“I am guessing that things went well with Jenni then?” Kallem asks.
“Yeah, hence the morning entrance.” Raveer winks at his brother.
“Of course, how is she doing? I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks.” Kallem says trying to get his brothers attention on a more respectful conversation.
“Fine, she was just as attractive as I remember.” Raveer responds.
“Why am I not surprised to hear that as your response? Did you even talk with her at all?” Kallem asks with disapproval.
“Not really, that's not exactly why I was there brother. Also, why do you sound like dad right now?” Raveer teases Kallem about his nagging.
Kallem lets out a sigh, “If you had bothered speaking with her at all you would know that her younger brother passed away about 2 months ago while you were gone without visiting.”
“Nope, I had no idea. She said nothing to me about it, but she was ready for action. Let's assume she didn't want to share that with me. I wasn't here so there is no reason I should have known.” Raveer's defends himself with a selfish excuse.
“Alright then, moving on to something else.” Kallem states as he knows this conversation is starting to make him irritated with Raveer.
When I finish up, I go sit down on the hard floor with my legs crossed as I stare at my dried-out dishwater hands. How nice would it be to have lotion these days? I daydream about the smell of my favorite coconut lotion that I had when I was in school years ago. As I listen to Raveer continue with his Kallem about his conquest of a girl in town that he has seen many times before as Kallem preaches at him for once again probably breaking her heart when he does go back to his village. All I have to say is, what a pig, that's exactly what Raveer is, a selfish narcissistic pig. Eventually I try to drown out Raveer's chattering by thinking of music lyrics and trying to imagine the music is in the room.
“Well brother, I have to go check on a few patients of mine, but it won't take too long. Could you keep an eye on her for me? Or if you need to run out to do anything then please chain her up.” Kallem requests.
“I have plans soon but I can hang around for a while and keep an eye on her, if you're not here before I leave then I will make sure she is confined.” Raveer says as he winks at me sending chills down my spine.
“Okay Raelia, listen to Raveer and do as he asks. I will return shortly, and I will bring back some more food if I find anything fresh for tonight. I will see you later brother.” Kallem grabs a bag filled with medical supplies as he goes out the front door and it slams behind him.
It's going to be a long day, as I turn my attention away from the door and notice that Raveer is staring at me in a mincing way.
“Lots to clean, get to it, sweep, wipe down the table and floors, you should know the drill by now if Coven has taught you anything while you are living here.”
I stare at him as I wonder how someone can have such a stern face while still attempting to grin like that. Swiftly I make myself busy, doing everything that Coven taught me to do while cleaning and then continuing to think of other things to keep busy so that Raveer won't have an excuse to talk to me. Occasionally I notice him glaring at me out of the corner of my eye while I clean. After about an hour passes, I stand their holding a broom and a wet cloth, as I glance around the room when I realize that there isn't anything left to do, not inside the house anyways. I look over at Raveer as he sits at the table eating the apple and drinking a cup of water.
“Why did you stop?” He asks.
“Um, because I did everything I am supposed to do inside, and wouldn't you agree it couldn't be any cleaner?” I say in a proud but shaky voice.
“Is that so, then what's that?” He asks as he points down at the ground beside the table.
“What's what? I don't see anything.” I step forward looking at the ground he is pointing towards, as I look back at him. He takes a single finger and pushes his glass of water over. The water pours across the edge of the table, onto the floor, and continues to drip down.
“I guess you missed something, now you need to clean that up.” He leans back in his seat and laughs.
“I will not! You did that for spite! You can clean that up yourself! You… lazy cow!” My anger rushes over me as I toss the wet cloth at his head in a rage. It smacks him straight across the face. Serves him right, what an ass.
“You just made a huge mistake little girl. Kallem isn't here to protect you and I have been looking for you to give me a reason to piss me off.”
He slams the cloth down on the table and stands up. I stand their frozen as my anger turns into stone cold terror and the broom handle falls from my hand. Unable to move as I stare at the expression across his face. The loud crash of the broom hitting the wooden floor behind me suddenly snaps me out of it. I start stumbling backwards as he rushes towards me. I fall backwards onto the ground and immediately brace myself by putting my arm up with my forearm blocking my face as I try to push myself backwards with my legs. He lunges himself on top of me as I struggle to keep him off, instantly remembering my father's training, I elbow him across the face. He responds quickly by pinning my arms down to the ground as he hunches down on top of my abdomen. Pushing on my wrists so hard the bone is grinding against the wooden floors till it hurts. I close my eyes out of panic, because I don't want to see what's coming next.
“I am not my brother, and you will not speak to me that way ever again.” He slaps me across the face. I keep my face turned against the floor in hopes he won't continue to do it again if I don't move. He is much stronger than I am, and I know if I fight back what will Kallem think or do to me.
“Now are you ready to get up and clean up that mess?”
“Yes.” I barely get out in a mixture of whisper and squeak.
“Sorry, I didn't hear you, try again?”
“Yes… sir.” I say while trying not to make eye contact.
