinning in the freshly dew-kissed grass, feeling the cool damp blades under her bare feet as the wind blew through the long raven black hair, the breeze kissing the tops of her rosy cheeks with a cool morning kiss. The birds seemed to finalize the debate in her mind, luring her from the warmth of her covers as they chirped and warbled their songs at her from branches of the large oak tree just outside her window.

Throwing the covers aside, she wiggled herself off the end of the large bed and hopped down, landing with a thump into the center of an intricately woven area rug stretched out on the floor. Inhaling the fresh morning scent, she giggled to herself as it tickled her nose. Wiggling out of the clothes she had worn to bed, Allissa tossed them across the room to rest on a small chair in the corner of the room. Walking quickly to her armoire, icy blue topaz eyes skipped over the clothes hanging before her.

Many colors and styles of clothing lined up in front of her just above eye level, and each of them had to serve a purpose. Some were favorites to her in shades of light pastels and whites, like the favorite pair of short pants and roomy shirt she usually wore around her room, or the white silk sundress with pastel pink rosebuds embroidered into the cloth at her neckline and down the front of the dress in vine-like curves that her mother had made for her sixteenth naming day.

It only took a moment more for the favorite flower printed sundress to catch and hold her attention again before she plucked the dress off the hanger with no more then a second thought. Quickly sliding herself into the silk garment, she hugged it to her body happily. Her mother enjoyed watching Allissa work in the gardens and tending to the flowers and different kinds of plants. This was the main reasoning behind the creation of the beautiful sundress.

The material was a white silk that she had found in the market square one day as they looked for the weeks' supplies. It was a surprisingly cool material which made it a good summer dress, the floral embroidery complimenting both Allissa's skin tone and the dark black locks that curled naturally and splayed across her back until the ends of it had touched the back of her calves.

Her mother had made the dress with thin straps instead of sleeves so that it rested on her shoulders, turning her skin into a soft sun-kissed tan. The length of the dress was only long enough to cover her legs to just above her knees, allowing the warmth of the sun to shine against the skin of her long slender legs. It felt soft on Allissa's skin, and even though it was nearly as scant as the shortclothes she usually wore to bed, Allissa loved to wear it whenever she could. There was no scheduled journey from the house to the market, so Allissa felt it was safe to put on the dress and not the clothes she had to wear when they went out.

Most of the clothing in her wardrobe was functional, like the market garb that she was to wear every time she went out. Their race had a kind of dress code that still bothered Allissa, but if she ever wanted to leave the house she would have to abide by the rule. Every family of a noble or royal bloodline had a house color that the members of the family were required to wear. The Dehmure house colors were a dark royal blue with embroidered golden runes to signify their connection to the East Temple.

The men had suits of a cool material, the shirts were comfortable and hung gently off of their shoulders to show their body structure. The pants were normally made from the same airy material, tailored so that they would show the muscular form of their lower torso and legs. Her father and twin brother, Dion, wore a golden headpiece adorned in sapphires and etched with the runes of the Goddess, a dark blue sapphire in a teardrop shape dangled down by a small chain and rested in the middle of their forehead, showing their long braided hair.

The only thing that distinguished the men classed as royalty from the lower class of people was that the higher classed men could wear their hair out for everyone to see, the rest had to wear a headpiece that shielded them from the extreme heat that the sun bathed the land in. There was hardly a cloud in the sky on most days so the temperature was usually already sweltering by mid-morning. It made the sand impossible to walk on in bare feet even before the afternoon sun intensified the heat so it was unbearable to be out in it's touch at all. When it did rain it would usually come when everything seemed to scream for relief, forming quickly and pouring down mercifully to soak the parched lands and the people that lived there.

Allissa liked the heat, her brother not nearly as much as she did. She always listened to his frustrated ramblings on their walk home from the market and usually made it a point to slow her walking for a time to make his frustration eat at him a little longer. She could always predict when it would rain, usually by both the hint of the fresh smell riding on the wind that filled her senses and her brother's growing frustrated temper, giving her just enough time to get to shelter before it soaked everyone else. At least it would silence her brother's complaints, though it usually brought on the constant questions of how she could know how and when it would rain.

Sometimes she couldn't quite get to shelter in time, or she would purposely get caught out in the rain so that he couldn't figure out exactly what it was that clued her into the downpour. It usually meant getting her garb wet and it stuck to her until she got home, but it was worth the incessant itch that the wet sheer fabric brought when it was pasted to her body by the rain.

The woman's version of the market garb was very different. Depending on the age and marital status of the woman, they were dressed accordingly.

Children and young women were allowed to wear a dress of an expensive cloth, the neckline, arm sleeves and skirt hem were to be as long as possible. Once a young woman reached an age where she matured enough to look able to bear children, the clothing would change. The only thing that would be made of silk would be the underlayer of clothing, a small section covering the breasts and the small triangle of fabric on the back and front of the lower parts of her body to cover her groin. A sheer overcovering in the house colors would be worn over the small bikini-like outfit and was securely held at her neck, wrists and ankles with a cuff of the thick, sheer material.

