Chapter 1 Trials
"She was right behind me, I guess she couldn't keep up, what with all those skirts." I replied, a slight smile upon my lips. This brought a smile to my father's face and a grimace to my mother's. 'Twas always difficult to keep from laughing at the comical look of my father smiling. The sever angle of his front teeth forever at odds with his dark hair - now graying at the temples - and his scratchy but groomed beard - light against his dark skin - his warm brown eyes sometimes warm and at other times adding to his stern appearance.
Mother's hair was darker then, not as dark as in her youth, she wore it pulled away from her face in a functional fashion. Her cold gray-green eyes always cold and intimidating, sizing you up. For all this, she was a woman of slight figure with a small middle aged swell in her waist, the only evidence of her bearing children.
Moments later Lapis appeared, trying desperately to catch her breath. "Maly, if you ever pull such a stunt as this again I'll... ugh! Mother, say something. You cannot allow her to persist in such behavior!"
"Now Lapis, calm yourself. Malachite, you are not to treat your sister so. You are to show her the respect she deserves." Mother was forever redeaming Lapis. Respect? I'd rather given her a good swat to the head, 'twas what she deserved in my young opinion.
"Is Geren returned yet?" I asked no one in particular. 'Tis a rare occasion when anyone listens to me anyway. I slipped out the door, the arguing continued behind me. One good thing about being unnoticed is the simplicity in exits.
Walking down the path from the main house toward the stables I thought of Geren, my twin brother. 'Tis true that as children of the same womb we were very close to one another, but I believe that what we shared went beyond our joined birth. Our closeness was like none other I had then or even since witnessed. 'Twas as if we could feel each other's emotions. Not matter how skilled I became at hiding my true feelings, my deepest emothions from everyone else, 'twas as if he could just read them as clear as if they were written on my forehead. Fortunately, this gift also worked in reverse, for he could never hide anything from me. If I only knew how important that gift would prove to be.
As I approached the stables I heard Geren talking with Tijer. I felt my legs weaken as I heard Tijer's strong deep voice asking if I would be at home. "Hello, Geren is that you?" I called out. When I entered the stable I saw both of them debridaling their horses. "Oh, Tijer, I thought I heard Geren talking to someone."
(cont.)