"Iris?"
"Yes Tilly," she answers.
"Do you know what day it is today?" Tillly asks.
"Umm no, why? is it special?" she responds, looking up from her sewing machine.
Tilly looks at her older sister like she was slapped. Iris smiles. Tilly's always been the queen of drama.
"You forgot my birthday."
Iris cursed at herself inwardly. It was true, and it's not the first time either. She looked around the living room (or what they called a living room) to see if she could give her anything from the piles of dresses as a present, but before she coud think of anything, Tilly says, "it's fine, you don't have to give me anything. You're enough."
"No, it's not fine. It's your 12th birthday today and I forgot last year so I have to give you something this year." Iris took a moment to think but got the perfect idea.
"Why don't we got to the market today? I want to pick your gift together."
"Really?!" Tilly jumps.
"Yes," Iris says, "go dress up and we'll go when you're ready."
Tilly takes off to their shared room before it closes with a loud slam.
Hearing the sound, their mother, opens the door to their parent's seperate room. "What was that?" she asks confused.
Iris smiles, "she just got a little excited after I told her we were going to the market."
Her mom returns her smile. It always stunned Iris, how much beauty her mother had. She'd always prayed she would get some of it (along with her sisters, of course).
"Make sure to dress warmly, it gets a little chilly after dusk," her mother says as she returns to her room.
"Don't worry, we will."
Iris looks around the room a second time and couldn't help but feel grateful for her parents once again. The small living room looked very messy with all the dresses and fabrics dumped all over the floor but they've always looked past it, for her. Knowing it's been her dream, for a very long time, to be a dressmaker. Of course it was also a good way to earn money and help her family, which was not that hard for Iris due to how good she was at what she did.
However, despite how good Iris did, the only thing her family was rich in was happiness. And that's sometimes. Her family consists of 7 people so they all have to share rooms in their house. But even so, she was still grateful for it all.
Tilly comes running out of their room wearing the beige, long sleeved dress Iris made for her 10th birthday. "I'm ready," she hollers, "lets go! come on!"
"Ok but that's not enough, you need a coat."
Iris enters their room, grabs 2 coats and returns to Tilly.
"Ok we can go now," Iris says, stepping outside with Lily and closing the door behind them.
*****
Iris loved the kind of vibrance the market had, and from Tilly's expression, she could tell she loved it as well. They stood in a sea of people either arguing, scamming or being scammed, examining items, or just arriving like how they were. Iris knew exactly where she wanted to take Tilly. As they walked, street vendors start advertising their items while sellers sort through their textiles. The smell of spices and herbs wafts through the air along with the sound of clanging jewlery.
Finally, Iris and Tilly arive at a booth where dolls are being sold. The trader dressed in all black comes from behind to view his potential buyers.
"Hey pretty ladies," he says before stepping aside to let Iris and Tilly see some of the items.
"Hi Luke," Iris relpies.
"How are you? How's the family?"
"We're all doing fine but thanks for asking," Iris responds with a smile.
But when she looks back, she sees that Tilly's attention was snubbed by the Jewlery stand.
"Can't we get something from over there? Please!?"
"It's a little bit too expensive T," Iris says to her little sister. Deep down, she knew that one day Tilly would probably outgrow stuffed toys but she really hoped that day wouldn't come this soon. Most of the money she earned was going toward a boutique she wanted to buy near her house, money she worked long and hard for. But she also knew that she said she'd let Tilly pick her present so if the Jewlery was what she wanted, then that's what she'd get.
"Please??!!"
"Ok," Iris gives in.
"You know what, it's on me," Luke offers, taking out an open bag of gold coins from his pocket.
Iris looks at him, one of her closest friends, in shock. She's known Luke for a very long time, certainly long enough to know that his job doesn't get him half of the amount he's holding in a month.
A little suspicious, Iris asks, "where on earth did that come from?"
"Some side hustle, don't worry about it," he says while handing over the bag.
"Ya Iris, don't worry about it!" Tilly shouts as she takes the bag and runs over to the Jewlery booth.
"We'll talk about this later," Iris looks at Luke, walking away from his booth.
"There's nothing to talk about," he replies in a lower voice, which makes Iris hesitate a little before continuing. That's not like him at all. He always told her everything, like how she would confide in him. This grew her suspicion....and stung her a little.
*******
The whole way home, Tilly admires her bracelet spinning and jiggling it on her wrist. As happy as Iris was to get her a gift she liked, it was getting a little old. The stars were out by the time they were inside. Iris took off her coat and hung it beside the door next to her sister's.
"I'm a little hungry," Tilly says, hand on her stomach.
"I'll see if I can make you something to eat," Iris tells her before heading to the kitchen. She opens some cupboards to see if there's anything to work with but before she can look even more, an urgent knock sounds at the door.
"Who is it?" Tilly asks when Iris checks the peephole.
"I see father," she answers, unable to make out the rest.
When the door opens, their father followed by their mother and the rest of their siblings come in the house. Iris takes in the sight of her father, which looks very different from his normal self. Especially, the fear and worry in his eyes. The rest seem to notice as well.
"Alright Alec, now you have us all together," their mother says, "what is it that you wanted to discuss?"
Their father hesitates for a minute, unable to look any of them in the eyes. Until, finally, with a little tremor in his voice, he says, "I'm in trouble."
"What kind of trouble and how much?" Jamie, Iris's 14 year old little brother, asks while holding Gehmmora, their 8 year old sister.
"The horrible kind and a lot," he answers with tears in his eyes.
Iris felt her blood run cold. She had never once seen her father cry. Whatever this was, it's far more serious than she thought.
He lookes directly at their mother when saying, "a month ago, I was offered a job and it paid heavily in gold, but there was a catch to it."
"What was the catch?" their mother asks.
He looks each of us in the eyes, tears going down his face, "for 2 days a week, I had to steal Mare flowers and deliver it to the person I was working for."
There was a collective gasp that followed his words. Tilly, Jamie and Gehmora looked nothing but shocked, while their mother looked hurt and full of anger. Iris didn't know how to feel, but was sure her face mirrored those of her brother and sister.
"I'm so sorry I lied to you, Lissa," their father whispers before taking a deep breath and saying, "but that's not all."
"When I took some Mare flowers today," he continues, "...I was caught."
"By who?" both Iris and her mother ask.
"By the palace gaurd. I'm not sure if they saw my face but I managed to escape before they could get to me."
It was silent for a long time, until their mother finally spoke out.
"How could you do this? how could you put me, put our children in this kind of situation??" she asks in a low voice filled with fury.
Their father answers, "I did it for us, because we needed money. We were barely getting by, I had to do it."
"Really? You had to do this?! Break the most serious law in the kingdom, punishable by death??!" her voice get louder and louder before she says, "You lied to me and put our children in danger."
Iris thought about taking the others to their rooms but the house was to small for that kind of privacy.
"I.....I thought the money would help us. I had to do something. I felt like I was failing my family. It wasn't enough, not even with your money Iris. I'm sorry," he says, slowly shaking his head.
"So where's the money you've been earning now?" their mother whispers.
"I've been saving it so that we could use it to move out and get a better place...but now I don't know if we can," he says, with his head down.
"Now what do we do?" Iris asks, scared.
All eyes shift to him as they wait for an anwer. Their father opens his mouth, looking like he was on the verge of saying something, before 3 loud raps on the door interrupt him.