A Snake Instead of a Flower
Ellis hated formal meals. She hated them not because she didn’t enjoy the food, it was that she didn’t enjoy the conversation. Continuous prodding, torches left by dynamite deliberately in an attempt to spark a debate. To eat at her father’s table her tongue needed to be sharper than steel, her ears needed to be quick and attentive. Ellis needed to have shields against the words that could slice her up and place her on a tray next to the gravy and chicken. Meals were never for eating.
No. Her father, Gregory had made her build the walls around her mind, made her sharpen her arsenal and constantly man the fields of her mind, looking for something to yield, a countermove, a counter-argument, a final card to win the game. Although she loved the thrill of cutting down courtiers with words and watching them fall as though they were struck by real blades, she was growing tired of his constant games. It was hard to be grateful to the man who made her a weapon but she couldn’t decide what she would rather be. Did she want to be like her younger sister? She is innocent, kind, and compassionate, everything Ellis was not, but she is also vulnerable to the whims and wants of other people. Ellis is not, but today she could be if she couldn’t figure out a plan.
Today her father had decided that Alena was a card that needed to be played. It was sudden, so sudden that Ellis had only minutes to prepare. She had no countermoves, she had one card and she didn’t want to play it. It was a wild card and she had just been dealt a hand to a game she didn’t know. In a game of survival if you had three things in front of you, a diamond, a sword, or a satin gown. What would be the most valuable? In this case, the diamond is worth almost nothing, if you know the context. Ellis had to learn Gregory’s angle quickly or she could lose her sister. This was not the average game, the stakes were high and she had never truly gone against her father. She couldn’t pretend that she wasn’t afraid.
As she sat in her fine silk gown and observed her opponents she slipped behind the mask of coldly calculated cruelness that she needed to be. Lena had looked at Ellis with a sort of puzzlement in her eyes, and Gregory had ignored her completely, but Cassian Locke noticed her and that was all that mattered. It was a lovely day and Ellis couldn’t help but breathe in the fragrance of freshly bloomed flowers and the familiar aroma of spring. They sat at an aged, polished rosewood table. Set out with a lace tablecloth and the girls’ great-grandmother’s china. Her mother’s silverware was out which was a silent reminder that she was gone and that her father was trying to sell the person who was the most like her. Her father had set the scene, but Ellis didn’t know what angle he was playing at. Yet. She took a few breaths trying to gather her thoughts and prepare for the meal she wasn’t invited to. To Ellis it was a battle, to her father it was a game and to Alena, it was a nightmare.
So the games begin. The predators all circled in their satin, silk, and jewels. Ellis wasn’t the only one who had dressed for the occasion. Her sister’s long copper hair was braided and bound in an intricate manner only leaving out a few stray pieces to frame her dainty face. She was in an off the shoulder teal dress, the matching colour to her soft teal eyes. Ellis’s dress was one she had never worn before. Her gown was a deep green, the sleeves billowy and loose. The neckline plunged to a place Ellis had never been comfortable with showing but it was an asset she would be foolish not to utilize. The dress cinched at the waist, the skirt flaring out in dramatic layers of black. Alena’s dress was intricate and expensive but compared to Ellis her dress seemed simple.
People always said that Ellis’s family were snakes, they said that the most wicked of the Demore’s had toxic green eyes to resemble their souls. Souls rotting and cruel. Ellis didn’t disagree. She and her father had matching green eyes while Alena’s eyes were more blue. But Ellis didn’t mind the green eyes. She embraced the curse as it was one of her more striking features especially as it was in contrast to her mother’s dark brown hair that -for today- had been swiftly pulled back into waterfall braids. Her father was a handsome man long ago, you could still see the faded traces of his youth, but not to the detail it was before. Her mother was lovely and that was all she could remember. It was hard to imagine her as aged as him. As her father began to speak she tried to shake the nerves. She tried to imagine her mother’s delicate hands resting on her shoulders as she listened and tried not to think about the consequences of stepping on her father’s toes.
