My Salvation | By : sesshyluver Category: +G through L > Gargoyles Views: 4454 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Gargoyles, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Chapter Three: Sister Dearest
“Amarha!” A girl looking no more than sixteen whipped around at the sound of the voice yelling in the distance. Her sea green eyes searched for the being that it belonged to, light brown hair creating a waterfall to the small of her back. She saw Kylinia flying toward her. The fairy’s buttercup yellow skin glowed with an inner light, her starlight hair seeming to drip down her back. Her wings encompassed all different shades of the rainbow. Amarha’s face lit with joy. Kylinia was one of her very best friends here on Avalon.
“What is it Kylinia,” she asked. Obviously it was important if the fairy was in such a hurry. In a few more seconds the little fairy was hovering in front of her face. It was always a little disconcerting trying to focus on an actual person as small as Kylinia. A human’s eyes just were made for it. Although she would never admit such a thing out loud. The beings of Avalon weren’t human friendly on a good day. There wasn’t any reason to give them something else to look down upon.
“Lord Oberon requested you meet him in his chambers,” the fairy squeaked out, “it’s very important. His words, not mine.” Amarha shot off like a rocket. Her lord rarely asked for an audience with her and never something “important.” He, like the rest of Avalon, didn’t view her as anything great because of her humanity. Unlike the others, excluding Kylinia and a select few others, he did treat her kindly.
She had been brought to Avalon when she was only ten. At first, she’d hated her Lord, and everything about her new home. She didn’t like being separated from her family. She was given a set of rooms in the east wing of Oberon’s palace, not very far from the lord himself. They had been exquisite, with a huge bed dominating the bedroom, a lovely sitting room with shelves for books, and a private bathing chamber connected to the hot springs that ran under the castle. For the next three years she’d tried everything to push Lord Oberon and her teachers over the limit so they would send her home. Nothing seemed to work. If anything, it seemed to make Oberon even more determined to keep her in Avalon.
When she’d turned thirteen, she’d been given the horrible news that her family was dead. They’d died in a car accident. Her lord had even taken her to the site so she could see the evidence for herself. She had been devastated. For the next year she’d fallen into a deep depression. No one could get her out of her rooms and the maids had to physically bathe and feed her because she wasn’t with it enough to do it herself. She’d tried to kill herself, and still had the scars on her wrists. They had faded into nothing more than two thin white lines, but they were still a visible reminder of that time.
Eventually, Lord Oberon had grown weary of her “melancholy” as he called it. She still remembered the day he’d come into her chambers and forcefully yanked her away from the darkness she’d been living in. It had been exactly what she need, but at the time, she’d hated him for it. The darkness kept her from having to focus on the fact that her family was dead.
“Enough,” Lord Oberon roared as her barged into Amarha’s bedroom, seeing the teenagers lying in her bed staring up at the ceiling. He stormed over and yanked her unresisting body off and dropped her none too gently onto the hard floor. He was tired of watching the human grieve over a family that was not going to come back. There was no reason for her to also join them in the afterlife.
He watched as the girl seemed to be shaken from her stupor by her impact with the floor. She sat up and looked around, somewhat dazed. She hadn’t been aware of her surroundings in quite some time, so it was a little strange to be brought back so suddenly. She then looked up into the angry orbs of her lord.
“What do you want,” she spat, angry that he’d taken her from the darkness. The darkness was comforting. She didn’t have to think or feel there. And now he’d taken her away from it. She wanted to go back. It was safe. Much safer than the reality she lived in.
“Do not speak to me in such a manner, girl,” Lord Oberon bit out, “you need to show your lord proper respect.” Amarha wanted to laugh. Respect! Why did her deserve her respect! He and his minions had taken her away from her family and forced her to live here. Here where no one wanted her.
“You have done nothing to earn my respect, Lord Oberon,” she said. He needed to get off him high and mighty horse. She would not bow down to someone who had no qualms about ruining another person’s life. If she had still been with her family, she wouldn’t be trying to cope without them now. She would instead be with them wherever their journey had taken them.
“I should not have to earn it. It should be mine as your lord,” he yelled. He was the ruler of this land. As such, she should obey him in all things. She had instead been nothing but trouble. He’d originally taken her because she had seemed the more docile of the twins. The one who would be easiest to mold into what he wanted her to be. He was beginning to wonder if he hadn’t taken the wrong twin after all. He had forgotten the saying that a quiet nature to hide a willful beast.
“I have no lord,” Amarha whispered, “I have no lord because I do not belong to this place. Everyone says it. You may all think that I’ve not been able to understand what’s been going on around me this past year, but I could still hear you.” The darkness had not been all consuming. She had still been aware of what everyone was doing around her. How the maids had ridiculed her weak human nature. How they’d often left her wet and cold after bathing her because they could not stand to touch her any longer. How they’d only feed her a small portion of what was sent for her so they could enjoy it.
To say Oberon was shocked was an understatement. He had never heard anything untoward being said about his human ward. The servants seemed to always make sure that she was properly cared for. Not doing so would have guaranteed they would have to face his wrath. Human or not, Amarha was his responsibility. He would not see her mistreated. Though, not that he looked upon her more carefully, it was easy to see that she had been neglected.
Where her clothes had used to fit her perfectly, they now hung loose. Her face had a slight hollowness to it. Not enough to say that she’d been truly starved, but definitely undernourished. Her clothes were no longer the rich silks, satins, and soft cottons that he had had made for her. Instead, they were threadbare homespun material. Like some of the servants wore. Her hair was still damp and a rat’s nest.
