Emma The Red

Emilie woke with the sunrise, a trait that shed had since childhood. Her head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls and her eyes were puffy from crying all night. Her wild red hair was a knotted mess, but staring at herself in the bathroom mirror, her eyes held an iron resolve.

While making a quick breakfast of eggs, greens, and a smoothie, she called her Hinterland lawyer, Madeeha El-Sala. Even after saying that her banishment was so that she could attend her sisters funeral, she didn trust her family to be sincere and set to work on ensuring her own safety.

Madeeha, an Efirit, had been handling her Hinterland affairs since her banishment. Emilie was pleased to know that the investments shed started had been bountiful and she had quite a nest egg ready to be added among her assets.

Through Madeeha, she was able to finalize the process for complete emancipation from the Delacroix family. It did require her to proclaim a new name, which she decided would be Emma Leblanc, her fathers surname that hed had to give up when he married Orianna.

Madeeha was able to secure her assets financially, ensuring that her family would be unable to take a single penny if they tried. Unfortunately, complete emancipation would require her to go before a magistrate of the Hinterland council, and that meeting would be this afternoon.

Emilie dressed in a signature black dress from a runway designer, quickly did her makeup and hair, and opened a portal. Stepping through, she found herself on the steps of the Conclave of Wisdom, the magistrates offices located in the heart of the Hinterland capital of Deliverance.

Unlike the rainy weather that was outside her window in Vancouver, Deliverance was bosting a warm, breezy day that teased at her dress hem. The Conclave was busy as witches, weres, covered vampires, elves, kitsune, ghouls, brownies, and all manner of Hinterland natives were going to and from various legal courts.

”Em! ” She heard her name shouted over the crowd and turned to see Madeeha, dressed in a mauve headscarf, tan pantsuit, and white shirt, approaching with a leather document brief at her elbow.

Madeeha grinned at her and gave her a big hug.

”Oh, Ive missed you, girl! ” Madeeha sang, white teeth flashing in her joy but her eyes were sad as she said, ”I wish it were under better circumstances. ”

”Missed you too. ” Emilie chuckled, doing what she could to hold her composure.

After a few pleasantries were out of the way, Madeeha got series and gave her the rundown of events for the court hearing.

”Paperwork has already been filed, so thats out of the way. Next, we have to go in front of a magistrate who is going to make sure there aren some legal concerns that they are going to need to know about this, but its a formality. You
e not a slave or servant of the Delacroix clan, so you don need their permission or need to pay off any fees to them in order to be emancipated.

”The first order of business is going to be the legal formalities where I give the magistrate the reason why you are asking for emancipation. Hell probably ask you some questions about why you
e doing this, but just remember, you don have to answer anything you
e not comfortable with. Just say I choose not to answer and they can pester you to answer.

”Again, this is a formality to see if they need to investigate anything into the clan. Theyll then ask you about your name and then stamp off on everything. We then go pick up your new legal documents and thats it. ”

True to her word, the court processing was quick and easy. The magistrate asked about the reasons behind her banishment, and Emilie told them the truth. During the First World War, she and her extended family had been charged with exploiting the political situation of Poland and persuading the government to take on pro-Russian ideas in order to maintain Delacroixs financial holdings.

Shed been instructed to make it that Poland would be a puppet regime under Russian control instead of German control. When Russia was weakened during the war, Emilie instead worked to encourage the complete autonomy of Poland as a separate nation. When the Delacroix clan discovered that Emilie had contacted then-president Woodrow Wilson, thus getting his support to liberate Poland, she was banished from the Hinterlands.

After that, it had been very smooth sailing. The magistrate signed and stamped her paperwork, and she was officially Emma Leblanc, with no ties to anything related to the Delacroix clan. The next step was to alert the clan, but with the courts closing early for the solstice holiday, the official notice would not be delivered until tomorrow.

Emilie, now Emma, was fine with this. It gave her one last day to be in her childhood home and see he family before cutting ties forever.

Madeeha and Emma stopped at a local cafe for coffee and a pastry, chatting about what theyd been up to in the last 100 years. Emma invited the Efirit to vacation with her in Fiji and get away from everything for a bit, which Madeeha gladly accepted.

Paperwork in hand, it was finally time for Emma to head to her sisters funeral.

Cars weren a thing in the Hinterlands, so she hailed a horse-drawn carriage and paid for the cabby to drop her off at Ravens Keep.

As the buggy meandered over cobbled roads and passed multistory buildings, Emma reminisced about how much the city had changed and yet didn seem to change at all. There were not a lot of buildings that were new, something to expect when the majority of the population were immortal in some way.

The buildings were a strange mashup of different styles from various eras. Rococo and neo-classic French, Italian renaissance, medieval Bavaria, Askumite from Africa, as well as traditional Asian storyed buildings were mixed together without concern.

It was pure and utter architectural chaos, and she absolutely loved it.

Deliverance was a massive city, larger than Tokyo, Dehli, or any city on the mortal plane, and it took over an hour for the carriage to make it out of the city limits. She could have easily created a portal, but the less ammo she gave her family, the better. Plus, it gave her time to reflect on the memories she had with Philly and brace herself for what was to come.

As they rod, buildings became smaller and the space between them became wider. Soon, buildings had given way to fields and forest and in the distance, the gates of Ravens Keep came into view. Behind that, a large building that was more palace than fort rose up a hill and dwarfed all buildings and trees around it. At least ten stories high, it was an odd mixture of medieval French, Indian, and pre-Islamic architecture, with stylized arches, decorative bell roofs, and mosaic-lined paths.

Outside the grand stairs, Emma could see several extended family members milling around as other carriages arrived to drop off grievers. The carriage soon came to a stop in front of the stairs, and Emma magiced herself a tasteful hat and veil, paid the cabby a generous tip, and exited the carriage.

