Black White, and Gray

Darkness Surrounds

Darkness surrounds

My life went on like this for the next four years. Daily beatings occurred, and on the few scant days on which I wasn’t beaten I worked until I was sore all over. I came to learn that the man who owned the place was named Luthar Dunstan, and was even crueler than my father had been. The man that had stood up for me when I first arrived was named Ian Landon, and had been there since he was six. Still I hoped my mother would look for me, or perhaps I would be sold to Mr. Movont. But hopes began to fade as Luthar became more and more attached…

I was grabbed by the wrist and thrown against the wall, then forced to hold still. I tried to fight, knowing that Luthar wouldn’t kill me, only give me another beating. He hit me across the face, and then pulled me into another violent kiss. My cheek stung where he had hit me, but I knew it wouldn’t last long. I had suffered too many of those to have them faze me.
His hand wandered around my waist, then began to go lower onto the bottom of my back. I tried to pull away, but he only pushed me harder against the wall, pressing his stinking body against mine. He was drunk again, and certain things happened when he was drunk, none of them good for any of the women in this place, though I had become his favorite. If I knew why I would have done anything I could to make him think otherwise. Although this meant I wasn’t beaten on a regular basis there were worse things that happened around him than beatings.
I felt helpless as he pulled me against him, and forced me down on the bed. He knelt on top of me, and began to almost tenderly to finger the hems on my clothing. My breathing came hard and fast as the familiar feeling of fear crept in. His hand came to a rest on my shoulder and he slipped the arm of my dress off, revealing the soft skin below. He ran his fingers over my shoulder, then when I tried to get out from under him he moved quickly and hit me hard across the face again.
I knew I had no chance to get away. He was bigger than I was, and much stronger. He leaned forward and began to kiss me, first my shoulder, then my neck, then my cheek. I whimpered softly, though I knew he wouldn’t stop.
He pulled back for a moment, and undid the buttons on his shirt, throwing it across the room. He leaned back down after that and pressed himself to me.
His hand pulled my dress up my leg as he ran his hand along it. His hand came to my knees, but he didn’t stop there. His hand continued up until it reached my waist.
Suddenly the door burst open, and a whip snapped. Luthar rolled off of me, and looked at the open door, holding his arm. I sat up, still breathing heavily to find Mr. Movont there.
“I’m here to claim my girl Luthar. I hope you haven’t ruined her.” He walked forward, and lifted my chin to look up at him. He noticed the red on my cheek, but said nothing. He let go, and picked up his whip again. “I thought I told you to train her, not beat her and defiantly not this.”
Luthar recoiled, and huddled against the wall. Never had I seen him show such fear. “Just… just take her. I will require no payment…”
“Good enough for me. Don’t think you’ll be getting any business from me anytime soon.” He took me by the arm, and pulled me up off of the bed. I was filthy, like every other person in the barn, and looked nothing like what I had the first time he had seen me. It had only been four years, but four years had changed a lot.
I fixed the shoulder of my dress as he pulled me out of the room. He led me down the hall, and out of the door. Outside were two horses. Surprisingly he helped me mount, and then unsurprisingly tied my wrists to the saddle. He mounted his own horse then took the reigns to mine. To my surprise we didn’t ride into town. Instead he took me more out of town than before. We road in silence, me not daring to speak, and him obviously not wanting to speak to me.
Later that day we entered a forest on a trail I otherwise wouldn’t have seen. After a while of riding we came to a town. How no one had ever seen this place before I didn’t know. He took me to a large home well in town, and untied me from the horse.
The home was bigger than any house I had had the privilege of seeing. Having gone into town where I grew up only once I had never seen a home like this. It was made of wood, and interlay painted white. Elegant and expensive, He was obviously rich.
He untied me from the saddle then picked me up by my waist and easily set me down on the ground. A young boy came out from behind the home and took the two horses to a barn out back. Mr. Movont took me inside.
He took me into one room, then another. The second had a group of young women in it, all older than me, but none too far from my age. A woman stood in front of them, her hands clasped in front of her. Mr. Movont left, leaving me with all of them. The woman came over to me, and took my chin in her hand. She turned my head from side to side, then let me go.
“Come with me.”
I did as I was told and fallowed her through another door, then up a flight of stairs. We entered yet another room, but this one had only one other door that lead to a closet.
After about three hours of cleaning, and brushing my hair she got me changed into another dress. This one looked and felt differently from the one I had previously worn. She said something about leaving me alone for a moment, then she left. I looked around the room, then ran my fingers through my hair.
