R.E.birth

by Thomas W. Everson

  In an instant though, it’s all gone. The rage disappears as I see a friendly and familiar face walking slightly behind the woman who has purchased me. Agatha is safe and from what I can tell, unharmed, better dressed than when she left the house and her hair fancied up even. From the way the woman who bought me holds herself and is dressed I figure that she is well off.

  She’s a good-looking woman who appears younger than Agatha but older than Ami. Her short brunette hair falls over her lightly powdered face, coming only to the bottom of her chin. The light green dress she has on is fancy with an uncountable number of frills and pleats all across it in strategic places like the collar, sleeves and hems.

  I let Burly unshackle my leg and shackle my wrists, despite still wanting to hit him. But for now, I let the opportunity to strike pass me by, resolving to take care of it later. Burly leads me down a set of stairs to the winner.

  She promptly hands a bag off to him and he quickly counts out the currency. Satisfied, he hands the chain and key to her and I’m led off to the side and into the crowd. Glancing back one last time I give Burly a look that I hope sends the message that I will be back for him.

  The woman retrieves her paperwork from a person to the side of the stage and then we begin walking into the city. Being led away by the woman, Agatha is strangely silent as we walk. She’s acting the part of a servant but doesn’t seem to be doing anything for our captor. I want to speak, but I will wait until we are in a less crowded area.

  Moving down a small walking path we find our way toward a set of connected two and three story buildings that remind me of a maze as we walk in between them. Looking up, most have balconies or overhanging windows, making it a very shaded place. I turn my attention back to the woman and Agatha and still neither has said a thing.

  What is Agatha thinking? Is Agatha actually content with this situation? As soon as I’m free we’re leaving here so I can get her safely back to the house and then I will destroy this slave ring for my own peace of mind.

  “Okay, we are away from the crowd. You can unshackle me now.” Out of impatience words escape my mouth.

  “You will not be unchained until we reach my home.” The woman’s words come out cold and flat.

  “Agatha, tell her there has been a mistake.” I tap on her shoulder.

  The woman who has bought me turns around and, with a sharp glance with her dark eyes, barks at me, “Servant! You will be silent until we are at my home!”

  “Listen miss, I am nobody’s servant. My being sold as a slave was a mistake on the slaver’s part.”

  Agatha elbows me in the ribs and I look at her with a brow half-quirked in question, but she pays me no mind. My new ‘master’ ignores my rant and pulls me along and were it not for Agatha I would have bolted by now, but since she’s part of the equation I have no choice but to go along.

  Making our way around a few corners within these confined streets our path comes to a perpendicular intersection created by another street and more row homes across it. We turn left onto the new street following it to its end where houses enclose around us on all sides except the way we came.

  The building directly in front of us at the end is where we stop. It is two stories tall and its length is at least double that of the other buildings around it, indicating that this woman is probably of more wealth than those around her. A large new brass lion-head knocker hangs in the center of the marble brown door at shoulder height, but she doesn’t use it. Instead she pulls a key from a pouch at her waist, unlocks the door and pushes it open.

  She yanks me in by my chains and Agatha follows behind us, closing the door once we’re all in.

  To my immediate left is a wall with a metal door, padded around the frame. In front of and to the right of us is a large den and dining area. The dining area is on a raised step where a table and eight chairs sit. There is a small but elaborate and elegant chandelier above it. Down from the step and a few feet away are a couch, a few chairs and a brick fire place against the far right wall in the middle of the furniture.

  Vases of many different sizes line the walls on pedestals, going from small to large to small again, around the room. Portraits of very noble looking men and women line the far wall of the den except on the left side where a door and an open section in the wall to the kitchen exists. If the paintings are any indicator of her heritage, she could be someone of importance, as each one looks distinguished.

  “Here is the key to unshackle him. Take him upstairs and get him cleaned up and into a nice set of male servant clothes.” The woman turns to Agatha with her hand outstretched, instructing her as if Agatha was actually her servant.

  “Yes Duchess.” Agatha complies, taking the key and chain from her.

  My mouth moves to speak out against this ‘Duchess’ woman, but Agatha moves quickly and pulls on my hands with the chain. The comment I was about to make is redirected at Agatha.

  “Hey! Why are you being so rough?” I pull back a little bit.

  “Silence!” the woman speaks harshly. “Evalyn, while you are up there, instruct the new servant in my rules.”

  “Evalyn?!” My mouth drops and I look in shock. She grins at me impishly.

  “Yes Duchess,” she pulls again on my chains and leads me around the corner on our left.

  Rounding the corner to the left, at the end of the wall there is an opening that leads up into the second story of the building. We begin to climb a set of stairs that turns one hundred eighty degrees and leads up above the room with the metal door and entryway. As we reach the second floor we are forced to turn right. There is a long hallway with several rooms on either side and at the end of this hall is another hallway leading left toward the back of the building. Evalyn leads me down to the next hall, which is much shorter, and at the end she pushes a door open.

  The room we enter isn’t elaborate, nor is it bland. There is a fair-sized bed with a small dresser next to it, a window with pulled back blue curtains, and a bathtub surrounded by tile toward the right-hand side of the room. It’s illuminated well enough by the light coming in through the window. As I’m taking in the room I notice Evalyn unshackle my wrists, and instinctively I rub them to get rid of the residual feeling the constraints leave behind.

