Dagger

Chapter 3

Melody paced around the dining room. Her father sat at the head of the polished wooden dining table, his hand coupled his face. He looked surprisingly calm for what just happened, a complete contrast to his panicking daughter. He had ginger hair and a beard that was flecked with grey and white. Crows feet danced around his calming and kind eyes.

        The dining room was painted grey. The side wall a complete window that showed the quickly depleting daylight. The bushes beneath the window darkened alongside the sky.

        Melody felt a range of emotions and didn't seem to know what to do with them. She thought of her sister, Steffi, and how she was now missing. While she was in a panicked frenzy her father remained composed. He stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from pacing.

    Her thoughts raced, she felt angry and guilty. She shouldn't have let Forest go, but she didn't know he was going to take her sister. She had no idea what he was doing there.

        "Melody." Her father spoke in a soothing tone. She was whispering to herself and staring off into the distance, until she processed her father saying her name. She looked up into his tired old eyes that never failed to show a comforting smile, even in times like this. "You need to calm down."

        Her lip began to quiver, showing that she might cry. "But....but Steffi, she's gone..." A tear slipped down her cheek, her father flexed his grip on her shoulders. She so desperately wanted to tell her father what happened that night, but she couldn't form the words.

        "She'll be fine, she can take care of herself," He deeply inhaled then continued. "You shouldn't worry yourself about it, not when you have to prepare for Proelia."

     Melody's brow creased in confusion and she took a step back. "P-Proelia?"

    Proelia was a school that trained the city's protectors, the Guardians. She didn't know much about the school but she knew enough. The school taught its students to fight and sometimes sent them on missions. That's why you have to be sixteen, but then again in Ferrum when you turn sixteen that's around the time you're supposed to decide what you want to be and start training. Melody was of age, but she didn't quite decide what she wanted to do with her life.

        Her father cocked his head slightly to the side. "What's the matter? Proelia is wonderful."

    "I-I guess It's just that I haven't yet decided what I wanted to do. That and....that was where Steffi went..." She trailed off and looked down at the ground. Her eyes reflected the sadness she was feeling.

    "Yes... and she thought Proelia was wonderful, as will you."She knew her father was only trying to encourage her and lift her spirits by distracting her, but the truth was that she didn't know if she was ready.

    Melody looked down and started picking at her nails, letting her hair fall over her face. "But, if Steffi was taken, aren't you worried that I might be as well?" She mumbled, then lifted her face to once again meet her father's.

    "Of course I'm worried. I'm worried about Steffi, about you, about a lot of things. That's why I'm sending you to Proelia to learn to fight, to protect yourself and so you can become successful."

    'I-" Melody was so sure that everything was going to spill out right then and there. As her mouth moved to continue speaking, she knew she thought wrong. "I should go get ready, like you said."

    Her father nodded. "Yes, yes of course." He gestured toward the door behind her that led to the stairs. He turned and ran his hands through his hair, evidently worried.

    She didn't notice his anxiety as turned to walk out of the room. She was upset, her sister was gone. What made her feel even more guilty was the fact that after letting Forest go, she kept the rose.