Chapter 2

I stare up at the leaking ceiling, watching snowflakes drift down from the rafters. My bedroom was in the attic. It was dark and cold, but I liked it. It was hidden away, sometimes it almost felt like a world away. I know it was meant as a sort of punishment being up here. They wanted me to feel left out, unwanted. It did hurt once, but after enough time has passed of feeling unwanted. You find that you get numb to it. It becomes the normal and you realize you just are unaffected by the abuse anymore. But this wasn’t the time to think about that. This was the time to make a plan. A plan to make a better life in a world of hell. I refuse to be a useless bystander in the face of pure injustice any longer. If I wanted change I had to make that change for myself first. I couldn’t rally people together to find out I couldn’t do this.

Firstly, I needed to get out this house, my parents would take any opportunity to destroy anything I created. They wouldn’t be able to bare seeing me doing better than them and trying to make something out of nothing. I needed this to work, not just for me but for justice for Mr Albert and all the other innocent people suffering at the hands of injustice. To get out of this house, I needed another if I didn’t want to freeze to death. There were a lot of empty houses around the town, many towns people had been taken away or died due to disease or starvation. I couldn’t just take over a house, I had to ask for approval from the town leader. Which would bring a lot of speculation as to why I wanted or could afford to buy a house.

The town leader lady Melissa was to put kindly, a bit of a power-hungry women. Being elected as the leader of the town had sent her on a power-hungry trip of self-importance. Melissa Ortridge was her name, but she demanded we call her lady Melissa. The thought always caused me to roll my eyes. But hey if she wanted to be the lady of our miserble town so be it I guess. Each to their own, she wasn’t a very good leader. Well that depends on the way you look at it. She was a bad leader in the sense she hasn’t done anything for the town or its people and she would sell anyone of us out to feel important among Hydrea. But at the same time, I’m sure she would have been what we would have called a normal politician in a more simpler time.

I had been putting away all my earnings for this week, while inspecting all the available houses. I had found an old farm, out of town. Quite a distance away from anybody else, which suited the situation perfectly.  It was a stone cottage, looked to be made out of granite with a thatch roof.  The stone floors were unharmed, apart from the layers and layers of dirt the house was in pretty decent condition. Which had to make me wonder why no one had tried to buy it. It was way out of town, which was a little odd. But Mr Albert did tell me a story about a family that moved from Hydrea to Kashaw because of financial ruin. According to the story, the mother tried to poison the king and the husband killed her for it but he was still sent here to live. A rumour of your wife attempting to kill the king would ruin your business that’s for sure. 

I knock on Melissa’s office, hoping this interaction would be quick. I did not want to be late for sign in. I had taken a real beating from the guards for the way I spoke to Charles and my body wasn’t quite ready to take another one just yet.

“Liberty”

“Hello Lady Melissa” I say politely whilst giving her a curtsy. Getting on her good side today was of high importance. “Can I come in please, I have a business matter to discuss, if you don’t mind”

“Oh, very well, come in. Business you say? That’s a surprise I can’t think of any business you could possibly need to discuss. You aren’t high up within the town and you have no money”

Was she for real. I haven’t been in here longer than 2 minutes and she is already dismissing me. Something about her words didn’t sit right with me. Not high up within the town, what did she mean by that? Was there some kind of hierarchy here, well there had to be considering her house was pretty flash considering where we both were.

I force a smile on my face. “I would like to buy the old farm house on the forest border. I have a week’s worth of payment”

“The farm house hey, why does someone like you want to buy a house?

“Get away from my parents, what can I say they aren’t the best” I shrug

“I can’t say I haven’t heard that, I will allow it. Since none of my connections or myself have any plans for the land on that side of the border.”

“Thank you, I have to ask what do you want for it?”

