Chapter 3: 3) Meeting Mother
Getting dressed was an ordeal, Arwyn was not happy with the process. So many layers! 'No wonder people from the past in my world had needed maids!' The stockings and garter was the first part, then the shift, which was basically a slip. Finally the Morning dress; a simple dress in a crème colored muslin. The sleeves were long, which came down to her wrist in a delicate lace. The front actually buttoned up, that in itself was the easier part in getting dressed. What Arwyn really liked about it was that the collar of the morning dress had lace to match the sleeves. It was a lovely dress. Her shoes were the easiest part of all, pretty yellow silk dress slippers, just slipped right on.
To finish off her look for the day Merida tied Arwyn's hair up in in a loose bun almost on the top of her head, pinned down the fly away hairs and then finished it off with a pretty pink colored satin ribbon.
It felt nice to be pampered. Merida was a lovely lady who seemed to care a lot about the lady she served. Arwyn liked her a lot. Even still she had a hard time being warm to her servant. It was the Gwen part of her that was stand offish, not the part about Merida being a maid. She made sure to smile warmly, use kind words, and to not let her impatience show. Merida seemed to be fine with it so far.
Arwyn made her way to the drawing room. She knew where that was: down the stairs to the first floor, room all the way in the front. She knew the halls and the rooms. It was so peculiar how Arwyn's memories came in like that. Even though memories were surfacing, making it seem all less foreign and alien, the magnificence of it all captivated her. Granted, it really was the first time that she was walking through the halls. The white molding along the floorboards had flowers carved all along it, the lamps hung in pretty sparkling vases, the blue glowing stones adding extra light. The blue energy stone were basically how things run around here. Magic. One side of the hallway was the wall with portraits of family members of the past, tables with vases and lamps, the other side were large flat paned windows, decorated with delicate gold drapes in both sides of every window; all open, letting the sun in.
The view was beautiful. Arwyn's room was in the back part of the house to get the best view of the rose garden and the mountains. She was walking toward the front of the building, which was east. The windows facing south viewed the rolling hills lush with purple flowers. She paused mid step to take it all in. Up in the sky she could see what looked like a moon, it had an actual name, Sytra. From the fuzzy memories, Arwyn knew that at night, Sytra glowed pink unlike in the day she looked like a pale creme colored moon.
"My lady!" Merida could be heard from down the hall. "You must hurry, you know how your mother is with being on time!" The maid scurried up to her mistress. It was wonderful to be able to have a personal maid. Arwyn was very happy with this.
"I spaced out for a moment, Sytra looks magnificent this morning." Merida gave her lady an inquisitive look; she seemed to finally recognize that something may be off. Arwyn continued, "I guess I must hurry now, thank you Merida!" Arwyn picked up the one side of her dress with her right hand and began walking briskly, attempting to escape any difficult questions for now.
The staircase was beautiful. The house itself was in the shape of an H. So there were two staircases going down. The halls connected both sides of the house, if Arwyn wanted to, she could walk to the other side and take that staircase instead. She didn't want to do that at the moment. The railing was gothic inspired, with dark intricate images, too difficult to make out. Arwyn didn't linger long to admire the staircase.
With grace, Arwyn sped down the stairs. It was quite difficult with such a full wardrobe compared to what she was used to. She fretted about meeting Mother. Arwyn's mother was doting, and loved her very much. What if she notices that I am vastly different? The dress slippers were almost silent as she sprinted across the foyer. The drawing room was the last room to her right. Arriving out of breath, Arwyn greeted her mother with a bow, eyes cast down, "Good morning mother,"
Her mother, elegant in every way, with deep auburn hair, pinned up curls bouncing around her lovely face, her blue eyes twinkling. Marchioness Melna Lovelace's face brightened up at the sight of her daughter. She stood up and ran to her out of breath Arwyn and gave her a big embrace. "My love!" her voice chimed in happiness. "I am so relieved and happy to see that you recovered from the awakening. I have been so distraught with anxiety and sadness, I was confined to my bed in despair!" She took took her daughter's hand and led her to her chair to sit down. The table had nothing but cake. Can this place get any better? The Marchioness put two loafs of chocolate cake onto a beautiful little plate. "Eat up my love, I bet you are starving! You have been out for quite a few days!"
