Sylvia

Sylvia was jolted awake by the sound of a door opening. A beam of light shone down on her through the dense darkness of the cellar.

"Come on, time to get back to work," Jana said quietly.

Sylvia nodded solemnly. She stood up slowly, wincing briefly from the aches on her back. She did not tear up, though, since she had already shed enough tears over her imprisonment, her new scars, and her miserable life while in the cellar. How she wished to be free from this place and these people! But it was all too late, though. The damage had been done, and it was irrevocable. Keil was most likely gone by now, too, since his wounds had been doing better. He had not been weak enough to die, of that she was sure. When she did not return the next day he had probably been forced to get up and care for himself, with the eventual intent to return to wherever he had come from. She wished to know the truth about his state and whereabouts, but finding time to sneak away would not be even remotely possible now. Heavy shackles would be placed on her ankles to keep her from getting very far from the house, or from running at all.

Sylvia went to bed that night, absolutely exhausted under her new workload and the heavy shackles she wore. Her back was still sore from the new lashes and thee scabs often tore open and bled as she worked. Rarely would she have any spare time during her new workdays to contemplate visiting Keil. This was her life right now, and nothing could ever change that. Not even the memory of the strange man she had once befriended out in the woods.

Over the next few days she was put in charge of cutting all the house's firewood and stocking the fireplaces, a job made very difficult by her heavy shackles. They were hard to work with, as they often chafed at her skin and kept her shifting her weight unevenly as she walked. Sylvia nearly fell as few times as she tried to carry an armful of logs up the stairs and into the house. Nevertheless, she worked quickly and efficiently and eventually she reached the kitchen areas, where she stocked the large metal log racks as tightly as she could.

"Sylvia," Jana called from behind.

Sylvia flinched and swung around quickly. The woman was gazing at her with an unreadable expression, making her fear backlash for a possible mistake made.

"Yes ma'am?" she answered.

The woman let out a long sigh and gazed at her with sympathy.

"Come; sit down for a moment," she instructed, gesturing at the little table in between them.

Sylvia obeyed quickly, sitting in the closest chair. Jana came around and moved the hair off her back, examining the sore areas gently.

"How is your back? Do you need the bandages cleaned?" she asked.

Sylvia shook her head. "No, they are fine today."

The woman nodded. "Good."

Then she came around and inspected her face. Her expression was hard, but her eyes looked soft. "Now come, you knew this would be your punishment. You should have known better than to try running away, Sylvia. You should have known better!”

Sylvia nodded, not even bothering to bring up her side of the argument again. Jana did not want to hear any of it, mostly because nothing could be done anyways. She honestly did not like to see people punished, but she was helpless to stop it. Jana had, in fact, been the one to train her in the proper medical procedures used to care for wounds, and together they had spent many long nights working to heal the other slaves. She was a sliver of warmth Sylvia had been grateful for over the years.

"I have asked the master chief to remove your other workloads so that you can assist me again. I trained you for a reason, and many have been falling ill," the woman said abruptly.

Sylvia felt a small wave of hope wash over her. She did not like to see injuries or wounds, but working there was better than wood duty! "I also asked for your restraints to be removed, as I do not want to hear their clatter all day as we work," she added.

Sylvia nearly started crying with relief. She was just so grateful!

"Listen to me Sylvia, if you should leave this house unsupervised again, I cannot guarantee that these shackles will not become a permanent adornment for you. You know better, so act like it," the woman warned.

She nodded, already understanding that fact full well.

"Now go and see the chief to have those weights removed, then come and see me in the medical house. We have work to do."

Sylvia nodded obediently and immediately made her way out of the kitchen.

*

Sylvia gazed around the room quietly. After completing her work with Jana she had gone to bed. Now, however, the woman was asleep in the kitchen, laying facedown on the table deep in a drunken stupor, as she often did. The rest of the house had been silent for hours, with everyone else having gone to sleep a long time ago. Which meant that now was her chance!

As quietly as she could, Sylvia snuck past the drunk woman and out the kitchen door. She looked around for a patrol guard, but saw none. Then she bolted out the gate and off toward the forest, racing to avoid being detected by any wandering servants. She knew this whole venture was risky, especially since Jana had been so kind as to lessen her burdensome punishments, but as soon as she was free of the shackles, her mind could not help but contemplate how best to slip away and check on Keil! What if he had been waiting for her to return all this time? Or what if he needed help finding his way back home? Sylvia simply wanted to know if he was okay. She could not forget about him, she could not abandon him. She just had to return one last time!

Eventually she reached the area where the small burrow was situated. She neared the shelter slowly, kneeling down and looking inside carefully.

"Keil?" she whispered.

No reply came. She crawled in further and felt around the floor, looking for any sign of him, but there was nothing. Not even a dim warmth from where he had laid for so many days. Sylvia let out a disappointed sigh, the realization of his disappearance hitting her heart hard. She knew he was a just a stranger she had found out in the woods, but she felt so accustomed to his presence now that his leaving seemed devastating. It had been nice to have something to look forward to each day after her work, but now Keil was gone. For good. Just like she knew he would be…

Sylvia cried silently for a moment. It had been plain stupid for her to risk any further punishment in order to come out here looking for someone who was sure to be long gone! She was just so sick of herself and her own pathetic tears, especially when they were shed over silly things she should have known better than to get her hopes up about!