Flashback The Mirror Lied

[Katherine Morealis]

7th Day of Summer, 506 AV Blacksugar Plantation The air was getting warmer and warmer as the sun hung languidly above the sprawling lands of Kenash. It was still early in the morning but more than a wing of the house was already bustling with activity. Slaves scrambled back and forth between the busy kitchens and the dining hall. The family had just finished breaking their fast and so the large table was being cleared of all plates and tablewares. Still, everyone was busier than usual. The Morealis were expecting guests to come over at lunch. It was said that indeed, very important guests they were, and so everyone was asked to do their part, and more, that day. In contrast to the flurry of people walking in the corridors of the great Blacksugar mansion, young Katherine Morealis sat pleasantly inside her father's quiet laboratory, a book almost as thick as her arms resting in her hands. She was seated beside the large glass window facing her father's personal garden outside, and the pleasant scent of flowers floated around the large room. The young girl let out a content sigh. It always felt like she was whisked away in an entirely different world whenever she sat inside her father's laboratory. There was no one who expected her to act beyond her years, and the books! There was such a huge collection of books in her father's office, and she loved spending the pleasant afternoons just reading a good book quietly, absorbed in a world all on her own. Today she was reading a particularly interesting book, a large volume which her father had left open on his desk, as Katherine realized he is often wont to do. It was a book about oils taken, extracted as the book had termed it, from herbs and similar other plants. Now she had more than once heard her father talking about some of the details of his work, and that he mostly worked with plants he grew in his huge garden. But to think that his perfumes were made of oils, taken from flowers no less, was very funny to Katherine. She knew of the oils that came from lard and animal fat, but never did she imagine flowers and plants holding such a thing within their delicate petals and fragile stems. Reading on, though, she soon realized that these oils the book speak of were quite unlike the rancid oils she had heard of and personally seen in more than one occassion. The oils from plants, essential oils, carried a rather distinctive scent with them. Katherine instinctively sniffed, taking note once more of the wonderful smell of flowers hanging in the air, and wondered if this was exactly what the book is hinting on. She read further that each one of these oils have very specific properties and qualities, and that they were actually widely used in many things like food for flavors, the beauty products her mother love to use, in cures and medicines, and especially so in perfumes! At that moment, fair and young Katherine Morealis was instantly captivated. Probably owing to the huge influence of her scholarly father in her upbringing, she grew up with a great hunger for knowledge and learning rather than the balls and parties her cousins dearly loved to attend. She hastened to stand on her feet, the thick book cradled protectively in her arms, and skipped towards the shelves lining the bright walls at the other side of the room. There were myriads of small jars with different colored liquids sitting inside each of the glass containers. "Are these the oils? They look more like water to me, albeit colored different from one another. And certainly not like the fatty oils the cooks have to deal with in the kitchen." She mused to herself. Young Katherine stood on tiptoes to get a better view of the jars sitting on the third tier of the shelf. Despite her and her family's pride in Katherine's height compared to her close relatives' who were about the same age as her, she was still just a twelve year old girl. Katherine's father was still a tall man, and so his daughter found herself straining to see what he easily could with but a quick sweep of his eyes. "Rose oil." Katherine strained to read the label written on one of the jars. The liquid inside was sticky, and when brought into the light she realized it was of a curious pale yellow color. When the young girl opened the lid to take a small whiff, she was met with a very rich, spicy floral scent. Katherine giggled, noting it still smelled like roses, as it should. "Rose oil." She repeated as she flicked through the pages of the book in her hands, searching for the name of a single oil among the many written within the volume. She noted, with childlike wonder, that the essential oil was capable of calming a nervous mind and removing the negative feelings of depression, anger, grief and fear. She took another tentative whiff of the rose oil, wondering if it can really do that. Unfortunately, she was too giddy with excitement to personally test it out, but she resolved to try it on