You May Hold Me but I Am Not Your Slave

We arrived back at the palace early in the morning; the sun hasn’t even come up yet. I woke up with something solid digging into my thigh. Beth was still sleeping and she was a kicker. I sighed and sat up straighter trying to rid of the pain just in time to get back to my room. My door opened and strong arms shot in, grabbing Beth, I followed her out and dragged myself up the porch steps. I walked behind Saul silently; I was too tired to even say anything. He stopped and turned to face me. His eyes were blood shot and baggy and he was pale.

“Take her.” he held out Beth for me to take but I just stared at her. I didn’t feel like carrying her up the huge staircase, “Aaliyah, please; I’m tired.”

I snapped back into reality after I kind of dazed out, “Sorry.” I took her in my arms and sluggishly made my way to our room.

Screaming. Who the hell is screaming? I sat up in the morning light and scanned the room alarmed. But nothing was with me…not even Beth. Beth. It finally hit me; Beth is screaming. I jumped out of my bed and rushed out of my room. Her screaming was glass shattering and sounded as if she just saw someone die. I was determined to find her. I bolted down the long hallways. Turning each corner when ever her scream sound the loudest. I finally came to the ballroom I cleaned yesterday. And there she stood. In front of Saul. Pounding his torso with her tiny fists, with other servants trying to calm her. Saul is the one who surprised me the most. He just stood there staring at her, not moving, not even tensed. I walked closer taking a deep breath but gasped slitely when his attention was poured onto me.

“Where were you!?!” he asked.

“I was sleeping.”

“I told you to watch after her!”

My brow furrowed and I bent down to Beth, stopping her from hitting him. I looked up at Saul, “You never said that. You said to ‘take her’ not watch her.”

“Well I’m saying it now!”

Beth buried her face in my hip away from him, “Stop yelling, you’re scaring her.” the other slaves have already disappeared when they saw I had her under control.

“I can yell if I want to!”

“Stop it! You’re making her scared!”

“Look who’s yelling now.” he pointed out sarcastically. I glared at him, he is such a jerk.

“What happened?”

He scowled, “She woke up, that’s what.”

“Did something happen to her?”

“Not that I know of. She started crying this morning so I went in and brought her back down for breakfast. Why didn’t you wake up? Could you not hear her crying?”

I threw my hands up, “Obviously not!”

“Well sorry! Geez, and then I asked her a couple questions about what she liked. But she kept on asking about her mother, so I told her what happened. She ran out of the kitchen screaming on the top of her lungs.”

“Yeah I kind of knew she was screaming. Why can’t you wait until she is older to tell her that?”

“When someone keeps asking the same question over and over again wouldn’t you get a little annoyed? Don’t tell me you wouldn’t. Now look after her!” he demanded and left me standing with Beth hugging onto my legs. I looked down at her full of pity; poor girl, she has no clue what she’s in for.

I had to finish mopping the floor today. And it was harder having a 3 year old breathing down your neck the whole time. But I found out a way to keep her distracted from staying by me the whole time. I dipped my hands into the soapy water and brought them together. Opening them I blew into it, creating my own bubble wand; this drove her crazy. She giggled and squealed; at least it kept her occupied. Unfortunately this only lasted for a little bit. So for the past 30 minutes she’s been on her hands and knees helping me mop. It was actually quit adorable. She was willingly to help out, but she doesn’t know that she would be doing this forever once she turns 18.

“More!” she demanded holding out her rag. She wanted more water is what she meant.

“Toss it.” I clapped my hands waiting for her to throw it. She did and I dunked it in the bucket and threw it back. This is all the conversation that I’ve had with her. Whenever I tried to talk she would either shake or nod her head. Occasionally she shrugged so I gave up on trying to talk tot her.

“Ali. It’s time to eat.” Olivia came into the ballroom.

“Food?” my attention span lowered…now all that was on my mind was munchies. Yum.

“Yes silly, c’mon.You too Beth.” She said ushering us both out. We followed her down the hallway while Beth held onto my hand.

“What are we having?” finally! Beth talks!

“We are having a buffet. All sorts of food are laid out onto the long table that we eat at. Does that sound yummy?” Olivia chimed. She sure is happy for a slave. Beth didn’t say anything as we entered the dining room. Olivia was right. Everything she described was true. So why do slaves get such fine dining? I have no idea…

“Um, can we sit next to you Olivia?” I asked looking around at all the other slaves. They stared at Beth and me, because we were the newbies.

