Read Adopt them All :: Episode 1: Arrival

"Mylady?"

With an elegance, that she had only acquired in recent years, Mera turned her head a little sideways. Now facing her newly appointed personal maid, she raised one of her eyebrows slightly, indicating her to continue.

"Mylady, if I may ask, why are you keeping the curtains of your carriage closed? Don't you want to look at our beautiful country, while we are traveling?"

Her gaze slid over to the dark and heavy curtains, blocking their view, keeping the rest of the world outside. She took a moment to think about an answer. No, she did not want to look outside. It was only the second long journey of her life, and she already knew it would be her last. Once she reached the household of her husband, there would be no reason to ever travel through the country again. So seeing it now, seeing places she would never be able to experience herself, seeing the people she would never meet again - it would only depress her further. The view of the different landscapes would hount her memories for the rest of her days, as counted as they may already be, and that was nothing she wished upon herself.

But then again, that was nothing she wished to discuss with the unfamiliar girl, that has been asigned as her guard dog and personal spy. Pardon, personal maid. Mera didn't take it personally, that was just how things were in this world, and neither of them chose their role in it. Silently she recalled what she had overheard about the girl. The daugther of a wealthy and powerful merchant - probably someone who grow up traveling, who was used to watch the world from many different carriagewindows. As Mera's maid, it would be her last journey too.

"You may open them, if you want to.", she granted the unspoken wish, allowing her own eyelids to flutter shut, as the sunlight entered the carriage, "Notify me upon our arrival. I shall rest my eyes."

A hand grabing her arm, shaking it, woke her from a shallow, dreamless sleep: "Mylady! Look! We have arrived!"

Still half asleep, Mera tried to sit up straight again. Her neck hurt from the position she'd been sleeping in, and she wanted to curse the cheap and uncomfortable bunch of wood, these bastards dared to call a comfortable carriage.

"Mylady, quick! Take a look, before we take the next turn!", that voice nagged her again. Right, she was a Lady now. No cursing, but a good posture. Ouch. What was she supposed to look at?

Gracefully rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Mera turned her gaze towards the window and the outside world. Apparently the carriage had just reached the peak of the mountain it was climbing up, and now the glen that lay beyond stretched out seemingly until the horizon. The nature there wasn't remarkable, but the scattered palace complexes, glistening in the afternoon sun, screamed of royality. The kings residence stood out immediatly, through its abstruse size alone. The smaller ones surrounding it would therefore belong to the princes, one of which she was married to.

The unexpected chance to see her new home from a distance peaked her interest, but they were already turning around heading towards the trees, that would be blocking her view. Quickly Mera tried to take in as much as possible. The princes palaces differed in size, colour and state of maintenance. Two of them, located on the shadowy side of the glen, caught her eye. In contrast to the superlatives of the other complexes, one of them appeared to be rustic and plain, the other rundown and shabby. A second later the view was already blocked, and Mera slowly leaned back again.

Her maid chattered around, dreaming about living in one of the oppulent places, indulging in riches she never experienced before. Mera decided against stopping her; reality would dawn on them soon enough.

After a bumpy downhill ride through the wood covering the slope, they finally arrived at their destination. Mera's intuition proved to be right, as they stood infront of the relatively tiny, plain castle in the shadowy corner of the glen. Judging by the position of the sun, it was just early afternoon, but the building was completely out of the suns reach already. Tragic, but it could have been worse. Her new home at lest appeared to be somewhat maintained, and there was a canopied pathway, broad enough for a small carriage, leading from the Annex infront of them to the main building of this palace. The residence of her husband.

At least, they wouldn't share a roof.

After the two of them gotten out of the carriage, and were placed infront of the iron gates, each of them clasping the one bag they brought with them, the coachman told them to wait there for the butler, and left without another word. Without granting him a second glance, Mera settled concentric infront of the closed entrance, and prepared herself for a long wait.

At first, the other girl mimicked her, waiting along her silently. But as the time passed, and the minutes ticked by, she could feel the maid starting to fidget, starting to grow impatient. Not much longer, and she'd start screaming around, demanding the door to be opened or something like it. Mera couldn't allow for that to happened, her mother's warning still fresh in her memory.

Readjusting the grip on her bag's handle, she adressed the maid: "Tell me your name."
"Anastasía, Mylady. May I ask, how I shall address you during our stay here?"
Interesting. Her name did not fit in with the old naming traditions of this country, marking her clearly as a foreigner. That could prove to be problematic in this new environment - Mera wondered wether or not her maid was aware of this. Wether or not someone bothered to prepare her for the realities of this place.

"Lady Mera will suffice, since I do not plan to participate in formal activities. But let me get some things clear from the start, Sía." - the maid flinched at the new nickname, but remained silent - "First, we will not leave this place ever again. I was brought here to spend the rest of my days as a Prince's bride and potential mother to a heir candidate. Your life was tied to my own the moment you were asigned as my maid. Therefore our stay here is until death. Second, the moment I die, your life will be ended with mine, so I will put my trust in you to try and keep me alive, since it will be for your own sake too. Lastly, but most importantly: We are not welcome. No one wants another bride to come and add to the disaster. They are not allowed to kill me, before I have met my husband, but that does not mean, we will be treated well. Keep that in mind, do not expect anything good to happen, and never show weakness to anyone, but me. Understood?" Stunned, Sia only managed a small nod in response.

"That should do it for now. I will educate you further in the upcoming weeks."
They stood in silence after that for about two or three hours, until finally the creaking sound of a rarely used door cut through it. Through a small side entrance, a man stepped out, and walked towards the gate, that separated them. Based on his attire, Mera guessed that she was facing the head butler of the house. His face wasn't easy to read, seemingly beeing one of those, that hardly ever change over the curse of their lifetime. Thus it was impossible for her to tell his age.

Objectively, measured by her status, that welcoming was an enormous insult to her person and her family. But Mera had been prepared by her mother, and wasn't expecting anything else. She knew better, than to complain or try to act up. In this place she wasn't only the newest member of the household, but also the weakest. And in order to survive, she needed allies, not foes. Therefore she wordlessly showed him the ink on her collarbone, marking her as a bride of this household, and followed him calmly back in the building through the servants door.

Once inside, the servant uttered his first words towards her: "I am responsible for showing your maid the ways of this household. She will be returned to your highness, once the procedure is done. Please wait here, your Highness, you will be picked up soon. I shall send someone to show you your place."
Without awaiting her response, he turned around, and strode down the hallway, Sía stumbling on behind him, glancing back nervously until they took a turn, and disappeared out of her sight.

Show me my place, huh? Nice choice of words. Mera smirked. She would need to be extra cautious around that butler, but somehow she already liked the old man.