her mother when she becomes too cross at her. "It is beneficial for dry, inflamed, or itching skin," She read on, running a dainty finger under the neatly written print as she went through them. "Also, it is excellent for scarring of the skin. and therefore makes for a good addition to a skin product. Aside from that, it helps ease the pain from a woman's monthly cramps when combined with two drops lavender, a drop of clary sage, and some of almond oil. It is then to be applied through massage of the abdomen... Huh." Katherine's head tilted to the side in confusion, what with the sudden flurry of unfamiliar words all used in a single sentence. This spurts a sudden bout of disinterest for the huge wall of fine text, so the young girls moves on instead to deciphering the unmistakably messy handwriting of her father at the bottom of the page. "...blends nicely with oils such as geranium, jasmine, and even better with sweeter oils like lavender, and ylang ylang." She quickly looked up from the page and once again returned to scanning the shelf for the names of the oils on the jar. Katherine opened each jar and noted the different scents and visible properties of each liquid as if she were choosing a palette to paint with. While she was browsing her father's collection like this, she chanced upon a curiously named specimen, one jar of clear liquid labeled 'Witch Hazel'. The image of a powerful woman wading through the swampy marshes of Kenash, in one with the nature all around her, instantly flickered in her mind. She wondered if she would ever be able to meet a witch of Caiyha someday, and if she would be named Hazel. In Katherine's young, imaginative mind, she believed that the plant must have been named after her. Flipping through the pages of the book, she finally found the entry for the extract. "Witch hazel," She recited quite to herself, her tinkling voice the only sound within the large room. "...is used for a variety of skin problems and ailments. It is also an effective cleanser for cuts and bruises, as well as treating scalds, burns, and bug bites. Mostly used for the skin but can also utilized for muscle pains and upset stomachs." Eyes moving to the bottom of the page, she saw yet another of her father's comments and read, "Beware of oral overdose! Symptoms possibly include nausea and loose bowel movement--" At this Katherine started laughing, remembering the time when Remosh Morealis was quite sick, and her mother attributed this as a result of an "uncontrollable desire to sample things". Her mirth was quickly snuffed, however, when the door opened and in came her father with an unfamiliar man. Katherine quickly set down the book and straigthened herself, and offered a polite greeting to her father and his guest. Remosh was quite taken by surprise in finding his daughter interested in his research. He would have been much too glad to teach her more, he told her, but there was an important matter to be discussed between him and his influential guest. "Do not worry yourself, father. There are other days for me to continue this study together with you, but for now please allow me to excuse myself. Good day to the both of you!" She smiled and inclined her head to him and his companion, even if she didn't quite liked the latter. However, it was what good etiquette demanded of her, and so it was what she would show. Nevertheless, Katherine left the room with a light spring to her step, for her father had promised to teach her more about the germaniums and the rose oils, the ylang ylangs and the witch hazels, sitting prettily in their own glass jars in that quite wondrous laboratory of his.

[Katherine Morealis]

13th Day of Summer, 506 AV Blacksugar Plantation After that, Katherine found herself lingering around more frequently in her father's offices rather than playing outside, under the bright summer sun. It was fun watching her father mix the different liquids in his laboratory and produce such sweet scents. Her brother was always there as well, learning amazingly fast under their father's tutelage despite his lack of sight. Katherine would never admit it, but she admired her older brother for doing so well in spite of his disability. Still, there were times that she was not allowed inside the philtering laboratory. On occasions such as these, she would spend her day lounging on a bench in the garden, immersing herself with a book borrowed from her father's private collection. Sometimes, when this would bore her, she would play with young girls from other Dynasty families. These are far and few in between though, and it is not often that she can go out and play with the curious Opal Draer. "Hallo Kitty! I knew in my trusty gut I'd find you right here!" Someone called out in a high-pitched, singsong voice. Katherine turned her head, small lips forming a small 'o' upon seeing the girl who was running to her quite spiritedly. "Oh," Katherine muttered disinterestedly. "It was just you." The animated