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dragonjournal) wrote2011-01-16 12:19 pm
dragonjournal) wrote2011-01-16 12:19 pm
Entry tags:
Bingo Spam #1
Title: Truths Unwanted
Prompt: Animals
Rating: PG-13
Summary/Warnings: Racism. Classism. A lot of other –isms. Kenny/Max universe
She’d always loved animals. They’d been a comfort to her when her family was being especially pressuring. Maximiliana curled into the small shadows offered by the dog pen. Around her, panting in the oppressive heat, her father’s prize hunting hounds ignored her presence.
She watched with wide eyes as wedding preparations continued going forward. In a few days, her eldest sister would marry into a neighbor’s family. Maximiliana didn’t like the man. He was cruel and petty and a liar.
She sighed and ruffled the ears of a close dog. The dog didn’t move, but sighed in what she took to be a happy way, a content way.
“Maxie?”
The small voice came from over her shoulder and Maximiliana turned to see her best friend – a pale skinned girl named Traea – beckoning to her. Maxie, as most called her, scrambled out of the pen and carefully shook the dirt and dust out of her skirt. She smoothed a hand down the fabric and walked along with Traea at a sedate pace.
Maxie didn’t like the restrictions put on her as a nobleman’s daughter and tried to fight them at all times. However, she knew when not to fight – and with the wedding preparations going on, she’d been warned that anything seen as uncouth would have the severest consequences. In fact, Maxie was pretty sure she’d seen glee in her second-mother’s eyes when the woman had been making the threat. Since the woman had become Head Wife years ago with the death of Maxie’s mother, she’d taken delight in undermining Maxie at every opportunity.
“Maxie, the guards came in and packed my room today.”
Maxie stopped and looked at Traea. There were several reasons for that. Maxie knew that Traea was, technically, a slave, but the two of them had been together as friends for years. Her father had even promised that Traea would go with her, when Maxie got married.
“Maybe we’re getting a bigger room.” Maxie had a horrible sinking feeling in her gut. “With Junia marrying and leaving, and as the only other girl, it would make sense to give me her room and then make my room into something else.”
Her room had once been a nursery that served all the Wives and the slaves. When she’d gotten older, because of the number of children that her father had had, she’d taken over the room. It had been the only one left.
Now, however, the eldest of her sisters remaining in the house was marrying and moving out. Four of her brothers were gone, a fifth would be leaving in a year for his military service, and the sixth would be leaving for the priesthood a month after the wedding.
“Would your father allow you to redecorate it?”
Junia didn’t have the greatest taste when it came to, well, anything. Just look at the lout she was marrying. Maxie managed to keep that thought to herself, at least. Barely.
“I hope so. That much purple and pink would make me ill.” Maxie shared a laugh with Traea as they stepped out of the heat and into the cool interior of the house. Traea went to fetch Maxie some water to wash the dust away with while she waited.
Maxie watched the workmen scrambling all over the house. This wedding must be costing a fortune. She’d seen improvements to things that were perfectly serviceable and replacing of things that only needed a bit of cleaning and some maintenance to be like new again.
After cleaning her face, throat and hands in the water Traea brought, Maxie walked with her friend deeper into the shadow-covered house. They were lucky. A breeze almost always flowed through the halls. It made them dustier than normal, but it also helped dissipate the heat.
“Maximiliana!”
Maxie sighed. She knew that voice and tone. Apparently, she’d done something wrong again. Maxie schooled her features into neutral blankness and then turned to curtsey properly to the Head Wife of her father. “Second-Mother, you are looking beautiful today.”
In fact, Maxie found the Head Wife’s features distasteful. The woman’s eyes were too far apart, and she lined them heavily with kohl. She gained all her weight in her face and that just made her wide-set eyes look tiny and beady. It didn’t help that the Head Wife typically wore high collared tops that framed the face, making it look even heavier.
Maxie wondered when the Head Wife had gotten new jewelry. She hadn’t seen that stuff before. That made her suspicious.
“Traea, go see to the moving of your things. The Head Keeper will show you what to do.” The Head Wife immediately dismissed the presence of the slave.
Maxie hoped that she’d been right. A horrible rock sat in her gut, practically choking her. Something was wrong. The Head Wife looked far too gleeful for her comfort.
“Maximiliana, the jeweler is looking for you. As well, we’re going to be cutting your hair. Go find the hair dresser, immediately.”
