Flashback Last Goodbye

[Ayviss]

70th of Summer, 514 AV

Dia coughed, once more, and Ayviss touched her forehead with the back of her hand, her face twisting in worry once more. The young Kelvic was burning, and she had been like that for the last ten days. A month before, Dia had began coughing and sneezing, and Ayviss thought it was a simple cold, nothing to be worried about. Maybe it really wouldn't be, if the girl had rested. However, Hollard had ordered them around, and Ayviss had been too busy with her own chores to help Dia on hers. At times, the woman would do Dia's chores for her, and leave her own unattended. But since that always ended up in punishment, there were times Ayviss wasn't able to help. She couldn't spend days without eating, and she certainly couldn't take too many beatings before her own health began to deteriorate.

So Dia hadn't been able to rest, not even a little, and her condition worsened after twenty days. From then on, it was rare for the Kelvic girl to not have a fever, and her constant coughing was getting worse with each passing day. Not much any of them could do. Ayviss had tried to get Dia a doctor, but Hollard had denied them vehemently.

"Are you sure you can work today?" Ayviss whispered, combing the dirty blond hair with her fingers, gently. "You are burning."

"I can!" Dia said, her mouth turning up in a weak smile before she started to cough again. Despite being rash, her voice still had the always present happiness to it. "Besides, it's not like you can do everything by yourself, Avy."

Ayviss face twisted again, although this time it was in pain. It was true. There was no way she could make the apartment presentably for receiving the guest, at least, not in the way her master desired. Besides, both of them had too little time to get everything done.

"I'll finish quickly, and I'll come to help you." Ayviss whispered, petting the young Kelvic in the head. Dia made a noise of protest, and tried to back away. The woman laughed, weakly, before getting up and pushing the braid she had made over her shoulder. It was time to get to work. "Anything, anything, and you can come and call me."

"I'll be fine, Avy."

[Ayviss]

The woman left the room, and sighed. She couldn't be worrying about Dia now. The sooner she got things done, the sooner Dia could rest.

The apartment was big if one considered the size of the rest of the Sunset Quarters, but it was still small, and it should be easy to clean, if Hollard didn't make it harder for them. There were spots of dry mud everywhere in the floor, hand prints on the walls, and the curtains were, once again, shredded. Ayviss didn't know what happened in the apartment during the night and frankly, she didn't want to. It was better, easier, simply not knowing.

Walking down the narrow hallway, she passed through her owner's bedroom, the bathroom, the guest room and arrived at the doorway that led to the living room. Her eyes widened at the scene. Hollard was laying on the couch, seeming tired, and there were pieces of clothes scattered around, red stains clear on the dirty fabrics. Ayviss knew it was blood. She looked up, ignoring the clothes, and bit her lip when she saw that there hardly something in the room that wasn't thrown on the ground. One of the lamps had fallen to the ground, and pieces of glass were scattered around.

Don't ask. a quick look to the kitchen showed that it was empty. The third slave was gone. Ayviss felt her heart ache, and she closed her eyes for a moment. She had liked him, more than any other cooks before. In her heart, she hoped he was under the care of a nice owner. In her mind, she knew that the best for him would be to be dead.

"Come here." Hollard sounded tired, and Ayviss could pity him, if his voice belonged to anyone else.

Carefully, slowly, she approached him. He was holding a cup of something clear, and the woman could smell alcohol. Involuntarily, her whole body clenched with fear. Ayviss always feared the next slaves to leave the house would be her or Dia. Day after day she worried about the blood on the clothes being her own, or worse, Dia's. And yet, slaves came and go, and the two remained. She couldn't decide if she was disappointed or relieved.

Hollard's free hand clenched around her wrist, and pulled her closer. His face, with a beard well-kept, was actually good-looking, with a smug and confident look in his brown eyes, although it certainly only made Ayviss hate him even more.

"You should know by now why I don't give you away." he said, his breath making Ayviss fight against a frown. She couldn't demonstrate anything, not in front of him. "But you should also know that the moment you fail to give me what I wish, is the moment you're out. Like he is out." Hollard gently pointed with his head to the nearest cloth, before pressing his lips against Ayviss'. He then got up, placed the cup on the small table, and made his way to the door, grabbing his jacket on the way. "Everything is better be ready when I come back." and he left.

Ayviss angrily cleaned her mouth. She was used to it by now, the act not even bothering her anymore. Hollard had stripped it of all significance, long ago. But she was still disgusted by him. Were it someone else, she would just shrug it off. But him, when he did it, she was angry at herself for allowing.

Turning her head, she saw Dia, standing on the doorway, looking pained and unsure about what to do. Ayviss moved her head, swiftly, towards the kitchen, and the Kelvic was eager to obey, not stopping a second to look at the living room. Ayviss grunted to herself, before shaking her head. She had work to do.