The Love of Siblings

“Take this letter and send it away with haste,” Malinda said while holding out a letter to one of her other handmaidens, slightly younger than Malinda and has the similar flaming hair but a much slender body than Taryna.

Taryna’s younger sister it is. She’s wearing the handmaiden outfit like her older sister with a sword on her waist, because Malinda wants her handmaidens to be fluent in combat, she demands it. The flaming hair is identical to Taryna’s, a bun hairstyle, yet the handmaiden’s expression only shows her tranquil ambiance.

She does a deep curtsy as she takes a hold of the letter that Malinda holds in an outstretched arm while saying with closed eyes, “As you wish, Miss. I’ll go at once. But, do need me to do anything else while I’m out of the castle?”

“Actually, yes. Take with you money. Money enough to buy a white grand bed, furniture that has shelves where one can place medical supplies, a table, and chairs. If you’ve seen the healer’s room then you should know what I’m seeking. But, only the highest quality, do you understand me?” Malinda asked as she counts all of the merchandise she want to buy on her fingers, while the handmaiden has brought up something to write on. “Everything must be clean, you hear me? CLEAN.”

“Also, I want the second largest room in my wing to be cleaned out of its dust and filth. Nothing must be unclean in that room. Did you hear everything I just said, Tanya?” she added with a raised eyebrow.

“Miss… What is going on?” the handmaiden asked while putting away the piece of paper because she’s confused by this sudden situation. First her Miss had wrote a letter stating that she needs help from a longstanding friend of her mother’s, and now she wants to buy merchandise that costs a lot of money. Though for Malinda, it’s but sand on a strand.

“You haven’t heard?” Malinda asked with flickering eyes.

“No Miss, all I know is that you came home yesterday, then asked for a late bath, and in the morning I’ve been preoccupied with cleaning your plate armor off of its blood. What has happened?” she responded in a clear tone, so clear that she’s still in her tranquil state of being. Her gentle smile of innocence, her rounded eyebrows that shows nothing, only the calmness of her current state, and her flaming red and yellow eyes scorches with conviction that only a handmaiden has for her mistress.

“Hmm, that’s true. Well, to bring you up to speed is simple. I’ve a lover now, his name is Xe’Reth Quinery. He lives in the slums with his ill mother that has the exact same disease as my mother and father had. But he has kept her alive through his own abilities. They’ll be moving in today or tomorrow, and I don't want to hear any words of complaint. I’ve heard enough from your elder sister already,” Malinda said with strictness upon her frowning brows as she stares at the smile gaping Tanya which has such a bright mood all of a sudden.

“My Mistress! That is absolutely wonderful news! This makes my heart gladdened for your happiness. But do not worry Miss, even if the man you found was an insect, I wouldn’t treat him any less than I treat you!” She shouted with such loyalty and such flaming eyes that stares so intently at Malinda, which makes her flinch a little bit.

“G-Good that you see it that way,” Malinda nods as she closes her eyes, “Mm, indeed it’s good, very good. Well, enough dallying, fetch some servants to help you, and some carts with horses too. Now off with you, be as fast as you can, but do not bring me something that can harm his mother, do you understand?”

“Yes Miss,” Tanya said while taking a hold of her dress, then bows gracefully in a smooth movement as she bobs with her bun-haired head. She turns to walk out of the room right as Taryna comes back. With a nod to each other, the sisters switches places with one another.

“Mm, you’re back. Is my brother at home?” Malinda asked with pursing lips while standing up from her seated position on the luxurious seat, which’s located behind a desk. They’re currently in Malinda’s study in her wing of the castle. Stacks of paper, bookshelves, and a scarlet carpet that stretches across the whole room displays in its outstanding fashion.

“He is not, Miss” Taryna said with a shaking head. “He went to a meeting with all of the Honored Generals and the other Honored Ones who’re at the Ebon Wall.”

“What, that was today?” Malinda asked with a gaping mouth, but she waves her hand in the air. “Oh well, it doesn’t matter since I’m not the leader of the squad. Brother would’ve said something if he needed me to come, but he didn’t.”

“Miss, it does matter. Your absence will be noted by the other Honored Ones. And it will be seen as laziness—.”

