by J Armitage
“It’s been so long since I ventured out. I’d forgotten what it was like. It’s so much fun”. Aethelu stuck her head out of the open car window and squealed. Anais laughed and held her hand out to her.
Anais once again looked out of the window. The playground came into view which meant they were only a minute away from the manor. Sure enough, the big gates loomed and Alex pressed the remote control to open them as he got closer. The gates slowly started their journey inwards. Too slowly.
“Alex!” screamed Aethelu when it became apparent they were travelling much too quickly and would hit the gates.
Alex started pressing his foot furiously on the brake pedal to no avail.
“The brakes aren’t working!”
His foot had been taken off the accelerator which was slowing them down a little but it wasn’t going to be enough.
The car got slower and slower as it approached the gates but it wasn’t slow enough. It careered through the gates causing them to scratch all the way down both sides of the car with a horrible metallic screeching sound.
Anais closed her eyes as they departed the driveway, straight into a tree.
Anais heart was beating wildly in her chest as she assessed the situation. Her seatbelt had kept her in her seat without injury and when she looked round into the shocked faces of Alex and Aethelu she could see that they were likewise unharmed.
“What happened?” She asked a frightened looking Alex.
“I don’t know. The brakes failed.” He unclipped his seatbelt and got out of the car.
“My baby!” He was looking at the damage to the sides of the car where it had scraped against the gates and the front where it had hit the tree. They had been going pretty slowly so the damage to the car at the front was minimal. The tree had taken the worst of it and now had a huge gash in the side.
“When did you last service this car?” demanded Aethelu who had also got out.
Alex looked sheepish. “Um never.”
“If you weren’t immortal, I’d kill you,” said Aethelu angrily. “That’s if you don’t get us all killed first!” and with that she stalked off up the driveway towards the house.
“I’m really sorry,” said Alex to Anais “I don’t know what happened.”
“Don’t worry. It’s just a good job it happened when we had slowed down. She shuddered to think what would have happened if the brakes had failed earlier in the journey. At the speed Alex drove she’d have certainly been testing her immortal half blood. She gave another shudder and with a quick ‘bye’ to Alex, who was now tinkering under the bonnet, ran up the drive after Aethelu.
When she caught up with Aethelu by the entrance to the manor she noticed another car in the driveway, one that she had not seen earlier. It was a blue hatchback and was parked at the front of the house unlike the others.
“Daddy!” Exclaimed Aethelu, immediately looking worried. “He’s going to kill me!”
“Don’t be silly. Of course he won’t,” said Anais although from all she had heard about Aldric, she wasn’t sure just how severe he could be.
Aethelu smiled but it was a forced smile. Anais could tell Aethelu was extremely uncomfortable. So much so that she walked up the steps to the big entrance doors without holding Anais hand. Anais hesitated a couple of minutes before she followed. Still in shock from the crash, she was scared that she’d finally have to meet the man who ordered her to be locked up. Eventually she made her way up the steps. She heard the voice of Aldric before she saw him, she held back around the main doors and listened.
“It was highly irresponsible of you Aethelu, what if she’d have left?” Aldric’s voice was calm but there was an edge to it.
“But she didn’t daddy. She likes it here, she wants to stay here, with me.”
“And that’s another thing. Arcadia tells me you are having a relationship with her. You know this is unwise. You know why she is here.”
“Actually Daddy I don’t know why she is here. You just told me to keep her locked up until you got back.” Aethelu’s voice cracked. Anais could tell that she was on the verge of tears.
“Yes a simple task which you could not even manage.”
“Daddy. It was barbaric keeping her locked in that room.”
“Where is she Aethelu?” Another gentler voice spoke. It was a voice that Anais recognised and made her heart leap. She couldn’t hide any more. She ran out and threw herself at Winnie. Just seeing her friend again made her cry.
“Anais Darling, I’m so sorry. I put some of Aldric’s herbal sleeping mixture in your milk. I had to.”
Winnie was now crying as much as Anais and hugging Anais ferociously back.
“I know about Jago killing my parents and I know you were just trying to keep me safe.”
When she finally tore herself away from Winnie and wiped the tears from her eyes she noticed Aldric looking at her.
He was not as tall as she’d expected but then he’d taken The Light elixir at a much older age than his children. He looked like any other man in his mid-fifties with lined skin and grey hair. Unlike his children, his hair, already grey at the time had remained the same just like Winnie’s. He retained the good looks of his youth and reminded Anais of an older version of Alex.
“It’s nice to finally meet you Anais.” He held out his hand which Anais shook with some trepidation. Here was her real captor. The man who had ordered for her to be locked up whilst he went on a holiday. He was, however, being civil and Anais was not one to be rude.
“I’m sorry about the unfortunate circumstances of your arrival here.”
So the kidnapping of her from her own bed was an ‘unfortunate circumstance’ He made it sound as if she’d suffered no more than arriving in the rain.