“The week payment will do; the house is out of my hair so I don’t really care. Processing will be done by end of day. Swing by at 4.30 and I will give you title . Now I am busy, see yourself out”

The air felt like a brick wall as I strode back onto the street. Something about the way she talked put me on edge. She talked like a member of Hydrea. Her disregard, her lack of care. We used to be the same, she grew up here. Her house was once small and falling apart, but now it looked like a neat and tidy town house. She had a fruit basket filled with ripe produce. Not a soul in this town could afford a fruit basket on our wage. Things didn’t add up, and it concerned me to say the least. She was cutting a deal with someone. But who? and what exactly was she doing? The more I thought about it, a shiver went down my spine. This house, her house had to have been bought on the lives of people she was selling out to Hydrea. It had to be there was no way she could afford this any other way.

The dirt streets were line with cans tied together along a string of rope. The rattle of the cans in the wind drowned out the sounds of the night. A lot of the nights were filled with crying, screaming of suffering and frustration. Hearing people cry out was very common. The snow glistened on the roof tops hiding most of the wear and tear that plagued the houses. When I was younger I used to close my eyes, and imagine looking through the windows. I imagined seeing families huddled together with a blanket, in front of a fire. Laughing and smiling at each other. I imagined seeing pure happiness and joy. I had never seen pure happiness or joy. I had only seen happiness come from the guards, and that wasn’t pure happiness. That happiness was sick, and twisted. It came from a place of pure darkness. A place fuelled by hatred.

Any good memory I had always felt fictional. Good memories didn’t last and were so far between. Opening my eyes after my day dreaming was heart breaking. I would always see the opposite to what I dreamed about. Inside the houses were always miserable people. Miserable people shriving in a cold house, sharing a bowl of plain rice or watery oat soup. I never saw what I wished to see. It was incredibly hard to come to terms with. Because we were innocent people, we hadn’t done anything to hurt a soul. All the people I saw day in day out suffering, and I could never find a reasonable reason for it. I searched to, I searched for years to try and fathom why. But there wasn’t a reason for it. It just happened because of evil people, with sick and twisted minds.

I felt some level of success for buying the house. I hadn’t eaten all week to get the money together. While it would be nice to say it was my hard work that paid off. Really, I was just lucky. Melissa saw this house as unimportant in her grand scheme, therefore she was content on palming it off to me without a fight. Pure luck, which was something that was rarely witnessed here. I was no threat in her eyes. Which was an opinion I wanted to keep intact. I did not want to attract attention to myself. While my plan wouldn’t affect Hydrea, I knew they wouldn’t like the control they would lose if we weren’t struggling so much. It was easier to remain control of people who were struggling just to keep food on the table.

Time was ticking by at rapid speed. My anxiety was increasing with every passing moment. If I was late for sign in, I would score myself another beating. My body was weak, I was out of breath, everything ached. Every step felt like the last in a marathon. I was dizzy and light headed, I needed food. I could swear I was going to pass out at any moment. But I kept walking, I had to. The sign in stall at the entrance of the city was for once a welcomed sight. It was decorated with blue and red ribbons, like something from a carnival. I leant on the bench for support as I signed my name, I could hardly stand I was that weak. I dropped to my knees in sudden agony, as I felt something lash across the back on my legs.

“You are late, you are making a real habit of being insufferable” Charles bellowed

 I find that kind of rich coming from you I mumble in my head “Sorry, I don’t feel too good. I must be coming down with something”

“Well if you keep being insufferable I will cure all your issues with death”

“Charles, I turn a blind eye to your barbaric way of doing things. But do not do it in my presence”

“Queen” I say while bowing.

I took that as my que to leave. The streets of Hydrea were beautiful, it pained me to admit anything about this place was beautiful. But it was a beautiful city, Inspired by the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque era. The artistic beauty of the architecture was to die for. The gothic towers, coloured houses, classic artwork on the walls. It was like walking through a live art gallery. The streets were always lined with flowers, and stalls. Food stalls wafted mouth-watering smells through the air, there were stalls for everything, candles, paintings, any craft known to man. The sounds of happy chatter and laughter drifted through the streets. The people here were a world away from the issues that plagued our town.  A lot of them were unware of how badly we were truly treated, how hard life was for us.  Most didn’t hate us, it was only a select few of the most elite.