girl, with the upturned button nose and fluffy chestnut hair, protested at this, and inquired why the young mistress was being so cold to her. "You were being too loud and clingy. And besides, did I not tell you to stop calling me Kitty? I am not a cat from some gutter or alley. I am a daughter of the family you serve." "Oh but you are like a cat, though not like a dirty cat. You're always so prim and proud, and quiet. Sometimes I imagine that you have a tail that curls and swishes when you walk." The remark made young Katherine's cheeks blush and, sensing a half-baked riposte would not work well against such a person, tried to hide her embarrassment by averting her gaze to her book instead. Ebele, the girl with the upturned nose and the goofy smile, grinned in triumph. Ebele was the daughter of two Morealis field slaves, and in her fourteen years of existence she had only known how to toil under the sun and tend to the fields. It was only last year when fortune had smiled upon her and she was raised to the status of a manor slave. And recently still, when there was not much to do around the house, they allow her to attend to the personal needs of Katherine Morealis, who often ended up in the middle of trouble when not kept under close watch. Obviously, her young charge did not like the set up at all. Ebele was a very talkative lass, and Katherine did not like people who talk too much, unless of course their incessant words were of her accolades and praises. "By the way mistress Kitty, look at what I found." Ebele drew something out from the pockets of her skirt. It was an old, ivory hand mirror; only, there was no mirror left in it anymore. "Isn't it pretty? I think it's pretty. Just look at the design at the back! I really can't believe you rich people, throwing away good things like these." Katherine sniffed at this. "But it was supposed to be a hand mirror. If it cannot be of use as that anymore, it would just be a useless piece of trash, and so it will be thrown away. We buy new things and replace unserviceable objects, even if it was pretty. There are better pieces out there we can use instead of things like that mirror which are just a waste of space." "You say that but you know, you contradict yourself very much right there. You talk bad of useless items but you have more than a dozen of them in each room of your house!" The maidservant retorted. "I mean, just look at all those statues just sitting in the hall. You can't even use them. I think that is what you'd call a waste of space." "You do not understand at all." the young lady snapped back. "Those are artistic pieces. They were meant to be displayed for people to see and to know that we are rich and powerful. That is their purpose and they serve it well, unlike some slaves who likes to dawdle during work." Briskly, Katherine stood up and gently set the book down on the bench. She intended to take a short walk around the garden and leave the stupid slave behind, but the latter would not have it. Following close beside her young mistress, Ebele spoke once more. "Even if you say that, this hand mirror's still my treasure. It's important to me, more important than your expensive statues, and I hold it close to my heart." This was immediately met with an incredulous stare from her master. "I do not get how your mind works at all. You can not even see your face in that piece of junk, nor can you sell it to buy your freedom." "It's not the price that decides the true worth of a treasure, but it's value to one person." When Katherine complained that she did not understand what the slave meant, Ebele only laughed. "To be honest, I see myself in this mirror. It shows me that I'm a faceless girl living in a faceless world. No one would care about me at all when I'm gone. Not even my Ma and my Pa. "But when I get sad, I console myself with the idea that this mirror would not lie to me. I wouldn't be able to project illusions of myself on its surface, like other mirrors make you do with their hidden magics. It would remind me not to look at things at face value." "Your head is full of stupid ideas," Was what Katherine replied after a short moment of silence passed between them. "But still, I do not think I would like such a useless trinket for my treasure. I would very much prefer nice clothes like the one I wear on my person over a broken mirror." "I agree that it is very beautiful," Ebele remarked. "But isn't it too troublesome to be wearing such extravagant clothing?" "Oh, I don't think so at all." Katherine paused and twirled before her in the bright sunlight seeping from the spaces between the vibrant summer leaves. The colors of her gown were brilliant: a skirt of dark blue and an underskirt of sharper turquoise, the skirts flaring from the leather belt wrapped tight around her slim waist. The silver circlet sat regally on the top of her head and sprouted a veil of pale blue gossamers from under its rim and dropping down to the small of her back, concealing