Laramie: Chapter Five: The Change

everything changes for laramie and surg, and not for the better

“Aldric, take this child and give her a place in your school. And then I would like you to train her in the use of venne.” He placed his hand gently on my shoulder and spoke with a kind yet demanding voice. He gave me a squeeze of encouragement and a dazzling smile of welcoming. I was completely lost, I had been brought here, a slave, to await execution and now I was free, and a student at a school of venne. Things were moving too fast, and my head was likely to topple off my neck.

Ter-hu took my arm, I flinched as if it would hurt, but she was gentle this time, which was more shocking than if she had ripped my arm off. She guided me out of the hall of cages, and I blinked in the sunlight, although it was nearly dusk now, the light felt harsh and too bright since my imprisonment.

Behind me I heard the Shadow Master and Master Aldric talking about my fate. “She should have a hand maiden, to get her used to her new position. This child should act her station, and I’m afraid I don’t think she has any knowledge of life but her farming childhood and recent enslavement.”

“Yes my lord, I have the perfect servant in mind. She is gentle and has some knowledge of upper-class life.”

“I want her protected too. Laramie’s life is dear to me and I would be maddeningly upset should anything happen to her.” I felt the fierce power and command in his voice when he said this, but I had no idea why I should be so important to the King of Dignusterra.  It felt that instead of a weight being lifted from my shoulders, it was simply being replaced with a crueler heaviness.

My mind was slowly becoming number and number with everything I learned. Soon we were strolling through a part of the palace I had never seen before. I was led up a winding staircase and down an open hall with a hand carved banister on one side, looking down upon the room below. The other side was a wall full of doorways every several feet. I was taken to the end of the row of doors, it was a heavy wooden door, and madame Ter-hu opened it then gently pulled me aside while we waited for the two Masters to inspect it. The Shadow Master simply glanced at it with a disapproving eye.

I couldn’t see anything wrong with it. It was larger than any living quarters for one person I had ever seen before. It had a wide central area with a rug that looked like it had been hand woven and cost a fortune. There was a grand four poster bed hung with curtains of woven gold and the bed, most likely made with the softest down, was covered in a rich blanket of furs. There was a table for studying, a couch and chair and even its own large fireplace. It was the most beautiful room I had ever seen, and I got the feeling I was going to live in it.

“It will do for now, but I want her in something grander.” I was shocked. The Shadow Master was out if his mind. If there was anything in the world that was grander than this room, then I would surely die of shock.

“No of course.” Master Aldric agreed. “This is simply the room she will have until the best room can be prepared for her.”

“What do you think Laramie?” The Shadow Master addressed me. His voice kind and patient.

“My lord, it is the grandest room I have ever seen!” I said earnestly. They looked at me bemused, and I blushed.

Master Aldric turned to Ter-hu. “Please go and fetch me the madame, Liha, and then you may resume your kitchen duties.” Ter-hu gave a clumsy bow and then hobbled down the hall the way we came. “Well Laramie, we will leave you here. Liha should be here shortly to attend to you, however the Master and I have some more business to attend to. I am sure you will make yourself at home, in the meantime I will have a meal sent up to you, I am sure you are hungry after this ordeal.” He laughed gently.

And right on cue, as if in response, my stomach growled offensively. The Shadow Master gave a hearty laugh at my expense and said “You will be fed soon enough little one.” He patted me on the shoulder and then simultaneously the two left me standing alone in the brightly lit hall, confused and awed at my life. I could imagine how I looked at that moment, small and insignificant in a life that was too big for one person to bear.

I entered the room and the door closed behind me softly. It was slightly chilly, and there was no fire in the hearth. I walked over to it unsure, placed my hand over the coals and willed it to be there. Nothing happened. No roaring fire to warm me in this cold new life. A gentle knock on the door made my heart jump a foot in the air. Images ran through my mind of some nameless person taking me off telling me I was a fraud.

They knocked again as I had not moved from the hearth to open the door. Ungracefully I stumbled over the large rug in the middle of the floor as I went to open the door. She was about to start her third yet patient knock when I opened the door. She dropped her hand and curtsied at me and I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do when someone curtsied at you.

“Might I come in?” she asked with indecision in her eyes. Again I could see kindness, but there too was sorrow, and much of it. Quickly I moved aside and she hesitantly entered the room. It seemed too strange to call it my room, as I had not yet lived in it. We stared at each other for a moment, I was unsure of what to do. Everything was foreign to me. “My name is Liha.” I nodded and told her I already knew. She was the one that had first escorted me to see master Aldric. “I’ve been told to attend to you.”

“What exactly does that mean?” I looked at her hoping for answers that were beyond the questions I could ask.