“Enough. You’ve become rather irritating as of today, you really need to stop with your moaning about every little thing I do which you don’t think is right. As I had said before, changes will be made from now on, and you need to come to terms with it,” Malinda said as she whips her index finger at Taryna who’s currently not giving in with her scowling expression.

“I am your eyes in the dark that sees. I am the watcher that watches your back from dangers. I am your hand that does your will and none other’s will. I am your handmaiden and no one else’s,” Taryna speaks her rules to herself. “None may sway my heart from my mistress’s loyalty. None may take advantage of my mistress’s kindness, and if someone harms my mistress in any way, I shall smite the one who makes you cry tears of blood.”

“It is enough Taryna… enough, I get it. You can keep on doing what you must for my sake. But I warn you, do not force me and Xe’Reth apart by interrupting him with intolerable words. Watching him with suspicious eyes wherever he goes is something I won’t allow, and… Sigh, you don’t need to follow his commands if he asks you. How about that?” Malinda asked as she breathes out in exhaustion since Taryna can be hard to handle if she brings up the handmaiden’s declaration of guidelines that the Queen’s handmaiden made after the forming of the DLO, which’s sacred to them like the Divine Queens themselves.

“It is… sufficient. But Miss, weren’t you going to meet up with him at his house, about now?” Taryna said with a grin.

“What time is it?!” Malinda yelled as she sees Taryna’s honest yet tenacious smirk.

“About three and a half hours since you left his house, Miss,” Taryna said with a now calm expression, not showing her smile anymore. “You didn’t say when you wanted to leave, so I didn’t say anything about it. And I was… busy.”

Malinda flings her arms in the air as anger takes ahold of her while she shouts, “Taryna! You… You! Go to the carriage and prepare it, now! I’ll be out there soon! GO!”

“As my Miss commands,” Taryna said sarcastically as she backs out of the room with a lowered upper body, then she closes the door silently.

Though as Taryna leaves, another handmaiden comes in, which doesn’t look like either Taryna or Tanya.

It is an armored woman this time. Fully armored to the teeth in black and red gleaming heavy-plate armor while a sword and a shield is fastened on her back. The woman is older than Taryna, mid-thirties, and has shortcut light-brown hair with such a squinting stare of utter power; a handmaiden that trains all of Malinda’s handmaidens, and all of the other ones too in battle, even the servants. The Battle-Mistress is what she’s called. Very tall, taller than Malinda. A butcher of humans, a monster in battle, a handmaiden who follows her Honored One’s every command to the letter. Her build is muscular but they’re hidden away by the plated armor.

“My Honored Miss sent for me?” she asked while standing in a posture of attention. Hands behind her back so they’re placed at her buttocks, and feet placed right next to each other. A straight and proud stance.

“Ah, yes. You shall gather up wagons and bring them here, here where I’m pointing at. Though you’ll easily see my carriage. Bring large boxes and people to help with the lifting. You might have already heard that I’ve…”

“That you have found a man? Yes, I know my Honored Miss,” she nonchalantly interrupted as she bows, “Congratulations on become a fully-fledged woman, finally, or soon at least. Because I’m guessing you haven’t engaged in a sexual relationship yet, right? And since I haven’t heard about it before today, I think that you’ve met him recently, maybe even yesterday, isn’t that right? I thought you would be more reserved. But honestly, it’s about time you’ve found a man. I am happy for you.”

“How… how can you know all this, Recina?” Malinda frowns while pouting with her lips, because she can never surprise this Battle-Mistress.

“I have my ways, my Honored Miss. But as I’ve gotten my orders, I’ll be seeing to them. Until next time,” Recina said with a bow while closing her warrior eyes, then she turns with creaking plate armor, leaving Malinda there all alone, standing.

A sigh escapes from Malinda’s mouth as that heavy atmosphere vanishes when the woman goes out of the room. Even Malinda can’t beat her in a one on one fight. Recina is completely ruthless to her opponent, Honored One or not. She’s Malinda handmaiden, but she’s also the Battle-Mistress in the citadel. And since there’re four women and one man in the Tertin family, the castle is swarming with servants that’re only female and not male. Because the General doesn’t want any man near his daughter, so it has become a castle of women.

There is no young boy that can tempt the blind Merissa into running away, no male other than the old geezers that’re in the castle who’re already married, yet it is weird, even their own children has only come out as baby girls.

