Role

Chapter 16

In the time between Serith's death and her flight from the Inn, ______ found
solace in the cheap wine that Mother enjoyed the most. If her daughter's
newfound habit bothered her parents, they never spoke of it. ______ would
drink with Mother as they did chores in the kitchen, grateful for the haze in
her mind that settled over her memories of Serith. They sang songs together,
slurring and laughing as they scrubbed dried mashed vegetables off the sides
of pans. When the work was done, Mother would grab a bottle of wine
and retire to her bedroom to read. ______ would grab her own and sneak out the
back door a few hours later.

These late night forays into the dark streets of Hamsah Mu'tazz were not
particularly fun for ______. One on occasion, she was mugged by a group of
teens holding steel shanks, though she was only carrying her wine. The
prostitutes didn't even call out to her when she stumbled through the city
square and ran to vomit in the river. They whispered to each other and
regarded her with pitying expressions that made her want to throw the bottle
at them. ______ continued to drink the evenings away, fighting off the pain of
her childhood with enough cheap booze to guarantee she would pass out without
spending a moment sifting through her memories.

Her love of wine quickly turned into an addiction and she was assailed by
splitting headaches when she tried to stop. Mother and Father needed her to
care for them - the Inn was pulling in fewer regulars. Kytria attempted to
quit more than once, but even a few hours without wine made her feel like
the world was suffocating her. How did people ever stay sober?

After a wasted ______ dropped a bowl of soup on the lap of one of the Sultan's
favored concubines, no locals wanted to be seen at the Inn. Mother and Father
would argue late into the night about her. Father wanted to send ______ to
Seantryn, Mother screeched that he couldn't send their youngest daughter away
to die. So, ______ stayed as the Inn (and her family) continued to fall apart.