“I don’t know. You were a slave this morning.” She paused looking at me with curiosity and a little accusation as if I had somehow bewitched the Shadow Master. “I think maybe you should tell me what happened, and then we can decide together what to do.” I agreed and told her everything that had happened, leaving out the parts between Surg and myself. Those moments where private, and she didn’t need to hear them.

My dinner had arrived shortly after I began my story and I was so hungry, the unwholesome gruel I was used to would have been desirable. But my plate was not filled with the food of slaves. I had a hearty helping of reddened potatoes, chicken breast that had been seasoned with exotic spices I had never heard of nor tasted before. I began to eat hungrily, I had never tasted anything so wonderful before, it was as if my tongue had begun an adventure of flavor and every bite was unexpected. I glanced at Liha and she was looking hungrily at the mountainous plate of food before me. “Please eat! You must be as hungry as I am.” But she shook her head and looked away as if I had insulted her.

“I am your servant, I eat separately and not as grandly.”

“That’s ridiculous. Yesterday you were my superior. I know what kind of food you eat and it can hardly pass as food. Please eat with me.” I indicated the plate again, and she hesitantly took a small slice of potato. She put it in her mouth and her demeanor changed, much as mine had. It felt good to have delicious food on ones tongue, and it lightened our spirits to share in it. She smiled guiltily at me and then we both reached for more food.

She asked me more questions about the Shadow Master and master Aldric. I answered as best I could, but I had been in a state of shock and couldn’t remember some of her queries.

We talked late into the night, and as I lay down to sleep in my new, overly comfortable bed, my thoughts turned to Surg. I despaired. He didn’t know I was alive, he couldn’t. Who would have told him? I thought about sneaking out to the garden, but there was no likelihood of him being there. And it would be harder for me to go unnoticed now anyways, what with Liha sleeping right next to me on a pallet. That first night was pure anguish.

 

I woke up when the sun rose the next morning, not very rested, but unable to sleep. Liha was still deep in slumber on her pallet next to my bed, so I tiptoed over to the door, and as quietly as I could, I stole into the grand hall, still barely able to believe that I could move around freely without anyone asking questions.  I wanted to find Surg. There was nothing more in the world that I needed more than I need him then. But he wasn’t lighting fires, and he wasn’t in the kitchens. I searched everywhere I could think, but I could not find him.

The sun was up, and the school was beginning to wake so I wandered helplessly out into the gardens, sure that I would never find my friend again. I wandered around to our meeting spot, not even daring to believe he might be there. And sure enough when I rounded the bushes, emptiness. I sat down in despair. What would I do if I never saw him again, if by some force against our wills, he had been killed, or traded, or maybe he didn’t want to see me anymore? Tears welled up in my eyes and my breathing became unsteady, I hadn’t realized how much I had hoped he would be here in the gardens waiting. My heart beat irregularly and strongly against my chest it almost hurt.

I looked up at a bird chirping nearby. And was about to chastise myself for being foolish when I saw him. Patiently leaning against a silver tree with blue leaves. He was looking at me with intense eyes, as he had spent much of the night in worry like I had. “Surg.” I jumped and ran to him. His arms wrapped around me and threatened to never let go.

“Larie.” He whispered. We couldn’t say anymore. Tears burst out of my eyes and he held me close. “I thought you were dead.” His voice cracked. Only then did I realize how much he had suffered last night.

“Surghey, I’m so sorry!” I promised. I leaned back so I could see him, he had tears shining in his eyes as well. “I wanted to find you but the Shadow Master-” he gazed into my eyes, silencing me.

“Why didn’t you come-”

“Surg I couldn’t.” I pulled away from him. Tears were stinging my eyes but I didn’t care. I felt horrible that he had suffered so much.

There was a long pause as we stared at each other. Then, “I know.” He sighed. He looked up into the sky as two birds flew past, singing to each other. “I envy them.” He said quietly, more to himself but loud enough that I was meant to hear.

“You want to fly?” I asked trying to lighten the mood.

He shook his head and looked back at me. “They can be with the one they want, openly. They don’t have to hide.”

“Surg-“ I sighed desperately. I longed to hold him again, but I knew everything had changed. We both knew; no more late nights, falling asleep under the stars. No more steeling moments in passing, we had been moved into two different worlds that could never be crossed.

He put a finger to my lips silencing me. I stopped breathing. That action was much more intimate than we had ever known before. He leaned in towards me and I froze, wanting him so much I couldn’t stand being this close and yet so far apart. And just as I thought our lips would touch for the first and last time, he moved and his lips grazed my cheek.

Brushing a strand of my red hair behind my ear, he whispered, “I’ll wait for you forever.” And with one last glance, he walked out of the garden. Out of my life.

I fell to my knees, tears flowing uncontrollably down my face, and I wasn’t able to breathe.  Gasping for air I tried to call out to him, to call him back and demand that he stay with me forever, not wait.

 

 

Author's Note

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