I am excited because today is the day to make our request, I can't go with Kallem to appear before the council which means I must sit and wait for him to return with news about how they feel about my ideas for teaching and training. He left early in the morning and the sun is at its highest peak already; I compulsively clean awaiting his return. I jump anxiously at the sound of knocking at the door. Quickly I make my way to open the door.
“Hey, I saw you in the window pacing back and forth with that broom all morning.” Coven laughs as he hands me a loaf of fresh hot bread.
“I'm horribly nervous Coven” I stress with a shaky voice as I put the broom against the wall.
“I brought you this, I figured some food may help soothe your nerves while you are waiting for Kallem to return.”
“Thanks Coven, that's really nice of you. I'm trying to not be nervous, but my stomach is in knots; I'm so nauseous right now. He has been gone too long; it can't be good news. Oh, why is he taking so long?” I cut a piece of bread off for myself and one piece for Coven as sit down on the floor together to talk while we eat and wait.
Eventually Kallem comes storming through the door. Coven and I stand up quickly as I notice that Kallem's face is burning red; he just stares at us with frustration.
“What happened?” I say anxiously with Coven standing quietly beside me waiting patiently for a response.
“It didn't work, people can be so small minded, you know?!” Kallem ranted with anger in his voice.
“I don't understand. You would think they would want to educate and prepare people for our future.” Coven says with a calming tone as he looks at Kallem in naïve confusion.
“I don't understand, why? How does it interfere or hurt anything if we teach them things they need to know for survival? You said I couldn't survive on my own outside those gates. Even though I was taught how to survive, and you still felt that I couldn't, maybe they feel the same way you did before you gave me a chance to prove that I had useful skills.” I stood their glaring at him with annoyance.
“Point understood Raelia… no need to rub it in. People don't like change and if their kids have options then they could be left without help, they aren't thinking about the future. Everyone is having a hard time with the idea that a servant could have the right ideas to teach in the first place.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Snapping at Kallem, coven brushes my arm and I glance at him and look back at Kallem.
“Raelia, you know how they feel here. It's not Kallem that feels that way, and I know it's hard to remember that. Please, calm down.” Coven affirms as I refuse to even look at him again.
“Coven knows what I mean, and you said yourself Raelia that history repeats itself; well how did it work in the past? They assume that you will lead them into a different way of thinking. A world without people they can control to do their bidding, a world where people do have the right to a secular knowledge in order to survive. It's like they reset their brains into this way of thinking and to break it takes time, a lot of time.” Kallem preaches to Raelia like a child.
“We don't have time Kallem. This should have already happened, look at what happened just weeks ago, and some people were unfortunate enough to get injured or die. Well you know, because you had to help burn the bodies, and attend all the injured. What's next when it happens again, and I say ‘when’ because we know it will happen again…?” I question Kallem about the unavoidable future of another attack.
“I agree Raelia, please don't think because I am delivering the bad news, that I agree with such ideas; it takes time for people to accept change. First it seems we need to sale your intentions to them, because their biggest excuse is that you were an outsider and that you were not voted in. Let's work on selling your abilities and eventually we may get them to change their minds. Right now, you're a servant and in their eyes that means you have no abilities or value.” Kallem says as he grabs some bread to eat.
“This will take time, but how do we sale Raelia's ideas to the villagers? Remember that in the past rebellions were ones of blood and tears. It took many to stand up for those that weren't considered important. Change is hard Kallem. This may lead to something worse than what we just faced. Tread carefully, now is not the time to push too hard.” Coven remains monotone as he looks at us both with concern.
“You're right Coven. We will be cautious. How you remain a rock among all of this is beyond me. Even my anger gets the best of me at times.” Kallem says sitting down with a sense of defeat.
“Coven may be right but that doesn't mean it can't happen. I won't just give up and blend into this way of life or death, so it feels. I have done so good to watch and wait while we recovered from the last attack, however I will not sit down quietly and wait for the next one to happen; It's time to prepare. If you're going to force me to be here, then I want to know what you know, and for us to teach other ways to prepare for the future. Like you said when Bella was born, the dangers in our lives are not going to end anytime soon. If you're right then there will be years of fighting ahead of us, and what happens if you're the one being captured and sold one day; then you will know why I have so much passion for my freedom.” Ranting with frustration I stand up, walk outside and plop down onto the grass in front of the house.
“I hate to say it Kallem, but we all know this war isn't ending, at least not the war for survival anytime soon. She is right, and being like her before… I know how she feels. I depend on this village for my safety and security. If we are not strong, and if we don't all stand up together, then we will all fall together instead. We all have some skills, and the longer we have been here, the more we adapt to not knowing how to survive and we are forgetting about what it's like beyond those gates.” Coven stands up and Kallem follows.
