Sooo... you may have noticed I didn't post last week. Yeah. Um, sorry about that. I'm going to be AWOL this Saturday too, but either on Sunday or next Saturday, you will get two chapters at once!
*woks away*
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HIII sorry this is a bit late I totally forgot until like an hour ago but enjoy!
Chapter 3 “Kiara! KIARA!” a voice called. Slowly, Kiara opened her eyes. There stood Althaia, with her father close by. She looked around. There she was, on the sofa, in her father’s cottage. The sickly scent of the nightshade had disappeared, and Kiara couldn’t find any traces of the vines that had been making their way up the walls. However, she did see something that made her eyes burn. The beautiful music box was in pieces on the floor.She tried to stand up, but Althaia pushed her back down. “You’re not ready to stand up.” Kiara swatted at Althaia's arm and demanded to know what had happened. “You fainted, darling. We think you’ve developed an allergy to nightshade.” “Wh-nightshade?” “Yes.” “Well- wh-why is there nightshade near here?” “There’s a vine growing on the south wall of the cottage.” Kiara tried again to stand up. This time, Althaia didn’t stop her, but a splitting headache did. She collapsed back onto the couch and groaned. “Will I be able to get back to work?” she asked. Althaia sighed. “I’m afraid you will have to stay the night, Kiara,” she responded, earning another, louder, groan from Kiara. The rumors this time would be insane. She could even get fired! This week, there was going to be a royal ball, the annual Harvest Ball, and all staff members were expected to be there. To work, obviously, not to attend. The preparations for last year’s had been like hell. So much manual labor, Kiara could lift one of the commercial hogs at the end of it. It wouldn’t do to be so weak, not when she’d been assigned the bottom-tier job of screwing on the new candelabras. The new, solid silver, engraved candelabras. All the work had to be done at night, so as not to bother the royals, and one sweaty palm or unbalanced step would mean waking up the entire castle and earning the perpetrator a week of stable duty. Suddenly remembering the music box, she tried to apologize, but her father quickly brushed it off, saying it was an easy fix. It didn’t look like it. That night, Kiara slept on the couch. Its lumps must have given her nightmares, because she had some very strange dreams. In one, her father was being tortured again, while she could only watch. She was chained up and every time she made a sound, someone rubbed an herb on her arm that made her break out in hives. In another, she was being suffocated slowly, while those sobs she had heard in the courtyard echoed and echoed, growing louder every minute. Gasping for air, she once again inhaled that heady odor, and plummeted into a bottomless pit of darkness. She fell, and fell, and fell. Finally, she landed in a strange room, made of white crystal, with a throne made entirely out of amethyst in the center. A man with pale, almost white, skin, a grey beard, and- were they- purple? eyes sat on the throne, watching something at the other end of the room. It was a girl, with the same purple eyes and pale skin as the man on the throne. Kiara noticed that she had a crown of nightshade on her head, and the man had one made out of amethyst, but carved to resemble thorny branches. The pale girl was humming an eerie tune and waving her arms. In front of her was a copper vase full of the same plants that adorned her head. They were getting taller, winding themselves into a wed, somehow corresponding to the girl’s song and hand movements. Now, Dream-Kiara, we shall call her, had an understanding that this was completely normal, and that she should not be scared, which Real-Life-Kiara found strange when she thought about it later. So Dream-Kiara just stood there and watched, not questioning the fact that no one noticed her. “Good, Solanine,” the man on the throne said. He was obviously referring to the girl, since there was no one else in the room but Dream-Kiara, who seemed to be invisible. Solanine curtsied, lifting the skirts of her flowy gray gown with bell sleeves. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” Then she left, exiting through a door Dream-Kiara hadn’t noticed before. Seconds after Solanine was out of sight, what Dream-Kiara assumed were guards based on their helmets and armor burst through the door. “Your Majesty,” one panted, “There’s an intruder.” The man- obviously a king of some sort - yelled, “Apprehend them! I will not allow the palace to be put in danger!” The guards saluted, then turned to look at Dream-Kiara. They unsheathed their swords, and Real-Life-Kiara jolted upright on the couch. END OF CHAPTER 3 Hi! I'm back with another chapter of Nightshade Poisoning. I'm going to try to make these weekly, hopefully I will. Anyways, here's