Maxie didn’t move. “Where will Traea and I be moving to?” She tried to put all the deference she could muster into the question.
The small smile on the Head Wife’s face made Maxie’s stomach plummet. “Traea has been added to the dowry.”
“NO!” Maxie screamed the word before she could bite it back. “You can’t! Father promised that Traea would never be sold!” Traea was her best friend. She wasn’t a slave. It had always been Maxie’s intention to beg her husband for Traea’s freedom.
“And he’s keeping that promise. She’s not being sold. She’s being given.” The Head Wife turned away, leaving Maxie and Junia alone in the hall.
“Junia, please!” Maxie all but flung herself at her elder sister. “Junia, please. Traea’s my best friend! You can’t take her, please.” She begged, tears running down her face. “Please, Junia. Talk to Father, talk to the Head Wife…”
“Why?” Junia jerked away from Maxie. “I’m the one that asked for her.” She wheeled around, leaving Maxie alone.
Tears streaking down her face, Maxie ran after her sister. “Junia! How could you? Please, anything else, just not –“
“Get your hands off me!” Junia jerked away from her, and raised a hand.
Maxie couldn’t help the flinch. Junia had hit her more times than she could remember. She folded her hands together and lowered her eyes, paying her elder sister the respect she deserved. Or at least attempted to. “Please, Junia…”
Maxie cried out as her upper arm was yanked.
“You listen to me. Your mother was the Head Wife, until she died in that accident.” Junia hissed in her ear. “You’re no longer the princess you always thought yourself to be, and this is my wedding. You will not embarrass me. Traea will be coming with me; you will get that hair of yours cut and you will keep your mouth shut to Father.”
Maxie panted with the tears flowing down her cheeks. “But she’s my best –“
“Friend?” Junia sneered the word. “She’s nothing but a slave, an animal to serve her mistress. That’s me. Now do as you were told and go see the jeweler and the hair dresser.”
Junia shoved her away and Maxie stumbled into the wall and stared after her sister. Her heart constricted and she looked around. The servants had all found some place else to be.
Maxie went running for her father. Her sister had told her not to, but surely, he had to know about this. He’d promised her and perhaps she was being just slightly childish by expecting him to honor it. Sliding to a stop outside of her father’s office, she couldn’t help but overhear the Head Wife in there.
“I know she’s the only daughter of the beloved late Head Wife, but, my love, she’s no better than the animals that she speaks to.”
Maxie stopped to listen. She wanted to refute what the Head Wife was saying but was too stunned to.
“Why that slave of hers is carrying on and thinking she has some say in where she goes!” The Head Wife huffed out a sigh. “My love, that girl needs to learn her place and Junia would be the best to teach her. Traea is a slave; a valued one to be sure, but still a slave. She’s gotten far too above herself, and Maximiliana is far too lenient.”
Maxie held her breath as her father was silent after the Head Wife finished her speech.
“Very well. I had hoped to send Traea with Maxie when she married, but you are right. Traea needs a firmer hand.”
Maxie turned and fled. Her father had betrayed her; her sister thought her best friend an animal. Perhaps those saying that a slave rebellion was inevitable and that they should be freed were right.
She reached her room in time to see the guards drag out a sobbing Traea. Maxie clenched her fists in thwarted fury and stomped inside. The jeweler and the hair dresser weren’t in there, luckily. She locked the room and began packing. Her brothers might help her.
Then she stopped. No. Not her brothers. Their other neighbors had had a son. He’d left the family, even though everyone knew where he was, because he disagreed with the way his father had treated the slaves. Maxie didn’t know if he’d remember her, but maybe, if he heard her story, he’d understand.
The sound of laughter outside her window drew her curiosity.
“You’ll really sell her?” Junia was asking her betrothed.
Large shoulders moved in a shrug. “I don’t see why not. My family’s auctioneers should be able to get a good price for her, after she’s bred up.”
Her hands clenched the windowsill and she wanted to pitch something at his head.
“Will I be able to choose the stud?” Junia sounded far too eager.
Maybe she should throw something at her sister instead.
Junia’s betrothed gave a rumble that might have been a laugh. “Nah, Jun. I’ll choose ‘im. Don’t want you exposed to such animals.”
Animals; there was that word again. Maxie whirled away from her sister’s twittering and cooing and continued packing. Once night fell, she’d just leave. The sound of barking in the distance made her smile. And she’d take her ‘animal friends’ with her.