“I don't know what the answer is Coven. She is unhappy being here, unsafe out there, and I feel after Bella has entered her life, she has so much desire to keep her safe. How? I simply don't know how to keep Raelia safe, while she pushes to keep Bella safe. If we push these issues, then the village can banish us. Then she will not have Bella to protect and we both will be on our own. It's very conflicting to say the least. I agree that you both are right, and this will not end anytime soon. Please know I hear you both and I need time to figure out how to address the politics without serious consequences.” “Understandably, just don't forget… her drive is for survival and safety. Raelia means well, and sadly I feel that maybe people aren't ready for change yet. If they aren't then her passion won't stop, but burn stronger, and lucky for you… with that beautiful baby around she isn't going to ever leave her.” Coven grins at Kallem with amusement.
“I hope you're right. Honestly I don't know what the right thing is anymore.”
Coven pats Kallem across the shoulder blade, “It's not what is right, who is right, it's what feels right. You know the truth, you never owned a servant before her, and when the time comes, I know you will do what you feel you need to do, both for her, and yourself. Her heart is here, with Bella and her temper is her passion coming out. I know that you worry, but I have seen her respect for you change over time, and she has grown a curiosity and admiration for you. Anyways, I must get to work. Go talk with her when she calms down. It will all work out, as it should in time.” Coven says leaving and waving good bye to Raelia as he heads out to the market to get supplies for work.
Kallem comes and offers his hand to Raelia, “Come with me, I know your upset, but let's take time to go check on Bella.”
“Really? Okay… Let me grab something from inside the house.” Running back inside and digging from under the mattress she pulls out a jumper she made for Bella out of her old t-shirt she had cleaned and wasn't able to wear anymore due to it ripping across the back during the attack.
Kallem waits for her by the door, looking at the jumper in her hand. “What is that? Is that your t-shirt?”
“Yeah, I know I can't wear it… so I was thinking Bella could. While you were working Emi
ly, the butcher's wife taught me to sew and helped me make it. She doesn't act like everyone here; she understands my ideas.” I say holding the jumper up and looking at my fine work. I couldn't be more pleased with the jumper. Now Chaos will have a piece of me to keep with her.”
“That's wonderful that you did something like that, especially since I know how much that t-shirt meant to you. It must have been a lot of work to get it clean and learn to sew just so that you could give that jumper to her. Just remember all that effort when she poops on it for the first time and you have to scrub that out.” Kallem laughs looking at the jumper and glances back to see my reaction.
“What was that, humor again? Your timing is the worst.” Trying not to laugh at his horrible attempt at a joke.
“Ha, but you're laughing …”
“Only because your ridiculous attempts are hard not to laugh at.” Amusingly I walk past him and head towards Bella's house.
We arrive and her father has just finished feeding her. I present to him the jumper I have made and ask him if it's okay to put on her. He agrees and I take Bella into my arms and put it on her. I'm filled with excitement as it fits perfectly. She looks so comfortable as she smiles and coos at me.
“I want you both to know that I support what you're trying to do for the village, and you know that I voted for it, not against. On the night the attack happened, I saw what Raelia did, and she didn't have to help or protect Bella, but she did. You both were here for my wife and continue to assist me with Bella. I couldn't be more grateful, and I trust you both.”
“I know you do and thank you for supporting us. There were many people that do support our ideas; however, it needs to be the majority. We will continue to help those that understand what is important for our village to move forward. Everyone will need more persuaded to make a change, and until they get there then we will continue to teach Steph, and each other. When Bella is old enough, then we can train her as well if you wish.” Kallem suggests, to push for patience.
“Of course, I want Bella to be able to survive in case something ever happens to Holter or myself. I know people here have forgotten what it's like outside of the village walls; time erases pain and they don't recall the time between the city life and being here already. If they were servants, then I think they would feel differently about how they treat people like me.” I sigh, as I look down at the floor and take a long deep breath.
“Let's just hope that everyone comes to their senses soon and that it doesn't come to a point where anyone has to be sold as servants or worse just to make them understand our intentions for change. For her sake, we need everyone to stand together. There are going to be other children born here with time, for them to survive we must teach them all the knowledge we have.” Kallem said, as he walks over and takes Bella from my arms and hands her over to her father.
“Let's go, I need to make a couple of stops before we can go home for the night.” Kallem continued, as he proceeded to give Bella back to John.
I lean over Bella with her father holding her and kiss her goodbye. “Thank you for letting me spend time with her. It is time for us to go then, thanks for supporting us John.” I confirm that we need to leave, and we wave good-bye.
