Unbound: Slave to the Desert Sands

New Morning

Kaia woke from a deep sleep to a sharp pain in her side. She opened her eyes suddenly remembering all the events of the previous night and was slightly disoriented as she looked around. She'd been exhausted and as soon as she was pointed to a reed sleeping mat she had curled up and gone to sleep without another thought. She looked up into the face of a Kala'ree she didn't not recognize. The woman scowled at her and gestured her to get up. 

     "Get up lazy Varuuk!!" She hissed in Razaaki, spitting their word for outsider as though it was a curse, and stormed off. Startled, Kaia looked around. Sarah and the other Creesan girl, whose name Kaia had learned was Mary, were already up and we're rolling their reed mats into neat cylinders. Kaia quickly moved to do the same. 

     "What is happening?" Kaia whispered to Sarah. Sarah looked up alarmed and quickly glanced over her shoulder but they were momentarily alone. 

     "The caravan is getting ready to move, we carry our mats and our clothes on our backs, the rest is packed up after we leave by slaves further back in the procession." Her whisper was rushed and barely audible as though she was terrified of being overheard. Sarah handed Kaia a small linen sack, which Kaia quickly realized contained another set of undergarments, tunic and trousers, identical to the ones she had on. It also contained a black cowl. Kaia mimicked Sarah as she strapped the reed mat onto the sack and slung it over her shoulders. She then wrapped the cowl loosely around her neck and head. 

     "They're just for traveling." She murmured in response to Kaia's perplexed stare, "the Kala'ree wear them to prevent too much attention from being drawn to them while we're moving." Kaia quickly wrapped the cloth around her head as well, although she wondered if such a simple thing could really keep a woman like Azra from drawing attention.

     The flap in the canvas divider opened suddenly and they were beckoned by a woman Kaia recognized as one of the purple clad Kala'ree who had stripped her of her Creesan dress and helped her dress in her new tunic, although she now wore a floor length black cape with a cowl similar to their own. She looked directly at Kaia as she spoke. 

     "I am Naji, you will follow me, be silent and observe." Her Creesan was heavily accented and although stern her eyes were kind as she looked over the three girls. A clatter sounded across the tent and Naji looked over tittering disapprovingly. She looked at Sarah and said, "Explain to her the way mornings of travel work, do not move, I will be back." She rushed over to help with the commotion on the far side of the pavilion. There were women moving with smooth precision in every direction, their actions were done with intention and practice. Kaia looked to Sarah who started speaking immediately. 

     "While traveling the king's guard eats breakfast and lunch on the move. The only meal they stop for is dinner once the camp has been assembled. The Kala'ree help prepare and serve these meals to them." Kaia opened her mouth perplexed. 

     "How do they eat while moving?" She asked.

      "It's mostly dried meats or breads that are easier to eat on horseback. All of the Kings guard ride on those huge black stallions. Only a few of the Kala'ree do though, mostly just the higher ranking ones." She said thoughtfully. Kaia was feeling slightly overwhelmed.

     "They have ranks?" 

     "Of course!" Sarah exclaimed as though it had been a dumb question, "you met Azra, she's the Ma'Kala'ree, which means she's the top ranking here. But you can tell how important they are by what color silks they wear. Green means they're still in training, there aren't many of them here I think they left them all at home. Blue is above that one- there's a lot of them here. Purple is next and it means they're well respected and a top ranking Kala'ree. There's only a couple wearing yellow and they're important. I get the feeling they're religious advisers. And then there's red and Azra's the only one I've ever seen wear red." Kaia's mind was spinning now. This was too much information to handle. Sarah looked at her almost pityingly. "Don't worry, we don't even have green silks yet, so they don't make us go anywhere near the Kings guard. I don't think they want us to embarrass them." Kaia shuttered at the thought of the rugged men dressed in all black that could kill with a flick of their wrist. With a pang she suddenly remembered poor Grimold, with his kind eyes that crinkled in the corners. How could she have not thought about him or Miss Bucket once since she woke up here. A lot had happened since she had been stealing sweet, doting miss Bucket's hot buns fresh out of the oven and reading in the stables. She felt a pang of homesickness wash over her.

    "So they really, uh, pleasure those men?" Kaia asked quietly feeling uncomfortable even thinking about it. Sarah's eyes widened,

     "Oh yes, and more than that they serve them in every way. They're not slaves though," she paused frowning, " at least not most of them. They're free women." Suddenly Mary piped up from beside Sarah. The girl was small and meek and her features were pretty but a bit mousy. It was the first time Kaia had heard her speak as she said,

      "Make sure not to speak to the men unless they ask you something directly, we're not even supposed to look at them." She shuttered as though even the thought of laying eyes on the soldiers terrified her. Kaia was perplexed as she recalled the way Azra had warmly greeted and embraced Aseem when he had brought Kaia. Perhaps rank granted you certain privileges. She was pulled out of this train of thought as Sarah continued,

     "The Kala'ree in training each get a mentor to help them learn the necessary skills. I got Naji," she looked guiltily at Mary whose shoulders slumped slightly, "Mary's mentor is Pasha." She said gesturing discretely toward to a woman not too far off whom Kaia recognized as the ill tempered Kala'ree who had roughly bound her breasts the night before. She looked back to Kaia, "you'll probably receive one later today." Their conversation was cut off as Naji came towards them, beckoning them to follow her. They fell into step behind her as she approached the large belt of red silk that acted as their pavilion doorway. As they neared it it was suddenly pulled to the side, allowing them to exit. Kaia realized with a start that one of the guards had pulled it aside for them respectfully. She was about to thank him when she remembered Mary's warning and clamped her mouth shut and averted her eyes. She may have been imagining it but she thought she heard a snicker from the guard behind her as she walk away following the other girls.