Revelation of Raelia: Book One

by Tammy W. Pechin

  “Good job Coven, I owe you. She is a fast one, and not to gentle either. I'll be covered in bruises by morning.” Kallem says as he tries to catch his breath.

  Coven releases his grip off my wrists as Kallem picks me off the ground literally throwing me over his shoulder as I tightly grip onto the back of his shirt, trying to struggle without falling on my head.

  “You put me down, put me down right now!” I demand to Kallem as he ignores what I said.

  “No problem Kallem, she will come around if she knows what is good for her. You're a good man, and she is lucky to work for you.” He smiles at Kallem.

  “I appreciate that Coven, I am going to get her back inside. I want to speak to your master soon about some training for her. I will come by to speak with him tomorrow if I have time.” Kallem turns to take me back as my hair is covering my face, my feet covered in mud, and smudges of dirt all over my body.

  We get inside, he puts me down and he slams the door locking it behind him and walks over to shut the window before he guides me over to the wall with the ankle cuff chained to it. I am too scared to speak as he sits me down and puts the cuff around my ankle. I scoot towards the wall pushing my back against it, unable to even look at him. He walks away without saying one word. I hear the dishes clink together as he cleans up the mess, before I hear him lay down on his bed. Then I decide to lay down on the floor and go to sleep myself, in hopes that by morning he will cool off. I didn't mean to kick him hard enough to bruise him, I just was trying to get free. Kallem appears even more upset and I don't know how long he will be angry with me.

  CHAPTER 3

  NEIGHBORLY LOVE

  I

  awake late to find Kallem is gone; being so tired that I didn't hear him leave this morning. Still covered in mud and sweat and wishing I could shower. I wonder where Kallem went, and when will he return. I sit and wait, singing old Beatles songs to entertain myself. My mother loved The Beatles, she used to sing me their songs to go to sleep when I was little.

  Time passes and eventually he returns. I stare at him, he isn't even acknowledging my existence, and I am worried that he may have traded me to someone else while he was out. He grabs a chunk of bread and lays on his bed as he eats it. I watch him eat… this isn't fair, he is heartless leaving me here with no food or water, only to return to eat in front of me. I recalled what Coven said about Kallem being a good man, he doesn't appear that way to me. Am I wrong for wanting my freedom? I may have let my anger get the best of me, which honestly does sound like me. Rationality isn't one of my skill sits for sure. Still, is that any reason to deny me food, which is just cruel.

  My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door. Kallem answers it, I can't see who it is, but I overhear them ask him to come look at their sister who is ill. Kallem leaves with the person, locking the door behind him. I lay back down on the floor, as I tear up and my heart starts to ache. I may have not always had food as an outsider, but I was never chained. It's really starting to break me; I feel completely hopeless in the moment.

  Kallem returns shortly after he left. I turn over facing the wall, moving the chains with my feet. I try to dry my eyes, so he won't notice that he is breaking me down. I hear the water start as he gets into the shower, and once again he does not acknowledge me. It must be late afternoon already, and I have such bad hunger pains. Food I can go without for a while longer, but I don't think I can go much longer without at least some water. I'll be honest, I am not the best at being ignored or keeping the silence myself.

  The shower water stops, and Kallem comes out wearing just a pair of brown cloth pants, his hair still damp and stringy. He pours a cup of water and starts to drink it as if he knows what I was just thinking about how thirsty I am. Is he doing this just to make me suffer? This is seriously some kind of torture, but I am so thirsty that I feel like I have cotton in my mouth.

  “Can I have some water?” I say to him in a soft voice, but he doesn't respond, or even look at me. I repeat myself a little louder, and he still ignores me. I'm not invisible, maybe he is more pissed at me then I thought.

  “May I please have some water? I am thirsty.” He remains silent. What does he want me to say?

  “So, you're going to ignore me, and let me just die chained to this wall?” He doesn't even look me.

  “I said please, I don't know what else to say. Stop ignoring me, I know you can hear me.”