A thin veil was worn around the head to cover her hair and wrapped around her neck and then pulled over their face, attached on the hairpiece on the other side of her head. It hung low enough that it touched her chest, hiding her neck from direct view. Her hair and neck were never to be fully shown at any time, as were the wrists and ankles. They were considered sacred areas, the only person able to touch either of them for any amount of time was her husband.

When the woman was married, the underclothing would be omitted, leaving the sheer overcovering to show off his possession. It was said that the husband that covered his wife's body would be ashamed of her and of their house name. Women were nothing more then possessions to most men, and were treated as such, usually adorned with a lot of expensive jewelry in their hair pieces and on their fingers and toes. No woman was to wear necklaces or anything that could take the focus off of her body or touch her neck.

It was also said that no woman could show off any vulnerabilities, physically or mentally. To show the skin of the neck, wrists or ankles was forbidden, and her hair was to be pulled up and wrapped around her head. To touch a woman's hair in public was a punishable offence, to cut it would mean certain and immediate death.

If a woman was with child, this would be the only time she was given special treatment out in public. All pregnant women were served first, given the right of way even before their husbands and any man in the market. Their swollen bellies were always decorated with jewels or beautiful temporary tattoos to focus the attention on the growing stomach. She held a possible heir to the bloodline and were thought to be the same rank of the Goddesses.

Women that had been widowed wore nothing but a black sheer overcovering, and no jewels still showing their availability. Her hair would be allowed to hang loosely down their back but it could not be allowed to blow around behind her, but usually they kept them clipped down or braided. Widows were shown much less consideration because their husbands house no longer spoke for her.

No woman could ever hold a house name of her own unless she was the first born in a house of royalty. She would need to be spoken for by her son, brother or father. They would need to treat her as a child under their house name until she was married off again. No woman would ever be allowed to walk freely in the market alone if she wore black.

Some of the dresses that hung in front of Allissa were much less desirable to her and showed her distaste by still hanging in her wardrobe untouched. Different styles of dresses hung there, made of the dark house colors ranging in shades of a baby blue to a near midnight blue. The blue sheer sleeve of her own market outfit peeked out from between a few of the silk dresses that she wore on a fairly regular basis. She had a wardrobe that any other woman would be jealous of, but half of the dresses that hung in front of her had never been worn and as far as she was concerned could stay there until the bugs ate them right off the wooden pegs that they were hung on.

Her last naming day had just passed and with it seemed to bring a fairly mature body that took the place of an awkward looking child like body. No longer was she able to wear the more concealing outfit to the market she had worn for so many years before. She now had the soft curves to her hips and the gentle curve of breasts under the sundress that she smoothed over her stomach to try and eliminate a few creases in the fabric.

Her race usually matured twice as fast as a mortal race would, but it had only seemed that she woke up one morning two full moon cycles ago to have the body that she possessed now. Allissa didn't feel any different but she had noticed that her brother had started acting different at times, like he felt uncomfortable in his skin when he was around her. She still wasn't quite sure why, but sometimes she couldn't understand anything her twin brother did and tried very hard not to make it a point to find out.

She was the first born daughter of one of the noblest families in all the lands. Her family was the Keeper of the Temple of the sun Goddess Daknii. They spoke for the Goddess of the East, and so were considered Guardian among Guardians, but Allissa never saw herself as someone above other people. She would rather sit in the dusty sand swept streets, sharing her lunch with the peddlers and beggars while they talked through the scorching heat of the day. If she could have her own way, she would have eliminated the ranks and opinions that made people think they were all different from each other. In her eyes, everyone was exactly equal to each other and should all be treated such.

Forgetting about the sandals sitting under the chair beside the wardrobe, she walked to the dressing table in the corner of the room to brush her long hair with the thick wooden brush until the soft white halo of light rested around the crown of her head. Tying it into a ponytail with a thick blue ribbon at the base of her neck, she set the brush down in its place on the immaculately organized dressing table and made her way to her bedroom door.

Pulling the heavy oak door open, she peeked out and looked from side to side before she stepped out into the large hallway and then closed it without a sound behind her. Walking down the dark blue runner rug that hid a white marble hallway floor underneath, she made her way swiftly to her twin brother's room two doors from her own.

Dion was as far from the morning person that she was, claiming the night as his time to live. She thought that he would end up wasting his days away in bed instead of playing in the gardens behind the mansion with her. Many nights she was jarred from her sleep, awakened to hear his voice as he sat talking to himself while carving and creating things in the moonlight as it shone its nights rays on him. She would lay there and listen to the thoughts that he would come up with while working, memorizing each one in case he forgot them before drifting back to sleep.