It felt different, sort of odd. It had been at least four years since I had been able to do that with my hair. It was a golden brown color now that it was clean, and when I looked at my hands they looked different as well. You could see the real color of my pale skin, and it felt soft, softer than they had before Laurent. I stood and began wandering around the small room. There was a dresser, a bed, and something tall covered in a blanket in one corner.
I walked over and slowly took the blanket off of it to find that it was a mirror. I couldn’t help but think that it was simply beautiful. My mother had had a small mirror, but I had never seen one the size of this. I pulled the blanket the rest of the way off, and let it fall to the floor.
The reflection of the person in the mirror was foreign to me. I had seen her now and then in a pool of water, but never like this. My hair fell past my shoulders to the small of my back in waves of golden brown. My features were soft and beautiful despite the years of hard work. I was thin, and the cut of the dress only enhanced that feature. After a moment of looking at myself I went back to the bed and sat down.
An hour or so later the woman came back and beckoned me to fallow her out of the door. I did as she asked, and fallowed her down the stairs.
Mr. Movont was sitting in a room that looked something like an office. the woman led me in, bowed then stepped out of the room. Mr. Movont turned around and looked at me he smiled. “Ah. That’s much better.” He stood, then took my hand in his and pressed his lips to it softly. “You look absolutely beautiful M’dear.”
I felt my cheeks turn a light shade of red, and I mumbled a soft thank you.
He smiled again, that dazzling smile that made it hard not to smile back. I didn’t manage to keep my face straight. A small smile spread across my face and he chuckled. “Keep that there.” He winked, making me blush even more. I was blushing. Why was I blushing!? What in the world was he doing to me and why?
He chuckled again, running a finger across my cheek. I held in a shudder. the coldness of his hands caught my attention as it brushed across my warm cheek having slipped past when his cold lips had pressed against my fingers. He put an arm around me and led me over to a table. He pulled out a chair for me, then pushed it in once I had sat down in it.
Food was already set on the table and I began to wonder what exactly he had planed for me. Was it normal for him to treat servants like this? I watched him pull out his own chair on the other side of the small table and take his place there. He looked much the same as he had the first time I had met him, his blazing blue eyes a simply magnificent color, the golden brown color of his hair matching it. Both of these features only helped the fact that he was very handsomely built. His muscles well sculpted, and his skin a fair color of Ivory.
When he noticed me staring at him he smiled that same dazzling smile, making me blush and the corners of my mouth turn up a bit. His ice blue eyes seemed to sparkle a bit at my smile, and he reached out, laying his hand open upon the table with his palm up.
I glanced at it, not sure at first what it was he wanted, then I hesitated as I set my hand in his. he rubbed the back of my hand softly with his thumb before he took his hand away, letting me place mine back in my lap.
The woman that had left me in the room now came back in with a younger woman with her, the younger one carrying a tray. She set it down in front of me while the older woman set down a glass and bottle in front of Mr. Movont. He thanked her and she bowed, and both left the room.
The tray that had been set in front of me had a plate and glass on it. The plate had more food than I think I had yet seen on a plate before.
He smiled, looking up at me as he pored a glass of a red liquid I took to be wine. “Eat. You need the nourishment.”
I nodded a bit, then picked up a fork and ate. It tasted wonderful. Much better than the disgusting food I had been fed with Laurent. He watched me as I ate the food, seeming mildly interested in everything I did.
When I had finished he came over and pulled out my chair for me, then took my hand and lifted me out of my chair, leading me over to a couch. He sat on the couch, then motioned for me to sit beside him. I did as I was asked, and he took my hand again, leaning back. “Now. Let’s hear a bit about you. Where did you grow up?”
I was taken by surprise at his interest in my past. I hadn’t thought someone like him would be even mildly interested in me. I stumbled with the words, not use to speaking freely like this. Normally it was all just ‘yes sir’, ‘of coarse sir’.
”I… I was born on the moors sir…”
He waved a hand nonchalantly. “Forget the sir, and Mr. you will call me Risteárd. Now. How long were you there?”
Once again I was taken by complete surprise. No ‘sir’? no ‘Mr. Movont?’ Why was I to be so informal and call him by his first name? I realized he had asked me a question after that had hurried to answer. “ T-ten years…” My voice trailed off and I finished with ‘sir’ in my mind, finding it very odd to be speaking to him like this. Wasn’t he the one that owned me? Wasn’t I suppose to call him sir?
Risteárd nodded. “So that would have been about the time I saw you then. Well it’s been a while, how long where you at Laurent’s?”
“Um… four… or five years… I’m not sure…”
He nodded again, thinking for a moment. “That would make you about fifteen or sixteen correct?”
