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22/6/06 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
minervasoloI've been wanting to write about Laina as a child for a while now. She's probably about twelve here. Ethan's about fourteen (I've started messing with ages). Quite different to her older self, but this is before either of her parents die. About nine months before her mother dies, in fact.
"None of you interest me any more!" she announced as she turned to walk out of the chamber. She heard the two orphans shuffle, but neither spoke. The boy began to laugh.
Laina stomped down the hallway towards her private rooms. She hated that Ethan. Hated him. He thought just because he was older than her he was smarter. He was just a provincial farm boy. He was actually foreign! She was the Emperor's daughter. How dare he? How dare he!
She threw herself into the chair in front of her mirror and rang for Sarah. She pouted at her reflection, a little distorted by the glass. She bet Ethan had never even seen a glass mirror before coming here. She tugged on her hair and slumped over the dressing table, rest her elbows on the carefully polished and gilded wood. She wrinkled her nose at her reflection.
"Yes, m'm?"
Laina wasn't sure why she had summoned Sarah now. She stared at Sarah's reflection in the mirror, frowning at the girl's rounded breasts. She bet Ethan would be nicer to her if she had those.
"Brush my hair," Laina said, and sat back in her chair with a sigh. She passed the silver handled hairbrush to Sarah and closed her eyes.
She wanted to look like her mother. Everyone said her mother was the most beautiful woman in the world. She had come from another country on a ship bearing gold and silver and precious gems. It had been love at first sight for her father. No one ever said her father was the most handsome man in the world. They said he had been pretty handsome, once. Now he was old and grey, with a funny wirey beard that made Laina's face itch when she kissed his cheek and a stomach too big for her to get her arms around it, not that she'd ever be allowed to try.
Her mother was just as beautiful as she was the day she arrived. She laced her bodice at the front with silk ribbons Laina adored, and she wore them with thickly embroided skirts, wide and heavy, and the long sleeved surcoats that were fashionable in her country, with fur around the edges. She always smelt delicious, and decorated herself with beautiful sparkling jewellery. She had a lot of admirers, and she would talk and dance with them all. They would buy her things, and she would do them favours. Sometimes the favours were obvious, like positions in the parliament and grants to the guild of their choice, but sometimes Laina didn't know what her mother could be doing to make them smile like that. Or get so angry, later.
Ethan was the son of one of her mother's admirers. He was a farmer from the North. He was interesting because he's different, but he dressed strangely and he was so hard to understand. Ethan's voice was already changing to match Laina's and her companions's, but he still used odd words. His father told jokes Laina didn't understand, but laughed at becuase her mother was laughing. He got angry when people said nice things abut Greenhelm.
There was a knock on the door to Laina's suite. Laina twisted to stare at Sarah, who was looking at the door in confusion.
"It's not the Emperor or Empress, or Nurse," Laina said, trying to figure it out. "They don't knock. And nobody else comes unless I call them."
"Shall I answer it, m'm?" Sarah asked.
Laina considered this for a moment, and shook her head, pulling the brush from Sarah's hands.
"Let's see what they do if we don't," she said.
The door was knocked on again, but Laina gestured for Sarah to keep brushing her hair, and pretended to go back to looking at her reflection. She wait for the third knock. There was none. Laina tried not to be disappointed, and told Sarah to find out what she could.
Laina was dressing for dinner, a process that always took some time, when she heard something by the door. She hadn't called for Sarah yet - she liked to put her underclothes on and choose the evening's outfit by herself now that she was old enough to - and was fiddling with a necklce of tiny pearls. The sound bore investigating, and she walked out of her dressing chamber. To her horror, someone was in her reception chamber. Ethan.
He stared at her, mouth hanging open. A blush spread from his cheeks to his ears, and, after a few more moments, joined over the bridge of his nose. Laina stayed in the doorway, hands clenched to fists on either side of her. She was still clutching the rope of pearls.
"It's a note!" Ethan said before she could tell him precisely what was going to happen to him for being there. "It's a note!"
"Messengers deliver notes," Laina informed him icily. She had nothing to be ashamed of here. Her shift and petticoats covered almost as much skin as her dress would, so she needn't be embarrassed, even if she wasn't dressed. These were her rooms, she could wander among them dressed as she wished. He was in the wrong. He was in so much wrong that if she told the story just right, he could be killed. She smiled at him, hoping he'd know what she was smiling about.
"Ivy wrote it for me," Ethan said. "It's for you."
Laina rolled her eyes. Of course he couldn't write, peasant boy. His fear was so obvious it was almost funny. Laina found that she wasn't upset by his presence any longer. She wasn't even as angry as she was pretending to be. Curiosity was raging inside her, and some satisfaction to at having guessed correctly the source of the earlier knocks.