There’re some of the servants that hasn’t even left the castle’s grounds. They’ve become secluded from the outside life, some are even scared of venturing out to explore the city, because servants and handmaidens are picked when they’re born, or rather brought from an orphanage to get a better life than when they’re thrown out to the street as they become older.

They’re raised up like any other child since the castle is like a city itself. Many places for children to grow, which the nurses handles with such demands upon the children, though caring demands as any other parent would put on their own child.

Clean, scrub, wash, learn, and they’re schooled by the teachers that’re also servants. Any kind of servant has rights as any other human that lives in Ellenoria. They can’t be forced to do anything against their own will, but rules are set which they do need to follow if they want to live in the Tertin's household. They can’t engage in any relationship that isn’t approved of. If they do engage is such activities, they would lose their status of being a servant and be thrown out of the castle. It has happened before.

Every year inspections from the DLO comes to see that no one has been mistreated, which has happened often in other households than the Tertin Family. And that can lead to the arrests of the householders, since it is heavily frowned upon to mistreat those who willingly serves their masters and mistresses.

The citadel’s servants’ quarters are outside by the east side of the citadel. Even though it is for servants, their houses are like the inside of the castle itself. Marbled tile floors, walls, and ceilings. Furniture of the highest quality, the food that nobles eats, and the baths of lavishness.

Because it’s so extravagant, all of the servants in the citadel loves their lives to the fullest. They couldn’t ask for a better life than this. Handmaidens and servants are different though, and the difference is that handmaidens are the ones that handles the servants and the handmaidens are handled by their Honored Ones. That way there is communication going through every wing of the citadel. Rumors and gossips spreads rapidly among the servants if a new events has occurred.

Factions has also been built, or at least two. Malinda is one faction since most of the women who served her mother joined her wing, and the rest joined her brother’s and Celyssa’s faction. But it isn’t anything special, everyone lives in harmony with each other.

Weekly meetings are held that the servants and handmaidens needs to attend. Information, new rotation of jobs, and a lot of other discussions are held in the lecture hall, where the younger servants are mostly taught about how to act, and how to do everything that’s needed to be a servant in an Honored household.

The only men in the citadel are the old butlers of the General and the various geezers that has been given permission to wed and to get children of their own, though they’ve only gotten daughters which’re handmaidens to the different members of the Tertin family.

Though there has been instances when parties were held in the castle, and through the drunkenness of the patrons, they’ve tried to take advantage of the servants, but, that is a crime, a crime that only happened once, and the perpetrators didn’t even manage to do anything.

Since all of the servants and handmaidens are trained to defend themselves, the patrons were the ones who got injured severely. That’s why the Tertin Family avoids to have parties when they don’t absolutely have to, and the regulations of those parties are now beyond strict, for it is indeed a citadel full of women and few males.

There are different wings of the castle, the kitchen, the dining hall, the gigantic ballroom where the seats of power lies, the many different rooms that’re mostly there for decoration; the bedroom of the General and his wife, the bedrooms of Merissa and her handmaidens, and many other rooms.

The second floor has two wings where Malinda and Madelyn lives, but yet those two wings are gigantic. One side belongs to Malinda, the other to Madelyn and their own handmaidens that gets their own bedrooms because the castle has to many quarters to fill up entirely.

The castle is like a rectangle that has been built upon. There’re three towers on three different corners of the rectangular shape. The front door to the castle is on the south long side of the rectangle, making the castle very stretched to east and west. If a person would go by a compass, the towers would lie on the south-west, north-west, and north-east sides of the rectangle.

There are many floors, but only two floors are currently occupied by the householders. The third floor hasn’t been used in a long time, the servants don’t go up there anymore, or to any of the other floors beyond the third. They only clean the first and second since the third one had been blocked off long ago.

The towers are vast in broadness and in lengthiness. They're so high that a person can see the landscape, the mountains, and the gigantic ocean that Ellenoria has which is considered a marvel by the people. It does stretch too far for the naked eye to see any land beyond the ocean.

Ellenoria is huge, too huge that has many secrets which haven’t been found, but as Malinda readies herself to journey out into the city, she’s fretful since she’s already late. She rushes through the corridors of vases, plants, paintings, and the many servants that belongs to her wing. With a simple nod, they curtsy their well-trained postures to Malinda as she strides past them. Then she walks down the long flight of stairs that goes straight then left which leads to the great ballroom.

