For a moment, Siffia was surprised, not knowing what to say. She instantly tried to cover herself with her arms, even though there was no way that her frail frame would ever possibly conceal all of the incriminating clothing. She’d been too dazed and out of it ever since she’d returned to remember to change into her usual frumpy house clothes.
Of course, her shocked reaction had done nothing to help her case as far as her brother was concerned.
“You… There’s no way someone gifted someone like you such nice clothes! Don’t tell me… Did you steal them? Or perhaps did you do something indecent to receive them?! I heard you last time when father gave you that dress; I know how unhappy you were with it! What, were you so upset that you were willing to do anything just to get better clothes? Is that why you were out all night?! Tell me! Tell me! What did you do?! What did you do, Siffia?!”
Her brother came closer and closer, becoming more and more belligerent and aggressive. Siffia attempted to step away in fear, but he quickly snatched up her wrist, crushing it slightly with his superior alpha strength. She winced from the pain and tried to pull him off using her nails, but to little success. Overwhelmed from all the pain and the yelling that was surrounding her, Siffia considered using her magic to separate herself from her brother, repercussions be damned, when suddenly the front door opened, and their father made his way into the hall they’d been arguing in.
“Shinrel? Siffia? What’s going on here?”
Her brother immediately let go of his hold on Siffia, turning to give his attention to their father. Siffia too straightened up, doing her best to quickly correct her appearance. Their father notoriously abhorred anything that appeared to be out of place or not following the rules he believed in; Physical skirmishes were of course frowned upon and deemed to not be proper noble behavior.
“Father! Were you aware that Siffia stayed out last night and only came back this morning?! She’s even wearing clothes that aren’t hers!”
Their father’s eyes swept between the two for a moment, looking more and more displeased with each pass. And when they settled upon her in the end, Siffia quietly sighed, perfectly guessing whose side her father was about to take.
“...Is this true, Siffia? Have you dared to disgrace this family even further than you already have?!”
She couldn’t help but flinch when her father practically roared out the end of his question. She felt desperately wronged, especially knowing how often her brother stayed out doing who knows what! She was aware that she was despised while her brother was loved, but she still wanted to believe that her father would be fair enough to listen to what she had to say, even if the past had proven how wrong that thought was time and time again.
“No, father! It may be true that I stayed out overnight, but it wasn’t for any deplorable reason! I was simply staying with my friend, Lady E-”
“I will not listen to any pathetic excuses, young lady! Do you think it’s acceptable for a woman of marriageable age to roam about at night as you have?! We’re already having problems finding someone who’s willing to accept an ugly woman like yourself, and now-”
Siffia’s father raised his hand, seemingly poised to slap her, when a sudden commanding voice echoed through the hallway, interrupting them.
“...That’s enough of that, Viscount Heston. Cease this show of barbarism this instant, and allow your daughter’s guest to escort her to her rooms!”
The frozen trio of Hestons quickly turned their heads towards the unexpected intruder. The way that the three of them immediately straightened up when they saw who it was was almost comical.
Siffia’s father was first to regain his composure and speak up, beating Siffia who was just a step behind him to the punch.
“Ah, Lady Mescal! What a surprise! What, pray tell, could possibly be the occasion for someone as esteemed as yourself-”
“Enough. Do not continue to make me repeat myself, Viscount. I've already told you that I came here to meet with your daughter. Now move out of the way so that I may continue with my business.”
Siffia’s father’s mouth remained open exactly where it had been stopped, perhaps in surprise. Whether it was due to the rude interruption by Eris, or the idea that someone as highborn as herself would show any interest in his uninteresting looking daughter, was unknown. Seeing his father’s awkward reaction, Siffia’s brother attempted to speak up instead, but knowing how rude and uncalled for her brother tended to be, Siffia quickly moved into action. Before her brother could say more than a word, she’d already taken hold of Eris’s hand and began fleeing towards her bedroom.
~~~
“My apologies, Lady Siffia... I was unaware that my insistence towards you staying the night would cause such violence against you from your family.”
Eris’s usually neutral face crumpled in displeasure as she spoke. Her gaze repeatedly strayed towards the door, as if she were considering storming out of Siffia’s room any minute and giving Siffia’s family a better piece of her mind. Though Siffia was quite touched to have someone who would stand up for her in such a way, knowing the temper of her family and how gifted with the sword Eris was, she couldn’t let such an encounter take place.
“Thank you, but it’s truly fine... I-”
“Do not tell me that something is fine when your own family has used violent force against you. I’m not so blind as to not notice the way that your wrist has been injured, and you’re not so dull that you wouldn’t have seen the way your father was about to strike you. There’s nothing ‘fine’ in any of that.”
“Aah…”
Siffia clasped her hands and weakly smiled, averting her eyes as she did so, attempting to not look as embarrassed and awkward in front of Eris’s completely accurate statement as she felt. It was almost enough to make her believe that she was the one who was caught doing something deplorable, and not her father.
“Ahem, yes… I-I suppose you’re correct. I’m sorry for saying something so absurd-”
“I don’t need halfhearted excuses from you right now, Lady Siffia. Hand me your arm.”
Siffia jumped slightly from the unexpected demand, almost moving to hide her injured arm. In the end, Eris simply sighed and gently reached out to take hold of Siffia’s arm herself as if dealing with a child, pulling up the sleeve that was covering it to give the arm a thorough inspection. Siffia blushed, not knowing how to feel with the situation. They’d slept in the same bed together just last night, and yet this somehow managed to feel more intimate.
Hoping to distract herself from the almost tingling feeling, she opened her mouth to ask a question instead.
“Um, Lady Eris, how-”
She’d had her wrist and arm abused by her brother before her father had even arrived. Her father hadn’t yet laid a single finger on her by the time he was caught, and Siffia had been doing her best to hide how much her arm had been bothering her ever since Eris arrived, so she hadn’t expected to be found out like this. She’d even gone out of her way to take Eris’s hand using the arm that wasn’t hurt when she’d dragged her off to her room.
However, as she started asking the question, she immediately realized how silly she was to even wonder such a thing.
Who was Eris? A renowned swordswoman, considered one of the best in the nation, who had helped to lead the country to victory in the war against the heretics less than a month ago. Such a person would not so easily become dimmed from a a few short weeks out of battle; It was only to be expected that Eris would have noticed such a clumsily hidden injury.
-And the fact that Siffia’s wrist and upper arm were already beginning to visibly swell up and become discolored under the sheer cloth that made up the arms of her dress might have also played a role in it.
_____
AN: Alllright! We made it to 10! Now I'll be posting this more regularly, probably twice a week if I can help it I think, but we'll see how it goes.
For the record, I will be posting 10 advance chapters of this on my patreon for anyone who's impatient like me. Khajiit has wares if you have coin~
/u63286737