Moon Glaive

Chapter 14: Indu

I hope Father's okay. Indu squeezed the pewter plate in her hand. The Castile soap covering it ran into the basin filled with warm water, making little splashes. But these splashes reminded her of the troll's blood splattering at the hands of Axer. She shuddered at the thought.

No, they will be okay. I shouldn't worry. Indu looked at the plate. A stain remained on it, and she attacked it with vicious fervor, determined to scrub every last hint of dirt marring its surface. Her deathly grip left indentations in the soap bar, permeating its fresh scent deeper into her nostrils.

"Big sister, you can't bully the dishes." Peeking from the edge of the ajar door was little Aniya, her hands behind her back. She had a confused, slightly fearful looking, and it only then did Indu look down to see a fourth of the bar gone, flattened like a plateau.

Indu sighed. What am I doing, wasting such good soap? She turned back to look at Aniya, who slowly approached her with a hesitant expression.

"What is it, Aniya?" Indu quickly dried her hands and grabbed Aniya's soft fingers. She then sat on a chair and placed Aniya on her lap, gently massaging Aniya's hair as she spoke.

"Umm...umm...w-when is Father coming home." Aniya's eyes widened into giant saucers as tears pricked the edge of her eyes. Indu froze.

"Why are you crying? Do you miss Father?" Indu smiled softly as she pulled her sister closer into her chest.

"I...I...Waaaahhh!" Aniya broke down into sobs, and Indu's heart jumped.

"Why are you crying?!" She turned Aniya around, pulling her face into her body as she patted her back.

"F-Father got m-mad at y-you b-because I-I t-told father t-that big sister w-went out a-at night. T-Then he h-had to go o-out where b-big sister d-didn't want him t-to." Aniya's choked out through her sobs. "I-If I d-didn't say a-anything, t-then F-Father wouldn't do s-something d-dangerous."

"Oh my goodness, is that what you thought?" Indu softly smiled as she peppered the crown of Aniya's head with kisses. When her sobs quieted down, Indu stopped and spoke.

"Father had to go out for a different reason. You know that Father was a knight long before you were born, right? Something happened, and he had to attend to his knightly duties. It absolutely isn't your fault Aniya." Indu tilted Aniya's head up so she could look her in the eyes.

Her eyes were puffy and red from tears. Her long hair covered her forehead in a scattered tangle of threads. Though Indu hated to say this, Aniya looked unbearably cute with her flushed cheeks and innocent, enlarged eyes.

"Oh my goodness, you become more squish-able every day." Indu showed no mercy as she squeezed and molded Aniya's cheeks into different shapes. Aniya cried in protest.

"Big sister, stop!" Aniya giggled and screamed. "It hurts!"

"Then bear with the pain." Indu bumped her forehead against Aniya's, smiling at her. As she did, however, complicated emotions swept through Indu - irritation, anger, and fear.

Why did Father choose to go with The Disciples? Why would he leave his daughters behind and investigate such a gruesome attack at his age? Indu gently caressed Aniya's back to stop the tremble in her hands.

She was irritated because her father had restricted her freedom, but she was even angrier because he had left the two of them alone in favor of going on a dangerous investigation – how could he do something like this while punishing her for doing the same thing? Accompanying it was a sickening fear. She had already lost her mother; how could she lose her father as well? She feared the possibility so much that it suppressed her irritation.