Malinda has changed her garments to a more rain worthy clothing. It is thick with long sleeves and a fluffy hood. Furry on top, then as it goes down her legs, the fur gets thinner as it reaches her feet. No more plate, no more black and red, only a slight dark and light brown fur dress that can be opened to reveal her black tight pants and the thin blouse of bulging breasts that sticks out. Truly an outfit for someone powerful and proud.

As Malinda is about to reach the front door, she sees Madelyn running up the flight of stairs that leads to the front door, into the ballroom, right in front of Malinda. Madelyn is slight wet and flustered, probably because she had ran from the healer’s house, which’s located south-west near the gigantic garden. As she comes inside while shaking her body a little, the sisters’ makes eye-contact. Madelyn is the first to break it off as she lowers her head cowardly, which makes Malinda frown as her mouth curves down in sadness.

With a deep breath Malinda comes upon her.

“Madelyn… I’m sorry about what happened before, I went too far. I shouldn’t have hit you, I am sorry,” Malinda said as she sees her sister holding her arms in a cross while still having her head lowered as she sulks so Malinda doesn’t see her reddened cheek. “Please baby sister, look at me. I am sorry, okay? So please, let’s not fight over such a petty thing. I forgive you, so… can you forgive me?"

“Look how swollen it is…” Madelyn muttered sourly as she raises her head, which makes Malinda snort out a slight giggle upon seeing the strawberry in front of her. “It is not funny! This won’t go away soon the healer said! And I need to… I need to train with my squad when their vacation is over! How can I even show myself with this…? SEE! It is completely awful, it pulses with pain too!”

“Hehe, I-I am truly sorry… Ah! I know, you can wear a helmet to hide your swollen area!” Malinda exclaimed as she raises her index finger to show her idea of brilliance. But she leans forward to embrace her scarlet-cheeked sister in a lovingly hug. “I am sorry, please don’t hate your big sis. I’m just trying to look after you. And I love you.”

She gives a peck on Madelyn’s cheek, leaving a red lipstick colored print of two rose petals, but not on the red cheek since it would’ve probably ached with pain.

Madelyn sighs in defeat as she too embraces with arms around her, feeling the fur dress running through her fingers. Then as they let go of each other, it’s as if they never had the fight to begin with.

“Where are you going by the way?” Madelyn asked as she looks at Malinda's clothing, up and down. “I saw Taryna standing in the rain with an umbrella.”

“Oh, didn’t I say before that I’ve met someone?” Malinda asked with a brightly lit smile on her mouth that shows her true feelings. “I am going to meet up with him now, and well, he’ll be moving in to my wing with his ill mother. So I’ll be gone for, hmm, I don’t exactly know how long.”

“What… really? Is he really going to move in here, and so soon? Wow sister, you’ve changed. For you to decide it this quickly, you must like this person a lot?” Madelyn asked with flickering eyes of surprise since she has never seen her elder sister in such a brightly lit mood.

“Ah… indeed I do. He caught me off-guard yesterday, after I left you there by the payment stalls. I was so tired, ah so tired. And well, my emotions were very unstable at that moment, but by such simple and flowery words, he made my heart pound and pound. All of my worries vanished as I thought about him. Loving someone is truly heartwarming. It gives a person peace,” Malinda said as she clutches her hand together while placing it on her chest, feeling the pounding of her own heart. “He’s poor, that’s very true. He has many troubles that he needs to deal with and he has had to deal with many troubles, too. But he’s so kind and gentle to me. Which made my heart want to seek out such a light. Because I have cried sometimes, Madelyn, cried because of various actions that I’ve committed on the battlefield. But this… this emotion is what I have always wanted. To have someone to hug, to kiss, and… well, you know… that other thing…”

“Sister!” Madelyn shouted as her cheeks blushes up while the swollen cheek only tries but fails to show any redder than its already reddened state. “You… You shouldn’t speak so openly about… about… such vile acts!”

“Oh please… we’re grownups. Not like you haven’t thought about it with the one you love, huh, huh?” Malinda said as she nudges her elbow at her sister’s arm while she spasms with her eyebrows just like Xe’Reth did to her when they were sitting in the carriage together.