Prompt: Animals
Rating: PG-13
Summary/Warnings: Racism. Classism. A lot of other –isms. Kenny/Max universe
She’d always loved animals. They’d been a comfort to her when her family was being especially pressuring. Maximiliana curled into the small shadows offered by the dog pen. Around her, panting in the oppressive heat, her father’s prize hunting hounds ignored her presence.
She watched with wide eyes as wedding preparations continued going forward. In a few days, her eldest sister would marry into a neighbor’s family. Maximiliana didn’t like the man. He was cruel and petty and a liar.
She sighed and ruffled the ears of a close dog. The dog didn’t move, but sighed in what she took to be a happy way, a content way.
“Maxie?”
The small voice came from over her shoulder and Maximiliana turned to see her best friend – a pale skinned girl named Traea – beckoning to her. Maxie, as most called her, scrambled out of the pen and carefully shook the dirt and dust out of her skirt. She smoothed a hand down the fabric and walked along with Traea at a sedate pace.
Maxie didn’t like the restrictions put on her as a nobleman’s daughter and tried to fight them at all times. However, she knew when not to fight – and with the wedding preparations going on, she’d been warned that anything seen as uncouth would have the severest consequences. In fact, Maxie was pretty sure she’d seen glee in her second-mother’s eyes when the woman had been making the threat. Since the woman had become Head Wife years ago with the death of Maxie’s mother, she’d taken delight in undermining Maxie at every opportunity.
“Maxie, the guards came in and packed my room today.”
Maxie stopped and looked at Traea. There were several reasons for that. Maxie knew that Traea was, technically, a slave, but the two of them had been together as friends for years. Her father had even promised that Traea would go with her, when Maxie got married.
“Maybe we’re getting a bigger room.” Maxie had a horrible sinking feeling in her gut. “With Junia marrying and leaving, and as the only other girl, it would make sense to give me her room and then make my room into something else.”
Her room had once been a nursery that served all the Wives and the slaves. When she’d gotten older, because of the number of children that her father had had, she’d taken over the room. It had been the only one left.
Now, however, the eldest of her sisters remaining in the house was marrying and moving out. Four of her brothers were gone, a fifth would be leaving in a year for his military service, and the sixth would be leaving for the priesthood a month after the wedding.
“Would your father allow you to redecorate it?”
Junia didn’t have the greatest taste when it came to, well, anything. Just look at the lout she was marrying. Maxie managed to keep that thought to herself, at least. Barely.
“I hope so. That much purple and pink would make me ill.” Maxie shared a laugh with Traea as they stepped out of the heat and into the cool interior of the house. Traea went to fetch Maxie some water to wash the dust away with while she waited.
Maxie watched the workmen scrambling all over the house. This wedding must be costing a fortune. She’d seen improvements to things that were perfectly serviceable and replacing of things that only needed a bit of cleaning and some maintenance to be like new again.
After cleaning her face, throat and hands in the water Traea brought, Maxie walked with her friend deeper into the shadow-covered house. They were lucky. A breeze almost always flowed through the halls. It made them dustier than normal, but it also helped dissipate the heat.
“Maximiliana!”
Maxie sighed. She knew that voice and tone. Apparently, she’d done something wrong again. Maxie schooled her features into neutral blankness and then turned to curtsey properly to the Head Wife of her father. “Second-Mother, you are looking beautiful today.”
In fact, Maxie found the Head Wife’s features distasteful. The woman’s eyes were too far apart, and she lined them heavily with kohl. She gained all her weight in her face and that just made her wide-set eyes look tiny and beady. It didn’t help that the Head Wife typically wore high collared tops that framed the face, making it look even heavier.
Maxie wondered when the Head Wife had gotten new jewelry. She hadn’t seen that stuff before. That made her suspicious.
“Traea, go see to the moving of your things. The Head Keeper will show you what to do.” The Head Wife immediately dismissed the presence of the slave.
Maxie hoped that she’d been right. A horrible rock sat in her gut, practically choking her. Something was wrong. The Head Wife looked far too gleeful for her comfort.
“Maximiliana, the jeweler is looking for you. As well, we’re going to be cutting your hair. Go find the hair dresser, immediately.”
Maxie didn’t move. “Where will Traea and I be moving to?” She tried to put all the deference she could muster into the question.