and enhancing her rich bronze hair. She spread her arms to flaunt the cascading design of her sleeves, trimmed with the most beautiful embroidery in gold thread. She spun on her feet again, and then she subtly lifted the hem of her dress to show off her jade slippers. It was fitted with heels that easily added some more to her fine height and her graceful figure. "But you cannot work, or ride a horse, or even run in such a dress." Ebele simply remarked. "It's not for riding or working or running around," Katherine answered reasonably, despite the budding consternation from being unable to elicit a compliment from the slave with her little dance. "It is for showing off. It is to let the world know that I am young and beautiful. My mother says it is one way to let all the boys know I am an eligible candidate for marriage, too. But really, it is mostly to show that my family, especially my father, is so wealthy that I can wear gold thread on my sleeves and silk upon my head. It is to let every one know I am so nobly born that I can wear velvet and silk. Not coarse wool and animal hide like one would expect from a poor girl." Like you, the young Katherine added but only in thought. "You do look like a fine porcelain doll," Ebele said, and Kat let her a pleased smile. "Or maybe even like the majestic queens and princesses we often read from stories about the old times." The manor slave scrunched her nose. "But I wouldn't want to wear a fancy dress just to be displayed like a cold slab of carved stone you upper class people call art." "No, you don't understand anything because you're just a stupid slave!" Katherine pointed out contrarily, offended at being suddenly compared to a lifeless object. "And do not think you would even have a chance to wear a beautiful dress because you would never be allowed to. You have to dress for your position in life. You would have to obey the law and wear browns and greys instead of dyed violets. Did you really think you were important enough to wear silk and fine furs?" Ebele only shook her head meekly, and the younger of the girls placed her hands with snooty authority over her hips. "Well, that is just what I thought! No sane slave would dare to wear clothes that are far more expensive than their own worth. It would be madness, see. Even my friends think so." Her companion only laughed as she did when she did not know what to say, though Katherine fancied herself seeing a pained look on the slave girl's face. It was, however, already gone after a moment's blink.

[Katherine Morealis]

31st Day of Summer, 506 AV Blacksugar Plantation - Katherine's Suite She stood uncertainly in the middle of her room, staring at her reflection in the large, vanity mirror. The girl staring right back at her was indeed very pretty; her lovely brown hair was tied in a loose plait and a large silk ribbon, the color of crimson, secured her hair in place. Her bright blue eyes, usually filled with the smug confidence of a young girl so richly born, watered with frustration. Her perfectly arched eyebrows furrowed. She sighed a heavy sigh as she corrected her posture: standing tall, one foot slightly in front of the other, and feet shoulder width apart. Katherine drew in a deep breath, opened her mouth, and sang. "Laaaaaa..." Her voice came out shaking in the wrong tone, and tears filled her eyes at yet another mistake. She never got it right, and she probably never going to learn how to even sing a tone correctly. Using the back of her hands, she wiped her tear stained face hurriedly and continued to vocalize once more. "Laaa laaa laaa laaa laaa laaaa--" Her voice croaked as she tried to hit the higher notes, and Katherine had to choke back a sob. Instead of successfully holding it in, however, she broke down crying and feeling miserable. At that moment, a sharp knock sounded from the door, quickly followed by a concerned female voice. "Mistress Katherine? Are you in there? I hear someone crying." Katherine knew at once who it belonged to - Ebele. She quickly repressed her sobs, jumped into her bed, and buried her face under her down pillow. "Please excuse me, I'm going to let myself in now." She heard the door open and close, and then the muffled foot steps of the slave against the carpeted floor. Katherine felt her sit on the bed and touch her on her bare shoulder. "Miss Kitty, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" "Go away! I don't want to see your ugly face!" It came out muffled from under the pillow, not quite having the intensity she intended to convey. She heard Ebele respond in laughter, and felt her rough hands pat her gently on the back of her head. "I'm sorry Miss Kitty, but this was the face I was born with. I really can't do anything about it any more. I'm so sorry it offends you." Ebele was suddenly silent, and the only indication that the older girl was still with her was the warmth of her presence and her continued affectionate strokes against her head. "Why are you