Chapter 2 The ride to Ayuttaya was quiet and cloudy. Hugging the window, she stared out, pouting her lips in the "exile" that she was going to. Her mother made it clear after the governor's ball that Jiranan stay out of society's eyes until the scandal lessened. Jariya was quick to add that Pakjira Wannasut was a spiteful and spoiled woman. She would not allow Jiranan a safe living until she could get back at her. In the end, it was decided that Jiranan was to live at their grandparent's house in Ayuttaya. It was an ancient wooden house from the time of Ratakolsin that was passed down from generation to generation. Since her grandparents had passed away when Jiranan was away at college, no one had come to care for the place but a gardener and his wife. Jiranan hadn't been there for nearly twenty years. When the wooden house loomed closer, she saw that it was like a painting that she had seen in her father's room. Ancient, yet royal. Jiranan felt a cold breeze shudder through the open window. When the car stopped, Jiranan came out to face the wooden structure. It wasn't so bad. The gardener kept the area nice and clean. The house looked like it was liveable. With a sigh, she went in and found a servant, Malis, already waiting for her. She was shown to her room and allowed to do what she wished since there wasn't really much to do. This is going to be a long summer, Jiranan thought depressingly. As Malis showed her to her room, Jiranan walked around, visiting other rooms. There was one room, Jiranan found that was not clean. It was still covered with white cloths as if not ever expecting anybody. When she asked Malis, the woman answered that it was her grandfather's sister's room who had disappeared when she was a young woman. Malis was scared to enter, but Jiranan walked in and thought she heard someone welcoming her. Pulling off one of the cloth, Jiranan was faced-to-faced with an odd full-length mirror that had wood carvings of ancient dances and masks surrounding the somewhat green glass. Jiranan looked at her own pale complexion in the oddly colored glass and felt disappointed. Even Malis looked better than she did. With a sigh, Jiranan started to back away when she suddenly felt a hand holding her shoulders, keeping her in place. "Miss Jiranan," Malis called. "Um, I would like to stay in this room," Jiranan softly said, still staring at the mirror. "Please bring my stuff here." What was it about this room that seemed to be calling her, Jiranan thought. Whatever it was, she had a feeling that she was needed here. For the rest of the day, she and Malis helped to clean the room. When night came, Malis offered to sleep with her, but Jiranan knew that Malis was scared of the room and allowed her to go to her room. Alone in the room, she sat in front of the mirror, cross-legged on the floor, and brushed her hair. Malis probably thought her odd, but when was there a time that she wasn't thought odd. A disappointment. A shame to the family. Why else was she been banished here? Silently, she cried as she did every night and crawled into bed, letting the tears fall onto the pillow. ~ ( * ) ~ The room that he stepped foot into it was old-fashioned. Because of its wood flooring, he was careful not to make a sound. But then again, he heard nothing but hollow wind brushing his bare feet. The room looked different, he saw. Cleaner and more opened. Strange, he thought. As he stepped further into the dimly lit room, he saw that someone was also in the room. He held a gasp as he stared at the young girl on the bed, fearing that she might see him. But she was asleep. In the big bed, she looked so lonely, so sad. In the next moment, he stood over her side, and was sitting down on the edge of the bed. She had tears streaming down the side of her face. A young lost girl, he concluded. When his hand reached out to touch her face, it was cool. With a sigh, he brushed the tears off her face. Pulling her hair back, she slept on. The longer he looked, the more he realized that she was older than she appeared. And prettier than at one glance. The fullness of her cheeks that ran to her small pursing lips to her pert little nose, she had the arrogance of a spoiled princess, but the tears of a sad woman. Her tears brought him to his knees and begged him to kiss them away. And he did. His lips touching the corner of her eyes and whispering words of promises and love. A smile formed on her lips and she sighed heavenly. Shadow Main       Home        << Back 1       Next 3 >>

Copyright 2003 Lina Em.
This story is fictional and any similarity to real life is coincidental.
Please don't take this story and pass it off as your own, all work belongs to Lina Em.
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