Allissa loved the day, but Dion lived for the night. It was the only thing that gave them their distinct dispositions. Allissa's attitude around others was always cheery and sunny, where Dion's was always dark and mysterious. But when Allissa and Dion were talking between each other, it was always as if they were two halves of a whole person. They could finish each others sentences, and most times it was as if they thought the same things while working together on something. They rarely needed to speak to each other while they worked, most times looking up at the same time from what they were doing to see their parents watching them intently to see how they did it.

Opening the door very quietly, she peeked her head inside and squinted to see the room as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, checking in on her sleeping brother as a mischievious grin widened across her face.

Dion's room was dark; the blinds pulled down and pushed back onto the window frame. Small wooden animal sculptures that he had carved from pieces of a large tree branch sat on the window sill. Dion had found the thick branch one afternoon while on their way home from taking walk in the woods around the mansion. The bear and the wolf held an end of the blind solidly into the corner of the window with their outstretched paws as they sat on their haunches, their teeth bared and their eyes glaring at the sun as if they were protecting their owner from its light. The four additional carvings, a dog, cat, rabbit and fox stood behind the two guardians stretched across the long window frame as if they were cowering from the sun, paying homage to the bear and the wolf in silent appreciation.

Allissa loved his carvings. Dion was very good at working with his hands, even when he was younger. The carvings only grew in detail and complexity as he grew older. Their father once told him that if he hadn't been born into royalty, he would have been a great crafter. He had praised Dion on his artistic ability, exclaiming how Dion had made him so proud by showing his great skill in both woodworking and hunting, claiming that it would be a great asset once he would take a wife.

Their father encouraged Dion, buying him the tools he needed to continue to work with the wood to hone his skills even farther. But every time Allissa had shown their father something that she had felt proud about, he would always find something wrong with what she did or simply mutter something about it under his breath and walk away.

Shuddering silently to herself, she shook her head at her own thought. She couldn't imagine enjoying the ability to take a life, even if she was doing it to protect her own. She knew that the animals didn't suffer, Dion's superior marksmanship made sure of that. It just wasn't her way. She was just happy to know that as long as she had Dion there with her, she would never have to ever worry about hunting or protecting herself.

Dion also had a talent for making weapons, but usually they were made from crystals and precious stones that he had found around the caves high up in the mountains near the Ancestral Grounds, not of steel or metal. Dion would tell her that the Ancients called him to the pieces of crystal and gemstones, showing him exactly where they had been hidden. Once he found them, he would usually dream about how they would be utilized, and that's how his weapons would come to be.

She was more content to draw or play in the gardens, but she was always happy to watch him work with the stuff that he found, watching it grow and flourish into something nicer or more useful.

Allissa enjoyed music and nature. To her, everything had a heartbeat or a voice, or even a song. She could hear the song the leaves of the trees sang when the wind blew through them, the whisper of the wind against her ear. It was easy for her to find something to enjoy in everything about her. When she thought nobody was around, she would sing to the flowers and plants. Sometimes she thought that they would sway like they could hear her music, using the wind to help them dance to her song.

Her mother had happened upon her one morning as Allissa sat in the tree singing to it as she tried to mend a broken branch. She could hear the sorrow and pain in the notes of the song that Allissa sang, but as she sang both the song and the tree grew increasingly more vibrant and healthy. Her mother told her that she was connected with nature in some way, and that it could be a very powerful weapon one day if she worked on it and got better at it. She thought this was better then any dagger or weapon anyone could ever create. That was all the weapon that she needed, in her opinion.

Allissa didn't quite know why they had these abilities, she just knew that one day they would help them to survive.

Walking up beside Dion's bed, she watched the lump under the covers for a minute before setting her hands on the navy colored comforter and tugged on the blankets. Quirking a raven black brow upwards as heard a groan somewhere within the mass in the middle of the bed, she set her hands on the lump and pushed against it to shake the prize within their cocoon.

Watching as the covered lump moved a little to change positions, she frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her fingernails on her arm.

"C'mon Dion! It's morning! Time to get up and greet the new day!" She called out to the rumbling blankets. But when she didn't get an answer, she dropped her arms to her sides and sighed. Leaning back over the side of the bed she shook the blankets again, tugging on them this time to expose a foot near where his head should have been.

"Dee, Come on! It's morning! Get up already!" Allissa repeated herself, shaking the blankets harder now.

A deep voice groaned out an unintelligible response from under the blanket to answer her, a hand snaking out of the edge of the blanket and pushing her away from the bed before it slid back into the covers.

"Get up, or I'll do it!" Allissa said through a mischievous grin that spreading over her face.

"Go away Lissy!" a voice grunted from under the blankets as the foot disappeared back into the covers to escape the coolness of the room.

"Okaaaay!" she chided and moved to the end of the bed, climbing up the footboard until she was standing on its wooden frame, her toes curling under the lip to keep her balance.

"Get lost, Liss!" he whined and curled up under the blankets even further, bringing them all under his body and laying still again. "I mean it!"