“We’ve not been back long and need time to unpack,” said Winnie “We will catch up later at dinner” She turned to leave with Aldric following close behind her up the grand staircase.
The meal that night was a muted affair. Aethelu was seething with her father who in turn was angry with her. Winnie had taken over in the kitchen demoting August to sous chef which, although he was pleased, had upset Baker who knew his food stealing days were over.
After dinner Aethelu had said a quick goodbye to Anais and retreated to her room. They had kept their own rooms which Anais was glad of. It made that one night with Aethelu special but it also meant that they were taking their relationship slowly which Anais thought was for the best. Plus, even though the whole house knew about Anais and Aethelu, she didn’t know them all well enough to know how they would react if they were flaunting it in their faces.
This night though, she really missed Aethelu. She contemplated going up to her room but Winnie had wanted to catch up and apologise over and over again about drugging her.
In the parlour they sat with cups of tea that Winnie had made. Pretty little cups and saucers crafted out of bone china, which Anais recognised from the shops apartment, were used. They had delicate pictures of roses on them and gold decorated the rim. It made a change from the giant mugs that everyone else drank out of. Now that Anais was alone with Winnie she could see a marked difference in her appearance. The old fashioned bun hair style which she’d always worn at the shop was now left down in a layered flicked out modern style. The reading glasses which were constantly either on her face or hanging round a chain on her neck were absent as was the ubiquitous little flowery dress. Instead she was wearing jeans and a fashionable blouse. The biggest difference was her stature. In the shop she had always stood hunched over and shuffled along from place to place slowly. Here she stood tall. The whole effect had made Anais think of her as a little old lady. Now she stood erect and confident and the difference was startling. It knocked years off her. In the shop Anais had guessed her to be in her seventies. Now she could pass for late forties easily. She was beautiful as well, Anais had never noticed before, the high cheek bones and slim waist. She could see where Arcadia and Aethelu got their beauty from. If she dyed her grey hair bl
ack, she and Arcadia could almost pass for twins.
Anais didn’t realise she was staring until Winnie spoke.
“I know, different huh? I guess my disguise worked well by the way you are looking at me”
“Oh sorry!” Anais lowered her eyes.
“Don’t be sorry, we are here so I can apologise to you. I am so sorry for putting Aldric’s sleeping draught in your milk.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth and then ask me to come to the manor?”
“I wanted to. So many times I almost blurted out our secret, but Aldric’s orders were to keep you in the dark. Besides, you were happy at the shop weren’t you? I didn’t want to upset you any earlier than I had to.”
“Yes, I was happy but that doesn’t explain why I was drugged to get here.”
“Aldric has told me he will explain everything to you shortly, but please know that when I gave you the sleeping draught, I had no idea that Aldric had ordered you to be locked up for so long. We only planned for you to be locked in that room for one night whilst we had something important to do. I assumed that someone would have let you out the next day. I really hoped to be there for you, to tell you our secret myself but unfortunately we were held up. I didn’t know that Aldric had called home and told them to keep you in the room. I assure you I was very angry when I found out!”
“That doesn’t really explain why I was brought here in the first place and where were you anyway?”
“I’m sorry Anais. I think it’s better that Aldric fills you in. I’m afraid it’s late and I need to get my beauty sleep.” She left the parlour taking the little tea set with her.
Anais then realised where Aethelu got her knack of avoiding awkward subjects from. Anais knew she would have to speak to Aldric if she wanted all her questions answered. It was a thought that made her feel nervous.
Over dinner, he had kept an eye on her but since they met he hadn’t said a word to her.
His gruff manner and obvious disregard for anyone else put her on edge. Still, she wanted to know why she was here so she would have to bite the bullet sooner rather than later.
Eventually she made her way up the stairs to her second floor bedroom. She wearily wrapped the presents she had bought and then fell into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
Christmas Day dawned with another fresh downpour of snow. Anais was woken up early by a very excited Aethelu running into her room and jumping up and down on her bed. She’d obviously got over her sadness of the day before. She pulled Anais out of bed and they both ran down the stairs giddy as schoolgirls, still wearing their pyjamas.
The rest of the family were all sat around in the hallway and they had obviously not waited for her arrival to begin opening the presents. Piles of discarded wrapping paper filled the big entrance hall which Baker was taking great delight in running through. Anais handed her presents out and was surprised when Aldric laughed when he opened his slippers, until Aethelu told her he’d received slippers for every Christmas for the past seventy years. August had made a batch of eggnog which he was busy passing around and consuming rather a lot of himself judging by his uncharacteristically rosy cheeks. Aethelu squealed with delight over her new jumper and broach and put them both on over her pyjamas as soon as she’d opened them. She ran over to Anais and hugged her. Anais hugged her back but began to feel embarrassed when she noticed Aldric staring at them.
“I’ll give you my present later” whispered Aethelu and then kissed her quickly on the cheek.
