PART 2
Cyeen was refusing to talk. They wouldn't believe her even if she did. After the long scolding session, her parents were quiet all the way back to Enidia.
The voice refused leaving her alone. What would her mother think if Cyeen told her about the strange voice? It was easy to guess, she'd be marked as insane. She wasn't insane.
Cyeen thought that was plenty reasonable as to her refusing to talk. If she did talk, even she wasn't sure what she'd say herself.
Once back at the manor, they forced Cyeen to rest for a while before gathering the whole family to sit down inside one of the garden camellias to discuss familial matters.
Her sister, Evelyn, sat next to her before putting her head on Cyeen's shoulder. Evelyn would usually do this when she sensed that her sister was worried about a situation. Unlike most nobles, Cyeen and Evelyn didn't really have much sibling issues. In fact, they had made a deal between them about who'd take over Enidia.
Evelyn was only four years younger than Cyeen putting her at the age of fourteen. What Cyeen failed to comprehend was her family's treatment against her sister. Cyeen was raised under harsher conditions. She knew this wasn't a reason to despise her sister but deep down was jealous of her.
Their parents had always been more strict and less forgiving against Cyeen. They used to ignore her for long periods of times because of their 'important business' but not her sister. What was the difference between them that their parents saw in her sister? Why, why did only she get different treatment?! Cyeen hadn't done anything wrong. She also wanted the soft treatment. She was only a child back then. Why so harsh then?
"As I asked you before Cyeen, would you mind telling me why?"
Her mother's voice woke her up from her thoughts. Although, hadn't paid any attention to the conversation at all. She looked at her sister on her right for the context. Being quick on the uptake, Evelyn lifted her head a little to whisper the topic they were talking about to Cyeen. Evelyn was really one big sweetheart unlike the other nobles. Cyeen got disgusted in herself for getting jealous of this sunshine of a person.
"I apologize for spacing off mother. As to answer your question, I had simply gotten the most severe headache I had in my lifetime, it felt like my cranium was splitting apart. It's fine now, really."
Zenith accepted her reason but wasn't really fooled by the act.
"If you say so."
It looked like Zenith wasn't the only one that didn't buy the act. Evelyn looked uneasy as well. She had heard what happened back at Setina from her father. It probably would be no use asking her sister what happened so she left it at that.
Cyeen got up from her seat,
"May I go back to my chamber mother? My head has started hurting again."
Though it was most obviously a lie, Zenith had no way of proving it. She allowed Cyeen to go up to her room. The noble went back inside the manor after getting her mother's permission.
She was looking down while walking down the stone pathway leading into the house. The door was opened with more strength that one would usually open a door with. A creaking was heard, the doors were getting old.
The potted flowers were wilted. It looked as if they weren't being tended for. She forced herself to ignore the flowers and went up the stairs with her hands clenched into a fist. Why was her mother this frustrating to deal with?Didn't they have blood ties? Shouldn't that have made them get along easier?
The noble lady barely stopped herself from punching the wall at the end of the staircase. Her steps had also gotten more aggressive as she put more power into each one. Could she not be left alone to think inside this goddamn manor?
Who are you?
Cyeen frantically looked around just like the first time she heard the voice. She braced herself for the painful ear ringing but this time the voice didn't echo inside her mind. It seemed like it was asking a question instead of demanding an answer now. Cyeen thought to herself, The heiress of Enidia. She waited, and waited. Nothing, was that not the right answer? It was quiet, almost a disappointed kind of quiet. She could tell the difference, she had gotten that treatment before.
The silence kept her wondering on why the voice got disappointed. Cyeen slowly walked to her room. She had finally gotten some time to think. Though quiet, it was really comforting this time. Cyeen thought to herself again. I'm of noble birth, the heir to Enidia, the daughter of Duchess Zenith.
...
The voice didn't come back. She rolled her eeye, trying to ignore her frustration and do something useful. By useful she meant filling out the papers on her desk. The contents of the papers weren't really important stuff but mere side chores assigned to her by Zenith.
Cyeen got in front of her work table and sat down on the oak wood chair. She tipped her writing feather in ink before starting to read each of the papers carefully. Maybe the small chores she had done would pile up and she'd rise a rank in her mother's eye. She slammed the table in rage, causing all the papers to fall off the table. Mother that mother this, did she ever do anything for herself? Was it all for her mother's approval, for something as insignificant as that? She looked around her, there was not even a single item she used for her hobbies in her room, her own room. A feeling of desperation emerged within her. Hobbies..? She thought. Now that she had time to think, she didn't have any. Not a single one.
Cyeen sat back down on her chair in defeat mixed with frustration. Was she her own person at that point? With her own thoughts drowning her, the noble decided on picking up the papers on the floor. While she was picking them up, one particular paper got her attention. "Evelyn" was what it said as the first word. She took that one aside and after organizing the others she sat back down and got to reading it.
The first thing that was noticeable was the royal family's insignia meaning it mostly likely got on her table by mistake. She wouldn't recieve a chore as important as this. And a royal paper had the utmost importance. Cyeen rubber her eyes before starting to read it carefully...
***
It was almost dinner time. Cyeen slowly descended the stairs into the first floor of the manor. The dining hall was enermous with a long table in the middle. The table could handle up to fifteen people on each side and only a single person at the front and back. Right in front of the door, behind the table was a big half transparent window which was colored from the top to the bottom. To the left of the room was the enterance to the kitchen. Only kitchen people (that's what Cyeen called them) and her parents knew the inside of it.
The noble girl sat down next to her sister. A head gracefully leaned against her shoulder again. It was immediately brushed off.
The family started their dinner as usual. Steak, sweet potatos along with countless amount of salads and side dishes were present on the table. Cyeen didn't even touch a single one of them. Her eyes were looking past food. Blair pointed out that Cyeen didn't touch anything to Zenith which she responded with:
"Cyeen mind telling us why you haven't touched anything? These are high quality meals. I suggest you start eating now."
Cyeen's eyes were fixed on the table.
"How dare you."
Zenith was baffled by the rude reaction of her daughter.
"What did you say? Do my ears hear whatever you are saying correctly? Young lady, I demand an apology from you immediately."
Cyeen slammed her fist on the table as she got up from her chair, pointing at Zenith with her other hand.
"I said how dare you! You go around ordering me each and every single second of my life. AND NOW THIS?! What do you take me for?! How dare you try and transfer my heirship to Evelyn!"
The little girl gasped in horror. Evelyn was shocked by not only her sister exploding at their mother but also from hearing the change in their heirship. The siblings had made a deal and were really intent on keeping it. Zenith practically threw her chair behind her as she got up and raised her voice.
"That's what I have decided! Its not any of your business young lady! Screw eating, as your mother I demand you to go up to your room!"
Cyeen shouted back louder as a response,
"YOU'RE NO MOTHER OF MINE!"
Cyeen left the dining hall in rage and headed straight to her room, not because her mother ordered her to but because she didn't know where else to go. She kicked a part of the railing, breaking a small portion of the wood as she ascended the stairs. As she got inside her room she slammed her door close before throwing the flower pot inside her room into a wall. She frantically looked around to take her anger out on something before she heard the accursed voice again.
Who are you?