even here?" Katherine began after her sobs had calmed down. "What do you want? Just go away! You are so annoying." She added this with a kick of her leg against the soft mattresses, in an effort to emphasize her annoyance with the other girl's officiousness. "No can do, Miss Kitty. You're still sad. You still need this silly old me to cheer you up!" Katherine reluctantly raised her head from the pillow to throw a stubborn glare at Ebele. "I don't need you to cheer me up. I'm not even sad. A Morealis is never so weak as to feel such disgraceful emotions." The slave smiled kindly at the younger girl, sympathy for her mistress, who was only but a child, causing tears to form at the corner of her eyes. Katherine was petulant. She demanded to know why Ebele seemed like she was the one about to cry. "It's because I am sad, my mistress. I am sad for you." She caressed Katherine's cheeks with her calloused fingers. Strangely enough, Katherine Morealis, who never liked slaves touching her, allowed Ebele to make such an intimate gesture. "And this emotion, I feel it deep inside me because I am human. And even if you have noble blood coursing through your veins, you yourself are still a human being. You are a person. It's alright for you to feel sad. So now, you tell me what it was that's been bothering you." Ebele flashed her teeth at the girl and then, out of the blue, she flicked a finger against the young girl's forehead. "Ouch, that hurt!" Katherine glowered at Ebele, her fingers rubbing against the aching spot. "...Do not tell any other person about this." When the manor slave swore upon her honor that she absolutely would not, Katherine continued. "I was trying to practice singing, but... it was no good at all. I try and try but I still can't make my voice do what I want it to do. I'm a failure." This was immediately followed by renewed sobs from the younger girl, and Ebele had to rub her back and assure her that she was not a failure. "Of course you are not! It's just singing, you can find another form of art to take up. You really don't have to force yourself to do it if you can't." "But I have to do it! It was what my parents gave me to practice. If I can't perfect it, or at least do well in it, I would shame them. They would be very disappointed in me." Katherine cried. Hearing this, Ebele realized her mistake and hurriedly took back what she had earlier said. "Alright, please don't feel sad. I know you will do good in it." She sighed, looking at the girl with pity. Katherine did have all the material comforts provided for her, but she really was not living a good life. At the least, with all that her family was making her do and expecting out of her, the young girl was not living her life at all. "But Miss Kitty, you see, singing is actually quite easy. Here, I'll show you." Ebele breathed in, and when she opened her mouth, sweet tones came pouring out from her. Katherine was entranced. Ebele's singing did not have the complicated trills and high pitch vocal leaps and curls that she often observed from professional singers. However, there was something in her voice that quite captivated those who heard her. There was such powerful emotion in her voice. She wanted to sing just like Ebele, Katherine thought. "How," Katherine gaped even when Ebele had finished. "How were you able to sing like that? It was beautiful, and sweet, and wonderful! I still couldn't believe that it was you who sung that. Tell me how to sing like you!" She gushed excitedly as she gripped the slave's hands in hers. Receiving such ardent compliments from her young mistress, Ebele reddened and her cheeks turned a bright, rosy color. "I don't know how to say it. But... I guess, it's because I do not sing with the intent of impressing people. I sing with what it is that I am feeling here," She placed a hand over Katherine's left breast. "I sing from the heart." Katherine blinked. "Do you think... Do you think that I can sing just like you did earlier?" "Of course you can!" Ebele exclaimed encouragingly. "You just have to be confident of yourself and your voice. Do not let thoughts of failure enter your mind when you sing, and everything will be just fine." "I really hope so..." Katherine muttered quietly. Seeing her spirits starting to dampen again, the older girl poked Katherine's sides in an attempt to cheer her up. "Well, let me hear some of it! Confidence can greatly boost one's performance, but you still need to practice religiously to improve your abilities, Miss Kitty." Katherine hesitated for a moment, but as Ebele encouraged her, she found it in herself to open her mouth and let her voice be heard by the other girl. Her voice, not surprisingly, was still horribly out of tone. Ebele flinched as Katherine sat unmoving on the bed. And when their eyes met, they did not know what went over them, both the master and the slave, at that moment, but they were suddenly filled with an overwhelming desire to double up. And so they laughed.

