Finding Dmitria by Lauren Hinch (best way to read e books TXT) 📕

closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears from flowing down her face. Finally she turned to Elena, who sat crying at the small table. “Elena, darling. I need you to take my daughters for me. I am begging you to do this for me.”

Delano looked at his wife, shock on his face. However, he did not seek to dissuade her, for he knew there would be no changing her mind.

“Yes, your Highness. I will do as you say.” Elena rose from the table and took Aria Isabelle from Delano’s arms.

The pregnant Serena walked sadly over to Larraine and to Dmitria from her arms. “You will be forever missed my friend.” Serena said, allowing the tears to flow freely. “I pray that the Gods allow you end to be quick.”

Larraine and Delano nodded, allowing their tears to flow.

Suddenly the sound of Jonathan and his men became louder than ever.

“Please, go now. We will hold them off as long as we can.”

Serena and Elena nodded and fled through the back door of the cottage into the forest, cloaked by the darkness of the night.

Larraine and Delano clasped hands and turned towards the front door. They walked through the entrance of the small cottage and stood on the grass to face their ends.


Chapter I

Part I: Before

“I’m Just Perceptive”
-Aria Isabelle Risaka

Twenty-seven years earlier…

“Aria Isabelle Risaka!” yelled a woman in a tattered tavern dress, the top layer of her skirt tucked into her belt. The woman was dressed in a long, muti-layered olive tavern dress - an off white petticoat visible from beneath. Fixing her unruly brown hair back into a tightly knotted bun, she continued to peak into as many of the upstairs bed chambers as possible. She shuddered at the décor of the bed chambers. The walls of the bed chambers were covered in an atrocious yellow wallpaper the made who ever was viewing it nauseous.

The woman returned back into the hall once again. “You good-for-nothing child, get down here!” She shook her head, finally coming to the conclusion that she was not going to find the child in any of the remaining bed chambers on the second floor of the orphanage. The hallway of the second floor had the same color wall paper, but was kept in much better condition by the servants. The woman continued her way down the hallway, finally coming to the grand staircase that split into two and curved around to great wooden pillars that stood on either side of foyer. She shook her head once more and made her way down the staircase to the kitchen.

The orphanage was a pleasant one; however, it had not been kept in proper condition over the few hundred years that it had been standing. The servants had become especially good at hiding the atrocities it hid. The many grand paintings of past headmistresses covered the rotting spots where heavy rains had soaked through the great walls. It was known by all that the rug across from the large bay window that looked out to the town below was hiding a large hole in the wooden floor boards. Even the mahogany grand staircase, which had been considered as the feature that kept the memories of the orphanages’ hay-day in constant view, was beginning to break down.

“Dmitria! Dmitria May Kallahan,” yelled the another woman from the downstairs kitchen, her deep voice resonating throughout the great foyer. This woman, who was dressed quite similarly to the other woman, had been searching the entire bottom floor looking for the Kallahan child. She had a long blond hair that had been braided down her back and hooked nose that almost curved around her upper lip, causing her to appear as though she was constantly sneering. "Dmitria," she called. The woman shook her head dramatically, forcing her way through the door the large wooden doors, a large stack of silver trays weighing heavily in her arms. The woman with the curved nose carefully set the trays on the table next to the wash bin for the servants to clean later, and walked back through the wooden double doors.

The woman with the tightly woven bun ran down the ornate wooden staircase, her small feet tapping lightly on each mahogany step. She looked back up the staircase once more, praying that she would find that girl before the headmistress returned from her week stay in town, and continued round the corner towards the kitchen. Unexpectedly, she headed straight into the woman with the curved nose.

“Jane!”

“Mattie!” said Jane, checking her bun to confirm it was still intact. “You scared the blarney out ‘o me.” Jane had a rich Celtic accent that made it difficult to understand her when she was angry.

“So sorry Jane,” said Mattie kindly. “I did not mean to frazzle you. Actually, I’m a little frazzled myself. I cannot seem to find Miss Kallahan…”

“Eh, who,” Jane asked. She paused for a brief moment, “now let me think...pale skin, brown eyes, black hair…That the one ya be talkin' 'bout?”

“Yes, actually -.”

“Haven’t seen ‘er. You seen the red head?” asked Jane.

“Aria Isabelle? Nay, last time I saw her was supper time last evening. I am terribly sorry that I was not of much help to you.”

