Lost & Forgotten

Part 9

The sun bled in through the window and dripped on Cresencia’s sleeping face. She grunted and shook her head. But, it was too late. She had no choice but to get up, Kiv was probably waiting for her already and she’d probably get chastised for being late. But at the moment she didn’t care. She just wanted to leave. To die already. The sound of boots clicking on the floor filled her ears but she didn’t mind.

Kiv walked into her room and walked to the edge of the bed where he started at her laying body. Was she asleep? She grunted and sat up answering his question. Sitting up was so painful for her but she held it in silently. “What do you want?” she asked quietly.

Kiv hesitated but sat on the edge of the bed, “How are you feeling?” he asked concerned. “That’s none of your concern,” she says, her eyes unfocused, something in her voice cracked but she ignored it. She stood up and Kiv turned his head quickly after having seen she was only in her intimate clothing. He hadn’t gotten the chance to see her scars and Cresencia was eternally grateful. She quickly dressed in the clothes she wore the day before, “Now tell me,” she says turning around buttoning up her shirt. Kiv looked at her and blushed deeply. He averted his gaze from her chest but couldn’t help gazing at it every once in a while. “What is it that you want?” she finished.

“You never came to training, I got worried,” he said.

Cresencia bursted out laughing, “Sure....” She clicked her tongue against her teeth and made her way around her Quarters, she walked towards the door, “Are you coming?”

Kiv looked up, “Oh, right, yes of course,” he said following her quickly. “I hope you don’t mind, my brothers would like to meet you and watch you train.”

“Brothers? Xvi isn’t the only one?”

“No, I have two more. One 16 years, and the other 4 years,” he said watching her walk up the steps calmly, she came to the mouth of the Garden and waited for her orders. “I don’t care,” she says with a shrug. She heard the running of feet and the joyous laughter  of a child and deep voice with she recognized-Xvi’s. Three pair of feet she heard, except one of the children didn’t speak. Which she pointed out to be the one of 16 years. They stopped in front of her and nodded not realizing she couldn't see. She said nothing. Xvi was the first to speak up, "Boys, this is Elizabeth Jean Paul, she used to be a slave and now she is working for the King. Introduce yourselves." The four year old looked up at Cresencia's face and smiled. "Greetings, I am Damion, and you are very pretty. Can I just call you Eli, your name is too long?" Cresencia turned her head downwards and to the side a little bit, she faced the direction of the voice and knelt down carefully so she was head to head with the child, "Yes, of course. And thank you, I'm sure you're quite handsome yourself," her voice was charming, and soft spoken. Beautiful.  "You have gorgeous eyes!" Blurted a voice besides her, she turned her head in the direction of the voice, "I thank you for the compliments, but please I would not like you to get in trouble for flattering a mere slave.  It was a pleasure meeting you all," she said standing up not caring to brush off her knees. The other brother got a little nervous, seeing her this close and looking at her body. His eyes skimmed down her body stopping at her chest and he blushed. "Greetings, I am Zeke, third eldest. How old are you?"

Cresencia thought for a moment, "I think I recently turned 18 summers," she said.  At that moment Zeke actually realized her eyes and sucked in a breath, "You're blind," he whispered shocked.

"That indeed I am," she said with a small laugh and smiled. A gorgeous smile she had. Damion jumped up and grabbed her shoulders pulling her down. She heard the sound of a backhand coming towards him. She grabbed Kiv’s hand before he could hit the kid for doing what he did. Everyone stared at her in shock. She released Kivs hand. "He has done nothing wrong,  its fine," she says, sitting in front of the kid. Damion holds out two fingers and says, "How many fingers and I holding up?" Everyone around them starts laughing. Cresencia reaches out and grabs his  small hand. She felt his hand and felt two fingers up. Everyone watched in fascination as she used her other senses to detect what she couldn't see. “Three?” she said with a smile and the boys around her smiled knowing she was just joking. Damion laughed, “No! It’s two! Two!” he says excitedly. Cresencia laughed and stood up, “As much as I’d love to stay and show you just how blind I am, I’m afraid I have some training to do,” she said. Kiv grabbed her by her elbow and Xvi stiffened. Something inside of him changed...a hint of jealousy? No, that’s impossible. He gave her up, he can’t feel anything, right?

Cresencia gently moved out of his grasped and began to warm up, Kiv doing the same. He looks over at his brother, “Keep your eyes open, you’ve got to see this,” he says with a smirk. Kiv whistled with his fingers and watched in amazement as Cresencia shot off, Xvi had his mouth open in an O. Cresencia seemed as though she was racing the wind and winning. Her elegant strided pushed her forward and pass the limit. After a while she slowed, her lungs heaving, and her back aching terribly. She stopped in front of them and Kiv ordered her to do her push-ups and lunges, and sit-ups, and squats, and soon after dark she was exhausted.

Damion leaped forward onto her back and everything seemed to have froze, Xvi and Kiv looked up terrified as she screamed in agony and pushed the kid away from her who only looked confused and hurt. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling tears spring into her eyes. She took a leaping step and ran to her Quarters and fast as she possibly could. Even though her entire body protested.

Inside of her room, Cresencia removes her clothing which smelled repulsive. Aexandra walked into her room and drew her a bath; helping her wash up and clean her wounds. Aexandra dressed the young girl in a silky gown that fitted her quite well. “I have a surprise for you, Lady Cia,” she said while combing the girls hair. “A surprise?”