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Savinia, Falen, Noryn
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Date Posted: 20:47:52 04/19/03 Sat
Savinia paused at the back door, hitched her basket further up her arm and pulled out more strands of flaxen hair to cover the side of her face. She wasn’t taking any chances. There could be someone other than Drea in the kitchen. The basket was cutting into her arm by now, she moved its position again and hammered on the door. The paint was peeling, revealing the wooden boards beneath, Yet another job that needed seeing to at some point.
The door opened. Savinia stepped past Drea with a greeting and dumped the basket on the table. She carefully piled the change next to the basket and turned to go upstairs.
“Did you manage to get fresh meat this time?” The Innkeepers wife called from the other end of the kitchen. Savinia paused undecidedly.
“Yes” she replied, hoping Falen would leave it there.
“I hope you complained about the maggots we found last time. Totally disgraceful.”
Savinia hovered uneasily in the kitchen, it seemed rude not to face Falen when speaking to her, on the other hand, she had to keep her face hidden.
“I threatened to tell the authorities if he sold us rotten meat again” she replied, her back still facing Falen.
“Good... Is there anything wrong?” Falen’s voice took on a mother’s tone.
“No” Savinia replied, perhaps a little too hurridly. She stretched out her arms and yawned.
“I’m a bit tired, I think I’ll sleep for a bit.” She continued towards the door, hoping Falen wouldn’t think her behaviour was too strange. Hopefully she’d manage to get upstairs before anyone noticed. She had nearly reached the door when Noryn the other barmaid came through carrying an empty jug. Noryn took one look at Savina and gasped.
“What happened to your face?”
“Face?” Falen sounded concerned. “What do you mean, Savinia turn around.” Savinia grimaced in annoyance, then scowled at Noryn. Noryn instantly realised her mistake and tried to cover up.
“I... mean... You look so tired. You’d better sleep it off or no one will want you tonight.”
Falen was not so easily fooled. As mistress of the Tavern she prided herself on the well-being of her girls. Besides, her parental instincts could tell that there was something wrong. She crossed the kitchen, placed a corse hand on Savinia’s shoulder and spun her around. Savinia bowed her head, the loose strands of blonde hair covered the eye. Falen forced Savinia’s chin up until she met her eyes. She brushed back the escaped hair and her lips tightened as she regarded the swelling.
It was a nasty black eye. The eyelid was drooping slightly, the red tinged with early purple streaks.
“Alright... What happened?” Falen folded her arms briskly and waited for an explaination.
“Oh...that” Savinia tried to laugh. “It was so stupid really. I was fighting for the fresh bread and this man shoved me out of the way... He was really sorry about it, kept on applogising. I didn’t want to worry you about it.” She tried to keep her breathing steady, hoping Falen wouldn’t notice the lie. Falen pursued her lips and raised one eyebrow slightly.
“Really?” she asked.
“Yes” Savinia responded determinedly. She juted her jaw out slightly as if daring anyone to challenge her story. Falen decided not to push it any further.
“Very well.” Go see if you can cover it up for the evening.”
Savinia smiled and hurried upstairs to her room.
She was inspecting the bruise in the mirror, when she heard the faint knocking at the door. Noryn peered around cautiously, then entered, closing the door behind her.
“Sorry I gave you away” she muttered. Appologising didn’t come naturally to her.
“It’s alright” Savinia replied, rummaging through a drawer for some makeup. Noryn stood silently for a moment, her arms folded impatiently.
“It wasn’t a man buying bread was it. And she didn’t applogise.” It was more of a statement than a question. Savinia sighed.
“No” she admitted quietly. “It was a woman who flew at me, trying to pull my hair out. When they pulled her off me, she screamed that I was a dirty whore who had stolen her husband. The whole street was on her side, they spat and jeered at me. I was lucky just to get away with this.”
“You should have fought back. I would have” Noryn replied
“Well I’m not you am I” Savinia snapped. Her hand holding the eye shadow was trembling.
“Come here” Noryn sighed. She took the shadow and started to apply it over the tender swelling. “It’s not worth getting upset about.”
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