Cassandra

I. Wolves In Sheepskin

"No, that's too stiff. You've got to hold it gently." Mother seized my wrist and adjusted my fingers. "Hold the foil like a baton, not a cane to beat me with, it's an extension of yourself. Now try again." 
    I pulled in a deep breath to steady myself, and tried to hold the foil more gently. Mother stalked back to her position on the other side of the mat, raising her foil.
"You're still too stiff...That's a little better...Stop! Right there, that's perfect! Now, one, two, three."
    The clanging of metal on metal filled the courtyard as we shuffled back and forth, exchanging blows. Our breath puffed out as white clouds in the chill winter air. Usually it was far to cold to stay outside for long, and drifts of dry week-old snow covered the ground, but the fighting kept both of us quite warm. As we fenced Mother commented on my footwork. The fight seemed to cost her almost no effort, and I couldn't understand how she still had breath to talk, I hardly had enough breath as it was. Finally after a half hearted thrust at her shoulder, she parried my strike and scored a hit.
"You're too stiff again."
"I'm not trying to! It's just a habit."
"Take a breath...And again..."
    This round went even quicker than the last one. We had hardly exchanged five blows before Mother struck at my right shoulder, and taking advantage of my counter strike, scored a hit on my other shoulder.
"Stop trying to force it." She said sharply, lowering her foil. "You've got to be patient, you're trying too hard."
"You're not even trying at all." I huffed in annoyance, pulling up my mask, and brushing the sweaty hair out of my eyes.
"If I attacked you with everything I've got, you'd never learn." Mother said, swinging her foil with an expert bend of the wrist, and mopping her forehead. I felt a bubble of pride swell in my chest...At least I had made her sweat...
"What are you two doing!?" Vesper exclaimed, pushing through the heavy double doors into the courtyard with a scandalized look on her face. "The guests will be here in an hour and you aren't even dressed! What would the Briarwoods think if you came down to dinner in fencing uniforms, and smelling like..."
Vesper pursed her lips together, too well bred to finish her sentence. I didn't mind her annoyed words. Vesper was not a fan of fencing, she thought it was too masculine of a sport, and didn't think it was proper for Mother to teach me.
"I'm sorry dear. The Briarwoods escaped my memory I'm afraid." Mother replied mildly, pulling off her mask, and wiping her blade down with a rag. Vesper shook her head disapprovingly, but didn't say anything more. She was already dressed of course. A slender emerald green gown set off the coils of her dark hair, a thin gold ring and a signet ring like Father's glinted on her left hand, and a gold necklace framed her neck. She was the picture of dignified grace.
"Well it's high time you remembered them." She said briskly. "Both of you hurry and get dressed. Mother, please- please- don't wear a sword at table, it isn't proper. Cassie, I want you in the royal blue gown with gold embellishing, it'll bring out your eyes, and I'll send down Elavir to do your hair."
"I have my own maid you know." I said, my voice tinged with irritation. Vesper might very well know what would look most becoming on me, but I didn't like being bossed around, even if it was for my good.
"Yes, but she can't do it half as well as Elavir does, and anyway Elavir is faster. Mother, I have something to talk with you privately about." And with that Vesper shooed us both from the courtyard, taking Mother by the arm and leading her inside.

