The Shamer's Daughter - A Fanfiction

Chapter 26 - Chest

Rose lived in one of the narrowest houses Dunark had to offer. You had to go through an open gate and up a slim staircase of stone to get to a small wooden door that didn't seem to keep much more than curious eyes out.

"You have to be quiet," she whispered before opening the door. "It's best if we don't wake anyone." But she might as well have spoken normally, because the door made much more noise than her whisper when she pushed it open. Nonetheless, they could still hear someone snoring in the far side of the long room when they entered. There was only the one room, with a couple of beds to their right and something that must have been a kitchen to their left. It smelled like beer and chamber pots that hadn't been emptied in there and if Dina hadn't smelled a dragon before, she would have held her breath to avoid the stench. Rose crouched in front of a chest that seemed larger than it was because the room was so small. Oddly enough, the sound of the hinges was what woke her mother up and not the shrieking door.

"Rose? Is that you?" Someone moved in one of the beds, but the loud snoring continued from the other one.

"Yes, Mum. Go back to sleep." Rose whispered and kept rummaging through the chest trying to see despite the darkness.

"Where have you been?" Her mother was now visible in her white night gown that was barely white anymore. She didn't sound angry or worried - just tired. At first, Dina thought she must have been someone's grandmother. Her hair was completely grey and the legs that hung from her bed were skinny and wrinkled.

"Just out." Rose said without even noticing that her mother had gotten up. If Dina ever answered her mother like that, she wouldn't get dinner for a week! But Rose's mother just looked away and sighed.

"You know it's his house now, Rosie. He owns it." She didn't look at her daughter.

"Yes, that's what he keeps saying too." Rose spoke loud and sharp and her mother hushed at her. But it was too late. The snoring had stopped at once and the bed squeaked as the other person got up.

"Stop the cackling." A sneering voice spoke from the dark and he stood up so quickly that Dina took a step back and hit a wall. A big young man with bloodshot eyes stared at all three of them. "Who the hell is that?" He asked and pointed to Dina.

"One of my friends." Rose said. "We're leaving now, go back to sleep."

"I would, if it wasn't for that infernal noise you're making! And whadda you doing, looking through the chest? What were you gonna take?!"

"Nothing that isn't mine!" Rose grabbed the lid of the chest and kept it wide open.

"Yours? You don't own a crumb or a cloth that wasn't given by me. Hands off the chest and get lost before Imma teach you something about yours and mine you little thief!"

"If there's a thief in this room, then it definitely isn't..." But her mother stepped in between her children.

"Don't yell at your brother like that, Rose. Arn, she don't mean nothing by it..." Arn didn't exactly answer. He just leapt over the bed between them and jumped to the chest, which he slammed shut so Rose only barely got her fingers out of the way. He put one of his big and dirty bare feet on the lid of the chest and stared Rose directly into the face only inches away from her.

"Where have you been all night, girl?"

"Nowhere." Rose stared back at him, but she kept blinking and her chin wasn't as high as before.

"You know what happens to girls alone in the streets at night. They end up like Get-a-go-Cassie. 12 shillings a time. Is that how you want to pay me for shelter and food?" Rose stood dead still. She hadn't moved backwards, but it was also very hard for her to keep eye contact. Her jaw was so tight that Dina saw a tiny muscle vibrate. "Because, if you don't wanna pay, you're gonna 'ave to obey." Arn put his hand around her neck. Right where Dina had noticed her bruises. He reminded Dina of the dragons a little bit. Slow, lazy and dangerous. He was only wearing trousers and his upper body was tightened with muscles. He had long curly hair and although it was greasy, Dina instantly knew that he would be one of the boys that Cilla and the other girls would giggle over and flash their lashes at. But Dina found him just about as attractive as a pile of horse dung. The only thing she really notices was his bloodshot eyes that looked more red by the minute. How could he treat Rose like that? Especially when he was her brother.

"As I recall, I gave you orders last night, remember?" And when Rose didn't answer his question, he tightened his grip around her neck and she clenched her teeth before mumbling.

"I know..." But when she didn't say more than that, he started squeezing till his knuckles grew white.

"What did I tell you to do?!" Rose looked to her mother with eyes that begged her to interfere, but their mother did nothing. She was just standing in the corner - old, small and cold, staring at the floor. Arn repeated his question and shook his sister with a grip that would have broken the neck of a rat.

"You told me to clean your boots." Rose said a little louder than her previous mumble.

"And did you do it?" The obvious tone in his voice told Dina that she didn't. But suddenly, Rose stood up straight.

"Clean them yourself." She said through clenched teeth staring right back into his red eyes.

"What did you say?" Arn's voice was still loud, but not as clear as before.

"You heard me!" This time she shouted right in his face. For a second they both stood still like that. Both with flaring nostrils and a tension between them thicker than the stench. But all of a sudden, the silence was broken by a slap so loud it must have woken the rest of the building. Rose fell backwards into the opposite wall and tripped over the chest.

"You ungrateful little bastard!" Arn yelled and picked her up by the neck and then slapped her across the other side of her face. Not as hard, but enough for Rose to lose balance once more.

"Arn..." A weak squeaking voice came from their mother. "She's your sister." Like it was an argument for him to stop, but it had little impact on him.

"No, she's not!" Arn grabbed one of Rose's plaids and yanked her towards him by her hair. "She's just some bastard you made with someone other than my father and she's going out this instance!" He spit it out like the words disgusted him more than the accusations from his mother had done. He dragged Rose to the door by her hair and literally threw her out with a push that would have made her fall down the stairs if she hadn't caught onto the banister.

"Get out, Bastard! And take your friend with you." It was probably stupid. In fact it was very stupid everything considered, but when Arn turn around to kick Dina out as well - she looked him in the eyes.

"You're pathetic."

"What the hell..."

"Are you really so miserable? Are you really so afraid?" He let go of the door that he was about to smack behind the girls. He looked completely astounded, but Dina wasn't finished with him. "You're a real man, huh? So big and strong that you can beat little girls. The man of the house! What a man. Do you want to know what you are afraid of? Really, you're just scared that we are laughing at you. And you know what? We may just be. You're worth nothing!" He looked like he wanted to scratch out his own eyes. So frustrated and scared, but he couldn't look away until Dina let him. He tried to catch his breath and it seemed he had started crying. Without another word, he pushed his way past Rose and hurried down the stairs and disappeared into the alley. Rose and her mother stared at Dina like an extra head had just appeared at her shoulder. But Dina made sure to look down. They did not deserve the treatment she had just given Arn. She wasn't even sure that he did. Never had she ever used her power like that. So violently and out of the blue.

"How did you do that?" Rose asked. "Why didn't he hit you?"

"Even he has a sense of shame." Dina said in the most monotone voice she could master. "But we can't know how long the effect will last. So take whatever you needed from the chest and let's get moving. I don't have much time."

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