Chapter Thirty- Three: The Plot
“Are you okay?’
“Yes, I am but I overheard Lady Ana tell some of the guards about the evacuation of some slaves.”
“What do they mean by that?”
“I don’t know, if I knew, I would certainly not be in this state. But I think that they want to ship out some slaves to another location and bring in new slaves.”
“That’s outrageous. They should only give the people who have been here for a very long time their freedom. Maybe that’s what the evacuation is about.”
“I thought so too until I overheard your name amongst the people being taken away to a new location.”
“Wait what?”
“Look Clara, I fear what they want to do to you. If you truly love this man, you should listen to him and move into the manor as his lover and for you to have immunity against the wrath of Lady Ana. If you stay out here with the rest of us, you would always be seen as a slave. I can see in his eyes that he likes you.”
“Don’t believe whatever he says Beth I know his type.”
“I know Lady Ana is only doing this to get rid of you.’
“Don’t worry about me Beth. I would be fine, trust me and I am not going anywhere.”
“You sound so sure.”
“I am only here because Ryan owns me. I am here because of the bargain I made for my parents’ life. So, I can’t just be taken away because Lady Ana said so. No decision is taken here without Ryan’s approval, right? So, if he wants me out then I would leave. For now, like I said, you have nothing to worry about.”
“I see, I hope you are right.”
The next few days passed and everything was calm. I went ahead with the daily chores and I continued to avoid Ryan and Lady Ana’s presence. I needed space and time away from the complications that I had caused amongst them even with Ryan assurance I still knew I was far from being with him as I did not want to be the cause of Patricia’s rejection. But I had no idea that the peace I felt was short-lived. on the brisk of the early hours of the day when the sky still had its dark blue appearance. A soft tap on the door dragged me out of bed as I strolled towards it to get it open. Surprisingly, Lady Ana stood by the door with two guards beside her.
“Lady Ana, what a surprise, isn’t it a bit early for a chore? I said scrubbing sleep off my eyes.
“This is not a chore call,” she replied.
“Then what is this?”
“Let’s go, you will find out soon. Take her!” She ordered.
“Wait what? Where have I been taken to?”
The two guards rushed for me pulling me through my hands.
“Let go of me,” I struggled even when I knew that it was all in vain.
After so much pulling through I finally got my hands and finally freed myself from the grip of these men, moving away from them.
“Where are you taking me to? You can’t just take me out like that. At least I deserve to know.”
“Alright, fine. You want to know? I would tell you. Well, we are moving some slaves to a new location and unfortunately, you have been chosen to be one of them.”
“I don’t understand, am I the only one being moved?”
“You will find out soon.”
“What have I done wrong to deserve this? Last I checked I have been in very good behaviour.”
“It was an anonymous choice.”
“Does Ryan know about this? I am getting pretty heavy and he advised me to reduce doing some tedious jobs.”
“There isn’t any job for you to do at least not yet, so don’t be afraid your baby is safe and of course nothing is done here without his knowledge and if you are wondering why, you have been selected, he handpicked you himself.”
“That’s a bloody lie. Ryan would never want me gone,” I said firmly.
“Oh darling, you really do think that he likes you yeah? Why would you even think that he would want anything to do with a hard head like you? A pregnant one at that.”
“I never said I wanted that. I just thought that he should know.”
“Don’t you get it? He knows!’ She yelled.
“Okay…okay I get that.” I had begun to get tense and then it occurred to me what Beth had said a few days ago and once again, I had proven to be stubborn. Maybe I would have confronted Ryan about this if he really wanted me gone, I would not entirely put it all on him.
“It’s still too early, why do we have to go so early?”
We are leaving this early because it’s when I want the slaves delivered. The earlier the better. What are we even doing having this conversation?”
“Take her, we have wasted a lot of time.”
“Where are you taking me to?” I asked but they said nothing, only taking me towards a carriage that awaited until we got closer. There were a few other older slaves waiting to be shipped as well. As I got closer to the carriage fear gripped me as to what lay ahead me. I have not imagined being dragged out of a good sleep to be taken by a carriage out of there. I wanted to be told it was a prank and go back to bed or be told that it was just a bad dream.
“Get in,” she said as I moved forward, I heard footsteps approach us.”
“What is going on here?”
I turned to find Ryan with some guards.
“It’s the evacuation sire.”
“This early?’ He turned towards me, “Clara?” He called out and I rushed towards taking his arms in mine.
“What are you doing here?”
“She came to my room and told me I had been handpicked by you to be taken away.”
“What? Ana, I never said the evacuation was for younger slaves.”
“Oh sir, there must have been a misunderstanding.”
“Please fix this,” he instructed, walking in as I followed beside him. But before I faced the opposite direction, I caught Lady Ana’s stern gaze.
…
“Care for a cup of hot cinnamon tea? It would help with the cold.”
“Yeah sure.”
After a short while, he arrived with two mugs of hot steamy tea.
“Thank you,” I retrieved from him taking in my first few sips.
“I thought I would be taken away.”
“I still wonder why she would make such a mistake. If you didn’t come out, maybe you would be halfway there by now,” he chuckled but I did not find it funny in any way as I was scared to my bones.
“What if it’s not a mistake?”
“What do you mean?”This is the property of Nô-velDrama.Org.
“Never mind, maybe it’s just a misunderstanding like you said. Where are the older slaves taken to?”
“Outskirt of town.”
“Why?”
“Most of them do not have a family and they are getting too old for the daily tedious work. I wouldn’t call it getting their freedom but it’s something of that sort because they would be going to a place of rest.”