"Give it to me, then," she said, holding out a hand. Ethan blinked at her, and dropped the note. Laina frowned and beckoned. He picked the note up again and threw it at her, fleeing out of the still open door. She laughed, and moved to collect it, ringing for Sarah as she passed the bell pull.
She read the note as Sarah laced the back of her dress for her. It was definitely Ivy's handwriting, and Laina wondered what had happened to the girl. They'd been schooled together - Laina was under the impression that was the whole point of the Empire adopting certain children, so that she could have somene her own age to interact with - but like most of the orphans once she had learnt to read and write she had been moved towards learning a trade. Laina wasn't sure what apprenticeship Ivy had found herself in; she hoped it was something to so with the sea, because Ivy had always talked about the ocean so longingly. Obviously, though, she was still somewhere in the palace. Laina wondered how to go about finding her.
The note was simple, full of crossings out. Laina supposed Ethan had had a hard time deciding what to say. It was an apology, of sorts, but a little accusatory as well. Laina couldn't work out if Ethan liked her or not, but he seemed to think that he and his father would be at the palace for some time to come and he and Laina would just have to get used to each other. It was a sensible sort of letter, which Laina admired. He went out of his way to announce that he had no romantic feelings for her whatsoever, which she appreciated. Even at her age, she was already getting love letters. Her father had promised her that she wouldn't have to marry until she wanted to, so she threw most of them away. She was always careful to send teh presents back.
Ethan, though, hadn't sent a present. Hadn't sent anything, not even the note; he'd come himself. Laina wondered why he hadn't simply said what he wanted to say, but then, perhaps that was why he had knocked. He was sorry for calling her spolt earlier, and for refusing to do what she wanted. He thought it would be good for her to have someone refuse her something. Laina laughed under her breath - she never got what she wanted. She'd just have to explain that to him.
"Sarah?" Laina said, craning to see over her shoulder. "Go and make sure Master Lanais, Ethan, gets an invitation to dinner, will you? I'd like to see him there tonight."
"Is Mr Lanais coming, m'm?" Sarah asked, finishing the bow at the base of Laina's back.
"I don't know," Laina said crossly. "Just make sure Ethan is there. I want to talk to him." She paused and added, "It's not as though it's a private dinner, anyway. Mother said that most of the inner council will be there, and they're ever so boring. Oh," she puffed, "and I bet Cornwall will bring his son, and I really don't like him. Or that other boy, the one with the red hair. Really," she said, "Ethan's a perfectly tolerable person when you compare him with other boys."
"None of you interest me any more!" she announced as she turned to walk out of the chamber. She heard the two orphans shuffle, but neither spoke. The boy began to laugh.
Laina stomped down the hallway towards her private rooms. She hated that Ethan. Hated him. He thought just because he was older than her he was smarter. He was just a provincial farm boy. He was actually foreign! She was the Emperor's daughter. How dare he? How dare he!
She threw herself into the chair in front of her mirror and rang for Sarah. She pouted at her reflection, a little distorted by the glass. She bet Ethan had never even seen a glass mirror before coming here. She tugged on her hair and slumped over the dressing table, rest her elbows on the carefully polished and gilded wood. She wrinkled her nose at her reflection.
"Yes, m'm?"
Laina wasn't sure why she had summoned Sarah now. She stared at Sarah's reflection in the mirror, frowning at the girl's rounded breasts. She bet Ethan would be nicer to her if she had those.
"Brush my hair," Laina said, and sat back in her chair with a sigh. She passed the silver handled hairbrush to Sarah and closed her eyes.
She wanted to look like her mother. Everyone said her mother was the most beautiful woman in the world. She had come from another country on a ship bearing gold and silver and precious gems. It had been love at first sight for her father. No one ever said her father was the most handsome man in the world. They said he had been pretty handsome, once. Now he was old and grey, with a funny wirey beard that made Laina's face itch when she kissed his cheek and a stomach too big for her to get her arms around it, not that she'd ever be allowed to try.
Her mother was just as beautiful as she was the day she arrived. She laced her bodice at the front with silk ribbons Laina adored, and she wore them with thickly embroided skirts, wide and heavy, and the long sleeved surcoats that were fashionable in her country, with fur around the edges. She always smelt delicious, and decorated herself with beautiful sparkling jewellery. She had a lot of admirers, and she would talk and dance with them all. They would buy her things, and she would do them favours. Sometimes the favours were obvious, like positions in the parliament and grants to the guild of their choice, but sometimes Laina didn't know what her mother could be doing to make them smile like that. Or get so angry, later.
Ethan was the son of one of her mother's admirers. He was a farmer from the North. He was interesting because he's different, but he dressed strangely and he was so hard to understand. Ethan's voice was already changing to match Laina's and her companions's, but he still used odd words. His father told jokes Laina didn't understand, but laughed at becuase her mother was laughing. He got angry when people said nice things abut Greenhelm.
