by R J Kaldanis
He wondered what had hardened her so, had made her so distrusting of him and what had led to the ever-growing rift between them. As children they had been best friends and he longed for the days they’d be together again. To pass time they would write to each other, sometimes as often as three times a week. She was always excited to hear about the lands he visited and people he met, flooding him with questions on the cultures that seemed so farfetched and different to anything she knew. Her return stories were rarely of Veros, but of her dreams in slumber and the adventures within, the only adventures she knew. Time and time again, Chastion begged the Queens, Stella and Pateras to allow his little sister to join him on the various journeys he undertook, to whisk her away on a real adventure and experience something other than the dull life that Veros offered. Of course, neither set of parents agreed to Aardriyah joining Chastion, given she had little to offer and would no doubt end up being a burden.
As the years went on, the letters began to die off. The wild stories of her dreams no longer excited him, perhaps because his world was now far more expansive and magical than any of Aardriyah’s dreams. When they were finally together again, he would get bored within minutes of their conversations, his mind clearly on matters that were far above her scope of understanding.
“Why am I here? Why didn’t you take me home?” Aardriyah broke the silence, asking the question to anyone in the room willing to answer it.
“Here you are safe. We couldn’t guarantee that safety anymore at your home, unfortunately.” Old Man Teme answered.
“But you just said Pateras and Sonas were safe at home!” Aardriyah rose again, frustrated at the lack of clear answers and fearing once again for her family.
“They are! Undina damn it - just shut up and listen for once Aardriyah!” Chastion boomed back, causing Aardriyah to do just that.
“We are all worried for you, Aardriyah, not anyone else.” Old Man Teme continued. Kit now awoken by the loud conversation jumped up on the bed beside Aardriyah and rested its head on her lap, nuzzling her left hand with his nose.
“The safest place for you to be is in the care of the royal family. Before you reject this offer, I will warn you that to refuse is to accept horrors no one can save you from, not even me.” He sighed and looked gravely upon her. “My lantern has a powerful barrier, a protection spell of sorts that it emanates. I hoped it was enough to protect you, to ward off anyone who had plans to harm you. But it seems it no longer can protect you how it should, so we need to take other steps to ensure you are safe.”
Aardriyah rose her eyebrows, confused by this sudden revelation and not sure if Old Man Teme was genuinely trying to explain the situation or use this as an excuse to put her on a journey she wasn’t ready for.
“Tomorrow the royal fleet departs Veros to travel back to the Crystal Capital. We will travel aboard, but you must keep your identity hidden.” Chastion explained.
“What? No! What about Sonas? I can’t just leave her!” Aardriyah protested.
“You must. I wish there was another way, but if you stay here, live in that house, no one can protect you. Those that are hunting you may just use Sonas to hurt you. I wouldn’t put it past them.”
“Why? Why won’t you tell me what I have done? Why did you need to protect me with an old, rusted lantern? Why am I being… hunted?” Aardriyah demanded answers. Speaking sternly and in a rushed reply, Old Man Teme said,
“That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that you do what you are told and trust that it is in your best interest.” Aardriyah was shocked by this sudden outburst from the usually calm old man. Taking a breath, he continued,
“You will wear the clothes of an unblessed servant and serve as Princess Kibo’s animal handler; Kit is your ward now and you must keep him by your side at all times. We board at the peak of the sun today but remember no one is to know that you are Prince Chastion’s sister.”
Livid anger ran through her body; she hated being told what to do but she hated even more that she had no choice in the matter. She wasn’t ready to leave home, she hadn’t even the slightest chance to say goodbye to Sonas and Pateras or to ensure they were safe. She looked up towards Chastion who now looked forlorn at her, and she wondered if he had finally got his wish - to be able to travel the world with her and share in his adventures like he had always promised her as a child. The difference was now, neither of them wanted or desired it.
“Once we reach Rovik, you and I shall depart the royal fleet and continue forth to safer grounds.” Old Man Teme finished.
“Where is safer?” Aardriyah asked, not imagining that anywhere could be safer than staying with one of the ruling families of the realm. Before Old Man Teme had a chance to answer, a bell was rung in the outside servants’ quarters. Princess Kibo and Prince Chastion rose and looked towards each other.
“We must go.” Princess Kibo said before bowing her head to Aardriyah and Old Man Teme and departing the room. Prince Chastion grabbed his sister in his arms and held her close once more.
“Please just listen to him. I’ll try to see you as soon as I can.” He looked over to the red and white canine sprawled across the bed, and laughed,
“At least it’s an easier job than cleaning waste rooms.” With that, he whisked himself out of the door and quickly shut it closed again. Outside in the servant’s quarters the bell continued to be rung signalling that the morning fast meal was ready before the day shift began. Princess Kibo and Prince Chastion were joined by an earth blessed servant who promptly led them down a lone corridor. Looking around to ensure no one had followed, the earth servant then used his magic to force a wall down in front of the Prince and Princess, before promptly raising it again once they were inside the chamber. One of the perks of having every type of blessed at your disposal, was the ability to use their skills to your advantage particularly when you needed to sneak out, or in this case, sneak into the royal lodge.