Arcadia spoke “My present to Anais and Lulu is a makeover for our Christmas dinner – Anais, you first.” She grabbed Anais hand and pulled her up from her sitting position.
Anais hadn’t planned to spend half of Christmas day having make-up applied but she didn’t want to seem ungrateful. She grabbed a couple of croissants from a tray that had been brought up from the kitchen and let Arcadia drag her up to her bedroom, the room next to Aethelu’s.
Despite having a mother who worked in makeup, Anais had never been much good at applying it herself. If she ever wanted to go for anything more adventurous than putting a bit of lipstick on she usually asked Sarah for help. If she did it herself it usually looked like she’d let a group of excited six year olds loose with a box of crayons on her face. Since her mother had died she’d not worn any make up at all, finding it simpler to go without.
Arcadia sat her at the dressing table in front of the large mirror.
She rummaged around in a make-up bag and lined up some brushes on the table whilst Anais continued to look at herself in the mirror. She was the same person she had been a month previously but as she looked at her reflection she noticed her face had changed somehow. Her green eyes were just as bright as they had always been but now they seemed to have their own sparkle. The dark circles that she had sported since her parents died had vanished, her skin had a glow and her cheeks had a blush to them which had not been present a month before. She knew that being in love had changed her on the inside but she didn’t expect that it would show in her face. Of course, thanks to the amazing food, she had been eating much better than she had ever eaten and for whatever reason, she had finally got over the insomnia that had plagued her for years. Both these reasons probably contributed to the picture of health staring back at her from the mirror.
Arcadia started work on Anais face, expertly applying eyeliner, mascara, and blusher.
Absorbed in her work, Arcadia was silent at first. Eventually she spoke. “She’s in love with you. You know that don’t you? I’ve never seen her like this before. It’s actually pretty sweet.”
Anais didn’t know how to reply so she kept quiet. Hearing that Aethelu was in love with her from another person made her feel wonderful. Neither of them had said ‘I love you’ to each other but despite the strangeness of their relationship, Anais knew that she loved Aethelu. She ached when they weren’t together and even now, when she knew that she’d see her again at dinner, she still missed her desperately.
She had to try really hard not to grin as Arcadia applied lipstick.
Arcadia chatted all the while she worked on Anais about life on the French Riviera and her celebrity neighbours. She talked about her family at The Manor and Andrew.
“You know, it’s going to be a big change this Christmas. It’s usually Rafe and Alex who have girlfriends. It’s actually kind of funny that this year it’s going to be Lulu and Andrew with dates. Do you know he’s invited his internet girlfriend over for Christmas dinner? He set off early this morning to pick her up from the airport. Fancy flying on Christmas Day. I hope the snow doesn’t disrupt the flight. What was her name again?”
“Judith?” Anais answered
“That’s it! I knew it began with a J. Rafe and Alex are going to be mortified.” She laughed.
“Mortified? Why”
“Oh don’t you know? They both have a massive crush on you and neither can have you because you’re with Aethelu, and now to top it all off Andrew’s gone and got himself a girlfriend who’s absolutely stunning. Have you seen the photo?”
Anais murmured in the affirmative. She was still reeling about the boys having a crush on her. She’d barely ever spoken to Rafe. In fact, slitting his throat in front of her remained the longest time they had spent in each other’s company. She was still wary of him. Alex, on the other hand, well she’d suspected as much although she’d done nothing to lead him on. She’d thought that the bet they’d had about her was more about bravado than them actually liking her.
Arcadia eventually finished and stepped aside to let Anais have a look.
Looking in the mirror, Anais barely recognised herself. She usually found her features mousy and boring. Arcadia had transformed her into a siren with sultry smoky eye shadow and pale lips.
Arcadia was now working her hair into waves which caressed her shoulders and reminded her of the Hollywood starlets of the 40s and 50s. A few pins later and it was swirled up, waves resting on her head away from her face. Arcadia then bro
ught out the most beautiful dress Anais had ever seen. A red, floor length gown tied high at the neck with a heavy silver chain that hung down her back. The front of the dress was very modestly cut but when Anais put it on and turned to look at the back she could see that the whole back was cut out to the waist leaving her feeling rather exposed. She couldn’t deny that she looked amazing though. She could barely take her eyes away from the mirror. Who knew that she possessed such beauty?
Arcadia then brought out a pair of silver jewelled high heels which would have made Cinderella green with envy. Anais put them on and spun round feeling like a princess.
There came a knock on the door bringing her back to the moment.
“That’ll be Lulu,” smiled Arcadia.
Anais thanked Arcadia, gave her a big hug and then skipped to the door. She flung it wide open and shouted “Ta-Da!”
It was not Aethelu at all, it was Aldric who seemed quite surprised by the unexpected welcome.
“Yes, urm, lovely,” was all he could muster. “I need a quick word with you if you are finished here.” Anais looked towards Arcadia who nodded her head.