“Mr.Locke, there are many things that I cannot promise you, as I am a man of my word but a thing I can promise you with all certainty is that my daughter Alena would make an exquisite bride,” Gregory said. Cassian’s eyes went to Ellis and she smiled pleasantly. The smile grew wider as her father gestured Cassian’s attention away from her and to Alena. This was her cue, even if she felt the milk curdling in her stomach, she forced her mouth open and became the snake she was known as.
“But,” Ellis cut in, willing herself not to flinch as she watched a muscle flicker in her father’s jaw. If he wanted to sell her sister’s future, he would have to get through Ellis, she was sick of him using them like pawns on a chessboard. It was her turn to play and she had to be strong. Had to gather the rage of internal fires she had spent years putting out. “We could understand if you had, certain…” she placed her finger on her chin, playing the pondering clueless girl she was supposed to be. “Hesitations, after all, she is a Demore, you, are a Locke, a widowed Locke.” Ellis caught Cassian cast a glance into the distance, something Ellis did often when the death of her mother was still fresh. It was a small thought that maybe at the sound of her name she would show up, that maybe if she looked across the fields she would see her, or maybe if she sat in the garden long enough she would come home, but she never did. For Ellis’s sake, she hoped Cassian was thinking of his departed wife. “You are far more valuable than Alena will ever be, than I will ever be, so that brings me to my question Cassian,” His name rolled off her tongue like a poison, like a promise. “Why, are you here.” It was less of a question more of a statement, although she didn’t know the answer, it was a pretty safe bet that her father had something over him. Before Locke could answer even though she had surely caught his attention, Gregory stepped in. Irritated and patience clearly thinning.
“Ellis my sweet, sweet child, you have become a lot more nosy and a lot less cautious then you ought to be. This, is none of your business.”
“Well, I think it is,” Ellis replied. Taking her time, drawing each word out while she could still back out.
“And why is that,” Gregory said.
“Because I have something to bring to the table for this newly arranged agreement.”
Silent alarm flashed in her father’s eyes, quickly and then it was gone like it was never there. He looked at her, one eyebrow raised as though she was a child and he was tired of her games. Before she could change her mind she turned her attention to Locke. Everyone was looking at her. Waiting. He held her gaze with curiosity, silently urging her to say it as if he already knew. She forced the words to come out of her mouth, she forced the words to sound like silk, she forced herself to pretend that she was winning a prize rather than throwing herself into a ring with lions. “Me.” The words rang in her ears and she felt like her fate had been sealed. She had been doomed by her own hand but when she looked to her sister, the young girl with a light hope in her eyes she made herself remember.
“What if I don’t want you,” Locke replied. He seemed interested in Ellis the way someone was interested in fire. Now was the time to play her last card. It was a gamble. This whole conversation was a gamble. If she failed, she would lose her sister, if she succeeded she could lose herself.
“If, you don’t want me, I will cut my losses and leave. But I would like to remind you, I don’t break as easily.” As her. The words fell out of her mouth, cool, calculated and harsh but that didn’t make them any less true. Alena was in so many ways a replica of Locke’s beloved wife. But, she was gone because she was fragile. After all, she was naive and was not made for the world that he lived in, but Ellis was. She was forged in court conversation, worn in by rules and regulations, handled in dress codes and fastidious teachings. She was made for this life but some part of her wished she wasn’t.
There was silence. A very long silence. Gregory couldn’t refuse him, not outright because it was very clear between the two girls who was more valuable. Ellis was always the favoured child but she hoped it was clear to Alena whom Ellis valued more.
“Very well,” Locke concluded as he stood up and looked at her father “looks like we have more negotiating to do.” Her heart sank as she tried to look happy, tried to look relieved but all she felt was doomed. She felt the hands on her shoulders disappear and when she looked at Alena she didn’t see her sister, she saw her mother, she saw her mother smiling at her with tears of gratitude. ”Thank you” she mouthed and then she was gone.
And Thank YOU! For reading. It is not ongoing as it is a short story (if you could even call it that.) I will be posting other stories I write when they are written. If you want updates on short stories follow my Instagram _writers_rant_20. I also have a Wattpad and will be posting the same things it has the same username so if you want to give it some love please go ahead. Have a great day!