There was a knock on the door to Laina's suite. Laina twisted to stare at Sarah, who was looking at the door in confusion.
"It's not the Emperor or Empress, or Nurse," Laina said, trying to figure it out. "They don't knock. And nobody else comes unless I call them."
"Shall I answer it, m'm?" Sarah asked.
Laina considered this for a moment, and shook her head, pulling the brush from Sarah's hands.
"Let's see what they do if we don't," she said.
The door was knocked on again, but Laina gestured for Sarah to keep brushing her hair, and pretended to go back to looking at her reflection. She wait for the third knock. There was none. Laina tried not to be disappointed, and told Sarah to find out what she could.
Laina was dressing for dinner, a process that always took some time, when she heard something by the door. She hadn't called for Sarah yet - she liked to put her underclothes on and choose the evening's outfit by herself now that she was old enough to - and was fiddling with a necklce of tiny pearls. The sound bore investigating, and she walked out of her dressing chamber. To her horror, someone was in her reception chamber. Ethan.
He stared at her, mouth hanging open. A blush spread from his cheeks to his ears, and, after a few more moments, joined over the bridge of his nose. Laina stayed in the doorway, hands clenched to fists on either side of her. She was still clutching the rope of pearls.
"It's a note!" Ethan said before she could tell him precisely what was going to happen to him for being there. "It's a note!"
"Messengers deliver notes," Laina informed him icily. She had nothing to be ashamed of here. Her shift and petticoats covered almost as much skin as her dress would, so she needn't be embarrassed, even if she wasn't dressed. These were her rooms, she could wander among them dressed as she wished. He was in the wrong. He was in so much wrong that if she told the story just right, he could be killed. She smiled at him, hoping he'd know what she was smiling about.
"Ivy wrote it for me," Ethan said. "It's for you."
Laina rolled her eyes. Of course he couldn't write, peasant boy. His fear was so obvious it was almost funny. Laina found that she wasn't upset by his presence any longer. She wasn't even as angry as she was pretending to be. Curiosity was raging inside her, and some satisfaction to at having guessed correctly the source of the earlier knocks.
"Give it to me, then," she said, holding out a hand. Ethan blinked at her, and dropped the note. Laina frowned and beckoned. He picked the note up again and threw it at her, fleeing out of the still open door. She laughed, and moved to collect it, ringing for Sarah as she passed the bell pull.
She read the note as Sarah laced the back of her dress for her. It was definitely Ivy's handwriting, and Laina wondered what had happened to the girl. They'd been schooled together - Laina was under the impression that was the whole point of the Empire adopting certain children, so that she could have somene her own age to interact with - but like most of the orphans once she had learnt to read and write she had been moved towards learning a trade. Laina wasn't sure what apprenticeship Ivy had found herself in; she hoped it was something to so with the sea, because Ivy had always talked about the ocean so longingly. Obviously, though, she was still somewhere in the palace. Laina wondered how to go about finding her.
The note was simple, full of crossings out. Laina supposed Ethan had had a hard time deciding what to say. It was an apology, of sorts, but a little accusatory as well. Laina couldn't work out if Ethan liked her or not, but he seemed to think that he and his father would be at the palace for some time to come and he and Laina would just have to get used to each other. It was a sensible sort of letter, which Laina admired. He went out of his way to announce that he had no romantic feelings for her whatsoever, which she appreciated. Even at her age, she was already getting love letters. Her father had promised her that she wouldn't have to marry until she wanted to, so she threw most of them away. She was always careful to send teh presents back.
Ethan, though, hadn't sent a present. Hadn't sent anything, not even the note; he'd come himself. Laina wondered why he hadn't simply said what he wanted to say, but then, perhaps that was why he had knocked. He was sorry for calling her spolt earlier, and for refusing to do what she wanted. He thought it would be good for her to have someone refuse her something. Laina laughed under her breath - she never got what she wanted. She'd just have to explain that to him.
"Sarah?" Laina said, craning to see over her shoulder. "Go and make sure Master Lanais, Ethan, gets an invitation to dinner, will you? I'd like to see him there tonight."
"Is Mr Lanais coming, m'm?" Sarah asked, finishing the bow at the base of Laina's back.
"I don't know," Laina said crossly. "Just make sure Ethan is there. I want to talk to him." She paused and added, "It's not as though it's a private dinner, anyway. Mother said that most of the inner council will be there, and they're ever so boring. Oh," she puffed, "and I bet Cornwall will bring his son, and I really don't like him. Or that other boy, the one with the red hair. Really," she said, "Ethan's a perfectly tolerable person when you compare him with other boys."
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Date: 23/6/06 02:04 pm (UTC)