Chapter 2 At breakfast the next day, Kiara told Theron about the crying shadow she’d seen last night, but she soon regretted it. Not much later, he started to whisper things to anyone who passed him. “- she says she saw a shadow of someone crying -” “No way! She’s going insane!” “ - and something purple - ” “Purple?! Who’s rich enough down here to afford purple clothes?” “ - they jumped over the wall - ” “Who does she think she is, a prophetess?” Kiara played with her porridge. She’d lost her appetite. Later, as Kiara walked towards her father’s small cottage in the middle of her hometown, Corbin, she heard more whispers as she passed. I suppose rumors travel fast, she thought. But how could a rumor pass from one city to the next so quickly? Kiara sighed bitterly and kicked the ground, creating a cloud of dust that made her cough. She cursed. Listening to their whispers as she walked on, Kiara was somewhat pleased to find that they weren’t talking about her, but this fleeting joy was soon eradicated as she heard whispers of a kidnapped child, wandering near the lake unsupervised last night. The villagers seemed to think it had been the fae. She tugged on the hem of her skirt, a nervous tic of hers. Maybe she ought to ask around. “Excuse me?” she asked, intercepting a conversation between two builders. “Could you tell me more about the boy who disappeared last night?” The two men turned to look at her. “Aye, ‘twas Anda’s kid, Kalon… hey, yer the one that went off to work at the palace, aren’t ye?” The man speaking puffed out his chest and declared, “Jist because ye went off to work for the hoity-toity royals don’t mean yer better than the rest of us, Kiara. Now get lost, and ferget yer snooping. Ye left our village, and now you’re now even talkin’ in tha’ Kandyl accent. Ye’ve no business here if yeh’ve decided yer so superior.” The man’s companion nodded heartily. “But-” Kiara began. “I said, get lost!” Kiara stalked away. By the time Kiara reached her father’s cottage, she was muttering obscenities. Every person she’d talked to had either had some urgent business they needed to attend to, apologetically told her they didn’t know anything about the boy’s disappearance, or refused to speak to her. When the white thatched-roof cottage was in her sights, Kiara sped up, composed herself, and knocked on the door. Her father’s caretaker and also one of the village’s two healers, Althaia, opened it. “Oh hello darling!” she said. “Yer father’s right inside.” She stepped aside to let Kiara enter. The small cottage’s main room was simply furnished with a work table, an old armchair, and a rocking chair that sat by the empty fireplace. The walls were covered with Kiara and her father’s old paintings. When she was a teenager, they had enjoyed painting together. Her father, Ammar, sat in his wheelchair near the worktable, painting a minute detail on the music box he was currently working on, which was shaped like a castle. He stroked his thick black beard, flecked with gray, and just then seemed to notice that Kiara was there. He straightened up. “Kiara!” Half of his face was marred by faded burn scars from his kidnapping and torturing. “Hello!” “Hi, Father,” Kiara answered, throwing open the windows to let in some fresh air.. Ammar wheeled around looking for something while she asked him how he’s been doing. “Mm, oh, yes, very good…” he muttered. “Ah!” he cried. “I’ve found it.” Triumphantly, he held up a music box shaped like a cottage. With a huge grin on his face, he wound it up and handed it to Kiara. The cottage door opened and two figures emerged, obviously meant to resemble Kiara and Ammar. A tinkling song played while Mini-kiara and Ammar danced around. Kiara was mesmerized. “It’s a gift!” her father declared. “For you!” Kiara matched his grin. “Thank you! I love it,” she said. Kiara stared at the music box some more, enchanted by its sweet melody. Suddenly, Ammar and Althaia fell to the floor. A sickly sweet scent wafted through the air. Vines began to grow at an alarming rate, with purple flowers bursting forth by the second. Pulling her handkerchief over her nose, Kiara realized what this was. The same thing she had smelled in the courtyard last night. Deadly nightshade. END OF CHAPTER 2 I figured out a name! Here's Chapter 1 of Nightshade Poisoning. Before we start, here's some info on your main character..