Old Man Teme remained with Aardriyah in what she supposed was her new temporary home.
“I will explain everything soon enough.” He assured her, before passing her a gift that continued to escape her.
“In the meantime, start writing in this. I find that if you get it out on paper, it will be less likely to haunt your mind.” He passed her back the leather-bound book and she took it swearing to herself that she would never let it out of her sight again. The book now remained the one piece of Veros that she could take with her, which offered some comfort, though not much.
But after living a life of as little comfort as one could bare, Aardriyah had learned to take what she could. Tracing the four joined ellipses shapes on the book, she sighed and whispered to Kit,
“I suppose we’re off on an adventure.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
servant
Aardriyah spent the rest of the morning writing down the dreams over the past two weeks, ensuring each one was as detailed as she could remember in case any of it shed a light on her current predicament. After several hours, a knock came on the door causing Aardriyah to jump, awoken to the current world, and not the one from dreams nights prior.
“Who is it?” She called to the door, weary as to whether she should open it.
“Queen Iber” A strong male voice responded in a sarcastic tone. Although it wasn’t one that Aardriyah could recognise, she only hesitated slightly before opening the door. She opened it slowly and peered through her hazel eyes at the man standing in the curved door frame. He was ridiculously tall, easily standing a foot above Aardriyah and broad as a tree trunk. As he looked down at her, she noticed his eyes were framed by large eyebrows that presently expressed disappointment.
“Maiden Riyah, your uniform.” He passed her a bundle of clothes neatly folded and bright in colour as if they had just been sewn.
“Thank you” Aardriyah said as she carefully took the clothes from him, noticing his hands were severely scarred with burn marks. As he realised her gaze was upon his hand
s, the man suddenly pulled them away from her sight and tucked them behind his back. He rose slightly on his heels before pronouncing,
“My name is Keelie Fand, Master of the Servants.” Bowing his head slightly, Aardriyah noticed the collar around his neck, it wasn’t red, green, yellow or blue, but instead - black.
“But how? You’re unblessed?” Aardriyah spoke the words before she had a chance to censor herself, immediately regretting what she said she tried to recover -
“I just meant that usually, I thought, well considering how powerful some of the -”
“Are you assuming I am not powerful? Because I am unblessed?” He retorted, raising his eyebrows and glaring into her eyes.
“No - I mean I don’t know; I don’t think so?”
“Riyah, I have no idea why our Princess needs an animal handler and I actually don’t care. But if you want to survive the seas out there you will do two things.” Aardriyah felt herself sinking back into her body, wishing she could just re-start this whole conversation.
“Firstly, I’m Master Keelie to you and you will only refer to me as that. Secondly, know that I might not be blessed, but I have more power in my little finger than you do in your entire body.” He glared her up and down as the words came out like venom.
“Get ready to board, servant.” With that, Master Keelie turned on his heels and walked away leaving Aardriyah alone in her shame and embarrassment.
Aardriyah shut the door tightly and with mouth still hanging wide open in shock, she stared at Kit who seemed to have been listening and paying attention to the whole conversation.
“What?!” she exclaimed in response to its judgemental stare.
After changing into the uniform, she noticed a small black leather-bound rope at the bottom of the pile, a navy collar with a silver tag reading, ‘Kit’.
“Well even you get to dress up Master Kit!” She said to the small dog while placing the collar and lead around his head. She stood back to marvel at her work and simply said,
“I bet you have more power in your little paw than he does his entire hulking body.” Kit barked in agreement.
Considering Aardriyah had little to pack she made her way with Kit in tow outside to the bustling kitchen. Grabbing a couple of pieces of bread, she poured herself a hot tea and sat at one of the communal tables. All the other servants and staff were deep in conversation and paid little attention to the newcomer in their midst. But she was used to being invisible, only noticed when someone needed a verbal punching bag. She noticed that everyone seemed to be sitting with those of the same skill, water blessed with water blessed, unblessed with unblessed, before realising she was sitting next to an earth blessed staff member and most likely in the wrong place. Rising from her chair, she went to leave when Master Keelie strode into the kitchen, a hush fell upon all those within without a single word even uttered from him. His eyes darted around the room as if he were counting numbers, before he announced;
“Blessed morning to all.”
“Blessed morning to you also” the crowd responded in unison.
“Today at peak sun we will embark on our journey forth to The Crystal Capital. As such, you will be boarding the fleet within the next hour. I have new room and ship lists which I will pass to the tables shortly, ensure you find your name, designated ship and room number, failure to do so could see you spend a night with the pigs.” Several of the servants laughed, before Keelie continued.
“We have a new servant in our employ, Riyah Veros, who is Princess Kibo’s new animal handler.” Keelie stared down at Riyah before raising a strong arm directly towards her.
“Which also means we have a new animal on board, Kit. There are strict instructions that in order for Riyah to be an obedient servant, Kit must stay with her at all times. That means, those of you who dislike our four-legged friend, will have to learn to deal with it.” Several mumbles passed through the room; an animal was going to be living in the servant’s quarters? Surely this was a step too far even for the crown princess.