Arwyn was hungry. Her body craved food. Without a need to be told twice, she dug into her food with restrain and grace of course. The cake was sweet and soft and moist. Not too rich, but not too plain. Arwyn recalled that her new mother liked to serve her children breakfast herself. There were no servants in the drawing room. A glass of milk was poured for her and Arwyn refrained from guzzling it down. Once she swallowed the last bit of cake she took a deep breath and asked, "Mother, what is the awakening?" Arwyn tried searching the fuzzy memories, but to no avail. Her eyes looked into her mothers. A fear lingered in the back of her mind. She was always afraid of her mother in her past life. Her past mother had been extremely unstable and abusive. Being faced with a mother figure resurfaced those fears she thought she had banished long ago. Her current mothers eyes still glistened and sparkled, emphasizing how sweet and angelic this woman truly was.
Marchioness Lovelace cleared her throat, looking away shyly for a moment before remaking eye contact. "Dear, it is a phenomena which few don't survive." She took a drink of her morning tea before continuing on. "Those who are born with magic abilities, have a high chance of getting the awakening. The awakening happens when the child or young adult grow into their powers and can start using them. The body reacts differently depending on the person and how strong the magic is. basically like an allergic reaction. "
"I have magical powers!?" Arwyn chimed, almost ecstatic, but it dawned on her there might be more to it. "Why haven't you told me of this before?
"Your father and myself didn't think our girls would have any magic ability. The last person in your father's family to have been born with magic was your grandfather. Also my mother had been born with powers but it did not pass down to her children. So we assumed we were in the clear and didn't have to worry about the Awakening. " Her mother sounded a little upset.
"Is surviving the awakening rare?"
"Its not uncommon. But it one passing away isn't unheard of." Marchioness Melna looked at her empty teacup and poured her another cup, adding a cube of sugar and some cream. "Judging by how long you have been getting sick off and on the last few months and then you not waking for almost a week, you may have more magic than normal."
Arwyn put down her fork gently and leaned back into her chair, it was not the proper way to sit here, but she needed to think about things clearly. She needed to fully process that her new mother was nothing like her past life's mom. That there shouldn't be anything to fear here; all of Arwyn's memories of this life were pleasant, a bit spoiled and bratty, regardless Arwyn had a good life here. She sighed and sat in her proper form after taking a moment to reset and center herself. "What is going to happen going forward mother?" It was a difficult question due to the implications that it might not be easy going forward.
"Well magic was blessed to a certain few by the spirits of the land to keep order and protect the land. So if you have a good decent amount, the Emperor might have you assigned a special Tudor, if you don't have a lot, then since you survived the awakening you practice on your own and live life normally."
"What would it mean for me if I do have a lot of power?"
Her mother grimaced faintly. "Well, that one is a bit more complicated, but it would have to be so... You would become the heir to your father's Marques title and rule over this province that protects the boarder." The Marchioness looked out the window and brushed her curls out of her face. "It would mean more strife between you and your older sister." She attempted to lean back in her chair, trying to copy her daughter. "Your father and sister will be coming back in a few weeks, it will be discussed then." She sat back up, not happy with the sitting position. "If you do inherit, your sister will have to just campaign with a hefty dowry going forward- this season is over in three weeks however. Since she is the oldest, her campaign was for her future husband to inherit the title. So that would have to change..." Her mother's eyebrows came together with the complicated situation.
"How is Gineve's coming out season so far?" Arwyn redirected the conversation. She could tell it made her mother uncomfortable with complicated feelings that Arwyn might never be able to understand. A Season is when most noble families migrate to cities, mainly the capital city Reol, host parties, balls, galas and activities for the privileged. It normally lasts about 3 months long. Where young adults get introduced into society, gain connections and possible spouses. It is full of drama, and gossip, and fashion; Arwyn was pretty excited at the idea of coming out in society.
Gineve had to get sponsored by Aunt Margaret who lives in the city with her husband Sir Milner Allenbach. A noble without any land. Mother was supposed to go with Gineve and introduce her oldest to society herself, but then Arwyn kept getting sick. Her older sister already resent's Arwyn. With Mother not being able to go with her, Gineve is probably going to loathe her if she does end up having a lot of magic capabilites and taking away the title.
'Just my luck.'
Marchioness gave love to her daughter before heading out after breakfast. She was a busy woman, she had to work in her husband's absence. So she was busy meeting all the viscounts and barons and making sure roads were stable and wells were clean. She took her role seriously.
That left Arwyn technically alone. With nothing to do. For the rest of the day. I just have lunch to look forward to right now.
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