R.E.birth

by Thomas W. Everson

  “This will come to fifty eight silver,” the man says.

  Pulling out the coin pouch given to me by the Duchess I count out the silver pieces and hand them to the butcher. He writes on my list and then on a piece of parchment and hands the parchment to me. When I examine it I find that all he wrote was a number, thirteen, and it’s the same as what he wrote on the list.

  “Come back when the sundial in the nearby courtyard reaches one and bring that with you. I will have your package waiting for you.”

  Exiting the building, I use my hand to shield my eyes and look up at the sun. It’s nearly midway through the sky now, so if the sundial is accurate to local solar time then I have a little time to kill while waiting, finding it a perfect opportunity to look for the man with the orange hat.

  Wandering with the largest flow of people going further into the city, I hope to randomly find my way to the courtyard with the sundial. As I scan the crowds, I find very few people wearing any sort of headgear and I haven’t seen any orange ones.

  Having turned several times, I try to keep track of how to get back by memorizing stores. One particular one stands out simply because it reminds me of Ami. It’s a cloth store with vibrantly colored woven cloths that act as flags hanging over the shop’s doorway. When looking in the windows I can see the bolts all neatly stacked one next to another and it reminds me of the sewing room.

  I hope that she’s not getting too worried.

  Continuing my quest for the orange hat, I locate the courtyard with the sundial. The chances of me finding him without help are slim and I will likely have to enlist the aid of others to find him, perhaps even finding a way to coax the Duchess into looking too. Reaching the sundial, I examine the metal, octagonal plate. In an arc across the top are raised numbers for the hours in local solar time. The triangular gnomon stands about five feet high and the shadow it is casting is nearly pointing to the number one already. Doubling back I find my way back to the butcher, with no sign of the man with the orange hat. Fearing that in a city this large it might take the whole month just to find him and by then it will be too late.

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

  Having acquired the meat from the butcher, I make my way back to the Duchess’s home. I find Evalyn waiting for me at the door, tapping her foot impatiently.

  “What took you so long?” she enquires, though not in an unfriendly way like she might have previously.

  “Well, I brought the wood back a while ago and…” I try to explain myself but Evalyn cuts me off.

  “Duchess Tamiell has been looking for you. You should give me the meat and go find her.”

  “I’ll put it in the kitchen and wash off before I go find her. I’m a bit dirty.”

  “You’re going to make her angry.”

  “Good, maybe she won’t try to assault me tonight then.”

  She sighs, “You don’t know how lucky you are. Now get moving.”

  Moving to the kitchen with the meat, I set it down on the counter and head out back where I proceed to take my shirt off. Shaking it several times to get what dirt I can off, I hang it up on the knob and use the water pump to quickly bathe my arms, face and torso. I put my shirt back on and return to the inside of Duchess Tamiell’s house and find Evalyn is already portioning out the meat I brought.

  “So, I’m working on finding info on the slave ring. I ran into the guy who took me from Asta and coerced some info out of him. Be on the lookout for a man with an orange beret hat,” I tell her.

  “So how much longer are we staying here?”

  “Not sure. I am letting my moral compass guide my actions right now, and that means finding out what I can to stop those slavers from hurting more innocents.”

  “Rain, you’re simply delusional if you think you can take it down by yourself.”

  “I’m not alone. You’re going to keep an eye out for the man with the orange hat for me and let me know if you see him.”

  “Oh, am I now?”

  “Yes, because the sooner we gather information, the sooner I can take you home.” I glare at her.

  All she does is smile playfully at me and I can’t understand why, but I ignore whatever mind game that she’s playing and exit the kitchen. Duchess Tamiell isn’t downstairs and I’m hesitant to head up to the second floor because I don’t know what she has in store for me.

  She could attempt to seduce me yet again and I would have no way out of it this time.

  I climb the stairs and find my way to her door. Rapping on it lightly yields no response from inside so I knock harder. There is still no response. Twisting the knob, I push the door open and find that the room is mostly dark, save a little light peeking in through heavy closed curtains and the light I’m letting in through the door. She is lying on her bed, facing away from me with the canopy down.

  “Duchess. Evalyn told me you wanted to see me.”

  “Come in and close the door.” She’s so quiet I almost don’t hear her.

  “Duchess, there’s something you need to know.”

  “I do not care. Come in and close the door,” she demands.

  “I will, but you will hear me out.” I begin to close the door but before it’s shut, she has jumped up and she has swiftly moved to hover over me.

  Without the time to react, I’m left frozen in place as she attacks me. Throwing her hands around my waist she pulls me in and forces a kiss upon my lips. When I push her away, she rebounds quickly and pins me against the wall, kissing me again, passionately, despite my closed and unresponsive lips. I put my hand in front of her face and push her away.

  “You’re worse than Eve!” I yell out at her.

  She stops but refuses to let me go. My eyes have only slightly adjusted to the darkness but I can see her eyes. Her brows are turned downward in a questioning manner.

  “Who is Eve?” She sounds territorial, like I’ve betrayed her for another woman. “Why do you speak so strangely? Are you from another land? Is Eve your betrothed?”

