Chapter 1: It's Never Like We Want It
"Christabel! Christabel, sweetheart, where are you?"
Christabel sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration. Her stepmother refused to let her out of her sight. If she stepped out for a second, there her stepmother would be.
"I am fine, Elizabeth. I am just in my room." Christabel called back, adjusting her skirt and staring into the ever-burning fire with slight frustration.
Elizabeth had taught Christabel everything she knew about being proper, about being careful, and about taking care of herself. Her blood-mother had died in childbirth, giving birth to Christabel's twin brothers, Macallister and Huxford. They said her body couldn't handle pushing through two babies. As it was, Huxford was ever sickly; a fate their father frowned upon.
Elizabeth came into Christabel, Macallister, and Huxford's lives when Christabel was five; the twins were two. She was everything Christabel needed; she was the warmth, the comfort, the playmate Christabel's father and brothers could never be.
"Christabel!" Elizabeth's voice was full of scorn, and she appeared in the doorway in a swishing of wild skirts. "What have I told you? Call me 'Mother'! And what are you doing? You should be getting ready! We're to be in the carriages to your father's in moments! Honestly, darling, you don't look a thing close to prepared."
Christabel sighed, glancing out the window to the heavily falling snow and the quickly fading sunlight. "Mother, I do not think it would be wise to venture out in this weather."
Elizabeth sighed, "Christabel, please don't take that tone with me. And we must be at your father's by...well, by morning at least. He insisted. Huxford and Macallister will be there."
Christabel's eyes lit up, "They will?" she was excited, "They will? But...why are we not gone now? Let us go...now!"
It had been months since Christabel last saw her brothers; according to her handmaid, they were training to be proper lords and knights to take up their right to their father's property. She loved her brothers, as playmates and as friends. Eagerly she snatched up the cloak that had been pointedly hung behind her door and ran down the corridor to the front of the manor her and Elizabeth shared, where three carriages waited to take Christabel, Elizabeth, all their staff, and their luggage.
Behind her, she could hear Elizabeth chuckle. Elizabeth said something, but Christabel didn't hear it. Soon she and Elizabeth were seated across from one another, with Christabel sitting with her hands between her knees as she stared out the window in excitement and Elizabeth slowly nodding off to sleep.
Christabel sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration. Her stepmother refused to let her out of her sight. If she stepped out for a second, there her stepmother would be.
"I am fine, Elizabeth. I am just in my room." Christabel called back, adjusting her skirt and staring into the ever-burning fire with slight frustration.
Elizabeth had taught Christabel everything she knew about being proper, about being careful, and about taking care of herself. Her blood-mother had died in childbirth, giving birth to Christabel's twin brothers, Macallister and Huxford. They said her body couldn't handle pushing through two babies. As it was, Huxford was ever sickly; a fate their father frowned upon.
Elizabeth came into Christabel, Macallister, and Huxford's lives when Christabel was five; the twins were two. She was everything Christabel needed; she was the warmth, the comfort, the playmate Christabel's father and brothers could never be.
"Christabel!" Elizabeth's voice was full of scorn, and she appeared in the doorway in a swishing of wild skirts. "What have I told you? Call me 'Mother'! And what are you doing? You should be getting ready! We're to be in the carriages to your father's in moments! Honestly, darling, you don't look a thing close to prepared."
Christabel sighed, glancing out the window to the heavily falling snow and the quickly fading sunlight. "Mother, I do not think it would be wise to venture out in this weather."
Elizabeth sighed, "Christabel, please don't take that tone with me. And we must be at your father's by...well, by morning at least. He insisted. Huxford and Macallister will be there."
Christabel's eyes lit up, "They will?" she was excited, "They will? But...why are we not gone now? Let us go...now!"
It had been months since Christabel last saw her brothers; according to her handmaid, they were training to be proper lords and knights to take up their right to their father's property. She loved her brothers, as playmates and as friends. Eagerly she snatched up the cloak that had been pointedly hung behind her door and ran down the corridor to the front of the manor her and Elizabeth shared, where three carriages waited to take Christabel, Elizabeth, all their staff, and their luggage.
Behind her, she could hear Elizabeth chuckle. Elizabeth said something, but Christabel didn't hear it. Soon she and Elizabeth were seated across from one another, with Christabel sitting with her hands between her knees as she stared out the window in excitement and Elizabeth slowly nodding off to sleep.
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