Ordinary

THE STORY OF THE ANCIENTS CLAIM you become the opposite of yourself when you dream. Well I can confirm, that's a lie.

I dreamt. For a long time, but became nothing. Just darkness and a deep void.

My eyes fluttered open to extreme silence and the smell of chemicals. Heat seemed to waft from a corner of the dark wagon I was in and my mouth tasted like wool. 

A woman sat at the edge of the wagon, stooped over a sachet in her hands, her clothes were the dirty brown of revillon slaves and her silver hair was tied in a tight bun at her neck.

"I see, you're awake,” Her voice startled me “ I was thinking we'ere goin to have to toss ya out. I sure am glad you didn't tun out to be completely useless after all,”

Her voice was hoarse from years of overuse, and I could tell from her accent, she had been around the Braavasi for a long time. 

"Well, what are ya waitin for? Sit up and lemme take a look at ya” She was surprisingly nimble as she walked over to the edge of my makeshift bed.

I tried to sit up slowly, but as I moved, a sudden wave of vertigo came upon me and I retched.

She immediately held up her sachet under my nose and the smell of sage filled my nostrils. My head cleared and the nausea reduced.

"Dere dere, gently now. You don't want to spoil all my hard work do ya?" The woman smiled softly and pushed some foul-looking cup at me.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"One question ata time girly" she replied as she went about the task of unwrapping one of my legs.

It felt stiff and looked very red but otherwise, it felt fine. It looked like it had been healing for a long time.

“How long?” I asked softly.

The woman paused and sighed. “You lucky de leg made it. It was squashed by  horse in the accident an–”

“How long? Where’s the other people who were traveling with me? Who are you? I asked again.

“I told ya one question ata time,” She tsked but replied me. "Am Nelly, bur de entire crew calls me Crook and you're wit de Braavasi now girly,”

I waited expectantly.

“I don’t know bout no others but the oder girl. She won’t stop yappin' about you,”

“Kezira?” Relief flooded me to know she was still alive.

“Hmm,” Nelly replied. “She’s wit de rest of de crew. It been three months now since we been on the road. De winter was harsh bur de worse of it is behind us, and we arrive tomorrow,”

I sighed and gave a nod. Grateful she had healed me but worried about where the Braavasi were taking us. With any luck, they would sell us back to Gaham.

I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN better than to trust in luck. The next morning, I woke up to a rough hand palming my right breast.

My eyes flew open and I immediately pushed the offending hand away.  

Loud laughter followed my action and I sat up, quickly pulling the remaining scraps of my dress to cover my chest. 

"I reckon she'll do alright. She's got a lil spirit that's for sure" A brutish-looking Braavasi chuckled.

I was outside, on a wooden platform with cold biting at my bare shoulders.

Several men surrounded me, and they bickered over whether or not I was worth much., none of them had t bothered with tying my hands or my feet.

My leg was healed but it still looked red and angry. Even if I could run, I doubted I would get very far on it.

I turned my head, searching for a familiar face or even if I could see any hints as to where we were when a man dressed in Revlillian clothes stepped forward.

My heart thundered and I stilled as he rubbed my bad leg slowly. "But I doubt she can do much with that leg. I don't buy damaged goods."

"Nonsense! We got Nelly lookin' after her, ain't ever seen nothin' Nelly can't fix. Besides those eyes make up for what'er her legs don't." The Braavai said as he pulled my hair back suddenly. 

I could barely hold in a cry as he turned my head around to face the buyer. 

"Unique eyes indeed,” The Revillon man mused. “ Uncanny resemblance to the Sartorn’s— would make my clients think they were fucking royalty." He guffawed loudly.

 He seemed satisfied as he nodded at the Braavasi. “Add this one with the rest,”

The Rest, turned out to be other slaves the Braavasi had stolen. From the different kingdoms with different ages, my eyes scanned the trope until I saw the mass of ginger hair I was looking for.

“KEZIRA!” I got a knock for my efforts.

I grunted at the pain but my voice had been loud enough. Relief filled my best friend's face as she saw me and her eyes watered.

We were far apart on the line and couldn’t speak until later that night, when they released us all to mingle as we waited for who the Revillon man called, Madam Claire.

“Marissa,” Kezira called the fake name the queen had given me as she clung to me in a tight hug and cried softly.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm here now, it's going to be better" I said as I held her face and tried to get her to calm down.

I honestly had a thousand questions racing through my mind, but they had to wait. First I was just glad to see my friend. I could only wonder what she had gone through in the hands of the pirates. Three months not knowing if I would make it or not.

Kezira calmed down enough to speak to me.

"How are you alive? I saw youuu a… at the accident. And then Nelly– the healer woman. She wouldn’t say anything to me,”

"Hey, I'm fine now, I'm here okay" I tried to reassure her again.

Kezira shook her head slowly. “None of us are fine. We don’t have iFtar so we’re not valuable,”

I blinked in surprise and lowered my voice. “iFtar? What—”

“iFtar, the magic of the gods. We don’t have it so–”

“Kezira don’t be ridiculous,” I shook my head. “IFtar doesn’t actually exist. Of course, we don’t have it. What does that have to do with anything,”

Kezira’s face made my stomach drop and I swallowed. “What is it?”

She bit her lip slowly and held my hands. “Zura, iFtar does exist outside Gaham. In varying quantities really. But I heard our Kingdom itself stifles the ability,”

I shook my head slowly. “No. The Queen would have told me if—”

“Did you know?” Kezira cut me off immediately, her eyes searching mine.

“Know what?”

She glanced around us hurriedly and turned back to me. “Immediately we crossed out of Gaham, you asked to stop the carriage. Did you know about the attack?!”

Her words held one meaning and her eyes held another.

She was asking if I had somehow sensed the attack. If I had magic.

I shook my head. “iFtar doesn’t exist Kezira,”

“Several of the procession maids had iFtar!” She hissed, her voice harsh and unbelieving. “They had the gift and were let go. The rest of us—”

She paused laughing bitterly and yet her eyes were still alight with suspicion. “The powerless lot like me, who can’t sense anything. The rest of us are going to be sold into a brothel,”

Ice ran down my spine at her words.

“Didn’t you know? You didn’t sense it?” She chuckled humorlessly and left my hands.

“Listen, you’re Marissa now. This isn’t Gaham, the queen isn’t here. You’re in Revillon now and you’re not shadow princess anymore,” Her gaze went down to my bad leg and she scoffed. “You can’t even walk right. You’re nothing here. Ordinary,”