“Wait, maybe ya can ‘elp. Ye can ‘elp me look for ‘er, and we can look for yer petite Miss Kallahan” said Jane.

“I suppose,” Mattie mumbled as Jane pulled her through the wooden double doors of the kitchen to the back of the orphanage.

“Aria Isabelle,” they called, “Dmitria!”

“Chicken-scratch…” whispered a nine-year-old Dmitria May Kallahan. She smiled to herself as she put the finishing touches on the trap she had been planning all morning long. Upon hearing the shrill yells of her caretaker, Mattie, she ran into the orphanage chicken coop, head-on into a petite red-headed girl who was completely covered in feathers and dirt.

“Hey, get out of here - this is my hiding place.” The girl had a childish voice. Instinctively, the girl pulled Dmitria completely into the coop, the tiny wooden door clicking closed behind her. The sounds of their caretakers could be heard even clearer now.

“Running from the hags too?” whispered Dmitria as she looked through a crack in the small wooden door.

“Yes, of course” the red head chimed, “who would be stupid enough to not hide from them?”

Dmitria smiled, “So, what is your name?”

“Aria Isabelle Risaka”

Aria Isabelle had long, wavy red hair that was carefully braided down her back, and a set of pale blue eyes seemed to almost reflect what little light there was in the chicken coop.

“Hmmm…you don’t say? I’m-“

“Oh, I know who you are.” Aria Isabelle said changing her position from a crouch to sitting cross-legged on the straw, he light-blue, thinly woven dress tucked neatly under her legs. “You're Dmitria Kallahan, also known as Dmitri, am I right? Your middle name is May; you are nine years old; and have a very high self-esteem. You-”

“Are you a stalker?”

Aria Isabelle laughed, “No, I’m just perceptive,” she said smiling at Dmitria.

“How long have you lived here?” Dmitria eyed her curiously.

“Well, my whole life actually...” Aria Isabelle fingered nervously through the end of her long braid.

“Oh..." said Dmitria attempting to defuse the tension, “So, do you have a shorter name I can call you?”

"Not really..." Aria Isabelle thought for a moment, "Is Aria alright?"
Dmitria nodded happily, “it is perfect.” She smiled and extended her hand to Aria Isabelle, “Well it is a pleasure to meet you Aria,”

“The pleasure is all mine,” she shook Dmitria’s hand happily.

There was a pause.

“Hey, do you want to see something funny?” asked Dmitria, glancing back at the wooden door of the chicken coop.

“Oh, yes. I would like that very much.”

“Perfect,” with that Dmitria opened the door slightly, just enough to look out as their caretakers drug their feet through the string Dmitria had laid out earlier. Suddenly, a large pail of the day’s fresh eggs tipped and dumped onto to the women, the yokes spilling over their heads and into their eyes.

“This has Miss Kallahan written all over it,” said Mattie wiping the egg yoke off of her face, as Jane pulled eggshells from her no-longer neatly wrapped bun.

The Dmitria and Aria Isabelle erupted into hysterical laughter, paying little attention to the fact that they were rolling through the thatch door, down the wooden ramp to land at the feet of their caretakers.

“There you are,” Jane and Mattie said angrily. Neither caretaker gave their soiled clothes a thought as they grabbed the ears of Aria Isabelle and Dmitria, dragging them back to their bed chambers in the orphanage.

"You will not be seeing the light of day for the next week, Miss Kallahan," whispered Mattie in Dmitria's ear as she dragged her back to the orphanage.

Aria Isabelle looked back towards Dmitria, smiling at her new friend, “Nice to meet you!”
That was a start of an amazing friendship between the two girls.

Chapter II

Five years later…

“Just get it out! Just get it out, Aria,” screamed Dmitria as Aria Isabelle attempted to remove the multiple bee stingers out of Dmitria’s right arm.

“I told you to not do that, Dmitria. Honestly, you can not just walk up to a hive of bees and take what is rightfully theirs” she said shaking her head, moving Dmitria’s long black hair out of the way.

Only a few minutes earlier, Dmitria had come to the conclusion that it would be entertaining to attempt to steal a few of the honeycombs from one of the several bee hives that lined that property of the orphanage. Aria Isabelle had discouraged the idea from the start but, as usual, Dmitria felt as though she