Stained Glass

Chapter 1

LORD DUGREY BELIEVED children should be seen and not heard.

Unfortunately that rule applied to me for my father happened to be the mighty Lord Dugrey. My father personally had nothing against children themselves, it was just me he seemed to have an issue with.

To this day I fail to have realised why that is.

It does tend to get awfully lonely when you are an only child in a humongous castle, with a father whom you are not allowed under any circumstances to talk to. 

I look up from the blank canvas I'm currently working on in front of me to see that my friend/housekeeper Magda is at the door unloading the basket full of clothing in her arms.

Twisting around on the wooden stool I'm perched on, I greet her with a crooked smile. "What's on your mind today, Sage?" Magda asks as she tips the rather hefty basket full of clothing onto my bed.

"If I invented an invisible cloak, would you cover for me if I left the house."

Raising an eyebrow, Magda shakes her head as if she thought the idea was absurd. "And if you created said invention, where and how long?" She asks, humouring me.

"... a while." I wince, scrunching my eyes together, preparing myself for an angry Magda.

Pausing scouring through the mass amounts of clothing on my bed, Magda turns towards me with bright red cheeks, as if her anger was fighting to be let out of her. "A while." She repeats, shaking her head to herself with a sarcastic smile. Her face growing darker by the minute.

"Do you have any idea of the kind of dangers outside of these walls, Sage?" Magda fumes, stepping towards me. The look in her eye is almost feral, which makes me scoot back slightly on my stool, even though I knew my friend would never hurt me.

"Yes, I-"

"NO - Sage. No, I don't think you do. If you did, you would know why your father keeps you inside the walls of Drago." I am taken aback by the complete sincerity in her eyes, as if this was between a life and death decision.

I have heard of the creatures that roam upon the Isle of Drago. Men, women even children; whom can shape shift... Blood demons whose upmost desire is the blood running through human veins, with abilities so unbelievable only one could dream of.

"Yes Magda, I know the tales. I've heard them time and time again." I huff, fixing my gaze back to the white canvas in front of me.

"This is serious, Sage, I'm not talking about the tales I read you as a child. I'm talking about real demons, ones I have seen through my own eyes. The same creatures who drained my husband to death by sucking out his blood."

Magda's husband, drained to death by a blood demon? A deep weight settled inside of me, no wonder she has always been so adamant that I stay inside. She had to watch her husband bleed out in front of her.

Turning to face Magda I found her fighting back a wave of tears. Instantly feeling awful for provoking the memories of her husband's death, I reach up for her, enveloping her in my arms. Trying to compress the memories of her husband between us.

"Magda..." I start, smoothing out her soft ash toned hair which was roughly scraped on top of her head. "I'm so sorry." I can't help but feel miserable for being so useless at comforting my friend as I feel her tears absorb into my top.

Pulling out of my hold, she roughly wipes back her tears with her arms, smiling crookedly. "It's okay, it was a long time ago. Lots of time to think. Lots of time to mourn."

Not knowing how to reply, or if I should reply, I smile faintly towards her... As I look at her I can't help but notice she is staring, rather pointedly at something behind me, which I had failed to notice before.

"You know, my husband created that stained glass window of yours." She says, breaking out of her trance once she notices me staring in her line of direction.

Now looking at the random colourful window, abandoned in the corner of my bedroom, I find a whole new meaning for it, other than it being quite a strange addition to my rather plain house. 

Magda's husband created the window.

Making my way over to it, I trace my fingers along the cool glass - admiring the strange shapes and colours moulded into each other. Somehow, despite the small cracks scattered over the glass everything winds together perfectly.

"Your husband was a very skilled craftsman." I state absentmindedly, transfixed with the strange beauty of the window which up until now I have paid very little attention to.

"Mmm," Magda hums, seemingly standing next to me, "that he was." 

I lean up on my toes to peer through the window, clutching upon the high window ledge to take a look through the colours. I am amazed by how different Drago looks though the window. It's as if everything I was familiar with was washed away and painted over with harsh flushes of colours.

"It's like a whole different world." I muse, stepping back from the window with a smile.

"Like you said, he was good at what he did." Magda says blankly, staring off into the distance through the coloured window.

I take a moment to study Magda, she looked like a completely different person as she stared with an empty look in her eyes. No longer was the kind, sweet friend I knew and loved... Instead a cold, scorned woman whom I didn't recognise.

A knock on my bedroom door snapped me out of the thoughts going through my mind. Shaking off the feeling, I turned to find Magda opening my bedroom door with a large smile upon her face.

Kind, sweet Magda.

...TO BE CONTINUED

HELLO EVERYONE, I'M SURE MANY OF YOU WILL NOT READ THIS SECTION AT THE BOTTOM HERE (WHICH I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND) BUT I JUST WANTED TO INTRODUCE MYSELF AND MY STORY

MY NAME IS KNIGHTLEY AND I HOPE THAT ALL OF YOU LIKED THIS FIRST CHAPTER. I'M SURE AS MANY OF YOU WRITERS OUT THERE KNOW, WRITING THE FIRST CHAPTER OF A BOOK IS SO FUCKING HARD! HOWEVER I DID IT... FINALLY HAHA.

I'M NOT QUITE SURE ON THE WRITING SCHEDULE OF THIS STORY AS I DO NOT WANT TO MAKE ANY PROMISES I CAN'T MAKE BUT I HOPE TO UPLOAD AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. EVEN IF NOBODY READS THIS STORY I AM LIKING WHERE THIS STORY IS GOING AND WILL MOST DEFINITELY PROCEED TO FINISH THIS STORY FOR MYSELF :)

I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY... HAHA

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, HOPE YOU ARE ALL STAYING SAFE.

- KNIGHTLEY