Flashing a mischievous ruby grin, she waited for a minute until the blankets stopped moving and the sounds of his snores broke the silence of the room. Reaching out, she held onto a post of the bed to balance herself as she found her footing to give her the most leverage before bending at the knees as she studied the blankets

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" she whispered to herself, the mischievous grin reaching the icy topaz depths and lighting them up with laughter.

With a spring from her legs, she jumped high in the air above the bed before landing on the lump under the blankets, bouncing on them as she landed on it. The deep adolescent voice under the blankets cracked in octaves in a scream of a mix of pain, anger and frustration as she landed on her twin brother's half sleeping body. Ripping the blankets away from his face, he scowled back over his shoulder at her with a pair of sleepy emerald green eyes, fiery red hair splayed angrily over his shoulder and across the black sheets of the bed and disappearing under him as he lay on his stomach and she lay on his back His scowl only seemed to get darker as he watched the mischievous blue eyes sparkling in laughter at his outburst.

"Dammit, Lissy! I don't want to get up just yet! Go away!" Dion yelled out and groaned as he watched Allissa's grin fade from her bright face, making Dion's emerald eyes burn in frustration as he stared up into hers. Allissa's grin faded even more until her little bottom lip protruded softly out in a pout and her eyebrows raised on her forehead just slightly, soft crystal blue eyes looking at him with a moist wide gaze as her lip quivered.

Guilt washing over his half-covered form, he sighed as he stared at his twin sister as he felt the scowl melting from his face. He could never stay angry at her, especially when she looked at him with that pout.

Dion wondered to himself how many men that pout would work on, and then wondered if it would ever get her out of any trouble she got herself into, however bad it would be. Quickly, he decided that he didn't want to be there to find out, and knew that some day he wasn't going to be the one that protected the woman behind the irresistible pout. He couldn't bring himself to think of his sister as a married woman.

"Aww, don't go doing that!" He groaned out, struggling under her form to slide out from under her and the blankets between them to get out of bed.

"Alright! Alright! Geez Lissy, I'm up now!" Dion yelled as he fumbled his way out of his own bed and spun around to look at his sister laying on the bed where he had just been sleeping. The pout was no longer adorning her face, a grin of satisfaction threatening to replace it as it played on her lips. It only seemed to intensify the happy glimmer of her blue eyes as they stared at him, her body still laying on top of the now deflated cocoon of blankets under her on his bed.

"You need to sleep more. Mercy of the Goddess, its only just past dawn! Another hour wouldn't kill you!" he snapped out as he stood in front of her with his fists dug his sides.

"You know, mother is going to wash your mouth out if you keep talking like that," Allissa said as she rolled onto her side and sprawled out among his tussled blankets, propping her head up with her hand as she watched him with a wide grin.

Throwing his hands up above his head in angry surrender, he marched his way towards the dressing wardrobe in the corner of the room as he muttered to himself, scrubbing the sleep from his eyes with thick fingers. Dion only wore the pair of black silk pajama bottoms from his nightclothes, the material sweat-stuck to his lower body and wrinkled gently from the weight and warmth of his body under the blankets. Allissa could see the muscles in his legs work under the silken material as it rippled softly with each step, and the taunt muscles of his stomach and chest work as he walked and couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow and watch with a curious gaze. It was his voice that broke her from her thoughts and made her move her gaze.

"Only if you tell her" Dion replied back over his shoulder as he stormed back behind a dressing screen, and Allissa watched the silk screen as she listened to him, his silhouette barely reflected onto the screen from the low light shining in from the open door, watching the pants he was just wearing slung over the top of the screen.

"And besides, what makes you think that I won't tell on you for jumping on me like that! You know you can really hurt someone that way!" his muffled voice threatened as his hands appeared above the screen briefly as he put his shirt on over his head.

Allissa stuck her tongue out at the screen and rolled off of her stomach, sitting up on her knees on the edge of the bed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're such a grouch." She pouted again at him from the side of the bed, and he growled out, his arms flying upwards from the top of the screen again as he swore in Elder Guardian tongue.

"I told you to stop that! You're driving me crazy!"

Allissa grinned a satisfied grin and nodded at the screen before turning away to look around the room. Turning her attention away from him as he dressed and to the little carved animals on the windowsill instead, she toyed with the wooden sculptures and started to hum a soft song as she waited for him.

Dion knew her music had a magical property about it, and he knew that it would soothe anything she wanted to, or invigorate them. The soft tune that she had started to hum as she looked at the animals on his windowsill was a soothing tune to Dion and he found himself smiling when he knew he should have still been frowning.

Allissa could always soothe the savage beast inside of Dion, when he was angry or upset, with her voice as she sang. This time, the song she hummed made him think of a bird chirping out a song as it sat on a branch outside of her window. As she started to look over the carvings, her thoughts became distracted. As he dressed while listening to her, the vision from the song that danced in his mind went from the bird on the tree to a bunch of animals in the forest dancing around a bonfire. Her mind always seemed to wander and shine with the innocent charm that made her impossible to ignore, it influenced the music delightfully when he needed it.

