Stepping Up..
in Catskills
Weather was starting to be colder; winter was hitting harder this year. The trip to warmer lands seemed less exciting as all the years in the past. Goosebumps on my arms, either the cold temperatures or something amiss with the family. Either way neither was a welcoming feeling. Both were COLD, the weather was cold and travelling home to check in with my family was even colder. Yet it had been quite some time since I had checked in and perhaps the warm fires inside the castle would toast me toes.
Life had always been tougher on me then my sisters, of course the oldest gets the blunt of everything, and stepping into the role of head of family was not a desire I had. My life had always been carefree and mischievous, settling down was out of the question at this point, I tried that once and it did not work so well, but I did get AnnaBeth from that experience of life. Love was just a word towards any other person in life, meaningless, unless it was about family, and I did love my family unconditionally and the love I had for my child was the greatest of all.
The tavern in Minoc was joyful this evening, men boosting to each other, kind of like who had the biggest, feet !
Finding an out of the way corner table, I make myself at home, kicking my uncomfortable shoes off under the table and scooting them under my dress tails so nobody saw me barefooted and hopefully nobody could smell my feet. Bathing in the rivers this time of year was out. Perhaps after a warm meal and an ale or two I would inquire of a room hopefully with a warm bath. Glancing at the empty table next to me I spied a newspaper, snatching it up I unfold it and begin to read. Front page headlines, "ELECTIONS", blinking and not really interested in who's the most popular in the Kingdom or who bought off who as most elections are, I continue reading, So as I began to read who was running where and who won what city, there was her name, my Sister, "Jaden Rain had been on the ballot in Britain" Shaking my head, I never understood her desire to do such a thing, who in their right mind would want that headache, I did not even bother to finish reading the story. Turning the page the next headline that caught my eye "Missing", as I began to read of missing people in the Kingdom only one name caught my attention, the name in the listing, Jaden Rain, skimming through the article, it was so confusing Toads, pirates, henchmen, Goblins and Doppelgangers.... tossing the paper on the floor I did not even wait on my dinner; I was out the door.....
Yes, I forgot my Shoes !
Life had always been tougher on me then my sisters, of course the oldest gets the blunt of everything, and stepping into the role of head of family was not a desire I had. My life had always been carefree and mischievous, settling down was out of the question at this point, I tried that once and it did not work so well, but I did get AnnaBeth from that experience of life. Love was just a word towards any other person in life, meaningless, unless it was about family, and I did love my family unconditionally and the love I had for my child was the greatest of all.
The tavern in Minoc was joyful this evening, men boosting to each other, kind of like who had the biggest, feet !
Finding an out of the way corner table, I make myself at home, kicking my uncomfortable shoes off under the table and scooting them under my dress tails so nobody saw me barefooted and hopefully nobody could smell my feet. Bathing in the rivers this time of year was out. Perhaps after a warm meal and an ale or two I would inquire of a room hopefully with a warm bath. Glancing at the empty table next to me I spied a newspaper, snatching it up I unfold it and begin to read. Front page headlines, "ELECTIONS", blinking and not really interested in who's the most popular in the Kingdom or who bought off who as most elections are, I continue reading, So as I began to read who was running where and who won what city, there was her name, my Sister, "Jaden Rain had been on the ballot in Britain" Shaking my head, I never understood her desire to do such a thing, who in their right mind would want that headache, I did not even bother to finish reading the story. Turning the page the next headline that caught my eye "Missing", as I began to read of missing people in the Kingdom only one name caught my attention, the name in the listing, Jaden Rain, skimming through the article, it was so confusing Toads, pirates, henchmen, Goblins and Doppelgangers.... tossing the paper on the floor I did not even wait on my dinner; I was out the door.....
Yes, I forgot my Shoes !
Jaden Rain
Comments
Rolling my eyes I say no more, after all it isn't her fault my feelings for my half Sister, Daenyra. Turning to make my way up the stairs, my thoughts were now on how much I had entrusted Jaden with AnnaBeth when she was small, and now Jaden's children are left here, and not from her wild spirit of leaving them, she would never do that. Standing on the landing of the hall to the sleeping rooms, I have this gut-wrenching feeling in my stomach. It is time I step up into my Role of this family, and I cannot leave these children in the hands of a Nincompoop, like Daenyra. Looking into the mirror hanging on the wall in the hall, I see the beginning of wrinkles around my eyes and the hardness of my face. Am I going to be able to fill these shoes, looking down on the floor beneath the mirror set a bright pretty pair of slippers, obviously they had been Jadens. Looking down at the boots I had slipped on my feet, I wiggle my toe as it pops out the hole in the top of the shoe. Kicking off the boots I slip my feet into the pretty lil slippers. and turn to reach for the door, the door of the childrens room. As the door creaks open, I can hear them playing, they turn to the noise of the door to see my head peeking in. " Aunty Desy" they scream as they run to me and hug my legs, clinging to me like frightened lil puppies. At that moment my heart broke, and I knew I was not leaving them until their mother was found, and if it is worse than just a missing Momma, I would remain here.
After hours of stories and reassuring, I spoke with the Nanny, " I'll be back shortly but I must go speak with Telchar, at the Continental and make some arrangements with him about a few matters. The Nannys eyes widened she knew what kind of arrangements were about to be made. Winking at her I made my way out, of course after I gathered up a better pair of boots to trudge through the snow in, to the Continental.
Pounding on the front doors, Servants let me in and instructed me to wait in the side room for Telchar. Telchar was a kind man and very generous, I knew he would do whatever he could to find my Sister. Turning to watch him stumbling into the room, I smile. "Good Morning Mr. Tel it is good to see you again". His awkward smile, somehow, he knew why I was here.
" So, tell me what exactly I can do to help you, Lady Desta?" he spoke timidly. I blink and begin to say, " You seem somewhat afraid of me, why? I have never done anything against you or your cause." in my most confident voice. He immediately replies, " It's that look in your eye, I have seen that before, that worries me." responding to me and never taking his eyes off of me. As my mind recalls the night, he helped me bury, THAT MANS BODY, then back to listening what was next spoken, " Let's find her and bury them all" both of us grinning as the words were spoken.
~ by Desta
~ To be continued
Responsibilities, I did have them when my Daughter, AnnaBeth was small but when she was close to her teens that job got a bit crazy, those years are rough, especially when you have a young pre-teen trying to push one towards a huge responsibility of overseeing a group of wildlings like DragonStone. I was never the best dragon master, I tried it for a time but sending my Dragon out to kill people trying to take from me what we had worked at for ourselves I became a bit wanted, so when AnnaBeth was about to become a teen I had to hide to keep from being arrested, I spent many years in hiding, in doing so I picked up a flute and began to learn music and travelled from town to town, in hopes my past would be left in the past and forgotten; so now my talents are more about music and controlling the beasts with music. So it did not seem the position for me to hold, being a leader of Dragon Folk. Now with Jaden gone its either I step up or I allow the Nincompoop Daenyra to step into that position. That will not happen on my watch. I really rather not have that position to lead DragonStone that needs to just be given to my Daughter but I will oversee on matters and II will not allow Daenyra to take over. Anyone getting in my way will be taken care of, even if that means hiding bodies. For now I will play my role as the worried sister and caregiver to the children and pay whoever I have to pay to recover my sister and deal with whatever arises from finding her. I want answers, did somebody pay to have her taken out of the way, who was behind all those doppelgangers, and who is this Moonglow Governor claiming she is his lover, I want to know more about this. So I suppose my next move is to meet this, Governor.
~Desta