The royal blue gown did look nice when I had got it on, and Elavir did prove to be much better, and faster, in the arts of hair dressing than my maid. Elavir was an elf, and had been in the family for three generation, plenty of time to polish her skills. My grandmother had hired Elavir ages ago, and passed her down to my aunt Eleanor when she turned eighteen. When Vesper came of age Elavir had changed hands again, and it was generally understood that when Vesper married and had children, the eldest daughter would also inherit Elavir's service. If I had been Elavir I would have rebelled at the prospect of getting handed down through the generations like a piece of jewelry, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she had been with us so long she was more of a family member than a servant...
"You look lovely." Elavir declared, when she had finished getting me ready. "The Lady (she meant Vesper) knew just what will look best."
"Thanks..." I said blushing. Hardly anyone ever complemented me on my appearance. I preferred comfort above everything else, and tended to wear boy's clothes when I could get away with it. A gentle knock sounded on the door and I called "come in." over my shoulder. 
"The Lady Vesper requests your presence downstairs miss." Said a maid, curtsying as she entered and averting her eyes respectfully.
"The guests have arrived then?"
"Yes miss."
"Alright, you can go." I said turning away, and the maid curtsied again before she left.
"You'd better go down." Elavir said, nudging a stray hair back into place, and looking me over critically. "And you behave. This isn't a woodland picnic." She added sternly. But in spite of the severity in her voice, I could see a twinkle in her eye.
    Accepting a quick kiss on the cheek from Elavir, and looking myself over one more time in the mirror, I pushed out of my room. Glancing up and down the hallway to make sure that no one would see me do it, I caught up my skirts and sprinted down the passage. Running as fast as I could, I made it to the top of the grand staircase just as Mother and Father, accompanied by a lord and lady I had never seen before, reached the top of the front steps. Vesper glared daggers at me as I dashed down the stairs two at a time, and joined the clustered group of my siblings at the bottom. There were seven of us all together, three girls and four boys, and when we were all arranged in a line it made quite an impressive display.
"Can't you ever do anything properly?!?" Vesper hissed, as she pulled me into my place, and smoothed my tousled hair.
"Cough up." My oldest brother Julius whispered, holding out a hand to Oliver, who grudgingly passed him a gold coin. The two of them had gotten into the habit of betting on whether I would be late for things or not. Oliver usually won, because I nearly always was.
"Is that dress made out of the sitting room carpet? It's the exact same color..." Percy said under his breath. For a moment I was hurt, then I saw the sarcastic twitch at the corner of his mouth and knew he was joking.
"Shut up." I said, giving him a halfhearted shove. "I think it looks pretty. And your jacket makes you look fat...Oh wait...Thats just you..."
Percy shot me a look that plainly meant 'you're the most annoying little sister on the planet.' I just grinned. There was no time for words however, for my parents and the guests had crossed the hall by this time. Julius began introducing himself, and as he, then Vesper, then Percy, and the rest of my seven older siblings introduced themselves one by one, exchanging meaningless pleasantries, I took advantage of the vapid conversation to get a good look at the two guests.
The lady, Delilah Briarwood, was very beautiful. She was fair skinned, with dark hair and sultry eyes, long dark lashes, and a touch of red to the lips. Dressed in a dark crimson gown, with a hint of lace at the neck and wrists. Her slender neck was framed by a necklace of tiny diamonds, so delicate it might have been made out of frosted spider threads, and more diamonds were braided through her black hair, making a lovely impression against the dark background. 
Silas Briarwood, dressed in a blue coat, with a black ribbon sweeping his light brown hair back into a pony tail at the base of his neck, was almost unnaturally pale. There was a translucent, almost ageless quality to his skin, that made me wonder if there was Elven blood in him. He had a pleasant baritone voice, and an approachable air about him, that almost made you feel as if he was your kind uncle that you hadn't seen since you were six, but used to love.
"And you must be the youngest, standing all the way over here." Lord Briarwood said smiling, and taking the hand I dutifully offered him.
"Cassandra de Rolo my lord." I said, trying with all my might to be proper, and behave just as I had been taught.
"Call me Silas my dear. No need for such antiquated things as 'my lords.'" Silas said, bending to kiss the tips of my fingers. A wave of embarrassed heat swept over my face at the gesture, despite vain attempts to will it away. Recovering myself, I held out my hand to Delilah, but she was looking intently at my face, and seemed for a moment not to notice. At last she grasped my hand, but the ladylike grace with which she had introduced herself to my brothers and sisters was entirely gone, replaced by a genuine interest that had been missing before.
"How old are you?" She asked.
"Sixteen." I said, so surprised that I forgot to add My Lady, and silently cursed my bluntness. But Delilah took no notice. She was entirely lost in thought as she stared, past all boundaries of propriety, at my face. The heat was beginning creep back up my neck, and I noticed that her hand, which still absentmindedly held mine, was trembling slightly.
"Sixteen...." She whispered thoughtfully.
"My darling..." Silas said, speaking a little louder than usual, clearly trying to call her back to the present. With a very faint start, I saw the abstracted look to her eyes vanish, and I hardly had time to notice a faint look of confusion, before she had completely recovered herself.
"I'm sorry..." She said with a musical laugh and a droll look. "You just have such beautiful eyes, I'm afraid I was so caught up in admiring them, I was rather rude...It's a pleasure to meet you dear..."
"Thank you..." I stammered, once again forgetting in my confusion to add My Lady.
"You have such charming children. I can't wait to know them better." Lady Briarwood remarked in a low voice to Mother.
"Well, shall we make ourselves comfortable then? Dinner will be ready very soon. But I would hate to leave guests standing in the hall." Father said jovially.
"Of course!" Silas said. "Lead the way."
Taking Mother by the arm, with the Briarwoods close behind, Father lead the way upstairs. The moment his back was turned, I noticed that Delilah's apparent composure noticeably diminished. She reached out to take Silas's arm, either for comfort or support, and I could see her hand visibly shaking. With silent understanding, Silas pulled his wife's arm through his, and patted her hand comfortingly.
"You see that." Percy whispered, taking advantage of the lull in conversation, and dropping into step beside me. "Your dress is so ugly, Lady Briarwood was visibly shocked by it..." He grinned wickedly. "Or maybe it wasn't the dress...Maybe it's just you..."