Song recommendation : November Rain by Guns N' Roses
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Year 1763
It was sometime in the evening and was pouring down heavily all over the land of Arcardia. Lightning would strike, brightening up the darkened sky accompanied along with the rumblings of thunder, that could be heard at frequent intervals. People usually preferred to stay indoors due to the unexpected change in the weather.
In one of the houses not far from the capital village of Arcardia, a young girl placed a log of wood beneath a large vessel filled with water and gently blew on it with an iron blowpipe, causing the flames to burn more brightly. The fire in the hearth crackled, radiating warmth and infusing a feeling of coziness.
Satisfied with the warmth of the fire, the girl stood up and lightly touched the surface of the water in the vessel, feeling its moderate heat. "Perfect!" she thought, smiling to herself.
She picked up a mug from an empty bucket and began pouring the warm water from the vessel into the bucket until it was full. Once finished, she arranged all the bathing accessories on a small wooden slab next to the bucket of hot water before leaving the bathroom.
"Uncle your bath is ready", Amyra informed her uncle who had returned home from the market all drenched in the rain and had asked her to set up a warm bath for him.
Uncle Ravin who was sitting on a rocking chair in the veranda was lost in his own thoughts staring at the rain drops with a forgotten cup of coffee in his hand. An air of melancholy had surrounded him. He didn't even respond to what Amyra had said, making her doubt whether he had actually heard her in the first place.
Once again she repeated her words, this time her voice coming out a bit louder than before, "Uncle, your bath is ready". Thinking that he hadn't heard her the last time.
"I know" came a bored reply from her uncle who was still looking at the rain "I heard you the first time".
Ravin didn't seem to be in a hurry and he took his own sweet time in finishing the cup of coffee. After what seemed like ages to myra, he handed over the empty cup to his niece, who was patiently standing next to him. With a huff, he got up from his chair and went to take a bath without uttering another word.
The Brookes were an average middle-class family who earned their living through trade. Myra's parents had passed away in an accident when she was seven, and since then, she had been living with her paternal uncle, Ravin Brooke, and his family.
Amyra was on her way to the kitchen when she heard someone call her out, making her stop on her tracks. It was her cousin April walking in her direction holding a heap a maroon colored clothing in her hands.
"Stitch this!" she dumped the cloth into Myra's hands. "That's my favorite gown, and it is slightly torn in the back, stitch it. I am going to wear it to the soiree held at the laurels household" she informed.
"Okay, I'll stitch it once I'm done preparing the dinner," Myra replied. The sky was getting darker, and her aunt Lyla had ordered her to prepare food a bit early that day due to the cold weather. She wanted her children to eat and retire to bed earlier than usual.
"NO! I want you to mend it now!" April can be stubborn sometimes and she sounded a bit irritated too. "Dinner can wait" she said with finality.
Myra sighed; her cousin April was two years younger than her and was the most pampered child of the family, or rather, one could say the most spoiled child. If she didn't heed to April's demands now, she would undoubtedly throw a tantrum, drawing everyone's unwanted attention at home, and Myra didn't want that at the moment.
Having no other option, she went to her attic room with the gown and retrieved a wooden box containing different coloured threads from the table drawer. Then she sat on the wide window sill comfortably.
A small amount of light flowed through the window enabling her to see clearly. The rain outside had reduced down to light drizzles now and she opened the window slightly to let in fresh air.
Taking a deep breath to smell the wet soil. Myra returned her attention to the work at hand. She first thoroughly inspected the gown, searching for the tear and found a small slit on its back, just below the left sleeve.
Then picking up random threads from the box, she matched them with the gown. On finding the right shade of thread, she carefully put the thread through the needle hole and started stitching it neatly while humming a song to herself during the process.
Her task was done in a matter of minutes. She checked the gown thoroughly once again for anymore mending work and on finding none, she sat there for a while admiring the dress.
Myra had never gotten an opportunity to wear any grand clothing. All her clothes were second hand, mostly her cousin April's old ones. Not that she minded, but this gown which she held in her hand was beautiful.