I nodded, taking his word for it. I didn’t know much math, and my vocabulary was limited. Reading was beyond me, as was writing. I hoped he didn’t ask about any of that.
“Forgive me, it completely slipped my mind, but what might your name be?”
“Hope…” I said softly. “Hope Renvian…”
He smiled a bit and nodded. “It’s very nice to meet you Miss Renvian.”
Miss Renvian? So he was talking to me formally, but I wasn’t to talk to him that way? Who exactly was he?
I nodded a bit back to him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too Mr. Movont.” I watched his face, looking for some sort of reaction. I guess I was expecting anger, because what he did next caught me completely by surprise.
He laughed. “Miss Renvian. Please. Do call me Risteárd.”
I smiled a bit, his laugh contagious. “But M… Risteárd, you find it necessary to call me Miss Renvian. I see no reason for you not to call me by my first name.”
He smiled. “I see reason Miss Renvian.”
I opened my mouth to protest again, but was cut off as the door opened and a man with rather wide shoulders came in. “Risteárd! Old friend how are you. The girl said you were in here.” he had his arms open wide and was grinning. I looked over at him and barely held in a gasp. The man standing before me as African, the first thing coming to my mind was slave, but… he didn’t act like he was a slave, nor did he dress like one. I didn’t believe I had ever seen a black man before. We were too poor to own slaves, and we didn’t’ know anyone who was rich enough too. Not to mention mama had protested ever owning one ourselves.
He noticed me sitting on the couch, my hand in Risteárd’s. He laughed and stepped in, clapping Risteárd on the back. “So how long to you plan on keeping this one Risteárd? The others didn’t last a week. Though I must say, she is quite a pretty little thing and-”
“Not another word Vlad. She doesn’t know.”
My cheeks flushed a deep red, though my heart now pounded inside of me. What had he been about to say that Risteárd didn’t want me to know? What happened to these… Others? And what would happen if I didn’t… last as this Vlad had said?
Vlad turned to look at Risteárd “You haven’t told her? Why on earth haven’t you told her?”
“I have my reasons Vlad. Now what is it you want here.”
“I just thought after a few hundred years it might be time to v-”
“Vlad! Need I tell you again to keep your moth shut?!”
Vlad chuckled. “Come, come now friend. You need to tell her some time, the sooner the better.”
Risteárd glared at him now, my hand still in his. The woman came back in, bowing a bit to Risteárd. “Yes sir?”
“Shiann. Take Miss Renvian to her room, please.”
She nodded, bowing a bit again, then came over and took my wrist, leading me out of the room. As the door shut behind me I heard the muffled words of an argument, then we were at the stairs and walking up the grand staircase before me. In the front hall was a large grandfather clock that ticked with a low booming, echoing off the wooden floors and the lightly painted walls.
Before I knew it we were at my door, at leas I was pretty sure it was my door. They all looked too much alike. She led me in and I found it wasn’t my room at all, but one much more richly furnished. I made to correct her, but she turned around. “This is your new room.” then she left, closing the door behind her.
This. Was my room? I looked around again. She had to be mistaken. Just had to be… I turned to walk back out but found the door locked, from the outside. I sighed. Maybe it was the right room. I walked over to the bed and hesitantly sat down on it. It was so soft… I ran my hand over the covers. No! It couldn’t be! Silk? Why in the world were they silk? I got up from the bed and stepped over to a door. I opened it to find a closet almost completely full of dresses. I looked around the room again, finally going over to a chest of drawers. I opened the top drawer to find jewelry.
Delicate gold chains with gemstone pendants, purl necklaces with the same bracelets. The one that caught my eye was the necklace, bracelet and earrings set in the very center of the drawer. They were made of a deep red stone that glittered and almost seemed like liquid in the candlelight.
My mouth fell open. Who was Risteárd? Where had he gotten the money to do this and… Why was he treating me like a princess? Like I was the queen herself or something, well… all except for locking me in my room.
I closed the drawer after a moment of gazing at the jewelry and stepped back over to the bed. It was growing very dark outside, and I watched the sun set from my window, the sky painted with brilliant gold and pink. the lock on my door turned and Shiann came in. She pulled me through another door I hadn’t noticed before and into a room. she handed me some clothes, then stepped out of the room. I looked at the clothes for a moment, then realized what they were and changed into the nightgown and robe. When I came back out I found the room empty, and the door once again locked. I went over to the bed, realizing now just how tired I was and hesitantly slipped under the covers.
It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep, though I found it harder to stay asleep. Finally I fell into a deeper sleep, and the moon made its nighttime trip across the sky.