Reaching up behind the bear and the wolf, she pulled the blind up to let the sun in and smiled as she picked up the bear and the wolf in the corner, placing them in line with the rest of the little carved animals. Her fingers glided gently over each one in turn, welcoming them to the day in her own special way before she paused her finger on the wooden cat.

Picking it up with her fingertips in a gentle grip, she set it in her open palm and stroked a delicate finger over its intricately carved body. A smile touched her lips as her finger curved over the smooth edges of the head and then traced the soft lines of the fur carved into it.

Silently she admired the detail of the cat as it sat in her palm with its tail curled over its backside and its eyes staring up at her, holding within the gaze a catlike mystery and curiosity. Everything on this cat was perfect. The detail on the sculpted animal evenly proportioned from the little whiskers on its nose to the pads under the paws.

With her attention distracted away from him, Allissa didn't notice Dion's approach from behind her as she admired the carving, and Dion found himself grinning with the same mischief sparkling in his green eyes that Allissa had sparkling in hers.

She looked so innocent sitting on the edge of his bed with the morning sun kissing the back of her hair and illuminating a beautiful white halo on the top of her head of raven black locks, caressing her finger over the tiny carving sitting in her palm. Crossing his arms over his chest, he realized that she wasn't even paying attention to him anymore. He knew when her mind was occupied she had a tendency to ignore everything around her and focus completely on what she was doing.

That was the advantage that he used over her when he could. Formulating his own plan of revenge, he snuck up behind her and leaned in just enough so that his head was immediately behind hers.

"Careful! They bite!" He said loudly near her ear.

Dion burst out in laughter as he watched her eyes widen and a surprised squeal escape from her lips. She jumped up off the side of the bed so fast her hand bumped against the windowsill and nearly made her drop the cat carving she held in her hands. Juggling it in her hands, it bounced in the air from hand to hand before she finally grabbed it firmly within her left hand and clutched it to her body protectively, turning to look over her shoulder at Dion with an icy blue glare.

Dion couldn't help but laugh even harder at the wide eyed gaze that she probably saw from him not more then a few minutes ago. She had worn the surprised glance a moment before he could feel the cool glare that creased the frown lines around her eyes.

"You are a mean, mean boy!" She said as her lip protruded out and for the second time that morning he watched the full on pout form on her face as she looked at him and Dion's grin melted from his handsome face, a frown creasing his forehead.

"Aww stop that! You never let me win!" he brooded as he stood up and she grinned back at the cat wickedly when his back was turned, setting it back on the windowsill with it's friends. Patting it on the head gently with a delicate touch of her fingers, Allissa hopped off of the side of Dion's bed and smoothed the wrinkles from the back of her sundress.

"Come on, it's breakfast time. Mother will be calling if we don't make it downstairs soon. She'll think we're sick again or something," Dion muttered as he opened his bedroom door for her.

Allissa sauntered regally towards the door, sliding a rogue wisp of raven black hair from her creamy colored cheek and tucked it behind her ear as she walked out of the room.

"Show off" Dion muttered again as he watched her saunter out of his room and shook his head, rolling his eyes at her blatant attempt at showing off as he followed after her down the hall.

"She thinks your sick all the time as it is. You lay in bed long enough," Allissa said softly when he caught up to her, a hint of humor in her eyes as she looked back at him.

Standing barefoot on the top of the stairs, she watched as Dion made his way down the first two marble steps on the grand staircase before he glanced over his shoulder and stuck his tongue out at her. Rolling her eyes at him to mimic his exasperated look, she mirrored his actions and slid her tongue out from between her ruby lips in response.

Dion watched as Allissa visually jumped backwards in fear as they were both startled by the sound of a rough voice below them, scolding her with a very deep, masculine growl.

"Young ladies of your stature don't stick their tongue out. I've told you that many times already, Allissa. Don't make me remind you again."

Her father's warning took a harsh tone as he stood at the bottom of the stairs with his arms over his chest, and Allissa couldn't help but lower her eyes to try and hide herself from his threatening glare.

"Yes, Father," she murmured with a shaky tone to her voice, averting her gaze to her toes and frozen at the top of the stairs.

She could feel her father's intense blue glare sliding over her form before he growled under his breath and shook his head. When she had seen him start to move away from the bottom of the staircase, she heard Dion's voice speak up confidently.

"It was my fault, Father. I did it first. Lissy didn't do anything ."

Allissa's head snapped up as she heard Dion's voice and bit her lip as her head moved back and forth no quickly to dissuade him from sticking up for her, staring at her brother in wide-eyed horror. Ice blue eyes darted quickly between Dion and their father, the bitter taste of fear rising from the bottom of her stomach and making her heart beat against her ribs.