  I sit up and I start pulling at the chain and the cuff on my ankle becoming more panicked with every second that passes in his silence. I feel the tears run down my face as I grip tightly onto the cuff and start to hyperventilate as my anxiety takes over, realizing I have no control and he has no intentions of evening responding to me.

  “Undo these chains, I need air, please, I have to take them off. I feel cluster phobic…. You win… ok…I'll do anything. I can't breathe, I need out.” Panic sits in and I start to beg. Continuing to struggle with the cuff as he glances at me a few times.

  “Stop and breath, slow deep breaths.” Kallem finally realizes that I am having a panic attack and rushes over to my side.

  “You are fine.” He pulls my hair out of my face, blowing on my cheeks which are hot and flushed. He takes the key out of his pocket and unlocks the cuff.

  “There, that should help, if you try anything stupid, I will not make the same mistake twice.”

  He grabs the canteen of water from the counter and pouring a little of the cold water on my head, which causes me to jump, but it distracts me enough to catch my breath finally. Then he hands me the canteen of water and I drink every remaining drop.

  Now I'm covered in mud and water, and I smell of smoke from being too close to the fire. I'm such a mess and I feel so empty inside and like giving up. I try to remember something positive, my family, the reason I continue to search for them, and it led me here, but this doesn't have to be the end. I just need to remember my mother's and father's face to help me calm myself.

  Kallem grabs my hand and leads me to the shower. “Go ahead, wash off. Leave your dress in the floor and I will find you something else to wear until you can clean it.”

  He walks away as I stand there looking at my dirty clothes and the water still dropping down from my head. I undress and climb into the shower. Chill bumps appear as the water runs over my skin, as I quickly try to scrub off all the mud before Kallem interrupts me like he did the last time. He doesn't this time to my surprise. I get out of the shower and dry off, but there wasn't a towel to dry with. I just kept looking at a scratch I noticed across my forearm that I didn't realize I had.

  I hear the door creek as it opens. Desperately I try to hide any of my assets from being seen, groping myself awkwardly and trying to hide what I can. Of course, I realize I don't have enough hands to do both, but that didn't stop me from trying.

  “Here is a dress I borrowed from a neighbor's daughter quickly, which she expects to get back mud free by the way. It isn't something a servant can wear so we need to get yours washed or replaced quickly.” Kallem preaches with sarcasm as he continues to open the door.

  “What are you doing?! Get out!”

  “It's not like you have anything I haven't seen before, besides it's not like I would even look. I am throwing the dress.” Kallem tosses the dress on the floor, and then shuts the door back behind him.

  Quickly I try to shake off some of the water to get dry as I look down at the dress laying across the floor. It's worn and washed out, tan with a horrid pink floral pattern sleeveless dress. I pick it up off the floor with one hand as if it might bite me. Well it's better than the other clothes I suppose, but I really want my jeans and t-shirt back. I shuffle myself into the dress as I wonder what he did with my old clothes. Then it crossed my mind that I had extra clothes in my bag, which is still sitting by a rock at the side of the stream. I can't believe I had completely forgotten about my bag that I had left behind. I doubt anyone else has noticed the bag laying out there yet, so there is a chance I could get my belongi
ngs back.

  I inhale a deep breath and hold it as I attempt to zip up the back of my dress. Turning in circles trying to figure out how to reach around to finish zipping it up behind my shoulder blades. I knew there was a reason I wasn't a dress type of girl, give me jeans and a shirt any day. Letting out a sigh in frustration, it's obvious that I am not going to manage to get the zipper the rest of the way up and it doesn't help that it's entirely too tight. I give up. Gripping my hand on the cloth clinging to my stomach and pulling it away from my skin as an attempt to stretch it out. I am not a tiny teen like the girl next door obviously and this dress is tiny. I have assets that don't belong in a tiny dress.

  I tug open the door as it sticks, and stand there with my bare feet still damp, pressed against the wooden floor, awkward and irritated, with the dress halfway zipped up in the back. My face flushed I look at him as I stomp out of the bathroom.