  “What is going on here Evalyn? How are you even here?” I ask.

  “I’m not confined to that house as long as I’m in Agatha’s body. I jumped into her as she was leaving,” She lets out a cackle. “I needed some time away from you all, but it looks like that did no good.”

  “I bet you’re regretting it now, being the servant of some strange woman. You got Agatha into trouble and I had to come looking,” I snap at her.

  “You’re the one that looks like he got into a bit of trouble. That smart mouth of yours cause that?” She pokes at my swollen eye.

  “I got it because I had to get captured to find you.” I swat her hand.

  “How did you know I was taken?”

  “I was approached by someone who I think set me up to be captured as well. Described you and gave me some story about how people had been disappearing and that my help was needed to find information on the slave ring while I was trying to find you.”

  “You fell for that?” Evalyn crosses her arms and frowns at me.

  “I was just worried about Agatha and I wanted to get her back safe to Ami. I had no other leads.”

  “Thanks for the consideration,” she scoffs.

  “I had no idea that you had taken Agatha’s body. Now that we’re together, we’re going to get out of here and I’m going to find those slavers.”

  “Why? If it was a setup from the start isn’t it pointless?”

  “It’s personal. Evil like that needs to be destroyed.”

  “Aww, did Wain get a widdle hurt?” Evalyn sniffles sarcastically and talks at me like I’m a baby.

  “I don’t have to explain myself to you. We’re getting out of here and I’m exacting justice upon them.”

  She’s silent for a mo
ment then turns around and retrieves servant’s clothes from the dresser. Throwing them in my face she smirks. I catch them and wait a moment for her to turn around but instead she stands there with her arms crossed, as if waiting for me to change in front of her.

  “I’ll leave when it’s closer to time,” she says.

  “For what reason?!” I get a little loud with her.

  “Shh!” Her eyes go wide at me. “It’s not as easy as just sneaking out. Runaway servants are dealt with pretty harshly. Lashings, starvation, death. I am patiently waiting for the right moment.”

  Reluctantly, I am forced to follow along with Evalyn’s plan and place my own on hold. While I have no intention of staying here long, I am forced to wait and put some thought into how I will convince Evalyn to follow me out.

  “A little privacy please? Turn around,” I instruct her.

  “Wash up a little. There is cloth and some cold water in the tub.” She points.

  I look at her questioningly, but if I want to clean up I need this. Moving past her to the tub I look over my shoulder to make sure she isn’t watching. Dropping the clean clothes to the side, I glance at her once more and then strip my shirt off. Inside the tub is a little bowl hooked to the side with a cloth lying across it. Soaking it in the water I clean myself off the best I can.

  “You know…” she starts in and I quickly look to make sure she’s still facing away. “Your help wasn’t needed.”

  “Don’t be ungrateful. I thought I was saving Agatha.” I wash quickly.

  Throwing on the dark pants provided I reach down and grab a white button up, long-sleeve undershirt and a black vest.

  “I think it’s me who did the saving back there. You would have been sold to some creep if I hadn’t convinced Duchess to buy you.”

  “And how did you do that?” I question her.

  “I told her that we shared a previous owner for a short time and that you were a hard worker.” She laughs with what sounds like a snide tone.

  “Is that right?” I pull an embossed leather belt on, pushing it through all the loops.

  “And when that didn’t work I told her you were a stallion in bed,” she snorts and laughs.

  My eyes go wide and I spin around, cinching the belt on my pants to a comfortable notch and raise my voice a bit, “You what?!”

  “You heard me lover,” she laughs maniacally, clearly getting a kick out of my discomfort.

  “No. We’re going out there right now and explaining that this is all just a mistake.”

  “What mistake is there? That she saved you from those awful slavers or the creepy man who was bidding on you for unknown nefarious purposes? Or that she has provided you with clean clothing and you now owe her a small debt, same as me?”

  Thinking for a moment, I know she’s right. And without my money that is back at the inn in Asta, I have nothing to repay this woman with. But I still have to set the record straight, that Evalyn does not know me in that manner.

  I glare at Evalyn, “You should have tried harder to convince her of my work ethic rather than resort to a gimmick of giving her hopes that I am going to get into bed with her.”

  “Your work ethic stinks Rain,” she crosses her arms and looks down upon me. “You’re a burden, having being incapacitated a number of times from doing idiotic things, and Agatha and Ami are picking up your slack!”

  “Oh, so now you care about them? You who despise their very being? Or is it that you just dislike me more?” I snap at her.

  “I’m not having this discussion with you, peon! Go meet with Duchess Tamiell!” Evalyn throws her arms down to her sides, huffs and storms out.

  I tug on my shirt to make sure it looks wrinkle free and head for the door. When I exit to the hall, I work my way back to the stairs and descend. Duchess Tamiell is waiting for me at the bottom. Her elegance, the building and the possessions indicate that she might just hold that official title of Duchess, but if so then either her Duke isn’t here or he is no longer alive. I won’t bother asking the question however because it’s none of my business.

