Nightcall

The rest of the day came and went with little else happening, certainly nothing that would rival the coming of a new Lord. I spent time with Henry before I returned home and told my mother about the events in the village. She was somewhat dubious at the prospect of Harod Motten having become a better person by way of fatherhood, but she said little on this subject. After we ate a dinner of mutton served with potatoes and a variety of vegetables, courtesy of Henry’s new recipe, I spent some time outside training with my mother. My muscles were already sore from an early training session with Canis that morning and by the end of the day I was exhausted; though I could notice an improvement from weeks earlier, having started to take my training more seriously after my monster battle. Night came and I went to sleep, quickly drifting off to oblivion and my throbbing muscles finally relaxing

I thought I would have a chance to talk to Elsie about Lord Motten the next day; with her having been able to meet him in the manor she would have seen how he behaved away from crowds. That opportunity came sooner than I thought.

I was woken in the middle of the night by an insistent knocking on the door to our home; I come out of room in the nightclothes that I was sleeping in, a simple loose-fitting white undershirt and a short pair of breeches. I saw my mother exiting her room in a dark nightgown flowing over her curves and her hair looking somewhat dishevelled from a night in bed

“Ugh” I groan in my weariness, “Who is it? What time is it even?” I ask, the house lit only by a dwindling candle as we go downstairs

“I don’t know, I can’t see through doors” she says, sounding grumpy from her lack of sleep

We get to the door, and she opens it to show Elsie standing there, about to give the wood another rap with her knuckles. Her little sister, Mia, is with her; one hand in her sisters as the other turns white from clutching at her skirt. Their hair and clothes are wet from the light pattering of rain that had been coming down, to get this wet they must have walked all the way from the manor in this weather.

“Elsie!? Mia? What are you doing here? Does your mother know where you are?” My mother asks as she notices them

“Oh, come inside. You’re going to catch a cold getting wet like that. Aucus, go and start a fire” my mother says, I give the two girls a look wondering the same questions that my mother asked before I do as I’m told and move back inside.

As I make my way towards the hearth, my mothers’ voice calls out to me again. “Oh and get some blankets and clothes when you finish that” she adds as she leads the girls inside, looking around outside before closing the door.

I go to the fireplace in the living room and take some kindling from a box to the side, laying it on the logs within before I strike some sparks on a flint and steel. After a few attempts, the kindling take light and a fire begins to grow. I go upstairs and take the blankets from a chest at the foot of my mother’s bed. I go to my closet and take some clothes out that will fit Elsie, I reach for a basket at the bottom and find some of my old clothes that may fit Mia, though probably will still be too big.

Coming downstairs, I see my mother helping Elsie and Mia sit on a bundle of furs at the foot of the fire and hanging a pot of water over the flame.

“Here you go, you can change into these. That damp dress looks cold” I say to Elsie as I put my hands on her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

She nods her head and stands up, taking the clothes from me and following me to my bedroom where I stand outside and wait for her to change. We come back downstairs where my mother has finished dressing Mia in my old clothes, the garments hanging from her spindly limbs loosely as she cuddles up against my mother.

I cloak Elsie in one of the blankets and drape one around Mia as we sit down together, the two of them starting to warm up and get more comfortable.

“So why did you come here at this hour?” my mother asks, Mia starting to fall asleep in her arms as she cradles her

Elsie is silent for a moment, looking uncomfortably from me to my mother. Her hands flicker to her lap, twisting together clearly unsure of how to voice her thoughts. My mother offers her a warm smile, hoping to ease her nerves

“It’s… It’s Lord Motten” she begins, my mother does not look surprised, her face taking on an understanding look.

“When he arrived, everyone at the manor was excited. We’d been getting everything ready all day and he was finally here. He didn’t seem too bad at the start, a bit grumpy maybe. He went to Lord Beckront’s office and stayed in there for hours, he didn’t even come out for dinner and when he did it was already dark. Mother had finished all of her work for the day, and we were in our rooms when he walked in. Mia was already in bed” she sniffles a little, seemingly having gotten a cold already.

The water coming to a boil on the fire, my mother lays a small pouch of leaves in two cups before filling them with water. She hands one to Elsie and then one to me as she listens to the tale.

“He, he asked us what we were doing, and mother told him that she had finished her days work but asked if there was something she could help him with. That’s when he started sounding angry and called her stupid, asking what we were doing in our rooms. She told him that they were our family quarters and we lived there.” She takes a sip of the tea, warming up as I hold her close and gently rub her.

“He said that he wouldn’t be sleeping under the same roof as lowborn scum. Told us that we wouldn’t be living in the manor anymore and had to find other arrangements. I’m sure she could handle not living in the manor anymore, but he wanted us out right then, and Mia was asleep” a tear trickles from her eye before she continues. “She asked if we could leave in the morning, but he just ignored her and said that he had looked at the accounts and her pay would be cut. I know Lord Beckront was generous, but he only offered a tenth of what Beckront was paying. She got **** after that and told him that he couldn’t do that to us, that we wouldn’t be able to survive”

She stops for a moment as she looks at her sister and brushes back her hair, laying a hand on her chest as she feels her slow breathing. “He sla-“ her voice cuts off as she lets out a sob, “he slapped her then and she pushed him back. That was when he called for his guards, the new ones that came with him. They came in and he told them to arrest her. He said it was for assaulting nobility, but all she did was push him. He slapped her and her mouth was bleeding”

“After they took her away, I woke Elsie and we left. We ran towards the village and came here” she finishes, crying at last as she buries her head into my shoulder. I put my arm around her and held her as my shirt grew damp with tears.

Having listened closely to the story, my mother sighs as she strokes Mia’s hair “Bastard” she says at last “I knew he’d be no different” she says, smouldering in front of the fire

“Of course the two of you can stay here as long as you need to. We don’t have too much space, but you’ve got a home here for as long as you want one” she adds as she fills another cup with the tea for herself

“Tha… Thank you Sephenia” she says, pulling her head away from my chest, “but what about my mother? We can’t just leave her there. If he’d do that to her on a whim… I don’t even want to think what he’d do with her as a prisoner” she says, her tears silent as they leak from her eyes.

“Oh, I’m not letting that bastard have her a moment logger than I have to” she says with malice in her voice, “First thing tomorrow, I’m going up to that manor and dealing with him” she reassures Elsie who nods her head quietly, apparently having used all her words in the telling of her nightmare.

“Well, it’s late. And you two must be tired, I know this little one is” my mother says as she runs a hand across Mia’s cheek, the little girl looking so peaceful that you couldn’t tell what she had been through that night. “You can share Aucus’ bed Elsie, I’ll let Mia borrow mine” she decides

I nod my head, having finished my tea. I see that Elsie’s cup is half full still but without any steam rising from the liquid it must have turned cold. “Come on, you need to get some rest” I say as I take her hand in mine and lead her up the stairs. She nods her head but is still quiet

My mother picks Mia up, still cocooned in a blanket as she takes her into her room and Elsie comes with me. I walk her to my bed, and she lays down, her eyes weighing down as her head hits the pillow. I raise my blanket and lay it over us as I get in the bed too. I feel her arm reaching out to hug me and I embrace her.

“Aucus” her quite voice mutters

“Yeah Elsie, what is it? Is there something else you need?” I ask, wanting nothing more than to take care of her

She shakes her head and whispers into my ear “Thank you”, a tear trickling down her rosy cheeks.