A card flicked and there were groans and shouts of excitement. Juliette tipped her glass back, elbowing the Northerner besides her to do the same with a slight grin. Glass after glass, spirit after spirit, the group drained their glasses card by card. They laughed and grumbled and one by one, the members fell away by either spilling their drinks back up or claiming they'd had enough. Soon enough, the cheating Northerner and Ithanian mutt were the only lasting players, hitting their last glasses. The Ithanian girl tipped her head back and took her last drink, she knew, as her friend only grinned, playing off as an honest player until the girl bolted out to the tavern gardens and lost her stomach in the bushes, coughing still when her friend joined her, stumbling to her side and dragging her down when she shouted out what he'd done and tried to push him to the walkway. All was good and while one was angry and both intoxicated, life was good for the Ithanian.
She returned to the couch, chatting away as her friend smoked, twisting the engagement ring on her finger without a care until her older sister - not her eldest, of course, as she was away from Regalia - appeared by the entrance to their booth. She called to her sister, pointed out her drunkenness and then swiftly swept her up upon her shoulder when the mutt had tried to dance in victory of her assumed win of the card game. The girl was carried through a haze to her home, alcohol biting at the edge of her vision and telling her none of it was important, simply focus on the sound of the following Northerner's bickerings which could not be more than overreactions and the bumps of her sister carrying her along.
They reached their estate, quaint in the corner of the district and dressed in its usual calming purple. Her sister closed the door and locked out her friend, carrying her to the sitting room on the second floor and leaving her there to be cared for.
"Wait!" She had called after her sister, stretching a hand out as if to catch her, despite how many feet away she stood. Her older sister - not eldest, as she was still far away from Regalia - turned and raised a brow in question. "You have to let in my friend, you cannot leave him out in the weather." The young noble had pleaded, staring towards her sister. The woman shook her head and denied. The girl was outraged in a moment, demanding and still being denied before finally shouting, "This is so unfair!"
"Life is unfair, little sister." She was told by her older - yet still not eldest sister, who probably lounged like the cat she loved in the estate far away - sister responded, folding her hands in front of her in a very formal nature, telling her that she was serious and would not change her mind. A few minutes of bickering passed and the girl agreed to sleep, on the condition that her sister swore to find the Northerner who'd dragged her to the ground with him after she'd shoved him in anger following the unfair game of cards. She was tucked into her bed, the bed that truly was not hers but the other one - the one she was lying in had been her cousin's at one point until she decided she'd rather be alone.
The girl was alone in her room, in the mellow light as it was still daytime yet didn't feel like it as her vision was still darker than usual from the drinks she'd had earlier with the crowd in the tavern, being watched by the unseen peers of nobility. Many hours passed and she did not sleep nor dream, but she did note the lack of sound and the lack of shouting or loud steps that indicated that her sister must have broken her promise and never brought her Northerner friend into the estate and out of the rain that plagued the city nearly every hour. The soft tapping of the rain kept her awake now, but she was truly taken out of her daze when a maid dressed with a solemn, yet sad expression entered her room, covering her bed in artificial light from the sitting room. She swore somewhere she heard sniffs and sobs, yet she couldn't place them.
The letter was passed to her slowly, and the maid receded from the room like a ghost as quickly as she could. The noblegirl opened the letter and slowly scanned the letters, feeling her heart slowly shatter with each word and beat. By the time she'd finish, the girl found herself in the corner of her own bed, with the letter on the floor in pieces by her rage and sorrow. Tears freely flowed, collected over days but as this new mark hit it, the dam broke within her and couldn't be stopped. She sat there for nearly an hour, she predicted, though it could've been more, before she tried the door.
No one stood keeping her in, she was free to leave and she assumed it was because the servants and maids had gone to mourn their Lady, though upon seeing the figure on the couch, quiet and small, she knew it was because her sister had sent them away wanting no one else to be with her, no one else but the dog perched in her lap like the faithful companion it was. The girl stared at her sister, frozen with feelings of grief that she'd only felt once.
"Darcie." The words startled her a bit, she didn't bid them to come but they did, having their own mind and knowing what she needed. Her older sister - now her eldest as the other laid dead far away from her in the bed she had her new child - looked up to her, eyes red from crying.
"Julie.." Her sister said and the girl moved closer, throwing her arms around her eldest sister and crumbling into sobs. The two sisters, no longer three, held each other and cried into the other's skin and cloth, using the other as a lifeline they didn't think they'd need. Julie rose her gaze to match her sister and her words felt heavy with regret and sadness as they were spoken.