“Please remember to treat our new crew with respect. After all, only one of them is a bitch.” He finished with a wink and a smirk, leaving the room in a fit of gregarious laughter and back slapping.
Aardriyah sunk into her chair, no longer wanting to stand to leave for fear she wouldn’t make it to the door without facing a tirade of jokes her way. It wasn’t that she struggled with the negativity or the jokes at her expense, it was that she had become the centre of attention in a room full of people much more skilled than her. She had lived her whole life somewhat invisible and it was of comfort to her to know that no one really cared what she did, it gave her freedom of sorts. Provided she kept to herself and didn’t do anything to upset any blessed people, she was almost allowed complete liberty to do as she pleased, invisible and unnoticed.
But now, she was the centre of attention, being forced on a ship to a destination she had no desire of visiting. The worst part was she had no idea if Sonas and Pateras were even aware of her whereabouts or if they had assumed the had just abandoned them. Deciding she needed to stop this folly in its tracks, she breathed in deeply, closed her eyes and whispered to herself, you can do this.
Once outside the kitchen, she walked down the corridor towards the entrance she came in the night prior. She flinched at the sight of a royal guard at the outer wall, taking a moment to look him over to confirm he wasn’t one of the guards that had kidnapped her. Thankfully, she didn’t recognise him and breathed a sigh of relief before cautiously approaching. After asking him where she might be able to find Master Keelie, she made her way towards a small blue door down a parallel cave hallway to the one her bedroom was located in. The sound of three knocks on the door led to an echo of several loud footsteps within the room and the distinct noise of a handle opening.
“Master Keelie, I have decided I no longer wish to be employed.” Was all Aardriyah managed to get out of her mouth before the man grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her inside the room with force.
“Do you want to say that again, girl?” barked Keelie. He had pushed Aardriyah up against the door now and was glaring into her eyes, close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin.
“I said” she stuttered, “I no longer wish to be employed.” The simmering anger had once again roared to life within her, bubbling under the surface. What was meant to be a simple excuse for no longer being the ‘animal handler’ and avoiding this journey, had turned into her fearing for her life. The man in front of her could easily snap her in two and he seemed the sort that might just do so with little provocation needed. As if he sensed her intense fear, Keelie suddenly broke away from the door he had held her against and threw his hands up in the air, laughing and looking towards the ceiling.
“You are funny, Riyah. Too funny. You come into my crew, untrained, unskilled and unblessed and believe you are too good for this, girl?” He pretended to wipe away tears of laughter as he turned and looked back at her.
“It is not meant to be funny. I can’t do this, I’m not meant to do this.” She motioned towards the spot she thought Kit was beside her. Noticing the red and white canine missing, she gasped before quickly shutting her mouth to avoid further laughter from the Master.
“Clearly” Keelie said, completely aware that Kit’s absence was unintentional. A noise of scratching came from the door, both parties looked towards it before stating.
“I’ll get it.” In unison. They both bustled towards the door, their hands grasping the door knob at the same time. Aardriyah found herself staring at the horrible burn scars covering Keelie’s entire hand.
“I said I’ve got it” he scowled down at her, before turning the knob and letting Kit bounce inside.
“I’m not an idiot, Riyah.” He continued, as she bent down and petted the small canine.
“I know you’re no animal handler. I know you are set to board this ship for reasons I will probably never be told. But you must know this.”
he paused, waiting for her full attention.
“If you can’t make it through a fast meal without a little light hearted jesting, you will never survive in the real world out there.” He pointed to the horizon visible in the curved window of the room. Of course he had assumed she was weak willed, just running away from responsibility because she was unable to handle snide remarks or laughter at her expense. She wanted to correct him, inform him of the years of verbal abuse that had hardened her, that his rude words earlier had hardly impacted her. She wanted to tell him that she had survived he whole life as an unblessed, unwanted and unloved daughter and that nothing he did could make her doubt her worth more than her mother did every day of her life.
“I have survived in the real world!” Aardriyah rose angry at the belittling she was receiving. Keelie scoffed at her remark,
“What? In Veros?”
“Yes, in Veros.”
He laughed again and shook his head, Veros after all was such a small part of the real world and could only offer so much experience before it all became familiar comfort. Keelie genuinely struggled to understand why anyone would be willing to stay here when an opportunity to explore the New Realm presented itself without her putting in any effort.
“So tell me then, what is it about your real world that is holding you back from actually experiencing the real world?” He asked.
She contemplated her response, not wanting to give him any more ammunition against her, she struggled to find the right words to justify her decision to reject such an offer.
Aardriyah highly doubted this man could ever understand the weight of the responsibility she felt to protect her family. The respect he commanded in the dining hall could have only been earnt through years upon the seas, years in the employ of a royal family, years away from anyone he once loved. Besides, he was unblessed so he was most likely a former criminal, hardened by the world with little regard for anything as sentimental as a love shared between sisters and the duty owed by a big sister to a little sister.