[Katherine Morealis]

47th Day of Summer, 506 AV Blacksugar Plantation "Let's play a game, you and me." An innocent game. It was as simple as that which turned the wheels of fortune for the worst for an unknowing Morealis slave. "I want you to pretend that you're me, Katherine Morealis. And then I am going to pretend that I am you, the nameless plantation slave. We're going to exchange our clothes to make it seem more realistic." Katherine explained to the baffled Ebele. The latter, however, was quite reluctant to submit to the younger girl's whim. The slave's hesitation was not uncalled for; she was afraid that her young mistress was up to another one of her tricks again. And what would she say if someone caught her pretending to be a member of the family she served? She would be fortunate enough to escape with just a few lashes to the back and many a days of starvation. However, the young lady Katherine was no ordinary member of the Morealis family -- and it was already a given that the Morealis'es are no simple family either. She is the daughter of the eldest son of Master Dimeer, and it was believed that her father, Master Remosh, would be the next Morealis' Head of Household. It would be such a crime to indulge the young mistress in this little game of hers. Ebele pointed this out to Katherine, but her level-headed protests were met with a glower. And so she pleaded, trying to reason with the stubborn young girl. "I'm really sorry Miss Kitty. It's really impossible for me to do it. Your parents would kill me if they find out!" "Then we won't let them find out! It's just that simple." Katherine cried, stomping her pretty feet angrily at the perfectly manicured lawn of Blacksugar. "P-please understand my situation..." Ebele would plead. But of course, Katherine didn't. Although it was more accurate to say that in her childish intractibility, she did not even try to hear the slave. She would have her way once she had decided what she wanted to do, and no one is going to be able to stop her. Faking sobs of dejection, Katherine turned her back to the slave and buried her face into her small hands. She wailed, quite dramatically so, in an attempt to make Ebele feel guilty for refusing her and making her cry. She knew Ebele was too much of a softie despite her unsophisticated nature, and there were a lot of times when the girl rather easily gave in to her wishes as soon as she saw her Miss Kitty crying. However, Ebele saw through the act perfectly. Truth be told, she had known that those numerous other times when she saw her young lady cry was all an act to get whatever it was that she wanted at the moment. Even so, Ebele would indulge her to make her stop and, to some extent, also for fear that the young miss would tell her very influential parents that a mere slave had refused to do her bidding. But she would not yield this time, Ebele resolved. "Forgive the humble me, Miss Kitty, but I really can't do as you wish." At hearing this, Katherine raised her face from the cup of her palms, and slowly turned to glare hard at Ebele. There was an icy glint in her frosty blue eyes, and the slave found herself fidgeting from the intensity of the girl's gaze, a nervous laugh betraying her. Not expecting it at all, Katherine smirked childishly instead of lashing out at her, as if she was mocking her, and Ebele found herself swallowing the nervous lump that had formed in her throat. "Oh really, Ebele... you would ignore my wish? Is that really the proper thing for a slave like you to do? Unpleasant things happen to slaves who do not know how to follow." Katherine said in a singsong voice. batting her eyes innocently at the older slave. "Surely, you know that." "I-I know... I know that. We can play all the games you want this afternoon but p-please, just not this game. Please..." She threw herself at her mistress' feet, tears threatening to fall from glistening blue eyes. For a moment, Katherine was completely at a loss for words. She did not expect the slave to be so against her idea. So vehemently against it that she was brought to tears just at the thought of it. Ebele was the only person who kept her company in times she was not allowed to venture out of the plantation. Not even her brother, who was obligated by their father to constantly be by his side and learn his trade. Even though she was quite annoying, Ebele had been good to her. She wanted to return the favor, but there was something she wanted - no, needed to do. Katherine closed her eyes for a few heartbeats and bit her lip before she looked at the manor slave once more. "I saw you." Ebele blinked, not quite sure what the young girl meant. "You were the one who stole my brother's favorite handkerchief. I saw you that hid it inside your pockets when you returned his washed clothes to his room." Ebele gave a little start at this, and her eyes went wide wide in shock. "M-mistress Kitty! M-maybe you were mistaken or--" The young Morealis shook her head with a calmness that was beyond her age. "I saw quite plainly, from under his desk. I was hiding, you see. I thought it was Tahn. I wanted to surprise him by grabbing at his feet from under the table. But it was you who entered the room instead." Katherine recited