We Promised

Chapter 5

My hair is in a tight ponytail, close to my head, as I fly through the halls. My little feet carry me far, and Blayne is close behind, with a grin made of trouble. Corbin shakes his head from the end of the hall, before deciding to follow us with a smile. "I got you!" Blayne yells, lifting me up in the air. I giggle loudly, kicking my feet in an attempt to get away. "Blayne one more round! Just one more!" Corbin shakes his head, taking my hair out of my ponytail and redoing it. "We can't, Greenie. Father doesn't like us playing in the halls, you know this." I frown, crossing my arms over my small chest. "Well, he's never around. I don't know why I should listen to him." Corbin clicks his tongue, tying the band taut to where it can't fall again. "Ice cream run? Please. You know I'll go without you," I state, pointing my tiny finger at my brothers. "Can't hurt. Right?" Blayne asks with a shrug. Corbin purses his lips into a thin line, crossing his arms over his chest in thought.

"What time does he return?"

"He should be back soon."

"Do you know what will happen if we're caught?"

"Better than most," Blayne says with a look.

I glance between my two brothers, watching as Corbin sighs. I begin to grin. "Fine. Just this once. Then, we'll have to wait until next month." I wrap my arms around his waist, and Blayne brushes back my hair with a smile. "Last one to the biggie doors is a rotten egg!"

I take off, and my foot catches onto a banner. A gasp escapes me as I trip and the whole thing crashes down on me, all 24 feet of material and a metal rod. "Vera!" Blayne booms, running to me and picking up my head. He examines me, and when he touches a spot on my head, blood appears. "Do you think she's concussed?" Corbin asks, a deep crease in his eyebrows forming in concern. He doesn't coddle me for once, even if I'm nine. He's always coddled me before, and Blayne was the one to give me space. The training from the trenches have changed him. He wrote everyday, and now he's back from deployment, for three months and then he'll be shipped out again. He'll be taken away from me. It was all dad's idea. "What is this?!" a man booms. I flinch, shaking furiously from head to toe. "Ilvera Fleuri Oxuris," my mother hisses, snatching up my arm and yanking me upward. Blayne's face grows red with rage, and Corbin clenches his jaw. He was always calmer than the rest of us.

Father grabs a handful of my hair, and throws me across the hall. I suck in a small breath, my elbow taking on the most of the impact. I can't see because of my tears, but when I look around, I realize all the guards are gone. They've been dismissed, so no one know what happens to us once the eyes are gone. Father slaps me once, and I cry out. Blayne lunges, but Mother puts a hand on his chest to stop him. "Don't touch her! Father, don't you touch her!" Blayne growls. I'm no longer under his wrath, but my brother is. I scramble to my feet, standing in front of Blayne. I'd take all the pain if it meant Father didn't lay a hand on Blayne. "No," I say quietly, my bottom lip quivering. My father's eyebrows jump to his hairline. "No?!" I shrink under his volume, but I plant my feet, unmoving. He curses under his breath, clenching his fists. "You ungrateful little bitch!" My chest hitches with my sobs and I earn another slap. This time, he draws blood. "Clondon, that's enough. Clondon!" Mother screams. He seethes in front of me, and his silence is what scares me more than his yelling. "Ilvera come." I walk towards her slowly, wrapping my arms around me as if it would protect me from the world. She escorts me away from my brothers, who watch my every move. Corbin is the first to trail us. "Mother where are you taking her?" Corbin asks. He walks beside me, wrapping his fingers around my wrist to comfort me. "She's going to the closet." Corbin gapes at her, opening his mouth and closing it.

"Mom, you can't be serious. It was an accident! She tripped for God's sake, Mom, have some shame!" She whirls, her dress floating in the air from her turn. "You will hold your tongue, boy." Her words are not loud, because she does not need to yell. Her words, the way she uses them to cut you, are sufficient enough.