“That's better. Get it done then.” He releases my wrists as he runs his hands down my chest and around the curves of my waste. “You're lucky you belong to Kallem, because there are much better uses for a servant like you.” He gets up off of my body slowly.
I sit up and back up as I stand up and rush over to the table, grab the cloth, wipe the table and get down on my hands and knees to wipe up the rest of the water from the floor as he stands behind me. He moves aside as I get up and go to drain the water out of the cloth in the kitchen, as he follows behind me and puts his hands on the sides of my waist and pushes his body tightly against mine.
“Don't… Don't touch me.” I quickly turn around to face him, pushing him away.
“I can do whatever I like, you're a no body.” He pushes me back into the countertop with his hand on the center of my chest firmly.
“Then I will tell Kallem, I belong to him, not you. Then he will kick you out of here and you'll be homeless.”
“You think? Oh, that's not going to happen, because if you say a single word to him, I can do much worse than this. I don't think you want that, do you? Although, honestly I have to admit that I would enjoy every minute of touching all those curves on your body” He runs his fingers down the center of my chest bone and all the way down to my belly button as he makes his intentions physically clear. He is interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps and quickly takes a couple of steps back away from me.
The door opens, and it is Kallem, Thankfully. I have never been so relieved to see him. I am still standing there with my back pressed against the countertop, and pale as a ghost.
“I'm back, everything okay you two?” Kallem asks as he notices the look across my face.
“Couldn't be better brother. Look around, this place is spotless. I told you I could get her into shape for you.” Raveer announces with a smirk across his face.
“Seems you were right. This place looks great.” Kallem looks towards me, as I still can't move.
“Guess he kept you busy today, maybe I should leave you two alone more often.” Kallem jokes as he p
uts up his bag.
I finally unfreeze enough to straighten up as Raveer looks at me and winks. I pick up the broom from the floor and put it back up. Then I go to my corner and sit with my head between my knees as I try to digest what just happened.
“So quite as well, she is never like this. It's peaceful.” Kallem jokes with Raveer as they poke fun at my expense.
I just sit there without moving, all I can think about is what happens the next time that Kallem leaves me here alone with Raveer. Maybe I should tell Kallem what happened, he may listen to me, but if he doesn't believe me, and Raveer finds out then… well it won't be good. It's okay, Kallem is here right now. I lay down in the floor, facing the wall and just close my eyes and try to think about the comforts of my home I left behind and how I missed my family. I know one day I will be reunited with them and all of this will just be the journey I have to take to get back to them. It will all be for something, and I can't wait to see them again. Eventually, I fall asleep as I hear Kallem and Raveer continuing their chat in the background.
Someone is grabbing my side and it starts to wake me.
“Wake Up! Are you okay?”
“Don't, don't touch me!” I flip over quickly, kicking and screaming.
“Stop it's me, you're having a nightmare!” Kallem holds my arms trying to avoid getting hit.
“What?” I look at him in confusion. “Where is Raveer?”
“You were having a nightmare. I woke you up because you were talking in your sleep and jerking all over the place like you were nightmare. Are you okay? Raveer isn't here, he went out for a bit.” Kallem released my arms and leans back on his knees beside me.
“Yeah, I'm fine. Like you said, it was just a nightmare.”
“Are you sure you're okay? What were you dreaming about?” Kallem places his hand on top of mine as I am firmly pressing it on the floor.
“No, I'm fine. Nothing, it was nothing.” I jerk my hand away and jump up off the floor.
“Okay then, just checking, but it didn't sound like nothing to me.” Kallem says concerned as he slowly gets up off the floor after me.
“Don't worry about it, not like you care anyways. Like your brother kindly pointed out to me, I am just a servant, a no body. I don't matter to anyone, not to him or you. So just leave it.” I turn my back to him and start to walk away.
“Wait.” Kallem grabs my arm firmly to stop me from walking away.
I stop, but I refused to turn and face him.
“My brother said that to you. He doesn't have a filter; he has been through a lot and it's been hard on him both mentally and physically. I know he can be cruel, but he doesn't know how else to be.” Kallem releases his grip on my arm as I turn to look at him.
“Like we all haven't been through some pretty traumatic events after the war started, especially after the Will'ers became out of control. I am pretty sure the entire surviving population has post-traumatic stress disorder. What makes him so special? I know he is your brother, but you enable his behavior by just accepting it like you are.”
“That's exactly it, he is my brother, my only brother. In fact, the only family member I have left. At some point I didn't even have him, I just got him back in my life about five or six months ago. He wasn't like this before. We got separated; he was in the military during the war and went AWOL when he found out there was no point in fighting a war we wouldn't win. No one knew where he went or if he was even still alive. I thought I would never see him again, but he came back home to check to see if any of was still alive. Everyone in our family was dead and I had already moved on to Oaken Woods with friends.” Kallem tries to explain what happened to keep them apart.
“How did you find him then; I mean if you were here and he was in the city?”