“O-o-of course I don’t think of such… such revolting practices!” Madelyn shouted as she swiftly turns her head sideways and up while she crosses her arms again with such undying tenacity.

“Is that so… Hmm… But, do you know that there is a rumor going about, that one of the servants heard you moan somewhat loudly inside your bedroom…? You know… self-pleasuring?” Malinda whispered while leaning forward with a wide smile as her white teeth shows.

“I-I-I-I did no such thing!” Madelyn shrieked as her eyes expands while a mouth spasms with stuttering words. “Who-who-who was it?! W-w-who?!”

“Dear sister, do you honestly think I will reveal my source of such juicy gossip?” Malinda said as she can’t even hold back her laughter. “Hehe, I am sorry, but it was also said that you even yelled out a muffled name while you did it. Seriously Madelyn, you must restrain yourself from such actions until you find someone to yell that name to...”

“AAAHH! I am going to find that servant and put her to scrubbing the most scrubbity of the scrubby areas there are! AAH!” she flings her arms in a violent manner, then disappears with stomping feet towards the servants’ area to find the perpetrator of her humiliation.

Malinda heads out into the rainy weather as she giggles at her sister’s easily changeable personality which’s controlled with no effort at all. She shakes her head to get out of those laughing thoughts as Taryna stands there with an umbrella by the golden carriage with the regular stallions of horrors, but begins to move to her Miss.

The dark clouds pours quantity of water down upon Tertinum while the sun rests behind the darkness to await the slightest crack so the light of lights can seep through it.

The drainage pipes that riddles the rooftops of the castle, the houses, and the fortifications' ramparts makes the water flow to the sewers that’re below the city. Then its water currents leads out into the moat surrounding Tertinum City.

“Let us be off,” Malinda said with a hand motion as she reached the foot of the stairs, and Taryna guides the umbrella with her Miss’s movements. “And hopefully you won’t fall sick by this weather. Be sure to take a warm bath when you return.”

“I will Miss,” Taryna said with a bob of her head as Malinda disappears inside the carriage.

When Taryna sits on the driver’s seat, she does what she always does, whips with her hands for the monsters to begin charging in their galloping of clanking hooves!

While in a window staring out onto the courtyard, Celyssa stands with her head-handmaiden behind her. They’re motionless as their eyes looks out the wide window on the first floor, seeing Taryna whipping with her hands.

“Honored Madam, it seems that Honored Malinda is going to bring back her mother’s support program to the poor people. It has spread rather rapidly. Just now I got a message from the city-guard telling how the poor people are in a joyous mood,” the head-handmaiden said while standing in a curtsy with head held low and hands clasping together which’re placed on her stomach. “And I had sent out my best servants to gather information on that young man you wanted to know about.”

“What information have you found…?” Celyssa asked calmly as she sees Malinda’s carriage flow towards the innermost gate, then goes down the sloping street to wherever she’s heading to.

“He’s seventeen years old, nothing but a poor young man. He lives with his mother who’s sick with the Fire-Brand disea—.”

“What?” Celyssa’s eyes goes wide in complete surprise as she turns hastily to look at her head-handmaiden. “How? How can he keep his mother alive when even the nobles can’t keep their loved ones alive?”

“Should we’ve…broken in to his house? To know how?” the head-handmaiden asked hesitantly as she raises her head to stare into her mistress’s eyes.

“No, you shouldn’t have. Continue…” Celyssa said with a sigh while turning back to watch the innermost portcullis close but then open again as more wagons are about to leave, which’re coming from the south-east side of the castle, streaming out with the armored handmaiden at the helm of the caravan. “Wait… Where is the Battle-Mistress going?”

“I think Honored Malinda is going to make him move in here at once, Honored Madam,” she said hesitantly again as her head shakes at Malinda for being so bold and unladylike. “Something isn’t right, she has fallen in love with him too quickly. They only met yesterday I am told. The young man has black hair and eyes, can you even believe that…?”

“What is the young man’s name?” Celyssa asked while biting her lip since a worry grows inside her as she thought about what Madelyn said to her on the way to the healer. And Madelyn did reveal what her crush’s name was.

“It is Xe’Reth Quinery, Honored Madam, he lives in the outer layer at the west graveyard in the slums, why?” she responded as her eyes watches Celyssa pacing back and forth between either corner of the large window, with an extremely worried lip-biting expression.

