Grandelyn

by Dionne Lee Nelson

  Chapter 3

  The Revealing

  If the weather permitted, Kalos would sometimes allow the children to work with their parents in the vineyard and fields. The fields of Ferocities were filled with sickly people working in windy conditions. But this particular day, the sun was out and allowed for a warm breeze.

  Crystaline and Ariyah were with the other slaves, planting marigold seeds in the fields. As Ariyah combed the dirt, she saw that her mother had stopped working. Crystaline put down her tools and took a warriors fight stance. Then taking deep calculated breaths, she began to spin, kick, punch, and block. Her long brown arms flailed in the air in a controlled rhythm. She continued to repeat this sequence.

  Ariyah stopped working and watched with intrigue as her mother flawlessly fought an invisible enemy. Crystaline was in a trance. She was concentrating so hard. Ariyah pondered what could be behind this. The other slaves stopped and watched in awe as well. They too were intrigued by what she was doing.

  Crystaline was repeating special martial arts that she’d learned unbeknownst to anyone. Her audience watched in captivation as her ragged beige dress twirled in the air from every spin and high kick. To the others, she was fighting an invisible enemy. But to her the enemy was all too real.

  “Crystaline, stop! The eyes watch you.” Mr. Crowesh hissed through his scraggly long brown beard.

  The warning broke Crystaline out of her trance. She looked toward the balcony tower of the palace. Kalos and his two henchmen, Zodner and Semp, stood there watching her intently. She knew she had been caught, but she did not look away. The slaves were frightened for her as Kalos and Crystaline stared each other down. Their hatred for each other was obvious. All was quiet and no one dared to breathe as the two continued to glare at their targets.

  Crystaline's brown skin glistened with sweat as her long black hair whipped wildly in the wind. Kalos' metal mask remained still as the wind blew his black cloak garment back and forth. The stare down continued, seemingly in slow motion. Young Ariyah’s heart raced with fear, and she felt it would stop completely if someone did not make a move soon.

  Sensing no fear or intimidation from Crystaline, Kalos finally gave up and slowly turned to walk back into the palace. His henchmen followed behind. When Crystaline turned back around to the fields, the eyes that had been gazing upon her in awe now looked on in disappointment. Now she was seen as a potential nuisance and their fascination was gone. They returned to their work, wanting to stay in Kalos's good graces.

  Crystaline didn't care what they thought. She was strong-willed and was fully prepared to carry this burden. Ariyah was proud of her, but worried as well. Crystaline was an ambitious one and there would be many more times like this. And though the other slaves looked up to her, they never had the kind of gull and confidence to do what she did. So they wanted to keep their distance from her.

  While the others were busy being obedient, Crystaline was working hard to get out of this situation. Because of Crystaline’s access to the entire kingdom, Crystaline often would sneak away from her duties and become involved in other activities. Restricted activities. Crystaline would sneak and watch the Savage Kingdom's fighting masters, Orah and Tunsei, practice and train the Ferocities army. Orah and Tunsei were masters of a rare form of fighting called staggito. The Staggito style of fighting consists of rapid hits to the neck, head, and ear region, while doing slow bottom attacks to the opponent. This style of fighting confuses the opponent because they do not know how to counterattack. A specific form of the hand while using the Staggito technique can cause deafness due to the strong blows to the ear, while a hit to the neck and head can be deadly. It's a very intricate and deadly form of fighting that if done correctly can kill with a single hit.

  Crystaline had been secretly watching and studying Orah and Tunsei for a few years. She soon learned how to fight just as well (if not better) as they did. After the fighting gurus left Ferocities for good to tour, she also learned how to use weapons. While she was on duty cleaning the master fight room, Crystaline would sneak and practice the staggito moves using their swords. Doing staggito with swords was even more dangerous. The fast motion of the hands made the swords look like that of motor blades and would shred to pieces anyone or anything in its way.

  During this time, Crystaline was also gaining weight again. The slaves were still being starved, eating little to nothing. Yet she was getting plump. Just like before, when they all lived in the lower burrell, observers could not understand how she managed to gain weight. Kalos was confused as well. Month by month slaves were overworked and underfed, but Crystaline just kept gaining weight.