“When he came back, I found him at the hospital that I use to work, while I was going to retrieve some medication in the city that I had hidden when the news broke out. He knew if I was still alive that he could find me there eventually, so he had been camping out in the hospital. Raveer knew I would always need to keep my hands-on more medical supplies since he knew I would be resourceful enough to hide some. I just can't accept the idea of losing him again or not knowing that he is at least safe, he is my brother, he is my responsibility.”
“I'm sorry, I know he is your brother… maybe I am wrong… However, I don't think he has such good intentions as you think. I will stay out of his way, but please don't leave me alone with him. I know you trust him, but he owes me nothing and I don't trust him.” I lower my voice glaring down at the floor.
“Don't be silly, you act as if he would hurt you… he wouldn't. I have lots of work to do, I don't have time to babysit either of you. I need to trust that the both of you can be respectful towards each other. People here are counting on me, and you both need to just keep away from each other as much as possible if you can't play nice. Now I have had enough of this. I need to head out to collect some firewood. I will be back very soon. If Raveer returns do me a favor and don't even speak to him.” Kallem says with exasperation as he walks over and pulls me towards the ankle cuff and latches it around my ankle.
I stand there with the cold metal wrapped around my skin just looking at him as he leaves, slamming the door behind him as silence fills the room I continue to stand and change my glance from the door to the window as I back up and press my back against the wall as I gradually slide my back down against the wall and take a seat to rest. Still fixated on the outside world beyond the window, and slightly annoyed that when I was being honest with Kallem; he got avoidant and left. I feel bad for Kallem, but he doesn't understand or want to accept the truth. If only he knew… but he would never believe me, he is entirely delusional about his brother. That settles it; I will just do my best to avoid Raveer and try not anger him for Kallum's sake. Maybe this is partly my fault and if I hadn't upset Raveer in the first plaace then that entire situation wouldn't have escalated. Either way, Kallem may not be the nicest guy in the world, but I would break his heart if I ever told him what has been going on. I am back in this cuff, so me questioning Raveer was enough for Kallem not to trust me and us to go back to the way things were.
Time passes as I try to calculate how long it has been since I left for search of my parents, honestly, at this point I have lost count of the days. I really wish I still had my journal to write in every day. Setting against the cold wooden floor for the longest time humming to myself and tracing the cracks in the floor with my finger as my thoughts begin to move back to food.
The door finally flies open as I look up and sigh with relief to see that it is Kallem back with the firewood.
“I'm back, just in time… It's getting cold outside. I'll get started on this fire, after we will eat, because I am sure you are hungry. Oh, I grabbed a fish and some bread as well from the Coven that he had left over. It's not much but I bet you're hungry. I would have been here sooner, but I ran into the lady I have been caring for that is far along in her pregnancy.” Kallem walks over drops the food off on the counter and then takes over the wood to start building the fire. Soon the fire is burning, and the warmth starts to spread as he begins to lay out the table for food.
Eagerly I am up off the floor pacing as I watch intensely as he is almost finished with the food. The sun is going down and the light is coming in from the kitchen window on his hair making it shine warm brown with tones of red, and my mind wonders away from the thought of the food as I stand there hypnotized by the shimmering of reflection on his hair.
“You look ready to eat, come on then.” He grins at me as he motions me over to the table.
I quickly take off towards the table, before I am pulled back by the chains and almost trip onto the floor. I stop and back up and look down at my feet as I feel my face flush with red from embarrassment.
“Oh, forgot about that, sorry. You know I really wish I didn't have to do that, but I need to trust you and I'm not sure that I can yet.” Kallem comes over and to me unlocks the cuff.
<
br /> “Such silence, this isn't like you. I don't know if I should be happy or concerned.” He walks away back to the table as I rush behind him to take a seat at the table.
“Hungry, that's all. May I eat now?” As I grasp the utensils with impatience.
“Yes of course, eat.” Kallem agrees laughingly as he picks up his fork. “I know that you're hungry, but I don't think I have seen you look at food the same way since the first day I gave you bread.” He continued.
“Really, uh yeah I guess that's true.” I mumble start to eat.
I try composing myself while I eat but I am just so hungry. I hate fish, however today it couldn't have tasted any better. The bread is always the best, Coven's bread is delicious. Before I know it all my food is gone, and I look up at Kallem and he is staring at me. I wipe my face with my arm. I look at him with embarrassment as my face begins to flush, he isn't even halfway done with his plate. My manners clearly have left me…
“Sorry, I was being rude.” I glance at his face and then look back down at my plate.
“If you're finished then go ahead and clean up your plate and then I will let you take mine as well.”
“Okay.” I murmured as I hiccupped from eating too quickly.
I get up and take my own plate to the kitchen first as the front door flies open spontaneously with a bang. I drop the dish as I am startled; the dish shatters with a loud crash onto the floor. I turn quickly looking at the door as I am in a panic.
“You… clumsy girl, you should be more careful. Brother did you see what Raelia did?” It's Raveer as he stumbles through the door and throws down his jacket in the floor by the door. He can hardly walk. He is clearly intoxicated.
Revelation of Raelia: Book One Page 8