matter of factly, and Ebele had blanched quite plainly from hearing the girl's account of what happened that day. "And then you took his handkerchief. Why would a slave, a girl slave, do that? I can see you like him very much Ebele. It is quite so obvious in the way you look at him, and how you sigh when he is nearby. I think you are in love." A pause passed between them, and it was Katherine who broke the oppressive silence that hung in the air. "How do you think Tahn will react when he finds out? He will be sure to avoid you. And you stole some thing that belonged to him. A slave who steals from her master is punished severely. You might even be sent to a far off place, and you will never see Tahn again." Katherine tried to make her voice taunting and playful, but she found that she can not. It did not make her happy at all, seeing Ebele look so miserable. Instead, it left a bad taste in her mouth knowing that it was her who did it. Finally, Ebele broke into sobs and tears streamed freely down her reddened cheeks. "Please... I'll do anything you want Miss Kitty... just don't tell Master Tahn what I did. I don't want him to hate me." Her voice was strained and full of shame, and her words came out as a hushed whisper. Katherine flashed her a smile of reassurance as she gently caressed the side of the slave's face. "I would tell no one. And if I did, may a thousand needles prick me that I would drop dead on the spot. That is our promise. Friends keep promises, don't they?" Ebele looked up at her, surprise showing in her heart shaped face. "You... consider me your friend, Miss Kitty? Even if you are a rich girl and I'm just a slave?" She hiccuped. "Of course! You're my friend. You are the only one I have when no one would play with me. You think of me as a friend too, do you?" "I do! Oh Miss Kitty, I really do!" "If that is so," Katherine replied tentatively, kneeling so that she was on eye level with the slave girl. "Swap clothes with me then. No one else needs to know about this, or about your secret. That is the only thing I ask." Ebele drew her eyes down to her hands, hesitation still holding her back from giving her full assent. Katherine squeezed the slave's hands pleadingly, unspeaking. After a few heartbeats, Ebele finally spoke, albeit with obvious uncertainty in her voice. "Alright... but just this once, lady Katherine. And we can't let any one else find out." The younger girl jumped her into a hug, and Ebele returned it, patting the back of the joyous Katherine's head. However, a foreboding feeling lingered within her, and she sensed that something very bad was about to happen very, very soon.

[Katherine Morealis]

47th Day of Summer, 506 AV Blacksugar Plantation The young Morealis mistress twirled in front of her faithful slave, hands raised to her sides as she showed off the somewhat loose clothes that hung on her shoulders. She wore a manor slave's uniform: a set of cotton clothes, blouse and skirt, sewn with rather remarkable dyes and patterns. It was for a higher Morealis slave after all, and those kind of slaves are, in a way, meant to be showcased for other Dynastic visitors. Opposite the exultant young lady, Ebele the slave stood awkwardly in her mistress' beautiful clothes, which were a little bit tight in some uncomfortable spots. Katherine was very slender despite having been fed better than her companion, and Ebele had more meat in her thick bones. Her mistress' clothes would never fit as well as her regular work clothes will. "Miss Kitty, You look very different today," Katherine imitated her maid's high pitched, singsong voice. Hearing the young girl's impression of her, Ebele cringed. "Miss Kitty, I do not sound like that at all!" She protested, but she was immediately hushed by the touchy Katherine. "Yes you do. You sound even more annoying than how I spoke just now," Katherine snarkily commented. "And besides, do not call me Miss Kitty anymore. You are supposed to be me at this moment." She jabbed at the older girl's chest with a finger. "Call me 'Ebele' if you must. I am you right now, remember?" Reluctance crept through the slave's features. Uncertainly, but still with the utmost deference, she answered, "I... I really don't think I can do that. So please... I hope you are satisfied now. Let us change clothes again, quickly." At this Katherine rolled her eyes, heaving a great sigh of exasperation from her tiny chest. "Did we not go through this earlier? You agreed to do this with me. I even promised you that I wouldn't let any one know. Now you have to go through this until I say we are done." When the only answer she was met with was a moan, Katherine placed a hand on her hip and shrugged. "Well, I will not force you to go out with me if you don't want to. You can stay here if you want and hide, but I am going out. If you pretend that you are asleep, no one will bother you. So yes, see you later!" Ebele had barely formed a coherent reply when Katherine dashed out of the room and away from the manor slave. Without any second thoughts, Ebele ran desperately after her young charge. She thought that an even greater punishment will await her if any thing bad happens to the young lady, and an even greater misunderstanding will follow