“Dear Divine Queens, why have you put such a trial on Madelyn…? Why? What has she done to be put to such excruciating torment?” Celyssa asked as her hands are trying to reach the sky, the Divine Sky where the old Queens are watching down upon their precious people of Ellenoria. “Madelyn is innocent of what crime she has committed! Why put her life through such misery when you know whom she loves? Ah… She’s a girl that’s so sensitive just like her own brother…”

“She had watched that young man for three whole years ever since he joined her squad of archers, to see how he grew up! Yes, Madelyn has had her faults, but you’ve now put her through a punishment that she doesn’t even deserve! She’s a child that teases her crush! So why… WHY?! Please Queens of old! Tell me! Show me why you’ve put her on this trial of the heart! Love is the most precious possession one has! What will happen to Madelyn when she finds out that her own sister has taken that which is the only object that keeps her from giving up?! She was even going to confess to him when their vacation was over! Oh... my Divine Queens, you can be so cruel… But your bidding is my command! Show me, show me what I can do to help my dear sister-in-law!”

Nothing…

Celyssa falls to her knees as her eyes begins to tear up from the sorrow that her precious sister-in-law will face. A plea for forgiveness is what she’s asking of her Goddesses in the sky. But nothing will come to Madelyn’s aid.

Celyssa herself is such a devotee to her Queens, most are. But Celyssa has brought it into her life fully. Ever since she was married off to this family, the Tertins’, she has been on her knees for every beck and call her family ordered her to do, but under the last few years of her being on the top, she has become rather hard to order around since she’s indeed an Honored One. So now her family is the one who’s in arms reach, to be controlled, to be handled. For her family is a sly, somewhat ruthless, and such a selfish family.

In addition, Celyssa had tried to get both Madelyn and Malinda to marry her cousins, but that didn’t go well, not well at all. Because Madelyn who doesn’t really like anyone, is always wary of strangers, be it relatives, or friends which she doesn’t even have, no one can gain her trust, only her real family. And Malinda, she beat up her cousin who tried so desperately to woo her into his arms. It was somewhat unpleasant, no, Malinda thought that it was pure disgusting to be looked upon by such filthy eyes, moreover by a cousin.

Through those means, Celyssa was told off by her husband quite harshly because the General has his own information that goes around and comes around back to him. These last years when Malinda’s parents died, Celyssa has gained control of almost everything in the Tertin family, so this new man that Malinda has favored is something Celyssa must be extremely aware of.

“Celyssa, are you all right?” the head-handmaiden asked in worry while her hands are on her mistress’ shoulders, trying to support her to stand up from her devotion to the Divine Sky which she desperately yelled at.

“I… I am fine, but Madelyn won’t be…” Celyssa said while dotting her eyes with a handkerchief. “Don’t let your daughter away from Madelyn’s sight, and keep her other handmaidens with her too. Let someone else handle their workload. Go, now. Because she’ll be devastated when Xe’Reth comes with Malinda. We mustn’t let her have a breakdown in front of him, and he can’t know how Madelyn feels about him, HE CAN’T.”

“Yes… Honored Madam,” the head-handmaiden said as she returns to her normal tone and posture. Then, she heads out the door which leads in here to the grand study of Celyssa’s. When the door is open, voices of servants resounds as they’re doing their daily work of taking care of the city.

“Oh, Malinda, what have you done to your own sister?” Celyssa asked while walking towards her luxurious seat to sit down. A hand grabs ahold of a paper and begins to read it as another hand moves to a quill to start writing upon the piece that Celyssa holds while sitting behind her desk.

The door is still open since she likes to hear the commotion out in the servants’ workplace so they don’t slack off in their duties in taking care of the city’s incoming letters and papers from the many different sections of the city.

Thanks for reading!

Around one to two chapters until he takes his first step onto the ground of the citadel.

UPDATE/NEWS: I won't be able to release on Friday or Saturday. But I am pretty sure I'll be able to release a chapter on Sunday. Been a pretty hectic week, though I hope it'll calm down next week! :D

Anyways, soon he'll reach castle! Hmm, is that a perfect time to start Volume Two? I'll have to see. I don't know about those kinds of stuff, total amateur.

Oh well.

Until next time!

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