“Of course! C’mon.” she ushered us over to a couple of chairs and sat next to Nathan. I pulled one out for Beth and got her situated and then sat in one myself. beth and Nathan started to talk so I was just sitting there when someone across the table asked me a question.

“You’re Aaliyah right?” I looked up to see a boy staring at me.

“Uh yeah, but I go by Ali.”

“Oh okay, well I’m Max. So your new right?” no shit.

“Yeah, just came in 2 days ago.”

“Ha-ha, you make yourself sound like a package, where are you from?”

“Seattle, Washington, how about you?”

“Miami, Florida. I’ve been here for 50 years though. That’s one of the great things about being a slave, you never age so they can keep you forever.”

I peered at him closely. He was actually really cute. He had light brown eyes and dirty blond hair, kind of cut up really choppy. He had a lopsided smile and a small dose of freckles, sort of like me. Actually he looked like he could be a relative to me. I had platinum blond hair and sky blue eyes though, but I still had the freckles and straight nose which he had. His lips were pale while mine are always cherry Popsicle stained red. Yeah, I never really have to put lipstick on. Clapping brought my eyes to the head of the table where Saul stood looking over his prized collection; us slaves.

“We have a problem.” He started, “You know well enough about Daniels coven, well Aaliyah doesn’t know but she will soon enough, anyways he wants a war. He finally came to a conclusion, and I couldn’t get out of it. It was either fight for you to live or turn all of you over to him…and you know what will happen if that occurs. So the men in this room will fight with the men of our coven, along with me,” he sat down and ran his hand through his black, collar bone sweeping, layered hair. “So, from this moment forward this Palace is no longer just a hiding place for you, but military head quarters. Nothing will change with your daily jobs, although when then men go out I will assign some of the woman to nurse them. That is all.” He got up and left the murmuring room behind him.

“A war? I just got here and there is a war?” I asked Olivia full of alarm while tucking in Beth. It was a few hours after dinner and the war news is still buzzing around the “military head quarters”.

“Yes a war, but this conflict has been going on for centuries, ever since Saul became what he is.” She replied getting into her bed.

“Okay, but what is this war even about?”

“I can’t tell you. You will have to ask Saul.”

“I don’t want to talk to hi-.”

“Ali?” Maz’s voice interrupted mine.

I looked at the door and saw his head poking in, “What is it?”

“Do you want to take a walk with me? You know…just to get to know each other?”

I looked over at Olivia; she shrugged and turned over facing away from me, “Sure.”

I walked next to him following his stride perfectly. We were quiet for awhile, only the sounds of or bare feet slapping against the wood floors echoed through the halls. It was nice just kind of walking around. I didn’t know the place very well, so this is like my little tour for the future. “So, are you happy or sad that you came here?” he asked breaking the pattern of our footsteps.

“I’m neither, I’m beyond pissed.”

“Oh,” he said glumly, “Well I can understand that. Well how about now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…” he hesitated, “Are you happy now, with me, or still pissed?”

I stopped in my tracks and stared at him, “You’re very straight forward.”

“Yeah I know. Just wanted to know.”

“Well, I feel more welcomed if that sounds good.”

He smiled and looked at me once I started walking again, “That’s good.”

“Yeah.” We talked about our backgrounds and what I used to do before I came here. We must have walked around for hours, because my feet were so sore. He led me outside to some sort of Zen garden and sat down on the grass. We talked some more about me and I was getting a little bored with that, so I wanted to know about him. Bad choice on my part. He…um…well, he is a very strong and passionate person. All he talked about was what he wanted, and he kept touching me! Whether it was just my cheek or my legs, his hands never left my body. I was starting to get a little freaked out so I stood up.

“What’s wrong?” he asked looking up at me. I didn’t want to be rude.

I folded my arms and crossed my legs, “I don’t know, I’m just getting a weird vibe, that’s all.”

“I’m sorry, why don’t you sit back down with me and maybe it will go away.”

“Actually, it’s getting late. I should go to bed.” I said looking back at the Palace.

He jumped up and touched my shoulder, “Well, let me walk you back.”

“No, no it’s okay. I’m perfectly capable of walking myself.” I started to walk backwards, waiting to see his reaction. He looked frustrated.

“I insist on walking you back.”

“And I insist that you don’t.”

“You seem afraid of me.” he grinned.