No, Dion! Just leave it be! She thought to herself as her hands slid back behind her back and toyed with the material of her sundress nervously.

Nicholas Demure was a man of stature within the small community that they lived in, well known for his inventions and scientific findings as well as the named Guardian of the East Temple.

He was the only son of the famous Sett Demure, a brutal king and warlord that lead an army in the War of The Guardians, better known as the Thousand year war in the ancient times.

Every Guardian child would have to face the fevers at a point in their lives, the fevers usually giving the child an immense magical and spiritual gift as well as the ability to wield this gift safely. Though usually received early in life, the fever could take the Guardian's whole life to emerge. Female Guardians generally handled it well, but most male Guardians were consumed or controlled by their power instead of controlling it if the fevers did not kill them. Since Sett had gotten the fevers very late in his life, the immense power that he gained with the fevers drove him insane.

The fevers damaged his mind and made him believe that all people that were not accepting to his thoughts and ways were against him and the Gods and Goddesses that he protected. Sett's army knew no restraint as it swept through the lands, pillaging the villages like pirates and raping anyone that stood in their way before burning the villages to the ground. Many Guardians were slaughtered because they knew that Sett wasn't in his right mind and tried to stop him before he destroyed the entire race. Sett nearly wiped out the entire Guardian race with the thousand year war, disfiguring their once luscious lands of paradise into a barren wasteland of sandy soil that was all but incapable of sustaining life.

With fame and power, Sett was a force to be reckoned with. Once he became bored with the bloodlust, he took a wife and Nicholas was born within a year. Blessed with a head of midnight black curls that, even stretched out into a ponytail and held with a thick ribbon, still held their delicious silky wave. A pair of dark blue eyes that burned with their own blue flame accented Nicholas' rugged good looks, a tall muscular frame finished off his allure.

He was a withdrawn young man, but his handsome looks and the shyness that he possessed had every woman in the castle and surrounding lands begging for an audience with him, hoping to be the one that he would take for a wife. In making his own inventions, and the happiness it brought him when they worked, Nicholas soon grew into a handsome man with a passion for gadgets and scientific reasoning and nothing more. Every woman that Sett would send to Nicholas' bedchambers would come back no more than an hour later insisting they would not couple with a man so intensely focused on machinery and not on her.

It was then that Sett put his foot down and demanded that if Nicholas didn't start to show more interest in a wife, or even a consort, he would take Nicholas' only passion away from him until he was married and had produced an heir to continue on the Dehmure bloodline. Nicholas was, of course, furious beyond belief and refused to believe that his father would do such a wicked thing to his only son and continued to turn away the women that Sett sent to his chambers.

After refusing a beautiful Princess from an allied kingdom, Nicholas woke the next morning to find Sett furious. His inventions, his scientific calculations, and all of his equipment were gone. All the begging and bargaining in the world would not budge Sett's decision, and Nicholas had no choice but to give in to his father's demands.

A fortnight later, a carriage pulled up in the driveway during the night, admitting three people into the Dehmure mansion. Nicholas was miserable without his work, and would only get even more miserable when he found out that the three were the King, Queen and Princess from the kingdom Fra`valle near their own domain. It mattered none to Nicholas who they were, but when Sett made it perfectly clear that Nicholas would be marrying the Princess of the neighbouring kingdom or he would never see his belongings again, Nicholas became very angry and vowed vengeance on his father. Sett reminded Nicholas about his demands, and Nicholas eventually gave in with no more then a glare before he stormed away.

Destined to meet the Princess he had been betrothed to, he became bitter with her from the start and blamed her for his loss, even though she would always try and be as gentle and loving to him. He would smile and bow as a Prince would do while the neighbouring King and Queen of Fra`valle were present, but when he was with Princess Angel he became hard and distant. Nicholas and Angel were married in a whirlwind marriage in Sett's courtyard and sent quickly to the mansion that was built for them. Peace was restored between the two kingdoms. The two Royal families figured all was well and let them start their lives together.

Nicholas wasted no time trying for an Heir, keeping the promise he made to his father. Before he knew it, Angel announced that she was with child and everyone had seemed to be overjoyed at the news, save for Nicholas himself. Nicholas found none of it appealing at all, and not even his newfound wife could stir the passion from his heart.

He made it perfectly clear to Angel one sunny morning, as she was sitting at the dressing table brushing the beautiful brown lengths of hair, that he wanted to have nothing to do with her or the child inside of her. He had also made it crystal clear to her that she was only a convenience to him and would have no servants to help her. She would do everything for him, and if that didn't suit her, she could leave after the child was born. He hoped that this would finally distract her from him, and she would leave, taking the child with her after Sett had seen that Nicholas had completed his end of the deal. Once again, Nicholas could work with his inventions in peace.