She felt as if every eye within twenty kilometers turned her way as she made her way up the stairs, past whispering aunts, uncles, and cousins, and entered the keep. She paid no mind to any of them, as she was, legally, no longer one of the clan.

After passing through the large, ornate front doors, the great hall was no different than when shed left it; still as opulent and intimidating as ever. The family was sitting on lounge chairs and benches and speaking in hushed tones as they nibbled on small tea sandwiches.

”Emilie? ” Someone choked on what they were eating, and she turned to see her Uncle Jean-Marc beating a fist to his chest to dislodge whatever hed been consuming. His loud noises drew the attention of everyone else in the hall, many stopping mid-conversation to see that Emma had arrived.

Emma was poised like a princess as she gracefully lifted her veil. ”Uncle. ” she greeted evenly, without concern for the stares of others around her.

”B-But, you were banished. ”

”Indeed, I was. ” She replied, expertly removing her hat with the gentle movements of a queen. ”As you can see, I no longer am. ”

Uncle Jean-Marc was speechless, but her cousin Augustin gave her a warm smile and a gentle hug. She grinned back at him and returned the gesture, as Augustin had been one of the few cousins that shed actually gotten along with.

”Its good to see you, Em. ” He smirked, holding her at arms length and giving her a once over. ”I see the mortal plane was good to you. ”

”More so than you think. Did Gaspard share any of the wine I sent him home with? ” She asked with a mischievous grin.

Augustin chuckled, ”Of course not. The bastard had drunk the entire bottle by the time he got back to the keep. Quite the vintage though. ”

Emma waved her hand as if trying to shoo away a fly, ”Oh, please. As I told Maxime, the money Im making per minute is well into the tens of thousands without me having to lift a finger. ” She paused for half a second, seeing the chattering of her greedy family before continuing, ”I have several more bottles in my wine cellars. Id love to send you a bottle or two. Better yet, next time you
e in the mortal plane, Id be happy to give you a personal tour of the vineyard I own in France. ”

Augustin gave a devilish grin, liking the thought of bucking the overbaringness of the clan by indulging her. ”I just might take you up on both. ”

Their conversation was cut short as the clicking of high heels could be heard like a staccato on the tile floor. From the direction of the grand saloon came the twins, Laurette and Rosalyne, Emmas younger sisters.

Though not cruel and ambitious like their mother, the pair was as emotionless as they were intelligent, arguably the most logical of Oriannas numerous children.

The twins walked together to Emma and wrapped her in a slightly awkward hug.

”Thank you for coming. ” Laurette, fondly known as Lorie, stated matter of factly without any hint of joy or sadness as if she hadn seen them last night.

”We
e glad you came. ” Rosalyne, or Rosie, followed up, equally emotionless as if she were giving a recited lecture, which was more than either of them had said to her during the intervention.

”Of course, ” Emma smiled at the pair, ”Shes my sister and I miss her dearly. ”

”The rest of the immediate family is in the Grand Saloon with Philomene. Please come with us. ” Lorie added, and the two gestured in unison for Emma to accompany them.

Emma looked back at Augustin and gave him a smile, mouthing ”well talk later ” before following behind her sisters.

In the grand saloon, on one side of the wall sat her Maxime, Arnaud, and Alphonse, brothers one, two, and four. On the other side sat Gaspard, Esther, Henri, and the baby of the family Ingrid, whose body was only around fourteen years of age, though she was only a few months old when Emma had been banished.

Dressed in black and laid on an altar table under the red and black crest of the Delacroix family, Philomenes body rested on a bed of white hydrangeas. Emma had thought that shed been prepared for this moment, but at the sight of her sisters body, she felt her breath catch in her throat.

Esther stood up and went to her, wrapping her in a warm embrace and rocking slightly back and forth. Emma returned the hug, her tears finally breaking as she cried.

”It should have been me. ” She gasped between harsh inhales. ”I should have been the one in the trails. It should have been me. ”

”Oh, love. ” Esther soothed, rubbing her back. She never refuted that it was Emmas fault or there wasn anything she could do. Esther could never lie, even to be kind to another.

Emma pulled away from her to give Gaspard a hug. He smiled down at her before gesturing to Ingrid. ”I don believe you guys have been introduced. ”

Emma smiled, wiping her tears, ”Not in a very long time. ”

Ingrid had the signature red hair that all Delacroixs had with the same brown eyes as Henri. She looked at Emma suspiciously, no doubt having grown up listening to Orianna tell her that Emma was a good-for-nothing, rebellious daughter that was banished for being a terrible person.

”Hello, Ingrid. ” Emma greeted, her grin genuine despite the circumstances. ”You weren even a year old when I left. Youve gotten so big. ”

Ingrid frowned at her, ”I heard you were banished because you chose to hurt the family. ” she rebuffed in a snooty tone.

Esther and Gaspard gave her harsh looks, but Emma chuckled and waved away their fears. ”No, dear. I was banished because I advocated for people to be free instead become puppets for someone else. Yes, the clan didn make as much money, but do you have everything you could want? Do you live in a cardboard box? I think losing a few thousand dollars was a fair price to pay for the freedom of others. ”

Henri perked up at that, a look of confusion knitting his brows.

”You were banished because the clan lost a few thousand dollars? ”

”About seven thousand, give or take a few. ” Emma shrugged. ”I gave mother about $15,000 as restitution, but about an hour after she got the money, she banished me to the mortal plane. ”

Henri looked like he was about to ask more questions when the doors opened and Orianna walked in, followed by Henri and Ingrids father, Marcel.

Orianna looked around the room and, when she saw that all her children were present, she nodded.

”Its time. ”