The Tales of Miriela: Shadowborn

Chapter 44: Sia Jurjrey

"Come and help me. He's heavier than I can handle myself," Sia said to her younger brother, Doren. Doren reluctantly rose up off of the small cot that he slept upon, tending to his sister's demand. Doren was the youngest Jurjrey, four in all. Edmond Jurjrey, and Kent Jurjrey were each older than Doren, but came after Sia, the oldest.

The four were orphans, in a sense. Sia could hardly remember her mother, and even her father's face grew dim in her mind. He spent most of his days wandering through the streets and alleys of the Westbottoms. He drank away his past and forgot of his wife and his children. Sia would see him in the streets or at the pub, but she could tell he had erased her from his memory. Sia raised her younger brothers on her own, in their small house in the Westbottoms.

"Where are we taking the man anyways, Sia?" Asked Doren.

"The Canstein. We'll drop him there and then go to fetch more Calsheth in the South. Now lend me a hand, I can't get him into the wagon alone." They took Lord Siln by the arm and lifted him from the cot on which he lay.

"Come. Here Doren. Outside and into the wagon," Said Sia and she lifted with all her strength. Sia was a thin girl, and had just passed her eighteenth nameday. But Doren bore even less strength, being just an eight year old boy.

"I'm trying Sia. I'm trying. Why not wake Edmond or Rowlin? You know they're stronger than me," Said Doren.

"They're going to be waking in just a few hours, before the sun rises. Fishermen need to get to the water early, and they'll be working the whole day" Sia said. "Lift him here, into the wagon. Set him down slowly."

The two placed a wool blanket over Lord Siln, to cover him from sight. Sia stepped up onto the wagon which she so often used to carry Calsheth, and sat ready to steer the horses. "Alright, back to bed Doren. That's all you'll be needed for," Said Sia.

Doren hopped onto the wagon himself and sat down next to Sia. "And how do ya plan on getting the man down, Sia? Have ya not thought that far ahead? Looks like ya may need me, after all. Besides, I'm awake now, and I never leave the Westbottoms. Let me come with you," Pleaded Doren.

"I can pull the man down myself. And where I'm going is no place for a peasant boy such as yourself. Go back to bed, I'll be home by early morning."

Doren stepped down off of the wagon. Sia grasped the reigns in her hands and cracked them against the horse's back. She yelled out for the horse to move and the wagon was off.

She was most at peace when driving a wagon. She rode often to the South to collect her wine. It was when Sia could think, it was when the responsibility of caring for her brothers seemed to lift of her shoulders, if not just for a moment.. The daily struggle of feeding them often weighed upon her mind. Her tired eyes and aching legs did not match her youthful age. Yet, for all the difficulty, she would have no other way. Sia loved her brothers and she valued their happiness over her own.

The night was still and cool as Sia steered the wagon through the winding streets of the Westbottoms. The streets of stone rocked the wagon back and forth, rattling Sia's tired bones. The roads of the Westbottoms were littered with horse manure, and rats the size of dogs. It was no place for a girl of eighteen to be traveling in the night. Though the streets were calm and quiet, the taverns were not. Drunks, murders, thieves, the criminals of the city, went on drinking all night.

The ride to the Canstein was not long. It would be sunlight in just a few short hours. She would reach the Canstein Woods around sunrise. Sia did not care for the Queen, she was ready to be done with her bidding and collect her gold. The. Young girl was not one to take orders, instead, Sia preferred to give them.