Angel would not argue the point, and slowly became both a mother as well as a common peasant within her own home. She would cook his dinners, clean after him, serve his needs, and keep the house in order. Usually, this kept Nicholas relatively happy but when he was angry or became bored, his fury would overtake him and Angel would feel the brunt of his hatred for his father. She would keep herself as distanced from him as she could at those times, but often felt the back of his hand hard enough to make her retreat to her rooms for a time to avoid being seen with the marks the rage would leave on her face.

So it went on that she would be his happy wife out of the house, and his slave within the walls of the mansion they had been given as equals.

The seasons changed, and one day Nicholas came home to excited friends, relatives and midwives littering the house as they prepared for the event that would change Nicholas' life. Both Nicholas and Angel's parents were standing in the great room of the mansion awaiting the arrival of the heir that would bind them together as Allies. Nicholas refused to let Angel deliver the child anywhere but in the house, and after a lot of argument and dispute, time ran out and the soft cries of a newborn could be heard from above them. Shortly thereafter, mansion became even more joyful as a second tiny cry told the world that there was two heirs rather than the one they expected.

But, after everything was cleaned up and all were allowed into the birthing rooms, Nicholas' rage boiled even hotter when he found out that the first born of the two was a girl! His heir would be a womanchild first and then his son, who should rightfully be the sole heir of anything he possessed!

His rage overtook him and silently, he vowed to himself that this womanchild nor its mother would never have a place within his heart or his fortune. He would have to give her his name, but be damned if he would treat her the same way as he would treat his son. He would make sure that she would regret the day she became a Dehmure.

*****

Nicholas' shoes swished over the floor as he stopped and turned to look back at Dion, and Allissa tensed as she thought that Dion would feel the sting of the back of her father's hand. Allissa watched as Nicholas walked back to the stairs and climbed half-way to the top to stop close to Dion, noticing that he spoke to her brother with a softer tone, his expression much softer then it had been a moment ago with her.

"Dion, you know better as well. Your sister needs to learn her place here, just as you've learned yours. The man that she will marry will not tolerate her adolescent behavior, especially knowing the birthright that she has been born to uphold."

Dion nodded and looked up at his father with the intense green gaze, and as he nodded the long red hair bobbed lazily on his back. "I understand father. I apologize."

Nicholas smiled and patted his son's fiery red head as an icy blue darkness swirled in his gaze and his eyes slid up the staircase and locked on Allissa's, staring through her ominously. Allissa knew that look well! It was the look that told her she should watch herself around him and tread softly. She suddenly felt as if she were standing in the middle of a hungry pack of wolves that looked at her with bared teeth and drooling mouths, ready to pounce on her and eat her alive.

"Come now, both of you. Breakfast was ready ten minutes ago. Next time, stop lounging around and get ready for your day faster, Allissa," Nicholas announced with a snap to his voice and strode away before Dion could get a chance to correct him. Dion did see his sister flinch at the command, though, before her eyes slid back down to the stair beneath her.

Allissa turned not her head, but watched Nicholas walk away and sighed in relief as she saw him disappear from view. Raising her head a little, she glanced up at Dion and then stepped back onto the first step and made her way down the staircase quickly. She didn't look at Dion any longer then she had to and heard him take a deep breath in to try and talk his way into an apology. She said nothing more of it, and wouldn't hear anything more from Dion on the subject for now. All she was worried about was how quickly she had to made her way down to the bottom of the staircase and into kitchen.

"Lissy, I ..." he started and tried to grab her arm as she passed by, but she slid her arm out of his reach before he could gain a hold and ignored the rest of what he was about to say.

Dion frowned as he watched her form disappear into the kitchen and the sound of the chair's legs scraping on the hardwood floor told him that Allissa had sat in her chair in the corner. With a whispered curse, Dion kicked the bench beside the stairs as he reached the bottom and then swore again as the pain spiked through his toes up to his knee. The bench sat in silent defiance, not having moved an inch from his assault. Growling at the bench, he limped to the table as his foot throbbed painfully and sat down hard on the chair, frowning at the leg of the table. He reached down to rub his foot.

"Dion, what have I told you about those words?" Angel warned her son as she stood behind him, seeming to appear from nowhere, sending a surprised yelp from Dion's mouth as he sat. She stood there with her hand on her hip, the other holding a plate of toast and tapping her finger on her apron as she looked at him with an expectant chocolate gaze, a thin eyebrow raised in silent wonder.

Nicholas turned from the papers in front of him and looked at Angel as a midnight black brow upped in silent question at Angel herself. "Don't reprimand him for something as petty as words, Angel."

His words sounded as if they were made of velvet to Allissa, but she could hear the soft warning laced within that smooth voice. Angel set the toast down beside Dion and glared back at Nicholas with angry eyes. Their mother was never one to take anything from anyone, and was completely opposite from her daughter. If Angel thought you needed to hear what she had to say, she never held back the opinion unless she knew it wasn't appropriate. But Allissa and Dion always heard her opinion in one way or another, usually from the depths of their bedroom where the voices of their parents always seemed to find a way through the thick doors when they argued.

