(Well i havent slept, and im bored, so i decided to take a break from my current project and start something new.. here it is, chapter 1.. if its crap or there are any mistakes then let me know, i need constructive criticism.. oh and dont blame me if it IS crap, coz i only did this in the space of half an hour or so lol)
Chapter 1 - The Beginning
With her ear against the door she could hear male voices; some angry, others tired and fatigued.
Running away from Emma like that was madness, but entering this room to hide would be suicide. Only she had no choice; Emma would surely come this way to look for her. Slowly Lana put her hand on the brass handle, and turned it. The door opened, the voices ceased. She entered the room, at first not recognizing any of the faces that turned to greet her. Lana walked a few feet into the room, closing the door behind her, and turned to face the men sitting around the large table. If they were angry before she entered, then now these men were livid at being so rudely interrupted. Under normal circumstances she would never have walked in on such an obviously heated discussion, but, she thought, these aren't normal circumstances. She greeted each man with a nod, and approached the head of the table. Surely he would be here. He had told Emma he would be here this afternoon, and this was the only room left that he was likely to be in.
"May we help you, young lady?" came a familiar voice from behind. Lana turned to look behind her. Martin, Emma's husband and butler to Lanas Grandfather, was standing behind her, a tray of brandy glasses in one hand. "Surely you're lost?" He gave the men around the table a knowing smile.
"Actually", replied Lana, "I've come to see Grandad". She wasn't about to be patronised by a mere butler, and after all, her Grandfather had promised to visit Loira on his arrival. "He promised Emma he'd come and see me when he got here only, well, he didn't, so..." Her voice trailed off as the man at the head of the table rose to his feet. She turned to face this stranger. "Who are you? Where's Grandad? Why are you in his seat!?" Some of the men snickered at her questioning, others suppressed their laughter. The man seated at the right of her Grandfather's seat, a man Lana knew only as Johnathan, had a mournfull look on his face, which he quickly disguised as a look of concentration. Something isn't right. This man was sitting in Grandads seat!
"I'm afraid, dear Lana, that I have some grave news for you. It pains me to have to be the one to break it to you, but as I'm the one now in charge, the task falls to me." Though he was trying to look sympathetic, he couldn't hide the smile on his face quick enough. Lana certainly didn't like this man, despite Emma warning her of the dangers of judging people on first impressions. "If you would like to come with me into my chambers? This conversation will require some... privacy" He emphasised the last word. Again, most of the old men sitting around the long, round table smiled. It was clear that the occupants of the room already knew what this man was about to tell Lana.
The butler made his way to the door and held it open for Lana, and she passed through into the private chambers of her Grandfather. Lana had never been allowed into this room, not even as a baby, so she was surprised to see that it wasn't decorated quite how she had imagined. She had pictured an enormous room with a high ceiling, with gold and mahogany everywhere - a room fit for a King. However, the room she entered was a small, somewhat comfy one. Portraits of important men hung on every wall - royalty, poets, painters, scholars, politicians. A large, worn chair sat in one corner, covered in fine purple velvet, and two smaller, but no less grand, chairs were in the opposite corner of the room. A small table sat in between the chairs, and already Martin had placed a silver tray of drinks on it, probably brandy or whiskey. The air smelt faintly of cigars, a smell that reminded Lana of her Grandad - he had been smoking them for as long as she could remember.
"Please, child, be seated" He motioned towards the chairs, so Lana moved across the room, and sat in the larger chair, obviously her Grandfathers. The man gave a faint smile and placed himself in one of the smaller chairs facing her. "I'm afraid that is the last time you will be permitted to sit in your grandfathers chair. Alas, it no longer is your grandfathers chair" His voice wasn't threatening, but Lana knew when she had done something that she wasn't supposed to.
"Why's that? This is his chair! And anyway, hee always lets me do what I want. You're not exactly gonna tell him what he should let me do, are you?" Lanas Grandfather was, she had been told, a man of great importance. Obviously this unknown person holds less authority, especially concerning her!
"Well, my child..", he started. He looked up at her face and, as expected, she was was showing deep contempt at being called a child. "Well, my child", he continued, "I'm afraid there have been some slight.. changes. Your grandfather, though an undoubtedly powerful man, no longer has much control over proceedings as you've grown accustomed to" He seemed to be taking delight in saying these last words. "As you and I are both aware, he has some powerful friends - friends in high places, you might say - but I felt, as did many of my colleagues, that radical action must be taken in light of recents events." He started to grow emotional, talking to more to himself than to Lana "We simply could not sit around and let your grandfather continue as he was. It was getting out of hand - people were scared, petrified even, that with your grandfather in command these rumours would soon become reality. Somebody needed to take control. Something had to be done!"
Rumours? Lana was sure she had heard strange rumours from a number of friends at school, but surely these weren't the same rumours. She cast her memory back a week, to the last time she had attended class, and the room had been buzzing with her noise of her classmates frantic whispering.
