06-14-2010, 03:18 AM
For the most part the Brooks family ate in silence. The Lord continued to read his newspaper. As far as people were concerned, the man was not the most talkative individual of individuals. He was a hard business man and a loyal subject to the king. He knew quite a lot about warfare, managing a lot of the arms supplying for the kingdom. However, Laura, had no purpose in the family other than the role of trophy wife. She had been one of the most beautiful noblewomen of the kingdom in her time (and still so), and Samuel Brooks had attained her despite her reputation as an Ice Queen (to say the least). Karin never heard the story of how he managed to do this, or even if the two of them fell in love. It might have been a marriage of convenience, for all she knew. Only the servants' gossip yielded information, for Karin's parents were tight-lipped in her presence.
As for the siblings, well... Mikail was a terror and enjoyed pulling pranks on both of his older sisters. Rats in their beds, peanut butter in their shoes. Just a series of unpleasantness that neither of the girls particularly liked. He was also spoiled to death being the youngest and was likely to take over the family fortune when he came of age, as neither of the girls were eligible after they were married off. Karin got along fairly well with Chloe. They were both female, had a liking for fancy clothes and make-up, and enjoyed talking about the young men who came to visit. Or rather, used to visit. Before it became known that Karin Brooks had... Social problems. Unlike Karin, however, Chloe had no interest in creative or intellectual pursuits. Also a beauty even at her young age, Karin thought it was pretty evident that she would eventually be a trophy wife like their mother and would never amount to anything more than that.
Karin had different plans. She wanted to either be a museum curator or an explorer. Or, like in the daydreams she enjoyed entertaining, the apprentice to a sorcerer. It was a highly-respected profession that only the most intelligent of students could aspire to attain. There were several well-known sorcerers in the kingdom, but they only took on two apprentices at a time. And Karin was fairly certain that none of them had openings, unless there was a secret sorcerer out there that kept himself from public scrutiny. As for other dreams, unfortunately, her parents did not share in them. Like Chloe Karin needed to be married off to a wealthy young man of suitable class, or she if she continued to frighten them all off as she had been doing and passed the marriageable age, she would end up in an asylum for her disorder. Admittedly the girl did not want to end up in an asylum continuously imprisoned and tortured for the rest of her painful existence. But she also did not want to be married to a shallow-minded dandy boy.
The silence was getting on Karin's nerves, so she thought that she would try to initiate some discussion at the table. Mainly about the next time she would be allowed to go outdoors or visit town.
"Father?"
Lord Brooks did not look up from his newspaper. He flipped to the next page, skimming down it for something of interest, with one of his dark brows arched.
"Yes, Karin?"
"I was wondering. I have not gone into town for a while. Do you think it would be possible for me to take a carriage in with perhaps the governess and Chloe?"
Chloe perked up noticeably, not even bothered by the fact Mikail was sneaking some of her food onto his plate.
"Oh, father, please let us go!" She was practically bouncing in her chair.
"Your sister is not well enough to go into town," Samuel Brooks replied. He lifted his gaze, but only to regard Karin's sister. He would not look at Karin directly when he spoke, as though she was not present in the room.
"But father, my medicine works," Karin pleaded. "I can control myself, please."
"No, you must stay here where we can keep an eye on you. And that is final."
Karin's heart gave a painful squeeze in her chest, and all the sudden her insides raged with fury. The mood within her had changed abruptly, and she knew that to give into it would prove her father correct. So even fuming and on the verge of hysterical tears, Karin forced herself to finish the pancakes and eggs before quietly retiring back to her room. Once there, she tore a pillow to shreds.
|