Cinder X Bella ~ Seven!

The walk home, short though it may be, was extremely informative. “My staff was quite looking forward to meeting you. They've never worked beside a proper lady before.”

Bella ignored her, staring straight ahead, refusing to give this cruel woman the satisfaction of seeing how upset she’d become. Matringa didn't seem to mind, merely humming softly at the attitude and proceeded to speak at her own leisure, “At least, I think they're looking forward to working beside you. As you would have noticed if you had introduced yourself as instructed, they don't speak very much. Not at all, in fact. Each of them was convicted of the crime of sedition and had been sentenced to death for speaking against the crown.”

This injection of information earned a reaction from Bella. “You've brought criminals into my house? My father couldn't possibly know about this; there's no way he would allow such a perception of impropriety to fall on us. The house, his business, will be under constant scrutiny!”

At that moment, a pigeon swooped down and knocked off the tiny, impractical hat Matringa was wearing. Bella was too startled to stop it, though her hand came up to try and send the bird away. The pigeon came around once more, diving at the new stepmother, only for her hand to shoot out and catch the bird by the body. It blinked rapidly in surprise at the sudden grip, and Bella looked up at her new stepmother in shock. 

“Oh me, oh my! What a nice little treat. I’ll have the cook add this to the pot. Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” Matringa drummed her fingers on her hip in annoyance, before allowing her left hand to drift upward and cover the bird’s head. There was a muffled *crunch* before the woman continued speaking. “I have an acquaintance who collects voices. Though some think working with her may be a little fishy, tee-hee, I am able to guarantee their gossip will end. They were released into my service, and I am able to have indentured servants at a pittance, compared to the standard pay of hard-working staff. Quite a tidy little compromise, isn't it?”

She turned to stare directly at Bella, the little smile still on her lips. “It's wonderful to have options for those who don't know when to keep their mouths shut, isn't it? Now, as for your father, buying their contract means paying only a fraction of what he would otherwise pay his household. Not only does he know about it, he is ecstatic over the idea. He certainly sees the value in this method, which is why the other staff—other than the cook, apparently—will be dismissed right away. Not to mention, this ‘Aria’ was quite rude when I tried to have her woken up earlier.”

“She's been working herself to the bone for days to get the manor ready,” Bella managed to whisper around the terror making her jaw clench. She swallowed, slowly shaking her head. “Leave me alone. Leave us alone. Why are you so… so wicked?”

Something dark flashed in Matringa’s eyes at that moment, but to Bella's surprise, her smile only widened. “Whatever do you mean? What have I done to offend you?”

Bella slapped her hand to the dress she was wearing. “For starters, you sent me the dress of the rest of your ‘indentured’ servants. I'm neither a servant nor a criminal, and I don't appreciate the insinuation.”

Her stepmother's eyes were wide and innocent, and her hand reached out to gently rub Bella's shoulder. “You must understand, I understand the minds of young ladies like yourself. I was young myself, once. I simply knew you wouldn't be giving your father an oath and renouncing your class, so I thought you may appreciate starting our relationship with at least a nice, clean garment meant for the toils ahead of you. I thought, well, I thought you would appreciate having something nice and easily replaceable.”

“You're dismissing our servants-” Bella angrily continued, though the fury had dimmed as confusion crept in. 

At this, Matringa pulled them to a stop, the limp pigeon swaying in her hand, and began speaking slightly more sternly than she had to this point. “Bella. My dear. Perhaps you just don't understand that your father has no money? He has lost more than half of his caravans and was up to his eyeballs in debt. I have many solutions to his problems. I have money from my previous husband that I am bringing into this household, cost-saving management plans, and will be assisting him in selecting the most profitable routes for his trade goods—as I'm told your mother used to do.”

“You… he… you were so harsh earlier,” Bella lamely finished, breathing hard at the realizations being forced on her. “Father is-?”

“You realize I've been on the road for weeks, Isabella?” Matringa pulled her hand off Bella's shoulder, striding forward and forcing the young woman to begin following after her. “Forgive me if I come across harsh after not having a bath or proper meal in days, all while sitting in a bumpy, uncomfortable carriage.” 

She continued with a dismissive wave, “Not to mention… none of these changes are against your father's wishes. This is his household, and I am now merely his wife. I bring improvements, that is all. This place has gone without a woman's touch for far too long. As far as his thoughts about you? I'm only biding by his decisions, even if I may have chosen differently. You know I saw the rabbit, yes? More free meat would be welcome, if it were up to me. But it is not.” 

Completely disoriented, somewhat ashamed, Bella followed her new stepmother into the house, and soon they sat for dinner as a family for the first time—she could barely manage to chew through the stew and roasted squab.

Things changed over the next few weeks, but surprisingly not even as much as when her father had left for nearly three months. Firstly, she retained her bedroom, and her stepsisters each had to choose a room down the hall, splitting the third on the main floor for their lessons. Though she felt slightly guilty over her outburst at the two, she still remained wary of losing her possessions and position to them. 

First impressions mattered, and she was not the only one among them who had made a poor one. 

Giada the younger was teaching Luca the minutiae of the outdoor chores—much to his disgruntlement. Apparently, being a First Footman was meant to be an indoor job. Aria was dismissed the morning after the family breakfast, though Cook quietly informed Bella that she’d been snapped up by the Baron, just as Mia’s family had. As for Bella, with Aria gone, she was now considered the senior maid of the household. She was introduced to the three silent maids who had come along with her stepmother: Bebee, Cece, and Dedee. 

While Bella was certain those weren't their real names, that it must be a cruel joke played on them by her stepmother, there was no way to know for certain. They couldn't speak and had sworn binding oaths not to write any information, unless directly ordered by Alaric or Matringa. 