Kiara Blue - an assertive palace servant who dreams of one day becoming rich and famous. Copper-colored skin, dark brown hair, dark brown eyes with a blue spot. Everyone thinks she’s fae. Chapter 1 Kiara Blue sighed deeply. “These sheets won’t change themselves, leisg!” said Skye, snapping her fingers under Kiara’s nose. Kiara jumped and sighed again. “No, that’s your job,” she muttered. “Got something you’d like to share with the class, fae scum?” Skye demanded. Kiara said, “No,” and tucked in the silky sheet of one of the royal children’s beds that could fit at least three full-grown adults without being crammed in. Hell, it could probably fit two horses. Why did she have to be doing this? She never wanted this. Years of combat training, and this was the job she got. Scullery maid. Not to mention the rumors going around that she was fae. Ugh. All those elvin good-for-nothings did was cause trouble. Kiara’s own father had been tortured years ago. Now he was too weak to do anything other than make music boxes. That was why Kiara had gotten this job. And people thought she was fae! What kind of fae would torture their own kin? Skye used to be Kiara’s friend, but ever since she heard the rumor, she’d been cold and hostile towards her. Kiara was numb to her cutting remarks by now, but she would always miss the friend she’d had. Once they’d finished making the princess’s bed, Kiara took the dirty sheets and cleaning supplies and they left. Kiara tried not to trip as she hauled an enormous bundle of laundry down the cobblestoned floor of the servants’ hall. “HI!” an unfamiliar voice shouted. That was enough to send Kiara and the royal bed covers sprawling across the floor. She cursed and tossed her dark brown braid over her shoulder. “You shouldn’t say words like that you know.” Kiara scoffed and started to collect the laundry. She turned to look at the offender. “Seriously? A child? What are you doing here?” The child grinned. “MY name is Gaur, and I’M the new delivery boy!” he declared proudly. Kiara smiled sarcastically. “Good for you. Now don’t just stand there, make yourself useful and help pick up my sheets, Gaur.” Gaur claimed there was some urgent meat-delivery job he had to attend to and dashed off. Kiara muttered a few more choice words when she noticed a huge muddy footprint on one of the pillowcases. More work then. Later, at dinnertime, Kiara heard Dyrk and Ceridwen telling the delivery boy about how she was a fae. “- did you see her eyes? All brown except for a blue spot in the exact same place in each eye!” “When did you last see a normal person looking like that?” “Um…” “You didn’t! Exactly!” “My cousin said Gwen’s girlfriend saw Kiara laying curses next to a well once!” Now, THAT was ridiculous. Most Fae couldn’t even cast spells, much less curses. Besides, she’d been trying to get the bucket she dropped down the well while fetching water.. It wasn’t like Kiara was going to tell them that, though. They wouldn’t believe her anyway. So she just ate her meat and peas. This palace food was so bland. Nothing like her father’s cooking, before he… she shook the thought out of her head and instead thought about visiting her father on her day off. A wailing sound woke Kiara from a deep sleep. A quick glance outside of her window told her that it was around midnight. Quietly getting out of bed, Kiara slipped on a shawl and left the room she shared with 4 of the other scullery maids.. She walked through the servants hall to see what the noise was. With a loud CREAAAK each time, she opened all the doors in the hallway and peeked in. Nothing. Relieved, she let out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding and walked back to her room. Soon, there it was again. Kiara sighed. She went out to the small courtyard and looked around. Her breath fogged in the cold night air - she shivered and wrapped her shawl tighter around her bare, copper-colored arms. “Hello?” she whispered. The sobbing continued. “Is anyone there?” louder this time. Someone yelped and there was the sound of bare feet slapping against the cobblestone. A shadow leapt over the wall, sniffling one last time. Kiara saw a glint of something purple before they disappeared. Whoever had been crying was gone. END OF CHAPTER 1 Ok thank you for reading! Chapter 2 coming soon! I'm writing a story (surprise surprise). It's going to be in 4 parts, but it doesn't have a name yet. Here's a teaser for part 1!
Kiara Blue sighed deeply. “These sheets won’t change themselves, leisg!” said Skye, snapping her fingers under Kiara’s nose. Kiara jumped and sighed again. “No, that’s your job,” she muttered. “Got something you’d like to share with the class, fae scum?” Skye demanded. Kiara said, “No,” and tucked in the silky sheet of one of the royal children’s beds that could fit at least three full-grown adults without being crammed in. Hell, it could probably fit two horses. Why did she have to be doing this? She never wanted this. Years of combat training, and this was the job she got. Scullery maid. Not to mention the rumors going around that she was fae. Ugh. All those elvin good-for-nothings did was cause trouble. Kiara’s own father had been tortured years ago. Now he was too weak to do anything other than make music boxes. That was why Kiara had gotten this job. And people thought she was fae! What kind of fae would torture their own kin? |
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