It was a maroon coloured off shouldered dress with black vine like embroidery design at its bottom. Myra could only dream of ever wearing such designer dresses, maybe things would have been different if her parents were alive but since they were not, it is the way it is. She wanted to try it on once, but it wasn't hers to wear and knew that April would kill her if she ever wore it.
Just then someone knocked her room door and before she could even respond the door opened and a small head popped in. It was Peter, her ten year old cousin. The only sweetest person in the family who would talk and spend time with her.
"Hey! what are you doing?" he asked, inviting himself inside the room and shutting the door behind him.
"Hi Pete" Myra said giving him a warm smile.
Sitting up properly, now with her back turned towards the window, she made space for Peter so that the boy could sit next to her. She tapped the empty space beside her, signaling him to sit and the young boy obediently hopped on. "Did you finish all your homeworks?"
"Yep" he nodded giving her a cute smile. "Did you buy a new dress?" he asked curiously since he had never seen his cousin ever having dresses like these.
Myra sighed, "No...this one is your sister's, and I don't think it is a new one as it was a slightly torn" Pete pressed his lips in a tight line, not saying anything for a moment.
"Myra.. you know what?" he said suddenly grabbing hold of both her hands with a look of determination in his eyes, "When I grow up and start earning, I'll make sure to buy you loads of luxury dresses.. I promise!"
Myra chuckled softly, ruffling her cousin's blond hair "I know you will!". Keeping the thread box back in its place, she asked "So, what did you learn today?".
"History..of the five lands", Peter replied. "Did you know? There was only four lands before: Arcardia, Wendyln, Stonefort and Northwick?" He asked excitedly wanting to tell her about everything that he learnt today.
Though Myra was not formally educated since her uncle didn't see any use in her studying, she knew a few basics including how to read and write, all thanks to Beth, a maid who used to work for the Brooke's before. She had taken pity on the young girl and had taught her a little bit of what she knew.
Seeing Myra not respond, Peter continued to tell what he had learnt from his tutor that day, "Recently about seventy years ago, Northwick was divided and one fourth of it's land area formed the Zantra Valley. Sir Walter--". Pete was interrupted by his mother, who was calling out for Myra.
"MYRA!" she heard her aunt yell, "Where are you? You Stupid Wench!".
"Sorry...Pete. I'll listen to you later. Gotta go!" she said and hurriedly scooted downstairs along with the dress cursing herself for slacking off and wasting the time. Her aunt, Lyla was standing in the kitchen and seemed to be angry about something.
"Are you planning to starve us tonight?" she enquired sternly tapping her feet on the floor, when she saw Myra enter the kitchen.
"No Aunt lyla" Myra mumbled bowing her head down.
"Then why the hell haven't you prepared anything?" she shouted pointing at the empty utensils before grabbing hold of Myra's right ears and twisting it, making her flinch . "You are utterly useless. What were you doing all these time? Can't you do one job that is given to you properly, huh?"
"I-I am s-sorry aunt lyla" Myra pleaded out in pain, "April had asked me to mend her dress and I was stitching it". Her aunt still didn't let go of her ears and it was hurting. "Please Aunty...this won't happen again. I will prepare something for dinner immediately" .
Myra had planned to leave this house and start living a life independently without having to rely on her relatives or anybody for that matter. She had even saved a little money, but April found out about it and had ended up spending them on pointless shopping.
But, that didn't stop her from saving again. This time she had made sure to hide her savings well so that nobody could find out about it.
"Better prepare it soon" Lyla ordered giving her a glare before letting go of her ears which had turned red and then, her eyes fell on the gown which Myra was holding. "Give that to me" she snatched the dress from her hands and walked out after giving her a disgusted look.
Tears started accumulating in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. This treatment was nothing new to her, Myra was used to it and crying over it would only make her feel pathetic.
She thought, 'Soon enough I will run away from here and live a better life', with that resolution she started preparing the dinner for the family.