Chapter 4: Law of the Land

The Garden was beautiful. I sat on a bench in my new clothes admiring all the luscious greenery around me. Walking around I saw some of the first staff other than Cynthia and the driver I had met, though I would no longer consider Cynthia staff. As I rested a gardener was kneeling down working dutifully on a section of flowers. Like me he was also wearing overalls, his covered in dirt and grime. While mine were clearly much better quality then his, softer material, no rips or stains and still vibrant with colour, I still felt foolish wearing the same thing as the labourer.

It was almost comforting to know that there were other people in this estate than the three I was already acquainted with, especially servants, cleaners and other such. It helped remind me of who I really was. It almost helped me feel less alone, the key word being almost.

Though thinking about it only reminded me of who they expected me to be. The only issue was that it was still unclear exactly who that person was. Discontent with my lack of answers I simply took in the view.

The rest of the garden was truly amazing. Covered in healthy green hedges, dozens of colours from different cultivated wildlife, a central pond filled with lilies and other water life. Beyond everything else there was a line of trees that led into a forest. Everything here was connected with simple paths, and without being blocked by fences or other buildings it all felt like a natural connection between the house and the rest of nature.

The gardens of the Revallia estate were much more intentionally groomed. We didn’t have an open garden; we had a courtyard, surrounded on all sides by manmade walls. Our shrubs and hedges were all enclosed in metal wiring cages to preserve their shape, each section of flowers and decorative plants were sectioned off with harsh brick stone and cobble paths. It had always felt so ordered and proper, but almost imposing looking back on it. This garden felt . . . tranquil, gentle, free and in a way I couldn’t describe; safe. My previous gardens had seemed like if anything unwanted tried to grow, it would instantly be cut away, maybe at best replanted, pruned and shaped differently of how it would have naturally grown. Here it felt like anything was safe to take root, prosper and bloom into only what it needed to be for itself, not what was demanded of it by others.

My thoughts were accompanied by a symphony of birds chirping. I was not quite able to pinpoint where from, but their melody was beautiful. As I sat and listened to it all it slowly felt like the birds were moving gradually further away. I had the urge to get up from where I currently was and follow it. I saw the forest in the near distance, thinking that must surely be where they had taken flight. Slowly I started to rise from my seat and as my feet moved almost independent of each other, I delicately paced forward.
“You’ll want to be careful listening to their tune girl.” The gruff accented voice of the gardener I had been watching earlier shook my mind. I looked over my shoulder and suddenly I found that I was at least 30 feet from where I had been sitting. How had I traveled so far without realizing it; what had just happened?

I shook my head trying to gather myself. “Excuse you?” I said trying to figure out both what he meant and where my mind had wandered.

“Those are Silencian Sparrows, they followed the magical aura of the army when they marched into your lands and have taken a liking to the residence because of Silencian Flora the Southgard’s had brought with them for this estate. Their song has undertones of magic.” The Gardener was leaning upon a shovel he had been using and was looking at me with some amount of amusement.

Great, just what I needed. More magic. “What do you mean? What do they do? Why does everything with you people have to involve magic?” I said exhaustedly, and who even was this help, that would make them knowledgeable on magic birds?

“Well tales go that people who have been caught in their enchanting song will lose themselves, follow the devils right into the wilds! It gets so bad, and they get so entranced in their melody. . . they starve themselves to death.” The gardener put on a warning tone as he leaned over his gardening rake “That is, if the wild animals don’t eat them first. I hear the birds will lure them into bear and wolf dens, so that once the beasts are done, they can pluck the eyes and insides out of the freshly torn corpses.”

Upon hearing of the animals true horrific nature, a horrible shiver went down my spine and a lump built in my throat that I had to gulp down. What sort of evil magic was this? And how on the gods earth did anyone let the birds take residence on the property? Weren’t they concerned for my safety? Panic rose inside of me.

Breaking through it all was the sudden gut filled howl of the gardener breaking out into hysterical laughter at my clear discomfort. The outburst made me realize that obviously he had been lying to me. “Oh, you should see the look on your face!” He managed to get out between his cackles.

Outrage quickly built in my chest. “You think this is funny? Tricking a superior who’s never encountered magic before?” I started to get flustered at how he had fooled me. “You-you’re just a pathetic stand in for a gardening tool! Your job is maintaining filthy plants for our enjoyment, how dare you attempt to scare me with your half-witted stories!” I all but screamed at the worker. Slowly his laughter faded as I spoke, but at the end of my sentence I realized that he was looking extremely unamused, and completely unphased.

“They’re just tall tales they tell to scare the children lass, which I thought was appropriate here all things considered” He raised his eye looking smug at me.

The comment I could only assume was a nod to my current attire, which only made my outrage build even more, especially since my words seemed to have no effect on him “How, dare you! You pathetic excuse for help, you insulant-”

“Christina.” Suddenly I recognized the voice and tone that could only be Cynthia behind me. I froze in my tracks for a moment and kept my eyes locked at the gardener in front of me who was doing his best to keep himself from chuckling. After that moment I slowly turned around.