  “This will be your new home, servant,” Duchess Tamiell says abruptly.

  “Duchess Tamiell, with all due respect, I am no servant…” I try to explain to her.

  “Silence! You will speak when I need you to and no more.”

  “Duchess Tamiell, I understand your position. You spent money to obtain Evalyn and me. I will gladly pay you the gold you spent free us.”

  Without warning, she reaches up and backhands me across the right side of my face. My face throbs not only because of the blow, but because it’s already swollen and hurt. Had it been Evalyn, I wouldn’t hesitate to blow up at her, but since this woman doesn’t know me, I bite my tongue.

  “My name is Duchess Tamiell Benite. You will address me as Duchess or Duchess Tamiell. As my servant you will do what I need you to do. I will not tolerate laziness or talking out of place. As you acclimate here, you will find that I am a strict but fair person.”

  While she continues to ramble on about her rules, which I ignore, I focus on not letting my mouth run me into the ground. Instead I think of her potential nobility and the possibility that I might acquire information about the slave ring through her or the people she mingles with. The only issue really needing resolution is that Evalyn is here in Agatha’s body and Ami is back at the house, no doubt worried for us both now.

  “Your duties are going to include all of my heavy lifting, whether that be bringing food from the market to chopping wood. You are at my beck and call. This bell here is for when I am calling you.” She lifts up one of two bells from a sash around her waist and rings it heavily. It has a deep tone to it.

  Rather than risk a smack to my face again I point at the second one on her sash.

  “This one is for Evalyn,” she tells me blankly. “If you hear yours, come immediately. Now follow me and I will show you around.”

  She turns and walks to a sliding door on the opposite wall from the front door and to the right of it I see the kitchen through the opening in the wall. Evalyn has snuck in and is chopping something up, paying us no attention. Duchess Tamiell slides the door open and upon entering, I notice that the kitchen is drab compared to the rest of the house. While still very clean, everything is metal or wood causing the room to look dull in the light of the lit lanterns and daylight seeping in from the window on the back wall.

  The heat and smell of wood are coming from a medium sized, iron stove with enough room for two to three pans for cooking on. There are two doors, one at the back wall directly across from us that leads to another alleyway, and the other is on the back side of the right hand wall and I can only assume it’s storage or a pantry.

  “This is the kitchen area. It is Evalyn’s area since she can cook. Whenever you’re not assisting me, this is where you’ll be to help her.”

  “Might I speak…Duchess?” I ask, cringing at having to address someone as my master yet again.

  “No, you may not,” she answers abruptly then continues on. “That is the pantry and wood store room. Normally we have wood delivered, but their fee has been steadily rising so you will fetch wood from the market instead.”

  Duchess Tamiell turns around and motions for me to leave with a wave of her hand. I follow her command and head back to the empty space between the den and the stairs.

  “As you have already seen, the den and dining areas are combined. I take my meals whenever I feel like eating. Whenever you are not doing heavy work, you are to make sure there are clean dishes on the table at all times.” I pay attention only to pick up essentials. “When I have company over you are to make yourself available for whatever need arises.”

  I resist letting out a huge sigh to show my discontent for this whole situation, simply because she technically freed me from the slavers.

  Would it be right to not repay her in some way for the money she was swindled out of? I wonder if I had such moral guides in my past life. Was I as soft-hearted then as I feel
I am being now?

  Looking around the room I try to tune her out, but as she continues my attention is recalled to her.

  “…cleaning out the chamber pot room.” I catch the tail end of her sentence and hesitate to let her know I wasn’t paying attention.

  “What now?” I ask, practically admitting that I was ignoring her.

  “I said that another of your responsibilities will be cleaning out the chamber pot room!” She shoots me a sharp glance.

  “Where is that, Duchess?”

  “Were you not listening to me? Do you think that you can mock me and get away with it?” Her voice raises and she becomes animated.

  “Honestly? I was beaten in the head a bit today and I am having trouble concentrating. I mean no disrespect.”

  “I should not have paid so much for damaged goods,” she mutters under her breath. “Well then, we will see how you fair later after you have rested. Retire to the room that Evalyn took you to previously.”

  “Yes Duchess,” I say it with disgust at the title.

  Turning, I head up the stairs and through the hallways to ‘my’ room. When I enter the room, I begin pacing back and forth while looking out the window to that alleyway behind the house. Farther down it opens up to a lush and green courtyard with a simple water fountain and more buildings beyond it. Finding myself wanting to berate Evalyn for getting us into this, there’s no telling when, or if, she will show her face in the room.

  Beginning to feel light-headed, whether from the stress or from my injuries, I decide that lying down sounds pretty good right now. When my body hits the mattress my muscles feel like they’re turning to jelly because of the softness of the bed. Sinking in I can’t help but think that it’s more comfortable than my own bed that I haven’t had much opportunity to enjoy sleeping in lately. Shutting my eyes feels good too.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The sound of a heavy bell permeates my sleep. Rolling over I pull the pillow over my head to muffle the racket but it only gets louder as time goes by. When the fog from my mind clears I realize that it’s the Duchess calling for me.