Joy warily inspected the girl standing before her. Envy stood nearly a head taller than her, looking to be several years older. Long, greasy-looking black hair that contrasted sharply against her pale skin fell in perfectly straight locks around her face down to her shoulders. Despite her sneering words, Envy's expression seemed set permanently into a dark scowl; there was nothing particularly menacing about it, it simply looked like the face of a person who was having a bad day, or had not gotten something they'd wanted. As the two girls stared at one another, Joy felt a surge of anger rising within her. Greed and Envy: these were the two people who had led the raid to capture her parents. The dismal turn of events that had turned her young life upside down--though ultimately because of Lord Fear--had taken place because of them. She gripped the hilt of her sword hanging at her side. "Ah, ah, ah," Envy crooned--though still scowling gloomily--and gestures to the many dark-cloaked troops surrounding Joy. "That's not going to end well for either one of us. Dad wants you in prime condition, and I'll get in trouble if you get hurt." Joy gritted her teeth, but resisted the urge to lash out at Envy. She felt every eye of Lord Fear's troops trained on her, ready to take her out the second she made a wrong move. "Prime condition for what?" she asked, already knowing the answer. For once, a corner of Envy's mouth turned up. "Haven't you heard? There's going to be a wedding." "And what's a wedding without a bride?" Greed's voice broke in. Joy shivered when the young man walked up to her from around the burning barn; his dark silhouette stood out tall and menacing against the bright flames. He neared her--getting a little too close to her for comfort doing so--and chuckled. "Clever, running through the fire like that and making me believe you'd been crushed. But you're not getting away from me that easily, little hen." "Take her sword," Envy ordered the men around her. "Cuff her and take her to the main hall. Father will want to find out how his future daughter-in-law got here and why."
Joy warily inspected the girl standing before her. Envy stood nearly a head taller than her, looking to be several years older. Long, greasy-looking black hair that contrasted sharply against her pale skin fell in perfectly straight locks around her face down to her shoulders. Despite her sneering words, Envy's expression seemed set permanently into a dark scowl; there was nothing particularly menacing about it, it simply looked like the face of a person who was having a bad day, or had not gotten something they'd wanted. As the two girls stared at one another, Joy felt a surge of anger rising within her. Greed and Envy: these were the two people who had led the raid to capture her parents. The dismal turn of events that had turned her young life upside down--though ultimately because of Lord Fear--had taken place because of them. She gripped the hilt of her sword hanging at her side. "Ah, ah, ah," Envy crooned--though still scowling gloomily--and gestures to the many dark-cloaked troops surrounding Joy. "That's not going to end well for either one of us. Dad wants you in prime condition, and I'll get in trouble if you get hurt." Joy gritted her teeth, but resisted the urge to lash out at Envy. She felt every eye of Lord Fear's troops trained on her, ready to take her out the second she made a wrong move. "Prime condition for what?" she asked, already knowing the answer. For once, a corner of Envy's mouth turned up. "Haven't you heard? There's going to be a wedding." "And what's a wedding without a bride?" Greed's voice broke in. Joy shivered when the young man walked up to her from around the burning barn; his dark silhouette stood out tall and menacing against the bright flames. He neared her--getting a little too close to her for comfort doing so--and chuckled. "Clever, running through the fire like that and making me believe you'd been crushed. But you're not getting away from me that easily, little hen." "Take her sword," Envy ordered the men around her. "Cuff her and take her to the main hall. Father will want to find out how his future daughter-in-law got here and why."