"Life is unfair, Darcie, you were right." She said, tears escaping again down her cheeks but her sister held her closer.
"Life may be unfair," Her now eldest sister murmured to her, "But we will be together through it, we will stay together."
As a piece fell and a piece joined them, they promised each other silently to not forget their third piece - to fill it by repairing the break between them.
She returned to the couch, chatting away as her friend smoked, twisting the engagement ring on her finger without a care until her older sister - not her eldest, of course, as she was away from Regalia - appeared by the entrance to their booth. She called to her sister, pointed out her drunkenness and then swiftly swept her up upon her shoulder when the mutt had tried to dance in victory of her assumed win of the card game. The girl was carried through a haze to her home, alcohol biting at the edge of her vision and telling her none of it was important, simply focus on the sound of the following Northerner's bickerings which could not be more than overreactions and the bumps of her sister carrying her along.
They reached their estate, quaint in the corner of the district and dressed in its usual calming purple. Her sister closed the door and locked out her friend, carrying her to the sitting room on the second floor and leaving her there to be cared for.
"Wait!" She had called after her sister, stretching a hand out as if to catch her, despite how many feet away she stood. Her older sister - not eldest, as she was still far away from Regalia - turned and raised a brow in question. "You have to let in my friend, you cannot leave him out in the weather." The young noble had pleaded, staring towards her sister. The woman shook her head and denied. The girl was outraged in a moment, demanding and still being denied before finally shouting, "This is so unfair!"
"Life is unfair, little sister." She was told by her older - yet still not eldest sister, who probably lounged like the cat she loved in the estate far away - sister responded, folding her hands in front of her in a very formal nature, telling her that she was serious and would not change her mind. A few minutes of bickering passed and the girl agreed to sleep, on the condition that her sister swore to find the Northerner who'd dragged her to the ground with him after she'd shoved him in anger following the unfair game of cards. She was tucked into her bed, the bed that truly was not hers but the other one - the one she was lying in had been her cousin's at one point until she decided she'd rather be alone.
The girl was alone in her room, in the mellow light as it was still daytime yet didn't feel like it as her vision was still darker than usual from the drinks she'd had earlier with the crowd in the tavern, being watched by the unseen peers of nobility. Many hours passed and she did not sleep nor dream, but she did note the lack of sound and the lack of shouting or loud steps that indicated that her sister must have broken her promise and never brought her Northerner friend into the estate and out of the rain that plagued the city nearly every hour. The soft tapping of the rain kept her awake now, but she was truly taken out of her daze when a maid dressed with a solemn, yet sad expression entered her room, covering her bed in artificial light from the sitting room. She swore somewhere she heard sniffs and sobs, yet she couldn't place them.
The letter was passed to her slowly, and the maid receded from the room like a ghost as quickly as she could. The noblegirl opened the letter and slowly scanned the letters, feeling her heart slowly shatter with each word and beat. By the time she'd finish, the girl found herself in the corner of her own bed, with the letter on the floor in pieces by her rage and sorrow. Tears freely flowed, collected over days but as this new mark hit it, the dam broke within her and couldn't be stopped. She sat there for nearly an hour, she predicted, though it could've been more, before she tried the door.
No one stood keeping her in, she was free to leave and she assumed it was because the servants and maids had gone to mourn their Lady, though upon seeing the figure on the couch, quiet and small, she knew it was because her sister had sent them away wanting no one else to be with her, no one else but the dog perched in her lap like the faithful companion it was. The girl stared at her sister, frozen with feelings of grief that she'd only felt once.
"Darcie." The words startled her a bit, she didn't bid them to come but they did, having their own mind and knowing what she needed. Her older sister - now her eldest as the other laid dead far away from her in the bed she had her new child - looked up to her, eyes red from crying.
"Julie.." Her sister said and the girl moved closer, throwing her arms around her eldest sister and crumbling into sobs. The two sisters, no longer three, held each other and cried into the other's skin and cloth, using the other as a lifeline they didn't think they'd need. Julie rose her gaze to match her sister and her words felt heavy with regret and sadness as they were spoken.
"Life is unfair, Darcie, you were right." She said, tears escaping again down her cheeks but her sister held her closer.
"Life may be unfair," Her now eldest sister murmured to her, "But we will be together through it, we will stay together."
As a piece fell and a piece joined them, they promised each other silently to not forget their third piece - to fill it by repairing the break between them.
