It was like watching a movie played on the surface of a lake. And she was under its surface, her leg chained to its bottom. She couldn't hear a thing, or feel thing but she somehow still caught every detail.
It was an old movie, and she'd seen it many times before but every time was just as vivid and real as the last. The emotions as raw as the first time she'd seen ut.
She saw a bubbly young woman, perhaps 16 years of age, her face adorning a smile as pure as her spotless dress run up to an older man and woman. The man and woman greeted the girl with smiles as she flew into their arms.
It was clear that they were very close.
Their faces all showed no sign of what would happen next.
The man and woman leaned in and whispered something to the girl and then suddenly the scene changed. The girl's smile vanished. She backed away, her face seemingly half laughing and half crying.
She spoke a few words to the man and woman, her face revealing her desperation but it was met only with silence.
Then came the tears that fell as freely as rain. Even through this filter that took away all senses, Reverie could feel her stomach tying into a knot as a unpleasant feeling punctuated her re-living of this terrible memory.
The man walked towards the girl, his arms reached out. He wore a pained expression and was saying something but immediately stopped when the girl shouted, her voice cracked with agony and betrayal.
The girl took to the stairs and ran away, the man and woman chasing after her as they pleaded for her to stop. But it was no use.
And that was the last time Reverie saw her parents. The next day, she had boarded a carriage and had gotten her new name of Eldmich.
She never talked to her parents again. She never came into contact with them ever again and neither did she ever want to.
What was there to talk about?
How they abandoned her? Sold her off to be a convenient baby maker to boost their precious reputation? How they took all her dreams away from her even after she had shared all of them with them?
Reverie never wanted to see their faces again. She had trusted them and loved them, and for that she was cast away like a convenient tool that had expired its use.
Reverie remembered clearly how as she sat on that carriage that day that was bound for the Eldmich mansion, she vowed to herself that she would no longer depend on her parents for anything. She would build her own family, one that would never betray her and she would live out her dreams with them.
She would show them. Show them that even with their meddling, she would achieve things that they never dreamed of. The one thing she wasn't keen on however, was revenge. It was pointless ad stupid and she would have to see their faces again to make that happen.
That was why she was so happy when she gave birth to her son. His coming into this world relit something in her. A sense of family, of kinship and love and more that she would give her child that her parents had refused her.
And now, the heavens were threatening to take even that away from her as well.
Reverie could basically hear the blood draining out of her face.
'There's no way! Please no.'
'No.'
Reverie's voice was but a whisper:
" E-elder speech?"
Reverie spun around to look at Rennie, hopeful that what she had heard was simply what she had thought she'd heard, praying that Rennie would look at her with confusion in her eyes and refuse knowledge of whatever she spoke of. But it was no use.
The girl's eyes were as wide as saucers. She had heard it as well and hero face was more than enough as confirmation.
Rennie's mouth flapped up and down like a fish out of water until she finally managed to find her tongue.
" My lady, I promise that word of this will not get out. I swear my absolute secrecy my lady! Please believe me!"
Reverie nodded and leaned over to place a hand on the young girl's shoulder.
"Don't worry, I believe you."
Rennie relaxed visibly. Her chest heaved as she took several deep breaths.
" What will we do about this My lady? Should we tell the lord?" She asked.
' Apparently her 'absolute secrecy' doesn't extend to the lord huh..that's not very absolute is it?' Reverie thought fleetingly as she answered.
" No, simply keep this between us for now. I dont know what my husband will do if he hears of this so it will be best for Rumius if we just keep this between us."
" For now only of course, I will tell him in due course so you need not worry." She added.
The maid nodded in agreement.
Inside her cool exterior, Reverie's mind was in a state of absolute chaos.
' Why does this always happen!! Dammit this isn't the time for complaining! Wait, calm down, calm down..'
A pause.
' Okay..First off at least I don't need to worry about Rennie. She's a bit inexperienced but she's a good girl. I can tell that she cares for Rumius deeply so for now there's no need to worry.'
' Then, I can pretend that this never happened. I'm sure Rennie will do the same if I ordered her…. But no. That's too risky. Those church rats are sneaky so I'm sure they'll find out either way once he grows up.'
' The threat is even bigger if I feign ignorance and fail to teach him of this…'
Another pause.
' But Elder speech? What is going on? Why does my son know something like that?'
Reverie paused and looked down at the baby in her arms, her jaw clenched slightly as cold sweat started to form on her forehead.
'Could it have just been a coincidence?' She wondered.
' It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to think that way. Babies could just about make any sound in existence right? Who knows if there's some baby out there that randomly mumbled the cast for a world-ending magic spell but still turned out perfectly fine?'
But Reverie had to be sure.
Kissing her child on his forehead, she adjusted his position on her arms and turned to her young maid.
" Rennie, follow me. We're going somewhere."