As we reach the market, we decide its best to split up to accomplish everything faster. We needed supplies and Kallem needed to check on a patient while I gathered all our supplies. Then he told me that he will meet back up with me in the market, as soon as we are done. Everything is close together inside the marketplace and sometimes the area can get rather crowded during the day, so it can take some time to get finished. It's nice to get to speak with everyone and get away from that tiny house, but I am not a fan of going to the market on days where it is crowded. It can take a long time to get served by a merchant and my anxiety is the worst on busy market days; there is so much noise, and all the smells of body odor and animals. Today is one of those days, and it's hard to get what you need when servants are easily ignored, and you can't say anything if someone steps in front of you in the line or if someone bumps into you. I'd rather come early in the morning to avoid as much trouble as possible.
Continuing to shop around I notice some looks from the villagers that are making me feel a little more anxious than normal. Getting the goat's milk on the list first; I feel very uneasy and I go to pick up some fish from the next cart down. I know that the guy that runs this cart isn't easy to deal with on a good day, but Kallem will be upset if I ignore anything, he asked for me to pick up. So, I wait patiently in the line for my turn to come, eventually I make it to the cart to place my order.
“Could I get just two of the Trout's please, wrapped tightly for master Kallem?”
“I'm told that you know a lot about how to survive as you were an outsider before you were sold as a servant. Like how to fish for example…” The merchant questions in a sarcastic tone.
“Well yes, but I didn't fish often because I really didn't like to eat fish myself.” Hesitatingly I respond nervously to the merchant.
“Then go fishing, because I don't support any of your radical ideas and outsider ways here. My family will continue our trades. People like you get our kids daydreaming of a life that isn't an option outside of those gates.” He points his finger away from the stand, “Now, survive inside the gates without my fish, and tell your master that he needs to put you in your place. In chains and with your mouth shut.”
“My ideas aren't radical, and you would know that if you were educated in anything outside of your trade. Simple minds breed simple minded people. You're the perfect reason why others should support my idea. If we lead the world with minds like yours then slavery will never end, and the youth will be too ignorant to carry on humanity.” Infuriated, I let my tongue once again take over. Often, I wonder how I manage to get into bad situations… It's usually my mouth causing the turmoil. As I hear an uproar around me, I begin to focus in on the sound of Kallem's voice approaching as the man running the stand continues to deliver some obscenities in my direction.
“What the hell is going on Raelia?!?” He interjected, while approaching the stand in a flash.
“My mouth…” I spluttered, looking at him with regret and backing up a little, bumping into him.
“Of course, as usual.” Kallem grabs my arm as he pulls me close beside him. “Everyone just calm the down and tell me what is going on.” Kallem roars above the commotion around us.
The cart owner automatically bellows out about what I've said regarding my response to him not letting me trade from his cart, with assurance in his voice that he is in the right and that I am being the unreasonable one.
“Kallem, I won't trade to your servant and if you don't maintain her then I will also not trade to you. This behavior of hers, will get you both banished from this village, so tread lightly.”
“First off, I will make her apologize about everything that she said to you. However, in her defense, I know she only has the best intentions, otherwise she would not have stood with me and fought during that attack. She didn't run; it's clear she wants nothing more than to be free again, but she has adapted to life here and is doing her best to support our village. Doesn't mean you have to agree with her ideas, but those who do should stand with her. That being said, no one should do anything as silly as to deny her food when it's clearly for me, her master. That in my eyes is denying my nourishment and my rights as a member of this village. One day, when you need medical aid, it would do you good to remember that I am the only Dr. in the village. Please keep that in mind when you feel like banishment of Raelia or me, may be crossing your mind.”
“Alright then Kallem, make her apologize and I in turn I request that from now on only you can come to do your trades with me. I want her to stay away from my cart, because I won't support her in any way.” The merchant said, with defeat in his voice, knowing that Kallem is a mandatory part of the village. He still wanted to act out for justification for his behavior earlier.
“Fine, Raelia apo
logize…” Kallem commands, looking at me as he nods his head.
“…really?” the word sarcastically rolls off my tongue.
“Yes, Now!” Kallem pushes me forward by my arm.
Rolling my eyes slightly, I look at Kallem and look back to the owner of the cart with a sigh of frustration.
“I'm sorry for anything I've said that was personally offensive and I will not return to trade anything at your cart, as you have requested.” I apologize with a sigh as I shrugged and glanced over to observe Kallem.
“Thank you Raelia. Now if your satisfied then we will be going back home and don't worry there will be consequences for Raelia's behavior today when we get through that front door.” Kallem turns me around from behind with his hand on my shoulders and nudges me forward as I stare at him, I bit my lip in vexation.
“What…” I question with annoyance as he pushes me forward with more force.
Revelation of Raelia: Book One Page 13