  “I am a traveler and we will leave it at that. Eve is nothing more than a narcissistic woman who thought she could throw herself at me, just like you, and failed.”

  I can tell that I’ve lost her completely by the bewildered look and awkward silence, so I switch topics and get down to the real issue at hand; my being her servant.

  “Look, since you purchased me, I’ve been trying to tell you that an error was made. I’m not a slave. I was captured illegally.”

  “No one ever called you a slave. You are a debt servant.”

  “It’s the same thing, because I owed no debts to anyone. Neither did Evalyn, nor probably any of those other people that were being auctioned. There is a slave ring kidnapping travelers in the region and I was investigating. The day I arrived in Asta was the day I was captured.”

  “Where is your proof?”

  “I’m trying to obtain some. I tracked down the guy who captured me in the city and obtained some information from him, but I need more.”

  “How can I trust that you tell the truth other than your word?” She comments while releasing me from her pin and backing up a step.

  “Go ask Evalyn. She’s my friend’s aunt. We all live in the same house in the woods outside of Asta. Or better yet, we could take you there and give you the proof that you want.”

  After a few moments of silence she speaks again. “Is it because I am unattractive?”

  “What?” Now it is I who am confused.

  “That you make up all of these things just to avoid sharing a bed with me.”

  “Look!” I shout exasperatedly and throw my arms up in the air, pushing her back slightly. “It has nothing to do with you! Are you so self-absorbed that you would rather think this whole thing is about you rather than accept that I might be telling the truth?”

  She begins to sob and turns around, walking to her bed. “All I want is for someone to give me attention. I picked you because Evalyn mentioned that you would be a good bedmate.”

/>   “I’m sorry, but Evalyn lied to you. My attention is on Evalyn and three other women in my life right now. I simply don’t have any more to give out.”

  I realize now, after the fact, my statement came out sounding like I’m a quite free with my body, but only with specific women. However, before I can fix my mistake she pounces on my slip.

  “So it is about me then.” She spins around being dramatic, as if I personally insulted her. “If you can give them your attention then they must have something that I do not!”

  “It’s not like that. The attention that they receive from me isn’t physical. It’s a symbiotic relationship. I support them and they support me.”

  “So you love four women?”

  “Well, two of them at least, but one is like my mother, Evalyn is like an annoying aunt, one is my friend and the fourth is a pain in my rear.”

  “You receive no physical love from them at all?”

  “If Eve had her way I would, but I won’t let her.”

  “Then let me show you a good time!” she pleads. “I have been so lonely since my husband died and…”

  I cut her off before she makes herself sound even more desperate, “I am not what you’re looking for. Even if I were willing, I would be a very temporary solution to your circumstances. What you need is to find someone you connect with, someone to actually love.”

  “If you stay here you can learn to love me!”

  “I cannot stay,” I tell her bluntly. “Whether you like it or not, I am tied so deeply to these other women that wherever they go, I must go too and they will leave in less than a month.”

  The air is thick with tension. I can’t tell what she’s thinking as she sits down on the bed and puts her face in her hands. She cries and I can’t help but feel sympathy for her.

  To be unwanted, unloved, would be a terrible thing to go through, but I cannot cure her loneliness. Still, perhaps something can be done to help her.

  “Did you not say you were going to throw a party?” I lean against the wall and cross my arms.

  She continues to sob almost uncontrollably. Between the sniffles and hiccups, I can’t tell if she is actually listening but I continue anyway.

  “Sitting in this house alone with servants will get you nowhere. If you’re looking for attention, have that party you were talking about. Evalyn and I will help.”

  Dropping her hands to her lap she snaps with exasperation. “You speak as if it is easy!”

  “Honestly? It’s not that hard. You tell Evalyn and me what you want and we will do our best to make it happen. We’ll invite the whole city if we have to and you can pick through them to find one that will suit your needs.”

  This could be very good for me. A party means people and that could lead to finding the mysterious man with the orange hat rather than having to scour the city for him.

  “You would do that for me? Despite your claim of being a free person?”

  “Look, I won’t lie to you. I have ulterior motives, but if it helps you not be lonely, then I will willingly help. Evalyn might protest, but I will deal with that.”

  “Motives?”

  “The slave ring is going to burn for what they’ve done. I want to lure in a person of interest in connection to them. I might be able to use your party to do that.”

  “And what if you cannot?”

  “Then I will continue to work for you while I look for him and hopefully, I find him and his cohorts before I have to leave.”

  “I paid a hefty sum for you and you want to leave after less than a month of work?”

  “Must leave. And I can repay some of that now,” I retrieve the coin pouch tied at my waist. “I took the coin pouch of the slaver who captured me.”

  “You mean you stole his money after he gave you information?”

  “‘Stole’ is a harsh word. He didn’t need it anymore.” The feelings of vindication and justification rise up again.

  “Do I want to know what happened to him?” she asks.

  Shaking my head, I take both coin pouches from my belt, hers and his, I move over and set them in her hands that are laid across her lap. She doesn’t reject them, so I assume she has accepted my plan of action but when I turn to leave she grabs my hand.

