The sun was at its zenith when I awoke from my restless slumber. My breath was ragged, and my back ached from sleeping on a hard floor. With a groan I slid one bare foot on top of the other and rolled to the edge of the cot I had slept upon.
My movements were unhurried as I pushed myself up to dispel the last of the drowse. I then made my way across the room and into the small bathing area attached to our room.
I wasted no time in washing my body and then returning to my cot. I was then able to stretch and straighten my aching frame. After a final glance at the time etched into the wall, I quickly changed into the outfit I possessed and pulled on the ankle-length skirt that was my stylistic choice. I then grasped the two dresses folded and laid at the side of my cot and brought them out of my reach as I was done dressing.
During the early years of my life I had realized that my mother had been elevated beyond the station of commoner to something a little higher in complexity than that of a peasant. I knew that those special accolades came from being a member of the elite, but I never understood why my mother held such a favorable place in her home. What was so special about her? And I always wondered about the term "calianta", which meant "beautiful".
My mother took a great deal of pride in being a calianta, but she explained little else of her lifestyle. She would only say that she worked with royalty. And there was little else worth knowing. She was denied any knowledge of members who did not work with royalty and I was always prevented from finding out more.
"Well, today you'll get to see how these rich people live, and hopefully find out a little bit more of the secret." She would always request, but always to no avail. I was never allowed to go anywhere with my mother. She would keep me locked up in our room for hours on end.
I had overheard her talking to my father once. Apparently she had gone with one of the household's noblemen, a wealthy merchant. This man had been the only time she had ventured outside the house. She had then told my father that she had bragged of her having fallen in love, and that even though they had been apart for some time, they could always be together. She had explained later how she had expressed her feelings to the merchant, but apparently he had seemed too old for her and that he was in need of someone new to keep him company. It was at this point that she spoke of her upcoming departure. She had explained her real reason for going that day.
I could not believe this. A member of "our" guild had been singled out to be with one of these out-of-touch nobles. I thought to myself that this woman was more important than she was letting on. But as I pondered over this, I'm sure she assumed it was a justifiable assumption, especially after the way their lives had been presented to me. To add to my confusion, my mother showed up with someone else the very next day and I didn't see her again until the days after that.
Over those first few days I was on my best behavior. I didn't want to make my mother's new friend uncomfortable. But I was a little scary to some adults (plus my mother intimidated them) and I wasn't too sure about this man either. He seemed to have a lot of power and I was a little afraid of what he could do to me. I mean, if someone like him could take my mother away without warning, what would he do to someone like me?
I kept my distance. I tried to hide it, but I was afraid of the new member and he wasn't too sure about me either. I didn't talk to him much so there weren't any uncomfortable confrontations of questions to answer. There were no questions asked in the first place. I didn't like to put my mother's new friend on the spot for not knowing about her daughter and I was sure that my mother's new friend didn't like it either either.
As time went on, I became very used to being around the new member and I began to ask him questions. He told me all about his regular work, the work he did at the brothel, and he even talked about the nobles in the house. I never approached anyone else in the house. As long as my mother was happy, I was happy. I trusted that she was happy with this man, because he was nice, but she always had a way of doing what she wanted and it often made her unhappy with the rest of the family. I thought of all of this as I finished dressing.
It was difficult to make my mother's new friend face the fact that she was leaving. I knew it was due to the fact that she was able to be sent away to be with a wealthy stranger. It was not surprising, nor was it surprising that she seemed content enough to merely go without a fuss. She was beautiful, but I was growing tired of hearing about how many were even more beautiful than she was. The only difference to me was how she could get away with things no one else could for being so beautiful.
But my mother's new friend was very appreciative and he seemed to like me a lot. I didn't know how I could tell him that even my mother, the woman I once wanted to call my mother, did not want me around him. He didn't seem to think I was anything special to her, nor did he seem to ask her much about me. I supposed if he had known I didn't want him to be around me, then I was just an inconvenience to him.
And so, I gave up the matter and dismissed myself to my corner of the lounge.
