[PRV] S.H.M & Aphrodite

"That is the gist of it , yes. Not a very long lesson but I thought that would be the easiest thing to remember" Another soft chuckle is heard from him as he clearly seems to be enjoying this.

Hearing the angry voice of his little sister was never a good thing, she was always so kind and sweet, except for when the exercises didn't go well. It is understandable, she only wished to walk, a girl her age should run and , ride and swim as much as she wishes but that is impossible. "Clara?" - "Yes yes, that is all , for now- please forgive me" he says as he stands up, following Clara and her handmaiden. quickly catching up to them with a worried expression on his face.

Sienna watched as Jacen walked away to his sister. She decided to examine the things on the table a bit further. She picked up the little trident and the more sharper thing and looked at it. Jacen had called it cutlery. Wasn't it a bit confusing naming both things the same? She shook her head, putting the cutlery down on the table again. Humans were really strange. Sienna moved away from the table, and started to look around the flowerbeds again. Still no sign of the flower she was looking for. The garden was huge, it would take a very long time for her to examine the whole thing. But she had to, this was a good start.

Clara's handmaiden stood several metres from the young lady, watching as Lord Jacen approached. She curtsied.
"I'm sorry, My Lord, but Lady Clara doesn't want to talk to anyone right now, I'm afraid" she said, looking back at Clara, who was sitting next to a tree, the back of her wheelchair turned towards them.
"She fell over thrice today during her walking exercise, and that was when two of us were holding onto her" the handmaiden continued, with a painful tone of her voice. The handmaiden was young, but old enough to have been working with the young Lady for her whole life. She had seen Clara go from being able to walk by herself to what she had turned into now; a crippled young woman whose only dream was to be able to do what other children her age was able to.
"She doesn't want to come to dinner tonight, I'm trying to persuade her that it wouldn't be wise, considering you're having a guest. I don't think the Lady of the house would approve if she doesn't show up".

Jacen can't supress his sigh as he looks at his little sister. "You know that mother will demand that you join us tonight. Smile and pretend to have fun and I'll see if I can convince father to let us go down to the sea tomorrow, the salt seems to do you well" he kneels next to Clara and takes her hand. "It is our duty do show the best side of our family, no matter how we feel , that does include you, sweet sister" the words sound harsh but he means well and the wrath of their mother is not something he wished on his little sister.

"A few hours in our company and tomorrow we'll bathe, it'll be fun, I promise" he smiles again, hoping to get a good response out of Clara

Clara's eyes widened.
"You have to promise" she said, turning towards her brother.
"And maybe Sienna can come, too! She said that she liked swimming before" she said, looking back towards Sienna, who she could see between the trees. Clara turned to her handmaid, who still stood a few metres away.
"Mira, I want to go inside, I'm cold" she said, and the handmaid walked up to them, quickly curtsied to both of the before wheeling Clara away.

Sienna had just looked closer on one of the flowers when Clara was pushed past her. Clara gave her a small wave, which she returned. Sienna returned to looking at the flowers. She kneeled down to look at something that definitely looked like the flower she was looking for, but she realized it had the wrong colors. She bit her lip, sighing.

"I promise, if all else fails, just use those eyes of yours, it always works" He jests, smiling and squeezes her hand. "oh , well if you wish, of course" Jacen straightens his back and looks over at Sienna. "She's strange, very strange" he thinks , sighing to himself.

He makes her way back to his guest. "Are you enjoying the garden?"

Sienna leaned forward, a bit disappointed that the flower hadn't been the one she was looking for. She was startled by Jacen's voice, and almost fell over. She straightened up and swayed a little before looking at Jacen.
"Yes, it's very beautiful" she said with a smile. She looked over at the spot where Jacen and Clara had been speaking.
"You're very sweet with your sister" she said, smiling. It surprised her to see the humans so kind. She had met quite a few in a short time, and neither of them had had sharp fangs and red eyes, and all of them were nice to her. But it could be deceiving, and Sienna had to keep her guard up. She was still moving on the terrain of the enemies, the monsters that roamed the seas, killing the habitants under the surface.

