Ori swiftly glided towards the window and jumped, clinging to the thick vines underneath the ledge.
She had always loved the freedom of the outdoors, and climbing the vines gave her a sense of excitement and danger that she rarely found inside her home. Whilst cooking in a cauldron.
But, Ori knew that the danger was always real in a hostile, and that she could be caught at any moment. Though the thought made her heart race, she would usually push it aside and focus on her goal. Ori knew how to push her boundaries and when to stop.
Being a Knight was more important than serving miniscule prison hours and testing the temper of her mother. For if she was caught one more time, Her Irritable Highness, Mother Supreme, would have Ori's head on a platter, whilst her father sobbed in a distance.
An eerie chill ran down Ori's spine as she descended down the vines. She looked around at the breathtaking view of the old mansion and the sprawling countryside beyond it.
The Duchy of Evermire.
A land so vast, yet it had no place for her family but underneath the ground.
As she reached the end of the vines, she quickly scanned the area for any guards and hastily put on her boots.
There were barely any humans in these parts of the grounds. It was just flower fields...and if she hadn't done an accidental stakeout in hunt for bees, she would have never known about the Duke's bedchamber being so close and secluded.
"Whatever happens is always for the best," Ori repeated her mother's words, "I shall try my best again," she promised herself before running back to the haystack spot, underneath which was hidden a shallow tunnel. A dive into the darkness, leading to a place she called home.
Under the ground, Ori had spent twenty-one years of her life. Hidden away with her family because no one would accept them on land. Though, she wouldn't complain much. The dungeon was apparently the only material belonging their family had, it was ancestral or so mother-supreme said.
"This is your family's living legacy," mother would often proudly claim with tears in her eyes.
As Ori descended the narrow, winding staircase, the air grew colder and damper. The walls were rough-hewn stone, the floor was damp with moss and puddles of water that seeped in during the recent rains, and the ceiling was low and arched.
The only light came from torches set in wall sconces, flickering with an eerie orange light, casting long shadows across the floor.
Ori's legacy was so different from the Duke's.
Ori made sure to bend herself and not cast big shadows lest her mother would be at home and figure out that she had been up to no good.
Ori's family had made a meager home for themselves here, with a few sparse furnishings and some old blankets and rugs to keep them warm.
Despite the dank and dreary atmosphere, Ori's mother had done her best to make the space feel welcoming, with a few potted plants and a small herb garden in the corner. She had also knitted several ill-placed mats with words Ori couldn't read but knew were, "Welcome Home!" and "Have a nice day!" and "Stay Safe!"
They were all defects of the products Ori's mother knitted for she made mats to earn a living for the family.
Ori's father lay on a makeshift bed, his breathing shallow and labored, as always. He survived on healing potions after having caught up in a mob attack three years ago. Healers suggested they would require to open up his skull in order to deal with the brain damage, but until Ori's family was able to afford it, her father as good living as he would have been dead.
"Papa! I'm home!" Ori waved, now comfortable when her mother wasn't in sight. She perched herself in front of his small charpoy and continued, "You won't believe where I went today! Yes, it was much worse from when I interrupted his training or even his lunch. I don't know why he's always so kind to me— well, I wouldn't say kind because have you seen Albert? That man is out for my life..."
In one corner was another crude wooden bed, draped with a few thin blankets. Next to it was a small table with a single wooden chair. The table was littered with a few books, a quill and ink pot, and a handful of small trinkets and wooden swords Ori had collected over the years.
The paleness of her father's face would always diminish when she jabbered away, "...and I left the letter there. No, I don't think it was irresponsible. I hope Albert doesn't throw it away. He's so aged, I wonder if he can even separate good from trash? I don't think he can. He still exists beside the Duke."
She liked telling her father everything, even when he was all better. They were awfully close and eachother's best secret keepers. "I think, the next time I meet him, I WILL BE A KNIGHT!" Ori fisted bumped the low ceiling, ambition never running dry from her veins.
On the other side of the room was a simple cooking area, consisting of a small fire pit with a dripping cauldron hanging above it. Opposite the bed was a large wooden chest, filled with spare clothes and a few meager possessions, behind which Ori's mother was hidden away.
Right as Ori's rant of the day was finsihed, her mother jumped into perspective. Ori's heart raced and she flung, almost instinctively, over her father's bed and hid behind it. "Papa! Help! She will slay me today!" Ori cried out, as her enraged mother, red in her face and ears, began:
"You little demon! I had gone out for three minutes! Three minutes, Ori! And you ran away and left the pot boiling!! Boiling over!" The little woman raged, pointing her stubby fingers at Ori. The cauldron was still dripping with a pasty yellow liquid. Ori would like to call it regret.
"I'm sorry! I forgot! Okay? I wasn't —"
"Is that an excuse a Lady should be making?! Why would you abandon your kitchen and sneak inside the DUKE'S BEDCHAMBER?! YOU ARE A MAIDEN! OH ORI YOU WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME!!" The woman wailed, feigning weakness as she picked up a book and threw it at the young brunette. Her tone was exasperated and face more aged than before.
Ori caught the book with athletic ease, winking a charming wink in return. "Death doesn't come easy to wicked people, mother, beware!" The brunette snorted out a laugh as another trinket came hurling in her direction. Ori caught it again.
"You'll be like one of those Tavern girls one day! I swear by my Empress, no one will be willing to marry you if..." Mother-supreme's words trailed down as realisation struck her mind with horror. Her dewy eyes scanned Ori's attire and drooped even more in disappointment.
"What's wrong with the Tav—"
"YOU WORE THAT OUTSIDE?!"
Hence, Ori knew there was no getting back from there but to fall to her mother's feet and beg remorse. Ori's mother was a born preacher of modesty and elegance which couldn't be found easily through poverty. Though, like every other child, Ori was a let down to her mother's bare minimum expectations.
So, she did what would bring her back up in her mother's good graces. She jumped over the bed again, inching closer and landed on her mother's straw boot clad feet.
"Mother, Mother, Mother, I'll sell the mats today and not keep profits for a week. I will even make breakfast! Deal?"
Ori's mother smacked her curly brown head.
"Yeah now you're talking. You should have started with that!" She growled, taking a seat back behind the wooden chest and handing out a big pile of mats to Ori. If only Ori could be a Lady get happily married off to a gentleman, Ori's mother would be the happiest of the lot. She would die content in a heartbeat.
"You better be back before eight if you want to see anymore dawns as a maiden. Change your clothes. I WILL MARRY YOU OFF IF YOU ARE LATE!" Her mother threatened. Ori grimaced, putting on a knitted dress with chunky floral patterns.
"Geez, aren't you creative," Ori exclaimed dryly, grabbing the mats and clutching them by her chest. Her mother had been berating the same threats for quite a long while now. Five years, to be precise.
"No prissy attitude against me, miss!"
"I'll be back at six." Ori promised as she ran down the stony dungeon, before anything else could be hurled at her face.
Though, little did she know what destiny had in store for her.
Was it death? A wedding? Or A fateful encounter?