The Offering

Chapter Eleven - Alvaryn

The library is quiet, I know there are a few librarians about but they are more like ghosts then fae, somehow they know when they are needed and will appear, otherwise they just wander around, shelving and categorizing books, blending into the shelves in their robes. Most would be older than my father and have worked here for most of that time.

I wonder what that would be like, just to be surrounded by books with no other duties to attend to or worry about, just keeping knowledge in order and assisting others. It's definitely something I had thought about more than once before, but I usually dismiss it quickly. There is no point in devoting time and thoughts to the impossible.

I run my fingers over the spines of the books on the shelf in front of me searching for the sequel in a book I had just finished when I hear a strange sound. Like a muffled scream coming from the front of the library.

I walk towards the main entrance, my boots silent on the carpeted walkway and then I see her, Daella, she is standing near the chairs by the fireplace with a cushion over her face and she is screaming into it.

My mind is torn for a brief moment, whether to go and ask if she is alright or just to stand and watch. She doesn't seem like she is in pain or injured in anyway, but there was definitely something wrong. She leans back, her cheeks rosy and expression furious, anger radiating from her, she breathes heavily before shoving her face back into the cushion and screaming once more.

I move towards her, deciding I had better help her before the librarians kick her out for making too much noise, they enjoyed the silence in here even more than I did. Aeris was all but banned from coming in here.

"Are you alright Miss?" I ask, she stops, her body starting in response before she slowly pulls the cushion away from her face and sets it back on the chair. She takes a deep breath and turns towards me, smoothing the hair back from her face she plasters a smile on her face and curtsies.

"Your Highness, yes I am quite well, I did not know you were here." She answers, her voice tight and expression forced, the feeling of being lied to like razors grating against my mind. The bigger the lie the worse the pain was, at least this was a small lie.

"It's Daella, your name I mean?" I ask, Dem had told both of us after the garden party, like calling out check in a game of chess.

"Yes Your Highness." She nods.

"Did you enjoy the books I recommended to you?" I ask, deciding to change subject to get rid of the coarse feeling in my mind lingering, demanding to know the truth.

"I did, I haven't finished the second one yet but I am enjoying it." She answers, hands twisting and twitching in front of her.

"Are you sure you are alright, you were just screaming into a cushion a moment ago?" I ask, the grating in my brain still desperate for the truth, it would fade over time but finding the truth sent the razors on their way and sent a soothing presence over the invisible wounds. Not to mention my own curiosity wondering what had prompted her to do such an unorthodox thing in the first place.

She grinds her teeth, her jaw working away while she tries to maintain a smile, her hands fall at her sides pulling into fists as she looks at the floor then up at me.

"Being told I am useless and inferior to those around me again and again all while being trapped in a fortress while waiting for my freedom to be taken away from me has left me somewhat irritated and I'm struggling to reign in my temper. Screaming into a cushion felt like a better option then screaming at someone's face." She answers in a rush of bitter words.

"You just finished one of your lessons, are you being treated unfairly?" I ask, trying to understand what she meant and why she would be told over and over again that she is useless or inferior.