Cynthia looked furious, something I had yet to see from her before. Up to now it had been disappointed, or amused, but never this level of harsh disapproving anger. “What do you think you’re doing?” Before I could even try to muster up a response or defend my actions she snatched my wrist with an iron grip, turned on her heels and began to drag me back inside. “Lena and Rowan asked me to collect you so we could discuss rules and expectations, though now it seems we’ll have to discuss other things as well, miss. That was beyond inexcusable.” As she stormed off with me in tow, each step was a struggle to stop myself from being pulled off my feet, my wrist burning in her grip.

“Ow, Stop! Slow down you’re hurting me!” My cries were that of frustration and desperation, but despite them she said nothing and continued her rapid pace, showing no intention of being gentle. Fear roped down my leg as she continued on.

As Cynthia continued to drag me with her into and through the house I was finally able to get my footing. Though once up to speed every time I attempted to take a longer stride to start walking beside the woman gripping my arm, she would equally take as many strides as she needed to keep me in the same position, trotting behind her, unable to do anything but follow. As I was dragged part of me wanted to resist, dig my heels in and demand she let me go and allow me to walk on my own accord. If it had been anyone but this terrifying sorceress I would have likely tried.

We rounded a few corners of the house only to end up back in the sitting room that they had first sat me down upon arriving here. Lena and Rowan were already sitting on the couch, nothing had changed with them or the room. Cynthia continued to pull me through the room, using my arm to finally pull me onto the couch across from the other pair, nearly throwing me as she released her grip. As I landed on the cushions into my seat I grabbed my wrist and began to rub it as it still burned, more so after the last action Cynthia had used to get me where she wanted. “That hurt!” I yelled at her. Surely the other two wouldn’t approve of Cynthia handling me in such a way? I doubted I would even need to say anything to them, seeing me hurt should be enough. But when I looked at them they looked confused more than anything else, and when Cynthia took her spot standing behind the couch with her arms crossed, glaring at me, the Southgards simply turned their heads to me looking expectantly.

“Christina, what did you do?” Lena said with a disapproving tone.

I was taken aback for a moment that I was the one being questioned. “Me? Nothing! That gardener was lying to me and making fun of me! And she-” I said pointing to Cynthia behind them “She injured my wrist dragging me here!”

Rowan looked behind his shoulder to Cynthia to address her. “What did she do?” I could tell by the way he spoke that he was already inclined against me.

“She was yelling insults and degrading Raphael and his job. It was completely inexcusable.” Cynthia continued to glare at me as she spoke.

In response to hearing this Lena put her face in her hand and Rowan let out a deep sigh. “We’ll have to apologize to him after this.” He then turned his attention to me. “Christina, why did you think that was in any way acceptable?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but I quickly realized I had to stand up for myself since nobody else would. “He was disrespecting me! He lied to me saying that the birds in the garden would lure me to my death with a magical song!”

Cynthia snickered at my account, presumably finding Raphael’s story amusing, and I could tell that Rowan was trying to muster patience before he spoke again. “Someone making an amusing joke by no means gives you any right or reason to scream and say disrespectful things to them.” He shook his head in disbelieve as he continued “And his work in the gardens is something we appreciate greatly here, we are not above him just because he tends to the flowers, and you most of all have no authority over him, or anyone else in this house, whether they work here or not. Even if you did, showing such disrespect is inexcusable.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Cynthia I could in some way understand, but being told I was below everyone servant who worked on the grounds? They must be joking? “You’re not serious . . .”

“We most certainly are.” Rowan paused for half a beat before continuing “Now, that wasn’t why we collected you. We collected you so we could go over the rules of the house as we mentioned this morning, but we will return to this after so we can deal with it accordingly. Understood?”

I remembered breakfast, and the horrific visions of my only alternative option played again in my head, and at the same time I also remembered the last time I had been sitting on this couch I had been in tears. Everything was exactly the same, save the time of day, the three of them on the same couch with me across, the only difference was now due to my overalls. I felt even less distinguished than I had then. I tried my best not to let those memories affect my face in any way other than to fuel my frustration, so I simply crossed my arms in discontent and nodded.

Lena looked relieved, it seemed out of everyone, she was most affected by my unhappiness. “Thank you Christina.” The words I had said when I was last in my room rang in my head ‘Lady Revallia’. Though I dared not let them out after this morning.

I had expected Rowan to be the one who would lay down any rules, but to my surprise it was Lena who continued from her last breath. “We think the first thing for you to understand while living here, is that we need to do our job to make sure you properly learn how to acclimate to this new society that is being built. Though to be completely forthcoming, we also need to teach you how to act and behave around others in an even more general sense. Your privileged upbringing, and what we assume was you being incorrectly taught by your family that you are above those around you, has manifested into sentiments and actions that are completely, for lack of better or more descriptive words, inexcusable. You need to learn that those around you aren’t servants or peasants, and that everyone you interact with deserves your basic respect and kindness. This is not because they are above you either, but because it is simply the right thing to do.”