Lastly, she began to worry that perhaps she was having unkind thoughts for no reason—after their introduction, and her stepmother's explanation, there hadn't been a harsh word directed her way. Not only that, but she would step in on Bella's behalf and silence her daughters if they started to say became unpleasant. 

But as the days continued passing, Bella slowly came to realize that it wasn't just harsh words which were withheld—practically no words were spoken to her. At dinner, there were new rules. They were there to eat, not to have discourse, all covered under the umbrella of ‘your future husband will not want you mouthing off in front of his guests’. Since dinner was practically the only time they were all assembled, this meant the Beast Singer was surrounded by silence at all times. She was busy with chores, her father was in his study for the majority of the day, and her stepsisters were occupied with lessons taught by their mother.

Of course, every once in a while, she was tested on her own aptitudes, fully expected to maintain high marks in all of her ‘courtly manners’.

Her stepsisters remained somewhat of a mystery to Bella, with the elder, Malvagio, being sixteen and only two years away from marriageable age—not to mention being able to unlock her Full Class at eighteen. Yet, she hadn't heard even a single mention of a suitor calling, or plans to make it happen. No one spoke of soirees or parties they should attend, and frankly, Bella thought the older girl needed those things. Even though Bella was easily able to see that the girl was a talented painter; so talented that it seemed unlikely she didn't have a class or skill dedicated to the pursuit, everything seemed to bore her.

Cattiva was fourteen, though she looked and acted younger, leading Bella to the misconception that they weren't the same age. She also idolized her older sister and tried to affect the same disinterest in the day-to-day routine, following Malvagio’s lead. Even so, she was unable to mask her delight at the delicious meals they had or her happiness at the size and exquisite craftsmanship of the manor. It was strange to Bella, as she’d assumed her stepsisters were used to luxury, but apparently their late father had been far more frugal in his spending.

From what she could glean, their previous home had been decorated and dominated by the man, having few windows, trophies from animals he had hunted, as well as erring on the side of skimping on firewood and coal to warm the house. Overall, it had led to a dark and gloomy house, but now Cattiva seemed to be thriving.

The only downside to the same-aged sister was how she was used to getting her way in all things. She was dismissive of the staff, pretending not to see them in whatever room they happened to be in. Yet, she wasn't sure how to treat Bella, settling on hesitant nods should they meet eyes. Otherwise, they ended up avoiding each other. 

Only one person really took the time to speak with Bella: Giada the Cook. Though she kept conversations light, really only speaking on the gossip and goings-on in town, it was the only conversation Bella had, and she treasured it. Beyond that, she’d been throwing herself into working with small animals wherever she knew she would be alone and had even managed to increase her skill level, after getting several mice to put on a play for her. Still, the conversations with animals were—by their very nature—one-sided. 

Luckily, the volume of her singing didn't seem to matter as far as her skills went, meaning she could practically whisper her songs and still reach every animal in a certain range. When she was outside, she was often trailed by squirrels, groundhogs, rabbits, and even the occasional young raccoon. So long as they weighed less than five pounds, and their body was shorter than the length from her elbow to her fingertips, animals flocked to her.

Only once did she have an unfortunate encounter. While she was walking the grounds, a couple of months after settling into her new routine, her soft singing drew a small fox. It emerged from the underbrush next to the trimmed lawn, its movements jittery and erratic. Unlike most of its kind, this one had fur which was matted and unkempt, and its eyes were wild with a glassy sheen. As it faced Bella, the creature’s black lips curled back, revealing its small, sharp teeth. Thick foam gathered at the corners of its mouth, dripping onto the cut grass as it took one step forward, then another.

Bella was wearing only her simple servants dress, not carrying anything she could use to fend off the diseased animal. A wind swept over the area, adding to the sudden chill crawling up her back. Knowing there were no other options, she sang out.

“Hello fox, I think you want to go away. You're sad and sick, not mad… so go and take a nap, poor lad?”

While it certainly wasn't the best song she’d ever come up with on the fly, it did its job. The creature stopped in its tracks, eyes rolling in its head. Bella repeated the song over and over again, slowly backing away. The fox was breathing heavily, continuing to let loose a whining snarl as her skills warred with the disease ravaging its body. As she paused to take a breath, the fox yipped, spun in place, and dashed into the underbrush around their estate.

She hurried away, casting glances over her shoulder and breathing a sigh of relief each time she saw that the coast was clear. Suddenly, she felt her arm warm up slightly, and information tickled her mind.

Skill increase! Minor Creature Control [Level 5 (Moderate) → Level 6 (Considerable)]!

Requirement to advance to level 7: Successfully instruct an animal you’ve not had contact with from a significant distance away—beyond immediate line of sight—to follow a set of tasks.

“What… what had been the requirement to go to level five again?” She frantically tried to remember what it had said, though she’d expected to have plenty more time to study it. She had only just achieved level five a few days previously, after all. “What was it? It said something to the effect of commanding an animal to perform a task it is instinctually resistant to do? Something about a higher level of control over the rodent's natural instincts?”

Frustrated with her inability to remember the exact wording, she swiped along her arm to read over the skill in its entirety.

Advanced Skill: Minor Creature Control: Level 6/10.

When communing with non-magical minor creatures—size limit: the tips of your fingers to your elbow in body length, maximum of five pounds—you are able to exert [Considerable] control over their actions.

“The skill levels are coming faster… is it because I'm working on them more often? Or, wait, I remember something about this. Unless I'm mistaken, a long time ago, Mother told me it's easier to increase your skill level if you’re in danger while practicing them. That's why people with combat skills flock to guard positions or the King’s army.”

She thought about the sick fox she’d just seen, unable to suppress a shiver. “If that's what it takes to progress faster… I think I'll just stick with slow and steady.”