Chapter 3
711 Words
The table was full of the complete family now, except for an empty chair which was supposed to belong to Remi, but which no one ever sat on. Three maids walked in from the kitchen through another door, different from the one which Remi had used to get to the kitchen before. This one simply led to the Lupercus Dining Hall, where the family had their private lunches and suppers.
Remi was among the three maidens that walked in, carrying a pot carved with a touch of gold.
The cheerful discussions and laughter that sang through the table subsequently reduced to awkwardness when everyone had noticed Remi among the Maids.
How could they not notice? Aside from the fact that she was much too obvious not to notice, they were expecting her already, as was the usual practice. While the rest of her nuclear family sat down to a meal, Remi participated in this feast only by serving them.
Wufric, her father, Nyla, her mother, Dantina, her immediate older sister, Thane, and Boris, her two older brothers, rounded the table.
"Look at how she walks." Thane whispered to Boris. Wulfric eyed her irritably, while Nyla rolled her eyes with devious intent.
"Could you walk any faster, Remi?" Dantina spoke up, with her loud frail voice which Remi only despised so much.
Remi reached the table now and dropped the pot at the centre, where the other maids had dropped theirs.
"Water! wine! Could you hurry up!?" Thane demanded.
"Why do we always have to put her on the serving detail. She's better off scrubbing the floors and cleaning pig dung." Dantina said.
"It is mother's doing. " Thane said, sighing.
"That's so crude of you, Dantina. She's your sister. " Boris put in as Remi walked away sluggishly.
"Oh, shut up, Boris. You wouldn't even defend her in front of outsiders, much less claim her as your blood. But now, here, in the confines of your family and privacy, you defend her. You're a coward. " Dantina spoke up, prompting Thane to erupt into a loud, mocking laugh.
Boris seethed in silence, his anger simmering just below the surface. Deep down, he knew his sister was right - he was just as ashamed of her as the rest of their family. Though he may have been a timid, weak-willed man, he was just as culpable as the others.
Just then, Remi reappeared, carrying a tray laden with metal cups and jars filled with water and wine. Her frailty was palpable, her steps slow and laboured, enough to evoke a pang of genuine pity, but not from her family. Not from her blood.
Remi walked in again with a tray of metal cups and jars containing water and wine. She walked with so much weakness that it was enough to actually pity her.
But her own family never will.
"You are so ugly, Remi. Do you know that?" Thane said when she was closed to the table.
"I asked you a question." He hit his fist on the table when she didn't respond, which made Remi shudder in fear.
"Y...yes."
"Yes, what?"
"I... I know. I k...know that I am ug...ugly, Sir Thane." Remi said, a tear easily dropping down her face without much effort. she always faced the ground. So they could not see much.
"You stammer all the time." Nyla suddenly butted in. "You can't even speak properly. You stammer, you cry, you are sluggish and pathetic. "
"Is she crying?" Dantina's voice was laced with wicked amusement as she chuckled, attempting to sneak a glance at Remi's expression. However, Remi deliberately averted her gaze, feigning interest in a spot on the ground, her eyes scanning the dirt as if searching for something.
She dare not wipe her tears.
"Enough." Wulfric said. "Get out of here, child. Let us eat in peace. "
Remi shuffled along as quickly as her frail body would allow, her hunched frame swaying precariously from side to side in an awkward, stumbling gait.
"That never gets old. Save our sights, dear Mene." Remi heard Dantina say as she walked out. She was convinced that there existed no person, no thing, and no circumstance on this earth that she loathed more intensely than her own sister.
- Writer
