Daughter of the Nibrue House

chapter 4:Tea with my evil aunt

"Simba's so tiny." Lily said. "He was a great gift. You love animals." Simba sniffed the strange person holding him. "I've always liked cats."

Naomi took Simba back from her mother. She turned to David. "I met your brother. Was he always so creepy? And why does he wear dark red? It looks like dried blood."

David shook his head. "He always wore dark clothes, even in hot weather." He smiled at a memory Naomi couldn't see. "But don't worry, he's harmless."

"Are you sure?" Naomi asked, remembering the skull with glowing eyes. That didn't exactly say harmless.

David nodded. "I'm sure. He would have figured out some way to get rid of us before we got here if he wasn't harmless." He reached out and scratched Simba's chin. Simba let out a tiny squeak of pleasure. "Trust me, Sweet." He said. Naomi normally trusted her father, but something about Trad stuck in her mind.

Night was falling on the Nibrue palace. Naomi took the bottle of milk for Simba and held it to the cub's lips. He pulled his head away. Naomi tried again, with the same result. 

The door to her room creaked open. Naomi looked up to see. "Hello dear." Lady Charrlota said. "I brought tea and cakes." She pushed the door open wider. A young servant brought in a tray of cakes, a pot of steaming tea, and three cups and little plates.  Naomi was going to ask about the three cups and plates, but she didn't have to.

Victoria glided into the room and sat on a plushy sofa opposite her. She wore a dark blue dress now and the golden pendant was replaced by a necklace that looked like a dragon's eye. "I see aunt Victoria's joining us." Naomi said.

Victoria smiled almost sweetly, but hatred burned inside her eyes. "Your grandmother thought it would be a good thing for us to get to know one another." She said. She looked down at Simba. "So this is the little lion I've heard so much about. Rare creatures, white lions are. And beautiful, or so I've heard."

"I see it's dinner time." Lady Charrlota pointed out.

"Yeah, but he won't eat." Naomi tried once more to get the tip of the bottle in Simba's mouth. He turned his head away.

"Well, no wonder. You're not doing it right." Lady Charrlota said. "Here, let me show you." She took the bottle and then took Simba. She laid Simba on his back inside her arm so that she held his head in her hand. She pressed her thumb and forefingers on his cheeks and he opened his mouth. Then she put the tip of the bottle in and squeezed it. Simba began sucking.

"You press the sides of the face to open the mouth and squeeze the tip to give him a little milk and Simba does the rest." She said. "He's a hungry little one, aren't you."

Naomi took Simba back, him still sucking away. She turned to her grandmother. "How did you know how to do that?" She asked.

Lady Charrlota leaned back in the sofa. "When I was your age, I used to go out to the fields and help take care of the animals. It's natural for a daughter of the Terra House to love animals."

"But you're the Lady of the Nibrue House." Naomi said.

Lady Charrlota reached for a cup of tea poured for her. "I am now. But back when I was a single woman, I was a proud Terra. You didn't think I was born a Nibrue, did you? Why, that would mean I was related to your grandfather. Only crazy people marry their family."

"Isn't the queen a sister or something of the king?" Naomi asked.

"Like I said, only crazy people marry their family." Lady Charrlota told her again. "Have you seen what the royal family has been doing? We're on the verge of war with three different kingdoms and they take a vacation." She sipped her tea. "Never marry a member of the royal family, Naomi. Your generation is bound to see at least three wars."

Naomi didn't know how to respond to that. But apparently, Victoria did.

"I'm sure the king has some sort of plan." Victoria said. "After all, we only hear part of what's going on at the capital." 

Lady Charrlota sniffed indignantly. "As if vanishing for five months is a plan." She turned to Naomi. "Don't get me wrong, dear. The king and queen are vary kind and they surround themselves with wise and talented people. It's just, they chose a poor time to take a vacation."

"If war's anything like I've heard in stories, that's true." Naomi said. "How come I've never heard about that?"

Lady Charrlota took a small pink cake. "I don't know. Hardly anyone in the kingdom knows about it." She bit into the cake. After swallowing, she turned to Naomi and said. "But the Nibrues are taking matters into our own hands. I've invited the king of one of those kingdoms  over in two months. If all goes well, we should reach in agreement about the dragon riders. They have been coming into the land of Ancor and stealing from their farms."

Victoria stood up. "So it is the Spark House's fault, my family's fault!" She shouted. 

"I never said that." Lady Charrlota explained. "Just because the dragon riders are under the Spark House's command does not mean your family's to blame."

She looked down at Simba. He had almost finished his bottle. A movement caught her eye. Her aunt's dragon's eye necklace seemed to blink. Through the black slit of the eye, Naomi thought she saw a hay stack. Naomi looked back at Simba, slurping up the last of his milk.

When Simba had finished, Naomi couldn't help but look back at the dragon's eye. This time, Victoria was looking at her. Victoria faked a yawn. "I'm getting a little tired. If it's alright, I think I'll go to bed." She got up and left without getting an answer.

Naomi set Simba on a pillow on the floor. "I assume she was born a daughter of the Spark House." 

Lady Charrlota handed her a cake. "Was it that obvious?" She joked. "Well, tea turned out to be a disaster. You eat the cake and then head to bed. I'll send a servant to clean this up." She kissed Naomi's forehead, turned, and left.

Naomi finished the cake, it wasn't big, and made a little bed for Simba by the fireplace out of pillows and the box he came in. She set him down genitally, he was already sleeping. Then she got ready for bed and slipped into the large bed with really soft sheets.

Naomi was awoken by a strange pang in her stomach. She sat up in bed. There was a large black shape over Simba's bed. Naomi did the only thing she thought of. She screamed.

The shape ran out of her room. Naomi rushed to Simba. A thin line of red ran down his back. Something wanted to hurt her lion cub. She knelt down to pick his up. Something poked her knee. A shard of broken pottery lay on the floor, not far away was a servant, out cold. A note lay besides him. 

Don't get used to life here! Someone wanted to hurt her. But who? She had a few ideas.