When I wake up the sky is beginning to be touched by fringes of red and pink as the sun begins to race towards the horizon. My neck is sore from hanging loosely while I slept so the first thing I do is massage it and in the middle of doing so I realize that night is about to fall and I still have to get back home with the water.
“I am in for an ear full when I get back.”
I sigh as I imagine the fuss I will be returning to for staying out so late and probably causing mother to worry. I pick up the bucket of water and begin the long trek back to the village. Now that it is full of water the bucket is quite heavy and my pace is seriously hindered and so I slowly but surely make my way home.
As I’m walking along the road I notice in the faltering sunlight that there are fresh carriage tracks imprinted which is unusual as no one that lives out here would be able to even dream of affording one. One of the nobles must have come down this road, but why? There was nothing particularly interesting out here, if you follow the road through the village and continue on you will just run into more farming villages. I begin to pick up my pace, as much as I can while carrying the bucket of water.
By the time I get back to the entrance of the village the sun has fully set and the full moon has risen into the sky and is illuminating the path in front of me as well as the village. I can see that there’s a commotion as I get closer to the center of the village as there are many people in what counts as the plaza, a circular clearing that acts as the central point of the village. I quickly shuffle over to my home and hastily place down the water bucket by the front door before running back to see what the commotion is.
“Excuse me… let me squeeze through… what’s going on…”
I squeeze myself through the crowd at the center of the village until I make my way to the front. In front of me surrounded by almost all of the villagers is a dazzling sight. A large, deep green carriage sits right in the center, attached to it are pure white stallions that give off an air of majesty. There are guards standing guard around what I assume to be the entrance of the carriage, hands on their swords as they eye the crowd gathered with cautious suspicion. On the side of the carriage is an emblem of some sort but I don’t know what it means or stands for. As I’m standing there admiring the beauty of the carriage and accompanying horses I feel a hand grasp my shoulder and spin me around.
“Sarah! Where have you been? Lena told me that you went out to get water but then you didn’t come back before the sun began to set!” My mother is shaking me as she is yelling at me, her eyes clearly clouded with worry.
“I’m sorry, I sat down to rest and I fell asleep…” I mutter, my eyes cast downwards as my chest fills with regret. I must have caused her a lot of trouble. Seeing me look like this, she takes a deep breath and lowers herself down to meet my gaze.
“I know I shouldn’t have yelled but you have to realize that is how much I care for you. As long as you are alright I’ll be okay. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you or Lena like I lost your father.” She pulls me into a tight embrace which makes me feel better as my head rests on her warm chest.
“Come on, let’s get you home, I’m sure you made Lena worry just as much as you did me.” I nod and she stands back up, grabs my hand, and begins to lead me back home.
“Wait mom, what is that pretty carriage doing here?” I ask her the question that has been on my mind since seeing the crowd of people surrounding it. Whatever smile she had on her face when she was comforting me disappears and her grip on my hand tightens.
“Mom, you’re hurting my hand…” I look at her with a face full of my own worry now. Her grip instantly lightens and the smile that had disappeared returns, even if I know she is forcing it.
“It’s nothing you should worry yourself about Sarah.” Her cold tone betrays the smile she has plastered on her face. She continues to drag me back to our home and we make the entire trip back in silence.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
When we finally make it back, Lena is waiting for us inside and I can tell that she has been crying as her eyes are red and puffy. She may act more mature than me but she is still only seven and worries for her older sister.
“I knew you were fine.” She says this while trying to maintain her composure.
“You aren’t fooling anyone Lena,” Mom returns, a genuine smile returning to her face. That’s all it takes for Lena’s walls to come down as she runs up and hugs me so tightly I thought I wouldn’t be able to breathe. I hold her tightly and pat her head as she sobs into my chest. We stand like that for what felt like an hour until she regains her normal cool composure and pushes back from me as if embarrassed of crying in front of her older sister. Once she is fully under control she punches me right in the gut knocking the wind out of me.
“That’s for being stupid!”
“That’s… fair…” I struggle to reply. I eventually get my breath back and feel thankful for the family I have that cares so deeply for me. In the middle of my thinking, my stomach growls loudly bringing my mother’s and sister’s smiles and laughter forward. I guess I forgot I had never actually gotten anything to eat after all.
“We were so worried about you that I didn’t even prepare anything for dinner, do you think you could wait a little longer for me to prepare a late night snack?”
“I can wait, I’m just glad to finally be getting the meal I begged you for earlier,” I say louder than needed as to cover up my still growling stomach. My mother just nods with an amused look on her face and begins to prepare dinner.
“Why don’t you and Lena wipe each other down while you wait, otherwise your effort of getting the water would have been pointless.” I nod at my mother’s suggestion and go to retrieve the bucket of water I had left outside next to the door. As I am grabbing it and going back inside I notice that the crowd has broken away from the carriage, allowing a rather large, well dressed man, who seems to have exited from it, plenty of room. I also notice that no one is making eye contact, rather they are all staring past the man or down at the ground. After I am back inside, as soon as I sit down the bucket of water there is a knocking at our door. My mom who is still preparing dinner stiffens at the sound. No one makes a move towards the door. The knock comes again and my mother hesitates a little more before walking towards the door with what seems like pain in every step. When she opens the door, there stands the man from the carriage dressed in fine clothing that is completely free from holes or wear.
“Good evening Mrs. Rolfe, may I come in?” The man asks while wearing a slimy smile that makes me instinctively uncomfortable.
“Of course.” It hurt my mother to say that, but she moves out of the way and allows for the man to enter. He is followed by two guards before he tells them to wait outside. When he enters he notices me and Lena standing to the side, his gaze glancing over me before landing on Lena, once again that slimy smile appears on his face.
“That one must be your youngest, such a spitting image of her father, wouldn’t you agree?” He turns that smile towards my mother who stands completely still next to the entrance.
“Sarah, go take your sister to the elder’s home, please…” I look back and forth at both of them, feeling uncomfortable before saying, “Alright…” I grab Lena’s hand and begin to make my way towards the exit before the man moves to stand in front of it.
“Actually, the younger one is free to leave, however, my business here has to do with the older one.”
“Butー” I look over to my mother who just shakes her head and I understand I can not escape whatever this is.
“Okay Lena, you heard mom right? Go over to the elder’s home and stay there until we come back and get you alright.” She looks me in the eyes before nodding. She quickly hugs me and then with a quick glance back leaves, leaving just me and mom in our shack with the man.
“What do you want with us Lance von Aston?” Every word my mother speaks is dripping with venom. I look at the man surprised. I had never seen the baron of our territory but from the things I have heard he is not a pleasant person, moreso why does he have business with me?
“Such hostility Lillian, why isn’t it rather a great honor to have me visit your home?”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
“Hmmm… well fine, I shall answer your question. With you nothing. With her...” he points at me, “well I guess it is simple to say that I want her everything.” My mothers face goes slack and I am looking on with equal amounts of confusion and fear. My mother remains silent so I decide to speak up, “What do you mean by you want my everything?” He turns to me, that never disappearing smile growing even more at the corners.
“What I mean is I will take possession of your entire existence.” Seeing that I still looked confused he continued, “Quite simply it means that you will become a slave.”