"You scolded Allissa for less not more then five minutes ago, Nick. You be fair to these children or by the heavens I'll …"

"You'll what?" He demanded with a warning tone to his deep voice as he looked up at Angel, his hands gripping his papers in his left hand hard enough to crinkle the edges in his fingers while grabbing the end of the table with his right hand.

Allissa watched the large hand grip the table and started to chew her lip as she glanced at Dion. Nicholas stood close enough to Angel to reach and backhand her with no more then a quick blink.

Dion glanced over the table at Allissa and met her gaze, a worried frown creasing his own face. He watched as his sister cowered deeper into the corner with her knees hugged to her chest and Dion leaped off of his chair, standing between his mother and father. Looking up at his father, Dion's green gaze pleaded with the large man as he spoke quickly but gently, setting a hand on Nicholas' hand.

"Why don't we just sit down and have some breakfast, " he begged and nearly shrunk back into his chair as his father's icy glare met his. Dion couldn't back down right now. If he did, things were going to go bad very quickly.

"I'm starving, and this looks so good. We have a lot to do today, and I thought we could get an early start to the hunt this morning. What do you say, Father?" Dion pleaded with his father as his emerald gaze stared into the icy glare that almost burned through into his brain. He hated seeing his father's anger, but knew that he hadn't seen a taste of what Allissa and Angel had seen of it through the years. "Let's eat before it gets cold. I know you don't like cold eggs." Dion said with a nervous smile, and Nicholas' glare melted slowly until it softened and a hard smile touched Nicholas' lips.

Allissa watched this with her hands clenched so tightly against her dress that Dion could see the petite fingers crushing wrinkles into the silk. She only seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when Nicholas ruffled Dion's hair and smiled at the young boy. Nodding in silent agreement, Nicholas backed down and sat in his chair, smoothing out the papers with his thumbs as he read the top page, seeming to go back to what he had been doing before.

Dion couldn't help but sigh in relief, his heart beating hard against his chest. He heard Angel sigh in harmony before setting the plate of toast down beside him. Giving her son a quick smile and patting his head, she made her way away from the table and back towards the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Great idea, Dion! You are thinking like a great hunter and leader!" Nicholas praised his son as he looked over his papers at him. "Let's not spoil the early lead by arguing with the women of this house. Eat quickly my son, we have much to do today and hunting won't wait for any woman or her opinion," Nicholas said as he glared up at his wife, an icy blue gaze that Allissa had just seen for herself not a moment ago. And then the cool gaze, once again, touched Allissa to her very soul as it slid down to pause on her face.

Without another word or glance at the two women, Nicholas took a piece of toast from the plate and broke it in half with a pair of strong hands, taking a bite as Angel slid a plate of eggs and a thick slices of ham in front of him. Dunking the toast in the egg yolk, Nicholas went on with his breakfast as his attention studied his papers. Dion, again, sighed in relief and sat back down in his chair as Angel seemed to just go back to what she was doing before.

Dion knew he had averted another confrontation, and chewed on his lip as he thought, his eyes darting between Angel and Allissa. He didn't know how much longer he could keep Nicholas from hurting either of the women in the household, it was just getting too hard to soothe the beast that his father hid inside.

Looking back at Allissa, Dion noticed her glance over at Nicholas before her gaze moved back to Dion, beautiful topaz depths drowning in a sea of panic. He watched her chew her lip as her fingers caressed the edge of the table. Slouching in the chair, her hands pushed her down the length of the chair's seat before she shrunk under the table and out of view. Dion knew that look well and watched her sink out of sight. He figured she would eat later. Right now he knew Allissa just wanted to hide away from the dark dismal world her bright cheery day turned into.

[Jaeth]

Hmm, read this or play Morrowind before going to school? (While eating breakfast, perhaps...)

/reads

EDIT: Wonderful story! I would comment more, but I have to be going now, heh.

[Pirotess]

Ahh excellent. Will have to read this tonight when I have more time. Good to see Amoonsinas.

[Jaeth]

Yeah, you definitely need an hour or so to read this - at least I spent 40 minutes, and a had to rush a little bit towards the end because, well, I had to leave for school.

It's worth every minute - I just love the way you write, Amoonsinas.

Easily recommendable.

[Amoonsinas]

Aww! Thanks so much!

I really do enjoy writing, I hope to publish one someday If I could stay at home and make a living from my passion, I'd be just simply overjoyed!

Who knows! Maybe it might happen someday.

[Aredhel]

*wink*

[Jaeth]

Originally Posted by Amoonsinas

Aww! Thanks so much!

I really do enjoy writing, I hope to publish one someday If I could stay at home and make a living from my passion, I'd be just simply overjoyed!

Who knows! Maybe it might happen someday.

You know, if you published something, I would definitely buy a "real" book for once.

(Real as opposed to e-books, that is.)