  “I think I would fit better into your clothes! Just give me back my old clothes, this is ridiculous! The zipper won't even go all the way up¸ and I think if I move it may split in half.”

  Kallem snickers trying to hold back the laughter. “Oh, it's fine. Could be worse. Turn around and I'll fix the zipper for you.”

  Awkwardly approaching him, and turning, I let out a sigh. This couldn't be more embarrassing. “It's far from fine, this dress is going to compress me into a diamond.”

  “Well then at least you would be worth something and then you couldn't talk either, so it's a win-win situation for me.” Kallem pulls the zipper and after a couple of attempts he gets it to zip all the way up. Glaring at my skin for a second.

  “There all done, see it fits.” Kallem states with a smirk.

  “Sure. Why can't you just give me back my old clothes, I can wear them in here. Even better, I had extra clothes in my bag. It got left behind when I was abducted by those slave traders. My journal is still laying on the ground if no one has found it. You could take me to get them.”

  “Raelia, I told you that can't wear street clothes, even in the house. The only reason I am allowing this is because it's still the like servant clothing but with flowers. You must have something to wear and I will replace it quickly enough. Regarding your bag; you know I would have to be insane to take you that far away from the Oaken Wood when I can't even trust you inside the house.”

  “Wait, is that the name of this place; Oaken Wood? What about my journal then? Couldn't you go get it for me and I will stay here while you get it?”

  “No, it's just a journal. I am not leaving the village for some paper or leaving you alone for that long with you knowing that I am outside the gates. Yes, it was pre-existing the war, and after the population dwindled over the last five years they let in new people and made new rules. Most of this villages houses, and solar grids were already here.” Kallem walks away from Raelia and perches on the wooden chair.

  “Some of these people lived here even before the war; that explains the agriculture and the solar. Also, I know you think it's just paper…. Oh, you wouldn't understand.” I lean up against the wall that I am already too familiar with.

  “Ok, fine. I'll consider checking for it tomorrow when I head out. It will give me time to go to a neighboring village tomorrow to speak with my brother. Since you are not trustworthy, I'll be forced to leave you here; not alone though. I will only be gone away a single night if everything goes as planned. You need some training as well, so I will have Coven come teach you, if his master can spare him for a night. Coven may be a servant, but he is a very responsible and respectful person, so don't think for a second that you can trick him in any way.” Kallem says in a scorning tone raising an eyebrow.

  I nod in agreement. Excited at the thought of the retrieval of my personal belongings. Also, it means that Coven will be staying here with me, which has me excited in an entirely different way. I may be able to sway him helping me escape, some part of him must want to be free to do whatever he wants, regardless of what Kallem says. The sun is setting already, and tomorrow is a new day. Kallem comes over to cuff my ankle as I sit down and stretch out across the floor. Kallem then goes to lay down on his bed and stretches out, leaving me laying on the cold floor as I stare at his bed with discontent.

  Escape may be easier with Coven watching over me, but I would feel bad if I got him into any trouble. He seems like a good person, even though he did try to stop me while I was running away. I think, he just didn't want to do anything wrong because he has some strange innocence about the way he appears. Although the thought of having a night alone with Coven seems like a better plan, then attempting to escape. I fall fast asleep daydreaming about the possibilities that tomorrow may bring.

  Another morning is already here as I am awoken by the sound of the front door slamming shut. I continue to sprawl across the floor, and just start to drift back off asleep. Then I hear Kallem speaking to someone as I hear the sound of the front door opening again. I widen my eyes as I notice Coven followed Kallem into the house. Quickly I sit up and adjust my dress and hair, biting on my lips and pinching my cheeks so that I don't appear like the ghost I probably look like after days with no sun. I look down at my dress, I had totally forgotten I still had this thing on. This is too embarrassing, no need to pinch my cheeks now, I am probably glowing red.