  “I’m going to need my hand, Duchess Tamiell,” I tell her without turning back around.

  “If you have been obtained illegally, I apologize for my actions. I am not that kind of person and I will let you go,” she tells me sorrowfully.

  “It was not your fault that I was captured.” I shrug and change the topic. “For my sanity, can I just call you Tamiell?”

  “Okay,” she sniffles a little bit.

  “I am going downstairs to plan with Evalyn. We will need your help,” I head to her door.

  There’s no telling how Evalyn will react to the news that we’re staying here to help Tamiell with a party, in the hope that we may find my next connection to the slave ring, but she did state she was enjoying her time away from the house.

  Will she continue this line of civility toward me or will she revert to being hostile when we get home?

  When I enter the kitchen I find her cooking. Moving closer, I find that in one pan is some ground meat and in a pot of water, chopped vegetables are boiling. She moves back and forth and at one point takes the pan of meat and drains it into the pot of boiling water.

  “These smells are making me hungry,” I tell her.

  “The Duchess wouldn’t be too happy with you if you ate her lunch.”

  “First, she’s not going to eat all of that. Second, Tamiell and I have come to an understanding.”

  Evalyn turns around and looks at me wide-eyed, a look of shock on her face. It’s quickly replaced by anger and the wooden spoon in her hand becomes a weapon, as she assaults my arm with it several times.

  “How could you do that to Ami?! I thought you had more integrity than that!”

  “Wait! Stop! It wasn’t anything like that!”

  She stops. “You were up there an awful long time!”

  “We were talking, you dirty old woman!”

  “About what?”

  “About how I’m going to stay here and be her love slave,” I slather on a large amount of sarcasm and grimace at her, before turning to a serious note. “About how we’re getting out of here after we help her out with one thing.”

  After a moment’s thought she blurts out, “I’m not going to apologize for hitting you.”

  “That’s fine. I will find a way to get you back. Now are you going to hear me out or am I getting a frying pan to the head next?”

  “Do go on.” She leans one elbow on a counter, flashes a smile and flutters her eyelashes at me in a mocking manner.

  “Finish prepping Tamiell’s lunch and we will sit and talk with her.” I exit the kitchen into the dining room.

  Sitting down at the table in the position farthest from Tamiell’s seat I see her coming down the stairs, her face already cleaned up from her sobbing and smearing of makeup. She sits down at her normal spot and waits for her lunch to be served and it’s not long before Evalyn appears with a bowl and sets it down in front of Tamiell with a fork placed to the side.

  “Evalyn, sit down,” I instruct her and she glares at me evilly. “This is the plan. Tamiell, we will coordinate with a local crier and anyone else you deem necessary to call together this party. Make it semi-prestigious as the slave ring leaders are likely to be of higher status than the rabble they employ to kidnap.”

  “Is this your moral compass?” Evalyn jests.

  “Yes. Now we need to prepare for a party, let’s say at the end of this current week. We will give people enough time to prepare for the event and that will give us time to gather resources. A good deal of alcohol will be needed to loosen up some tongues, for both of us.” I smile slightly at Tamiell.

  “What of the expenses of this party?” Tamiell asks.

  “There is quite a bit of coin in what I have given you and I’d say that it’d
be a good investment for you if you find a partner.”

  “You’ve agreed to find her a mate by getting them drunk?” Evalyn laughs. “Where’s that moral compass now?”

  “Bigger picture here Evalyn. You and I are using this party as a guise to hopefully gain intelligence on the ring while Tamiell’s chances of finding a companion increase with such an event.”

  “So we’re sticking around for your personal vendetta?” she sneers at me.

  “Leave then, Evalyn! Tamiell will let you go right now if you choose. You’d be a liability anyway,” I bite her head off, not quite meaning to, but nonetheless the action is done.

  She becomes silent and I can no longer gauge her mood as her face has become blank and she plays with the edge of a doily. Looking back at Tamiell she stares intently at the meat in her bowl.

  “I have no appetite today,” she states as a matter of fact.

  “Pass it this way then because I am hungry,” I tell her.

  No sense in letting it go to waste.

  As Tamiell brings it down to me I nod at her politely, “Thank you.”

  The smells of the still warm beef and vegetable broth tickles my nose. Taking the fork I begin eating and my stomach quickly becomes satisfied with the meal.

  “When you are done shall we go out?” Tamiell asks.

  I nod and she sits and patiently while waiting for me to finish. Evalyn gets up and returns to the kitchen without saying a word and I begin to feel bad for snapping at her.

  Perhaps I have been too brash. I really need to stop thinking about apologizing to her and actually do it.

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

  After lunch I help Evalyn clean up, relieve myself and take the chamber pot to a designated pit beyond the auction stage. With a lid on it I find the chore manageable and when I have returned I wash up out back. Following Tamiell outside, I feign my status of being her servant, walking a step or two behind her. She leads us into town several minutes from her home to a local winery and upon entering, I notice a rich and slightly bitter aroma permeating the air. Tamiell pulls me aside.