I was getting annoyed, “No, just grossed out.”

“About what?”

No I am going to be rude, “You’re being a perv and keep on touching me! Just keep your own damn hands to yourself!” I yelled as I started to sprint away.

“Where you going!?!” he asked. I could hear him running to me. I didn’t want him to touch me but he caught up and clutched onto my hand, pulling me down violently to the ground. “Sorry, I didn’t know you didn’t like be touched like that, how about this?” he laid on top of me and wiped his hand against my….you know where…and crashed his lips against mine. I started kicking and punching his body.

“Get off of me now!” I screamed so loud I hurt my own ears. He sat up straddling me and punched my face. I spit out blood and my vision was blurred for a second, “Get off.” I mumbled. I started to feel him throb against my inner thigh and tried kicking, but my whole lower body was numb from his weight. I can’t show defeat. I sucked in as much air and screamed louder than before. I continued to kick and hit but I also added in a couple of scratches. Nothing made him stop. He managed to strip me from my skirt and blouse, so now I only lay in my underwear. Now I was more into covering my bare chest from his sight. I started to cry and tried to turn my body over so I could crawl away. I dug my fingers into the ground pulling myself away. I ignored his punches and commands. But then everything became much easier. There was no more weight on top of me. No more painful punches. And no more hard surprises against my hip. I looked behind me just in time to see my rapist being thrown against a tree. The man who threw him away turned to me and ran.

“Whore.” He grumbled as he helped me stand up. He began walking with me, well he dragged my by my underarms, but still walked half way. I tried to cover myself from my savior too; I didn’t want him to see me. We got into the Palace and didn’t even stop. He led me into some room with lots of books and a huge blazing fireplace. This must be a library. “Stay here.” He commanded and disappeared out of the room. He closed and locked the door behind him and left me alone. I sat in front of the fire place hugging my knees against my chest. What just happened? Max tried to rape me, that’s what. The man came back into the room and draped a thick blanket over me.

It was dead silent. He sat down next me and pulled me into his lap, hugging me while he rested his forehead on the back of my shoulder. “Why did you save me Saul?”

“I couldn’t let him have you.” He mumbled.

“Thank you.” I said sliding from his lap onto the floor next to him.

“Don’t thank me. I’m worse then him.”

“That reminds me,” I started quietly; I was still scared from what just happened, “I have a lot of questions.”

“Not again.”

“Just here me out please.”

“What do want to know?”

“Why can’t anyone see us?”

He breathed slowly and stared at me, “They can’t see you only if you are with me.”

“That isn’t a direct answer.”

“Fine, like I said before, I am the guardian of the fallen. So, I have to hide myself from the Alive and Well so I can do my job. If that group surrounding Beth’s mother last night saw me they would’ve taken her away and I wouldn’t have been able to protect her.”

“Oh, why are we your slaves?”

“So I can protect you. I need to. If I didn’t force you to stay with me then you would be dead right now.”

“Why do you kill your slaves then?”

“It’s complicated.”

“I’m listening.”

“Sometimes I loose some of my slaves. They get in contact with, the devil pretty much, and sell their souls themselves. I try to keep them, but I kill them. I don’t want tem to suffer in the Master of Sins grasp.”

“Have you ever raped any of your slaves?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“What type of question is that?”

“It just is, Olivia said you raped girls.”

“She doesn’t know anything. She’s never been raped by me, and I don’t plan to rape any of you girls. That move is sickening.”

“So you aren’t bad?”

“What do you mean?” he laid down in front of the fire facing me.

“I mean…we aren’t here just to clean up after you, we are only here for you to protect us?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, then why did you hit me?”

“I don’t like being disrespected.”

“So you just decided to hit me?”

“I was taught that way.”

I squinted thinking, “How old are you?”

“I was born in 1608.”

“What!?!”

“But I’ve been 20 ever since.”

“Oh.”

“You really need to go to sleep.”

“But I have more questions!”

“No you don’t.”

I got up wrapping the blanket around me, “How would you know what I have and don’t have?”

“You’re not asking any more questions go to bed!”

“No. I want my answers!” I hollered.

“Lower your voice, Aaliyah. We will talk some other time.”

“Why not tomorrow?”

“I’ll be very busy for the next couple of days.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, now get out.” He demanded strictly. I stuck out my tongue and turned around. I walked to the door and placed my hand on the knob, but turned around.

“One more thing,” I said glaring at him, “I am not a whore.”