  “Raelia, you meet Coven already. He will be staying with you just for tonight, while I am gone to visit with my brother. Coven's owner will check on him whenever he wishes, so please try not to get any of your clever ideas, because if you do get in trouble while I am gone… I won't be here to defend you.” Kallem glowers at me, and nods at Coven.

  I nod with agreement at Kallem while staring at Coven nervously with a malicious smile.

  “Okay then. Coven will also be training you on basic expected chores, like how to prepare food, and how the market works here. When I return then you will be responsible for doing all the things, he has taught you, without prompt. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.” My eyes still drifting back to Coven. The realization hits me that I may once again be drooling. As I cover my mouth nervously with my hand.

  “Good. You are oddly agreeable today, but I have no complaints about that. I will try to find your belongings along the way, but if you fail to do as you're told, then I will not return them to you, if I even manage to recover them.” Kallem says sternly as he pats Coven on the shoulder.

  “She's all yours Coven, I know you will do your best to teach her. You are aware of her escape attempt, so please watch her closely.”

  Coven smiles, “Don't worry Kallem, you know you can trust me. You have known me for the entire time I have been here, and you know I have never caused any trouble.”

  “I know and that's exactly why I trust you. You have always done your part without any complaints. Here is the key to her cuff, please keep it out of her sight.” Kallem says, handing over the key to Coven as he puts it in his pocket.

  They shake hands, as Kallem grabs a bag of supplies and heads out the door. I stand up as soon as the door shuts behind him. As Coven approaches me, I notice that his clothes appear cleaner than they were at our last encounter, and he isn't covered in flour and sweat for the first time. The sun is peeking through the window and shining on his lightly tanned golden skin, and his hair shines of honey, and amber tones with the sun shines across his hair. I inhale a deep breath as I continue to examine him, as my toes anxiously curl.

  “Are you ready to get started?” Coven questions with a straight serious face.

  “You bet … yeah, I am.” Way to come across as over pleasing. Well if my cheeks weren't red before, they are now, I think to myself.

  “Good, we will start with a list of chores that are expected each day. It's simple, you will clean and put any blankets and clothes, sweep, dust, and you will collect water to clean with yourself. There is well to get water from outside the village near the fields, or you can get it from the stream. You will prepare at least two meals a day… everyday, more if needed and you will
be responsible for going to the market to get what is needed to prepare those meals or to get any other items that are needed for the home as required by Kallem. Also, you may never purchase any item that is not on a list provided by Kallem. There are serious consequences for any bartering that was not approved by your owner. I have seen too many servants that were given punishments for getting themselves items at the market or just not following the list made for them. I'm sure that you noticed that the market stalls are located beside where you were auctioned as a servant, where the wooden stage is. When you go to the market, you are not allowed to speak with anyone who isn't a slave, unless you're buying goods from them. You must be respectful regardless of how the traders speak to you, and you always wait for them to speak to you first; if you don't then they may refuse to trade with you.”

  I interrupt him in the middle of his speech. “Why can't I speak to whomever I want?! Who made up all these ridiculous rules!”

  “That's just the rules, I don't make them. Honestly, I don't agree with that rule, but it could be worse. Some servant owners here don't allow their slaves to even speak unless spoken to, and they don't allow them to sit on furniture and must huddle on their knees when not in service. Just a few are that cruel, but I have seen some horrible treatment myself. I have seen servants speak out of tern and get beaten for it. Please don't make that mistake.” Coven's face turns to disgust, as he explains.

  “Are you serious? That's disgusting, I am a human being, not an animal. Why do these people allow others to treat them like that?!” I say with revulsion.

  “I agree, it's not right, but listen… You are lucky, and Kallem is not like that. I know you have been giving him a hard time, but you have no idea how bad it is for some of us. Be thankful, and remember that there are servants that are beaten, raped, starved, and endure many other inhumane treatments. While I feel bad for those that aren't as fortunate as us, I also keep in mind that if I step out of line then the consequences could be similar in the end for me as well. I think you also need to keep that in mind, especially considering what you have already done and Kallem has none the less kept you here. You have already tested serious boundaries with Kallem.”