  The extra weight did not result in Crystaline becoming slow, somber, or lazy. In fact she had more energy and strength than anyone else. Despite doing more work than the others, she routinely snuck off into the woods to perfect her fight style.

  She also had a secret that she was ready to reveal to her daughter. Many nights, Ariyah would wake up in the nooks to find Crystaline gone. Cold and confused, she would be too afraid to get up to look for her. She’d lift her head, look at all the shivering, emaciated adults lying there and lie right back down. She’d snuggle up to Sheevar (who was now allowed to sleep in the nooks as well) and Vanka, and try to fall back to sleep.

  Whenever Crystaline left, she did so without anyone even knowing that she was gone. Kalos spent his nights training his pet snakes to fight each other, while the soldiers were lazy and often slept next to their posts. The slaves were exhausted from hard days of work. This all gave Crystaline time to escape for the night. Exactly where she ran off to each night was a secret she was not yet ready to reveal. She always managed to get back to Ferocities before the afternoon wake up call.

  One night, after making sure everyone was asleep, Crystaline awoke Ariyah. They crept down to a creek that was off the side of the kingdom domain. Freezing and very much afraid of being caught Ariyah asked, “What are we doing here, mama?”

  Eagerly and cautiously, Crystaline pulled a strange fruit out of her brown pouch. “It's called a fafura.” A big smile adorned her now chubby face. Ariyah had seen every fruit (even though she was forbidden to eat them); oranges, apples, bananas, grapes but she had never seen a fafura. It was round with white rind, but when peeled the inside was sapphire blue. It was beautiful.

  “Here eat some.” Crystaline urged. Ariyah pulled a slice from it and ate. She thought it was the best thing she’d ever tasted in her young life. It had a sweet citrus taste to it. Still hungry, Ariyah grabbed the rest out of her mother’s hand and devoured the rare fruit. Crystaline smiled in delight.

  “Where did you get this?” Ariyah asked charmed.

  “Ariyah, it's the most beautiful place on Earth. You've never seen anything like it, there's no place like it and no one knows about it.” Crystaline explained in wonderment. Ariyah looked up to her mother as she craved for more fafura.

  Crystaline stood in the frame of the big silver moon, head held high. She felt a complete sense of empowerment. Looking to the sky wistfully she said, “I call it Grandelyn.” Ariyah’s mouth was dripping with blue pulps as she wanted to know more.

  “Grandelyn? Why?” She asked.

  “Because this place is beyond amazing. It has golden skies, purple water, white sand, and all the fafura you can eat!” Crystaline grabbed Ariyah and began tickling her. The two giggled as Ariyah playfully pushed her away. Ariyah looked over Crystaline, who was now 269 lbs, closely, and still couldn't understand the weight gain.

  “Well mama, why did you get so huge?” she asked.

  “It's the fafura. It's a very healthy fruit and can do what no other fruit in the world can.”

  “But it's making you fat, mama!”

  “No, baby. Not fat, great. It's making me great.” She was so confident and had such a strong sense of herself, and Ariyah wanted to emulate that. She wanted to be just like her mother.

  “I'm going to get us all there.” Her tone was
now more serious. She looked deep into Ariyah’s eyes and grabbed her daughter’s small cold hands. “We've had enough of this place and it will soon be time to go.”

  Ariyah was somewhat confused. Ferocities and the Savage Kingdom was all she knew. Slavery was all she knew, so to hear her mother speak of leaving made her a bit afraid. But it was also something about her confidence that allowed Ariyah to know that everything was going to be alright.

  Suddenly Crystaline shoved Ariyah backwards causing her to fall hard on her back. The stunned five-year-old looked at her mother in confusion as tears began to well in her eyes. “Mother? Mother, why wou…”

  “Get up.” Crystaline coldly demanded.

  “But…” Ariyah’s cheeks were now wet with tears.

  “Get up now.” Crystaline sternly commanded with a stone face. Afraid and shocked, Ariyah slowly stood to her feet as her mother towered over her. “Wipe those tears. You will never give them the satisfaction of seeing you cry. Never. Only hold your head up high and toughen up.”

  Crystaline had to be hard like this. As many times that she was abused and ridiculed, she never cried. For that Kalos despised her. She wanted to instill that same strength in her child. “Now put them up.” Crystaline put her big arms up in defense and attack position. Ariyah wiped her eyes and put her small arms up. “Now kick.”

