From Dusk Till Dawn

Chapter Six: Flashback

"Hush now, young mistress, you're fine."

A six-year-old Luna sat in Bernie's lap on her bed, shaking and shivering. This was the fourth time this week alone that this happened. She was playing quietly in her father's study, as he asked of her, and kept to herself. Not too long after that, she had gotten bored and decided to 'pester' him, as he called it.

"What are you doing, Papa?" she had asked. It was a simple, innocent question. Yet her father treated it as an inconvenience if the loud huff he released told her anything.

"I'm working, Luna. Go back to playing with your dolls."

"But Papa, I don't want to! They bore me... I wanted to know what you were doing." Any other time, he would look at her with an almost tender fondness in his frosty eyes and allow her to sit on his lap. But being the bi-polar bastard he was, today was not one of those days. He had a look of annoyance on his face and, without warning, exploded at her. He called her a spoiled brat, wanting this, wanting that, always wanting. He was cursing at her, cursing her in general. He even went as far as to try and hit her. But being the smart girl she was, she swiftly ran away from him, ran up to her room, without stopping, and locked the door. She was breathing heavily, and not just for the fact that she had just run up two flights of stairs. By the time Bernie had caught wind of what happened, it had only been an hour. Enough time for Luna's father to calm down, but her heart was still pounding as if it had just happened. She was starting to think that she could annoy her father with just her presence alone nowadays.

"Should I get your mother, young mistress?" Luna shakes her head. "... Would you like me to leave?" Another shake of her head. 

Bernie, at a loss of what to do, decided to just silence herself and help Luna by softly petting her head. She had seen Lady Chamber do this to her before, and it seems just as effective now as it was then. It appears as if it's become a coping mechanism for her.

"Luna? Miel, are you okay?"

Luna hears the door opening and looks up to see a raven-haired woman with grass green eyes standing in the doorway. Lady Melinda Chamber took one look at her distraught daughter in Bernie's arms and gracefully sweeps them both into her own arms. "Oh, mon pauvre bebe..."

Luna presses her face into her mother's chest, hearing her steady heartbeat, still seated on Bernie's Lap.

"Merci, Bernie. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Of course, Lady Malinda. I was given the responsibility to look after the young mistress in your steed and I intend to continue to do so until I am retired from duty."

Malinda looks at her with grateful eyes, another, more silent thanks to her. Regretfully, Bernie places Luna fully onto her mother's lap and gets up to do the rest of her neglected chores, not before Luna gives her hand one last squeeze before she leaves.

"You know he doesn't mean it, little one. He's just frustrated." Her mother holds her close, swaying her back and forth gently. "Although, that doesn't justify that he can yell at you like that whenever he wants to." She kisses the top of Luna's head. "And to say such horrible things... You have such a fragile heart, mon amour. So easily scared. I wish I could take that away from you." She picks up a strand of black hair, just as dark as her own, and rolls it in between her forefinger and middle finger. "... Would a song make you feel better?" A nod against her chest is all she needs for her to start quietly singing, each syllable like honey in Luna's ear. "Hush petit bebe, ne dit pas un mot. Va Momma vous achheter un mockingbird..."

"And if that mockingbird won't sing, Mamma's gonna buy you a diamond ring..."

"Mm, Bernie?"

"Shh, Luna. Go back to sleep. You had a very stressful day today and it took its toll on you."

Having just woke up, Luna's groggy mind didn't register the concern and slight fear in Bernie's voice. All that she knew, was that her fingers were gently running through her hair, her singing voice soft and sweat in her ears. She moved closer to her, seeking out her warmth, and snuggled into her side.

Today was just the steep incline, rapidly approaching the tip of the iceberg.