"I didn't mean to frighten you , My Lady." He continues speaking with a small amused smile. "I must be kind to her , she is my little sister, as harsh as I seem, I love her" He seems to be honest in his words. He takes a few steps deeper into the garden. "Do you have any siblings?" he finally asks after a while , seemingly curious

There it was again. My lady. Sienna really couldn't wrap her head around it, why would humans call each other the same name, it seemed awful confusing. Sienna could, of course, not ask about it. Instead, she followed him deeper into the garden, and her steps were more steady now. She studied the flowers and trees, hoping to get a glimpse of what she was looking for. She had decided that if she didn't find the flower until the next day, she just had to ask. But right now it felt a bit too soon, she had just met this human and was already acting weird, asking for a flower due to its healing powers would be even weirder, which was why Sienna had to wait. She didn't want to, but she had to endure at least one night here. She just had to figure out what to do, since she was going to turn back into a mermaid when the sun set.

Sienna shook her head.
"I don't. My mother unfortunately died when I was young, and father never met someone else" she said, scratching her neck. It was her mother's death that had started her fear of humans. Her mother's death had been tragic to the whole of Atlantica, she was known for her kindness. Sienna had been out swimming with her mother, when the sun had been blocked by something big. The pair had swum down, trying to get away from the humans. Suddenly, Sienna saw how her mother's chest was pierced by something silver-coloured, before whatever had stabbed her went out of sight. There was no way the mermaid healing power could manage to repair such damage to the heart, and her mother had died. That was when the whole of Atlantica stopped swimming near the surface, in fear of whatever killed Sienna's mother would return.

Noticing Siennas somewhat confused expression he wonders if he said something wrong. Maybe in her country they didn't use such formalities or she was such low birth that she was simply not accustomed to such words. She didn't speak as if she was a peasant , only a foreigner, which would still be odd since they must adress people differently there as well depending on their birth.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." He hopes that a comforting smile will ease her sadness. "I did not mean to upset you - I - well at least you do not know the horrors how having someone shriek at you for no reason. But as difficult as it is, I love my little sister dearly and would do anything to help her, if I can." As he continues to walk they come across his mothers glass garden, where she has the rarest and most beautiful flowers. The building is large and contains a large amount of flowers. At times it seems that she loves the flowers more than him with the constant scoldings and even punishments when he was younger.

Sienna shook her head.
"It's alright, you couldn't know" she said, looking at him. She gave him a weak smile.
"I'd rather have her alive and screaming at me than dead and quiet" she said, her voice calm. Sienna blamed humans for her mother's death, which of course was in place, since it had been their weapons that had pierced her mother's heart. However, Sienna had no idea who had done it. She would never find out, which meant that she had to blame the whole human population. It wasn't very nice of her, she knew that, but everything she had heard about humans made her feel like not a single one was nice. Even though it felt like she had met the exception here.

They came up to a big glass house, inside were lots of different flowers. SIenna's eyes widened when she realized that these flowers were very rare, considering their appearances. She walked up to the glass, looking inside. There was a big lock on the door, telling Sienna that she was not invited inside.
"They're beautiful" she said, looking back at Jacen with a smile. Could her flower be in here? She had to find out somehow.

A cough was heard behind them. Sienna turned around and saw the girl from before, Alys. She bent her knees forward again, towards the both of them.
"My lord, my Lady" she said, looking at them.
"I'm sorry, but Lady Ella wants us to make Lady Sienna ready for dinner" she said, quickly looking down at Sienna's feet, which were quite dirty after walking around barefoot. Sienna looked at the sun, which had started to make its way towards the horizon. She had to keep an eye on it, she had a feeling that this dinner would interfere with her time limit.