There was a female scream behind the door and the sound of furniture being pushed in front of it. After a few moments, clutching the portrait she had been sent, she looked through the peephole.
“Who’s there? What do you want? Nobody of any importance lives here!”
She looked a little more, catching the familiar face. More noises as the furniture was pushed back to its place.
“Radha!” She threw open the door and embraced her. This was nothing like the Rita of Aretuza. Her hair hung in limp, dirty ringlets around her gaunt face. Her once beautiful figure was diminished, and her fancy dress hung off her. There were dark circles under her eyes.
“Come in, come in! I didn’t think you’d come!” She ushered her former student into a dark, but mostly clean cottage. Despite the lack of dust and dirt, it still appeared as if a cyclone had ripped through the room. Of course, Rita is naturally messy. but still. Thread and leather were spread out near the books she was attempting to rebind.
“I can’t believe you’re alive. I was so worried!” She nearly shook in her arms.
She truly didn’t know what to say. What do you say in such a situation? a woman whom you had looked up too...seen as great and powerful levelled to a wreck of herself. She gazed upon the Ruin that was Margarita, shaking in place as she tried to fathom what it was that she was witnessing. Piecing together the cracks of the past scattered on the woman she could only imagine what had taken place since the siege.
“ I-I well... I’m....yep...I’m alive.”
Her mumbling was stupid and incoherent as she attempted to grasp at her train of thought, brain scrambled admits the havoc around which she stood. A heavy sigh passed through her lips as she took one final attempt to talk, at this point she felt that ignoring the elephant in the room would only lead to more nonsense and idle chatter.
She stopped in her tracks for a moment before gesturing around the cottage.
“ Everything..
what happened to this place??
what happened.. to... “
Once more a stop as she began to choke out her words.