Storming over to Amarha’s wardrobe, Oberon flung open the doors. He was angered by what he saw. None of his ward’s clothes were there. Instead, everything had been replaced with the same material she was currently wearing. Her slippers were the only things still there. How could this be? Every time she was brought to see him, she would be wearing clothes of the finest materials. And if he looked over to her dresser, there were empty food dishes.
The sound of chattering females was entering his mind. The maids were returning. Where had they been? Amarha was not to be left alone. She had already tried to kill herself once. The scars were a horrid sight, still glaringly pink. The maids entered the room but stopped short when they noticed its other occupant.
“Where have you been,” Lord Oberon questioned darkly. It was easy enough to see where his ward’s clothes had gone. Each of the maids wore one of her outfits. To say he was livid was an understatement. Not only that, but he could smell traces of the breakfast he had had sent to Amarha that morning every time any of the maids let out a breath.
“My lord,” one of the maid spoke, “we were simply going to get some sewing supplies. We thought we would try and teach the human how to embroider.” He did not miss how human was spit out of the maid’s mouth, as if it tasted disgusting to her.
“You are lying,” he said quietly. It was like the calm before the storm. The maids suddenly found themselves encaged within bars of light. One reached out to test if it was real, and yanked their hand back, a cry of pain escaping their mouth. The three maids felt fear begin to enter their bodies. Their lord was not happy. They were frightened by the possibility of harm that seemed to be leaking from his body.
“You tell me such lies when my ward’s clothes are hanging off you well fed bodies while she lies in the homespun cloth that came from you, her body undernourished. You will be punished for this indecency,” he yelled before the light began to fill the room. Amarha had to turn her head away until it began to recede. When she turned to once again face the room, the maids were gone. She looked at Lord Oberon in wonder, and not a little fear. He walked to her, gently picking her up and placing her on the bed.
“I am sorry, Amarha,” he said softly, “You have suffered not only a great loss this past year, but abuse by those who were supposed to care for you.” She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. This was the first time in the last year she had been treated with any kindness. She could feel everything that she had been keeping bottled up coming forth and threw herself into her lord’s arms. He cradled her, letting her release all her pain. That was when she first held respect for Oberon.
After that night, Lord Oberon had new maids assigned to Amarha. One of those persons was Kylinia. This time around, he kept a close eye on how she was treated. He needn’t have worried. Her new maids treated her with kindness and respect. It wasn’t long before they became friends, and she cared for them a great deal. The maids that had cared for her the year of her grieving were sent to work in the laundry rooms. They were not allowed to use magic either. They were still stuck down there.
She finally reached her lord’s chambers. Knocking, she waited for his permission to enter. After getting it, she pushed open the heavy door using her magical energy. She had become quite adept with magic, but was still no match for any magical being of Avalon. It was like she had a wall blocking her from reaching her full potential. Coming to stand in front of Lord Oberon, Amarha knelt before him as a sign of respect.
“Rise, Amarha,” Lord Oberon intoned, “I wish to speak with you face to face.” She moved to stand once again and looked upon the ruler of Avalon. To say he was handsome was an understatement. He was beautiful. And very much faithful to his wife. That woman was someone she could not stand. Titania did not treat her lord well. She was constantly gallivanting off to the human realm and sleeping with them. How anyone could want someone else when they had her lord waiting here for them she couldn’t understand.
“I’ve received some disturbing news as of late,” Oberon said, looking angered. What could he have heard to create a reaction such as that? It was generally hard to truly make her lord angry. After living for the many centuries he had, you learned what was truly worth becoming upset over and what could be forgotten.
“They must be truly worrisome if you have called be to you, my lord,” she answered. She sometimes did a little spying for Oberon. Because many here viewed her as something of a pest, they tended to ignore her. It made spying on them very easy. As such, Oberon had taken to using her when he wanted to find out information that someone was unwilling to give him.
“There is talk of a plot to overthrow me,” Oberon continued. This didn’t surprise Amarha. Oberon ruled over a very powerful land. He had also been in power for longer than anyone could remember. People tended to want his power and would plot different ways of removing him from the throne. She had discovered many such plots in the last eight years.
“There are always rumors of an overthrow, my lord. What about this rumor has upset you,” she asked. She did not like to see her lord unhappy and generally strived to do away with whatever was causing it. If there was another overthrow plot in the air, it had to be big to have Oberon this unhappy.
“The plot is being headed by my snake of a wife,” Lord Oberon drawled. Amarha couldn’t help a gasp of surprise. Titania was behind it? Sure, in the past there had been a few plots that she had secretly believed the woman to be behind. But for her lord to believe it too was dire indeed. For all her misdeeds, the queen held her kings heart within her hands.
“What am I to do my lord,” she asked. Surely he wouldn’t want her to spy on Titania? He had always ignored her involvement before. If he did want her to she would. She just wasn’t confident that he would heed any warnings she gave him.
“You are to keep an eye on my queen, Amarha, and report anything you hear back to me,” he commanded, “you may go.” Knowing it would be best to leave her lord to his thoughts, she turned to leave. Exiting Oberon’s chambers, she was still in a state of shock. One thing was for certain. She would make sure that no one threatened her lord and got away with it. That included Avalon’s queen. Walking down the hallway, Amarha continued to think of ways to accomplish the mission her lord had set for her.
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