It was compulsory for everyone including children to work every day, unless your employer signed a consent form to say you weren’t needed that day. Hydreaians didn’t work, well not like us.  They either ran businesses or had enough wealth they didn’t need to work at all. In short, we were their slaves, lucky them. I worked as a stable hand at a boarding stable just outside the city. The city was surrounded by massive parks filled with bridle paths and trails. Most of the women owned a horse and would go out regularly for a ride around the bridle paths. Must be nice to be able to just go off riding horses all day. I couldn’t complain about my job really. The job itself I enjoyed. I loved the horses and the people I worked for were kind to me. I knew many people who hadn’t got so lucky with where they had to work. Many people were yelled and screamed at, and being beaten wasn’t uncommon.

The sweet smell of horses and leather hit me as I walked into the barn. Each of the horses greeted me eagerly, excited for breakfast. I got to work making up the feeds and giving it to all the horses. As I rounded the corner I almost bumped into a lady. A lady I had never seen before. She scrunched up her nose in disgust at the mere sight of me. I apologised and went about my business. I could feel her glare piecing a hole in the back of my head. I rolled my eyes, as her assistant came around the corner. The girl was covered in bruises, scratches and looked to only be around 12. Her eyes were red and puffy she clearly had been crying.

“Come here, you worthless child. Your whole job is to follow me around and make sure I don’t have to talk to these low lives. How hard is that to understand. You have got to be the most incompetent person”

I watched in disbelief as the women struck the girl. A hard slap across the face. It was viewed as quite improper among ladies to show violence in public so openly. It was not uncommon for us to be hit in private, but to be struck in public in front of someone was not encouraged in there so called high society. It took me off guard. Tears welled in the girl’s eyes as her cheek turned red. Once the shock left me, I was left with nothing but rage. How could someone treat a child so poorly, a defenceless child. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t. It would only cause the poor girl more suffering. So, I bit my tongue and went about my business. I wasn’t strong enough to withstand what this woman would dish out either. I was so weak.

Ms Cathandra walked around the corner holding a bowl of stew. “I brought this out for you. Thought you would be my test dumby. It’s a new recipe or something, you know how I am with trying new things”

Ms Cathandra my boss was a nice lady. She didn’t agree with how we were treated. I knew her story about the food was a cover up to feed me. I can only imagine how sickly I looked. The look of pure annoyance on the other women’s face, I swear if she kept looking like that her face would turn red.

“You feed them, like pets?

“They are people, and if I want to feed them I will. Don’t come into my stable and try and tell me how to run my business or life. I do not appreciate it”  

“well I never”

The rest of the day went by uneventful. I made up all the feeds, did the feed up, cleaned the paddocks and stables and turned out a few horses. I was pretty knackered by the end of the day. Even with the stew I had had today it wasn’t enough to restore my energy. I sighed a huge sigh of relief when I saw a horse and cart parked at the end of the road. The town horse and cart brought a few people to and from the city. We only had one so it was a rarity to get it. Thankfully today seemed to be coming up Liberty. I climbed up and waited for the journey back to town to begin. As we took off I asked the driver if I could be dropped off at the town leaders office. He nodded without a word. Quite a few of the towns people hardly spoke. I assumed it was because of fear of being overheard saying something and it being used against them. It was common for people to be very cautions, I mean you couldn’t blame them.

I knocked on the door, with no answer. I took a seat on the porch and waited. After what felt like a good hour, the door swung open and two Hydrea men walked out.

“Oi, how long you been there? What are you doing? They bellow as they grab the collar of my shirt.

“I’m not here for you. I’m here for lady Melissa, I need to grab something just town stuff. I’ve been here after half an hour. In case you are wondering I didn’t hear a word, I have no idea what you lot were talking about. I also don’t care I have enough of my issues to think about”

They let me go as Melissa walks out. “Oh, I forgot about you, sorry if they roughed you up”

“Don’t worry about it”. I say as she hands me the key and title. What the hell was that about I think to myself.