Adelaide followed Edmund down the tree, carefully making sure to not get too much more green on her slip and, in the process, stubbing her toe on a stray branch. As she bit her lip to avoid shouting out and merely winced, she decided that it might have been better to climb with shoes... or in more suitable attire - that way she would not have been scaling down the tree at such an odd angle, like some crippled monkey.
"Life is all about taking chances," she said with a little smile, before adding, with that righteous naivety of youth, "Otherwise, what's the point?"
Edmund was being a little slow to descend and, though Adelaide was doing her best not to get too close so as to not embarrass him, she was drawing closer to him. She wondered if she might be able to cross him without pushing him off the tree and if he would object to it.
"Fortune?" it was a game she was sure she had played before, but couldn't quite place where. And Mulct... she had heard of that, but she was sure it was a game more often played by adults. Still, what did she know? What she most often did was play make-believe, pretending to be a Knight in a faraway city or an actress or a (clumsy) performer in a circus. Or a bird, often when she would nestle up in her bed and pretend she was a mother hen protecting her eggs, which was all very cosy. Finally, her favourite make-believe game was when Zuleikha tied her to a tree and pretended to be questioning her, or leaving her there for the vultures to eat. As for proper game games, she and Zuleikha tended to make up their own. Tag, of course, was a standard. Probably played by children since the dawn of time. But their personal favourite was cliff-hanger. The Bloodflower Mansion had a brilliant set of stairs and there was nothing better than one of the children lying on the landing with their arms outstretched while the other held on, hanging (as it were) over the steps. Sometimes, the adults seemed to mind and most of the time they didn't.
"The stairs are good for playing in." said Adelaide finally, before answering the question, "I play with Zuleikha, my sister, but also with Father and sometimes the slave." Most of the time though, she had to admit that she played alone. Wanting to change the subject, she asked, "Have you ever slid down a staircase in a washing basket? When Aria was four, Zuleikha put her in a wicker one that rolled and it just kept rolling. I personally prefer ones that don't roll, and I pretend that I'm sliding down a mountain."
Zuleikha had naturally been punished for putting her half-sister in a cylindrical washing basket against her will. Jafara had seen to it, even though Roland objected to such heavy-handed punishment, and smacked the child's legs with a short stick a dozen times. Then Jafara and Roland had got into a fight while Zuleikha cried and Adelaide comforted her.
"Come on. I'll show you the Rose Garden up close." Adelaide said finally as Edmund reached the bottom and she jumped down.
"Life is all about taking chances," she said with a little smile, before adding, with that righteous naivety of youth, "Otherwise, what's the point?"
Edmund was being a little slow to descend and, though Adelaide was doing her best not to get too close so as to not embarrass him, she was drawing closer to him. She wondered if she might be able to cross him without pushing him off the tree and if he would object to it.
"Fortune?" it was a game she was sure she had played before, but couldn't quite place where. And Mulct... she had heard of that, but she was sure it was a game more often played by adults. Still, what did she know? What she most often did was play make-believe, pretending to be a Knight in a faraway city or an actress or a (clumsy) performer in a circus. Or a bird, often when she would nestle up in her bed and pretend she was a mother hen protecting her eggs, which was all very cosy. Finally, her favourite make-believe game was when Zuleikha tied her to a tree and pretended to be questioning her, or leaving her there for the vultures to eat. As for proper game games, she and Zuleikha tended to make up their own. Tag, of course, was a standard. Probably played by children since the dawn of time. But their personal favourite was cliff-hanger. The Bloodflower Mansion had a brilliant set of stairs and there was nothing better than one of the children lying on the landing with their arms outstretched while the other held on, hanging (as it were) over the steps. Sometimes, the adults seemed to mind and most of the time they didn't.
"The stairs are good for playing in." said Adelaide finally, before answering the question, "I play with Zuleikha, my sister, but also with Father and sometimes the slave." Most of the time though, she had to admit that she played alone. Wanting to change the subject, she asked, "Have you ever slid down a staircase in a washing basket? When Aria was four, Zuleikha put her in a wicker one that rolled and it just kept rolling. I personally prefer ones that don't roll, and I pretend that I'm sliding down a mountain."
Zuleikha had naturally been punished for putting her half-sister in a cylindrical washing basket against her will. Jafara had seen to it, even though Roland objected to such heavy-handed punishment, and smacked the child's legs with a short stick a dozen times. Then Jafara and Roland had got into a fight while Zuleikha cried and Adelaide comforted her.
"Come on. I'll show you the Rose Garden up close." Adelaide said finally as Edmund reached the bottom and she jumped down.