suit, what with her wearing Katherine Morealis' expensive clothes. "Oh Miss Kitty, you will be the death of me!" She groaned as she pursued the younger girl down the stairs and through the gardens of Blacksugar, praying that no one noticed that it was her who was wearing the mistress' garments. Katherine pumped her legs into a sprint towards the river, her breath coming out in ragged bursts from her chest. She had almost tripped from her own leg, but she kept running and running. She knew that Ebele would do every thing in her power to stop her from leaving the plantation. As she approached the river, she saw that there was already a ferry boat waiting at the muddy banks. Katherine quickly jumped inside the water vehicle, much to the boat man's surprise. However, before she was able to utter where she wanted to be carried, Ebele had stumbled inside the boat with her. Like Katherine, the slave's face was flushed and she was still just catching her breath after the sudden sprint. "Take us... to Dry Island... Plaza." She said between deep breaths. "I mean, my mistress here wants to go to Dry Island Plaza." She hastened to add when she remembered how she currently appeared to be for the Draer boat slave. A slave demanding a fellow slave with the authority of a member of a Dynasty family must so seem strange and funny. Ebele, on the other hand, shook her head vehemently upon hearing her mistress' request. Before she could voice out her protests, however, Katherine pinched the older girl's thigh under the layers of silk fabric. This elicited a sharp yelp from the latter, and further confusing the boat man. "My mistress here, you see, she wants to go to the city badly. If you delay for yet another chime, she will be very mad at you. You will not like it if she tells your masters that you have been disobedient to a highly born customer. You will see that she will tell on you!" Katherine attempted to threaten the much older man, who was probably in his early twenties by the way he looked. Whether he was affected by her intimidation, Katherine was not sure; his face did not show any thing besides placid professionalism. The slave pushed the boat away from the shore with the pole and they went along the river, towards the city of Kenash, without any more delays. Of course Ebele was very much unhappy with how things have turned out, and she looked at Katherine with tears brimming in her eyes. After a long while, she finally spoke very quitely, "Why? Why do you want to go to the city? And why do we have to do... this." She gestured at their clothes, not wanting to say it out loud for fear that an unassuming boat man would hear and tattle to his masters, who, in turn, would most probably let her masters know of the matter right away. "Because," Katherine started in an equally hushed tone, "I have something that I need to purchase at the city. A candy, to be precise." "That's it?" Ebele said incredulously. "You just want to buy something as trivial as that? That's why you're going to endanger both of our lives for a piece of candy?!" "It's not just a piece of candy!" Katherine snapped, then immediately darted an eye at the boat man. His back was turned away from the two, and so when she thought the slave was not listening, she continued. "It is very important for me. I heard that one piece would help make my singing voice become better. At least for a while, my cousins said." Ebele held the young girl's hands in her own, her pity for the girl slowly replacing her earlier irritation. "I'm sorry... If it was that important to you, you should have just told me. I could have easily bought it for you, with permission from your parents of course." "But they would not let me take it. They want me to learn how to sing naturally. They would never let me take it, ever." She muttered sullenly. "And besides, the ball is tomorrow. They will not allow you to go out when every one else is preparing for the event." Ebele thought back on what she was supposed to do for the evening and vaguely remembered something along what Katherine had said. It's true that all manor slaves are hard pressed to help. Unlike the others though, she was allowed to skip her main duties if she was to keep watch of the young mistress. But Katherine was right. She would not be given permission to leave the plantation either. "Every one gets to show their talents, but what do I have to brag about? I can not recite passages from books that I read. They would laugh at me. And my mom said that the store owner would never let me buy because she told her not to sell to young girls like me. So I thought if I pretended to be a slave on an errand for an older master, perhaps... perhaps they would let me buy one of their candies. I did not mean to make you sad Ebele, I swear. I just don't want to be embarrassed any more" "Shhh... it's okay, Miss Kitty. Every thing will go well so you don't have to shed those tears any more. We will go and buy that wonder candy for you, and you will sing beautifully. And then your parents would be very proud of you. " But even as she said that, the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach never went away. In fact, it only got stronger as the boat glided over the calm river surface.