The small smile on the Head Wife’s face made Maxie’s stomach plummet. “Traea has been added to the dowry.”
“NO!” Maxie screamed the word before she could bite it back. “You can’t! Father promised that Traea would never be sold!” Traea was her best friend. She wasn’t a slave. It had always been Maxie’s intention to beg her husband for Traea’s freedom.
“And he’s keeping that promise. She’s not being sold. She’s being given.” The Head Wife turned away, leaving Maxie and Junia alone in the hall.
“Junia, please!” Maxie all but flung herself at her elder sister. “Junia, please. Traea’s my best friend! You can’t take her, please.” She begged, tears running down her face. “Please, Junia. Talk to Father, talk to the Head Wife…”
“Why?” Junia jerked away from Maxie. “I’m the one that asked for her.” She wheeled around, leaving Maxie alone.
Tears streaking down her face, Maxie ran after her sister. “Junia! How could you? Please, anything else, just not –“
“Get your hands off me!” Junia jerked away from her, and raised a hand.
Maxie couldn’t help the flinch. Junia had hit her more times than she could remember. She folded her hands together and lowered her eyes, paying her elder sister the respect she deserved. Or at least attempted to. “Please, Junia…”
Maxie cried out as her upper arm was yanked.
“You listen to me. Your mother was the Head Wife, until she died in that accident.” Junia hissed in her ear. “You’re no longer the princess you always thought yourself to be, and this is my wedding. You will not embarrass me. Traea will be coming with me; you will get that hair of yours cut and you will keep your mouth shut to Father.”
Maxie panted with the tears flowing down her cheeks. “But she’s my best –“
“Friend?” Junia sneered the word. “She’s nothing but a slave, an animal to serve her mistress. That’s me. Now do as you were told and go see the jeweler and the hair dresser.”
Junia shoved her away and Maxie stumbled into the wall and stared after her sister. Her heart constricted and she looked around. The servants had all found some place else to be.
Maxie went running for her father. Her sister had told her not to, but surely, he had to know about this. He’d promised her and perhaps she was being just slightly childish by expecting him to honor it. Sliding to a stop outside of her father’s office, she couldn’t help but overhear the Head Wife in there.
“I know she’s the only daughter of the beloved late Head Wife, but, my love, she’s no better than the animals that she speaks to.”
Maxie stopped to listen. She wanted to refute what the Head Wife was saying but was too stunned to.
“Why that slave of hers is carrying on and thinking she has some say in where she goes!” The Head Wife huffed out a sigh. “My love, that girl needs to learn her place and Junia would be the best to teach her. Traea is a slave; a valued one to be sure, but still a slave. She’s gotten far too above herself, and Maximiliana is far too lenient.”
Maxie held her breath as her father was silent after the Head Wife finished her speech.
“Very well. I had hoped to send Traea with Maxie when she married, but you are right. Traea needs a firmer hand.”
Maxie turned and fled. Her father had betrayed her; her sister thought her best friend an animal. Perhaps those saying that a slave rebellion was inevitable and that they should be freed were right.
She reached her room in time to see the guards drag out a sobbing Traea. Maxie clenched her fists in thwarted fury and stomped inside. The jeweler and the hair dresser weren’t in there, luckily. She locked the room and began packing. Her brothers might help her.
Then she stopped. No. Not her brothers. Their other neighbors had had a son. He’d left the family, even though everyone knew where he was, because he disagreed with the way his father had treated the slaves. Maxie didn’t know if he’d remember her, but maybe, if he heard her story, he’d understand.
The sound of laughter outside her window drew her curiosity.
“You’ll really sell her?” Junia was asking her betrothed.
Large shoulders moved in a shrug. “I don’t see why not. My family’s auctioneers should be able to get a good price for her, after she’s bred up.”
Her hands clenched the windowsill and she wanted to pitch something at his head.
“Will I be able to choose the stud?” Junia sounded far too eager.
Maybe she should throw something at her sister instead.
Junia’s betrothed gave a rumble that might have been a laugh. “Nah, Jun. I’ll choose ‘im. Don’t want you exposed to such animals.”
Animals; there was that word again. Maxie whirled away from her sister’s twittering and cooing and continued packing. Once night fell, she’d just leave. The sound of barking in the distance made her smile. And she’d take her ‘animal friends’ with her.
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