  “What?” Ariyah asked, thinking this was absurd. Crystaline then gave her a swift sidekick causing her to fall again. When she felt the tears beginning to rise, she looked at her mother, breathed as deep as she could and the tears dried up. She got back on her feet and back in position. “Now kick.” She obeyed. “Kick, kick, double kick!” Crystaline excitedly whispered out. “Left kick, right kick, swing punch, block!”

  Ariyah followed all the instructions perfectly. She caught on faster than Crystaline expected. This made her so proud. To know that she was teaching her daughter self defense in the highest position, made her feel accomplished in a way. Over the course of that night – and many nights that followed – Crystaline taught Ariyah amazing things. She taught her not only how to fight, but how to meditate. She shared with Ariyah how a free mind can take on any obstacle.

  Having a relaxed mind allowed them to become more confident and stronger as they continued to learn together. Each night, while the others slept, they would go back down to the creek and train. Ariyah thought it was amazing to see such a large woman doing flips and dips while twirling her makeshift weapons like batons. Ariyah was given sticks as pretend swords as Crystaline taught her how to attack and counterattack her invisible enemies. Though Ariyah had caught on to the staggito style, she was a bit envious about a particular move that she could not catch onto. Crystaline had perfected a move using a sword or two (or sticks in this case) like rotors. She could spin incredibly fast, using the swords to slice and dice anything that came in her way. Ariyah practiced and practiced this move but just could not quite master it.

  Crystaline just smiled. “It's okay, cherub, you'll get it in due time.” Joy and strength grew within Ariyah as her little brown arms and legs jolted around beating her invisible adversary. Crystaline was very rough with her. She felt that she had to be. She knew that the enemy would not have any mercy on her, so she had to prepare Ariyah to be strong and fight back. They would tackle each other on the ground, and each time Crystaline’s massive body would nearly crush her child. But by then Ariyah had eaten quite a few fafuras herself and was getting hefty too.

  Crystaline was making Ariyah into a warrior. The fafura gave Ariyah god-like energy and strength, and the young child felt she could handle anything. They had to be careful that Kalos and his minions didn't catch them training, for they could be killed for such behavior. Staggito fighting was cherished in Ferocities, primarily because not many people could do it. Many of Ferocities’ soldiers couldn’t even do it. So if Crystaline and Ariyah were caught learning that, they’d likely be off to the Boulder Guillotine.

  After seeing the success she had with training Ariyah, Crystaline decided it was time to teach the others. She had to be careful about this though. She had to find the slaves that could be trusted. She couldn't afford to have someone reveal her plans. Crystaline started with Vanka. She gave Vanka the fafura to eat, and they snuck down to the creek at night to train. Next she taught Mr. Toplin and Mr. Crowesh. Then Sarah. And so it continued.

  While Crystaline spent her time secretly teaching the adults, Ariyah used her time to train some of the kids. She taught Sheevar and Orraco how to fight first. They were captivated to see how chubby she had gotten and how she had learned to fight so well. Especially Orraco, who was a rambunctious boy and took a deep interest in learning how to fight. They caught on very fast, for the minds of children are like sponges.

  Ariyah had taught some of the other children as well, but all training came with a warning. If someone was caught practicing staggito by Kalos and his men, they would have to be killed by the fellow slaves. This rule was to make sure that there would be no traitors. Fortunately they all knew to keep quiet and to only train at night while the entire kingdom was presumed asleep.

  The eating of the fafuras and training went on for 2 and one half years. Each and every last slave had perfected the style and they had all gained a sufficient amount of weight – to the utter shock of Kalos. He could not fathom their healthiness, since they were living in such dire straits. The slaves grew hefty and rotund, some bigger than others. Yet they all still grew very plump, and they had all become a secret army.

  Kalos had no idea what they had been up to. The slaves agreed to behave in an obedient fashion, so as to not to give any reason for the soldiers to suspect anything. But with such drastic changes to their bodies, it was just a matter of time before Kalos would want to investigate.

  Kalos had conjured up a new task for them all. A task to protect what would become the origin of their imminent fight and eventual journey.