Young Writers Society

To her embarrassment she found that no one was there. Only the gentle glow of coals of the fire that had burned beneath a black pot and the cooking counter that filled the center of the kitchen. A large table on the far side of the room would be used for the servants eat at. She let out a huff as she waited for a moment to see if anyone would come. With an irritated scowl she grabbed a nearby bell and began to ring it incessantly.

Leena quickly came in through the servant's entrance trying to rub the sleep from her eyes and her brunette hair in disarray. “Yes, Princess? How can I be of service?” she said softly. Re'ana could hear the remnants of sleep in her voice.

“I want something to drink, and while you’re at it, make me something to eat as well,” Re'ana commanded before she brushed off a stool and sat down on it, avoiding having to return to her room. Leena quickly got to work pouring a drink and getting a fire going for the cook. Hurrying through the door that she had entered from she hurriedly woke the cook.

A man dressed in a hastily tied smock and a hat that sat crocked on his mussed up hair arrived a little later with Leena right behind him. He grabbed random ingredients and threw them into the black pot to cook as the fire began to burn in the hearth. Only the crackling of the fire and the bubbling of the food made any noise between the three of them.

In her boredom, Re'ana began to think back on how long she had known Leena. The woman had been made her lady in waiting several years ago, but she knew almost nothing about her. What does it matter? she thought to herself. She is just a servant afterall. She dismissed the thought as quickly as it arrived to play with a rolling pin, pushing it back and forth on the counter.

“Mmmmm! Something smells good,” Fang said as he stepped through the door into the kitchen. He held a thick leather bound book under one arm as he bit into an apple in his other hand. His gaze fell on Re'ana sitting in the corner wearing her night robe. “Evening, Princess. Still having trouble sleeping, I see.” Re'ana released an irritated sigh and rolled her eyes to look as far away from him as possible. “Still mad at me for disappearing on you the other night, huh?”

“For your information, you have such little bearing in my life that I hardly remember the incident,” Re'ana said nonchalantly.

“Apparently, I had some barring. You're still upset,” Fang said with a wolfish grin.

Re'ana ground her teeth at Fang's disregard for her authority but she was too hungry to fight with him. Sitting at the table and setting the large leather bound book down, he opened it to one of the center pages.

“Didn't think a commoner like you would have the ability to read,” Re'ana snapped.

“And I'm sure you already know every word written in this book just by looking at its cover.” Fang retorted back as he flipped through the pages.

She caught a glimpse of a drawing depicting a shrouded figure on one of the pages. “Wait!” she cried, jumping up from the stool. Fang and Leena both looked to her, a little startled by her sudden unladylike outburst. She immediately regretted saying anything in such a loud voice. “That book...What is it?” she asked.

“It's a tome of different creatures that one might see outside the wall. Sometimes they get inside and knowing how to deal with them is the difference between life and death.”

“And the drawing on that page?”

Fang looked at the page and then back to Re'ana. “That's an image of the T'vi. One of the few people that actually saw one and lived managed to draw that before his mind completely snapped.”

Re'ana swallowed a little at the description of the creature. “Does anyone know anything about them?”

“Why the sudden interest? You act like you've seen one of these things.”

“I had a dream about something that looked like that.” Re’ana’s voice was laced with fear as she spoke. Leena looked to her with concern as it was not something in Re'ana's character to reveal her fear.

Fang's normally grin bearing face was suddenly serious. Flipping to the page with the most information on the T'vi, he pushed the book toward Re'ana. Only half of the page was filled with the scrawling of information about the wraith-like creature. Fang took another bite out of the apple as Re'ana sat down. “Not much is known about the T'vi. They aren't seen much. Well, at least few have seen them and lived to tell the tale or kept their sanity. The small information that is known is that they supposedly have some magical ability and will abduct people at night. What happens to those that they take isn't known, but few are ever seen again. Those that are seen are either insane or complete servants to the T’vi.”

Re'ana flipped through the pages idly. “How come you know so much about them?”

“I knew a man who survived an attack from a T'vi. Before his mind was completely lost he told me about them in broken sentences.”

Re'ana nodded as she closed the book. “Well, I guess I'm glad that you're so knowledgeable about them. Should they come then you'll know how to drive them away.”

Fang huffed a little. “There is no driving them away. You see one; you start running and don't look back.” He tossed the apple core into a basket of food scraps before grabbing the book and taking it out of the kitchen. “Just remember. If you really do see one, don't let it in. For some reason they can't enter a house without being invited in.”

She let out a frustrated growl as Fang disappeared into the hall. “God I hate him.”

“He didn't seem all bad,” Leena idly remarked as she placed the glass and steaming bowl in front of Re'ana.

“Such disregard for social standings. He has little more manners than a pig.” Re'ana held the eating utensil between her index finger and thumb, as she had been taught to do for years. She would champ down on the food in a most inelegant manner in her frustration with the night clad guard. After a few moments, the food in the bowl was reduced to crumbs and the glass sat empty. Re'ana reluctantly returned to her room, leaving Leena and the cook to clean up the mess.