Hearing Lena confused me. I wasn’t some monster; I had never hurt anyone. I just treated people the way they deserved. Even that gardener had insulted me first, and I wasn’t saying anything that wasn’t true. Why should I have to change?

Lena continued “So we’ll be expecting you to behave in a way that reflects those life lessons, and on top of that whenever we decide, we’ll test you to make sure that you’ve taken those lessons to heart. And of course there will be rules and guidelines set out to help you understand and learn, and any of us will be glad to answer should you have any questions.”

Quite frankly I had no idea what any of this meant, did they expect me to keep myself silent when ever I was insulted? Did they expect me to make rounds every morning wishing everyone a good day and make pleasantries at every possible chance? I had a hard time imagining any of what they might have planned, let alone what a ‘test’ would look like.

“Now, if you fail those tests, break those rules, or continue to act in such a childish spoiled manner, there will be punishments. They could range from discipline, to the lose of privileges to requiring you to make up for your deeds in some way. They may not always be forthcoming, and they will vary, but we will make sure they only serve to reinforce what we teach you and provide the right type of encouragement to do better next time. Understood?”

Punishments, Discipline, Privileges. My hand instinctively fell back to my wrist, a lingering soreness still there from Cynthia’s grasp. Before this week nobody had laid a forceful hand on me in my entire life, and now this couple was talking about disciplining me. What did they have planned to do that? Hitting my wrists with a ruler? Kneeling on rice? Possibly some sort of magical punishment in nature. Surely it wouldn’t be anything like spanking, that was only for children, right?

“Christina? Remember this was your choice.”

I suddenly realized I had been staring off onto the floor again, and they had noticed that I was lost in my own though. But what was I supposed to say? Did I understand? Barely, and even more so I frankly didn’t agree with any of it. The only thing I had agreed with was that prison would be worse. But that foundation was honestly enough “Fine, yea.” I let out as casually as I could.

Rowan looked me up and down, seemingly trying to decide if I actually understood or not. Even Lena nodded at me carefully, accepting my response but clearly not entirely satisfied by it. “Good. Then that leads us to your chores and daily routines then.” She looked at Rowan to continue, but I still felt like I was being left behind.

Chores? Literally the reason you have staff on hand was to take care of those things for you. Was this their plan the entire time, to get me to be some sort of free house maid? I dared not open my mouth more, both the experience this morning and my burning wrist from a few minutes ago had taught me that already, but even so my eyes went lobsided one in a squint and the other open wide in bewilderment.

Despite my disbelief, the conversation moved forward. “Every morning, we expect you to first clean your room. This means making sure there are no loose articles of clothing on the floor, making your bed tidy, and taking any clothes from the previous day to the laundry chute. After that you’re to bathe yourself and get dressed in any clothing Lena has provided you for the day, most of the time you’ll have a choice from a selection, sometimes she will have a specific one set out for you on the bed after you’ve finished your bath.”

Make my bed? I had never done that in my life, I wasn’t even sure how to do it. At least bringing clothes to a chute didn’t sound to horrible but hearing that said clothes would be picked for me sometimes irked me. I had no interest in being Lena’s doll.

“After that, you’ll come downstairs. Breakfast will already be on the table, and the same as this morning you’ll have a selection for yourself. Once you’re finished eating we’ll ask you to take your dishes to the kitchen and after that you’ll wait in the lounge for either Lena or Cynthia to come and collect you. They’ll either take you with them for the day or assign you something to do.” Rowan paused to let his next point hit a little harder. “Regardless of which, we expect you to be fully behaved and listen to their instructions fully and completely, no if’s, and’s or but’s.” I squinted at Rowan, almost giving a glare but stayed silent. “Occasionally you may have a day to yourself, in which case you’re free to do what ever you please in the manor or on the grounds, so long as you behave.”

Rowan paused for a second and I considered getting a word in edgewise, just enough to let them know they haven’t broken me and their attempts to humble me weren’t going to either, but my hesitation on deciding what words to say was long enough to allow Lena to pick up from where Rowan left off. “Now you’ll always join us for dinner. After the meal we’ll have some social time together in the lounge. Once that is over, you’ll be dismissed to have some personal time at the end of every night, where you can do as you please.” This all sounded more like a general schedule more than any chores, which was a good thing. Although I had no idea what would constitute ‘social time together’ with the Southgards. “And finally, you’ll be expected to be in your room by nine in the evening every night unless directly stated otherwise by one of us three. Before that time you’ll need to have any nighttime chores completed. That includes making sure anything you have left out around the manor through out the day is cleaned up or put away, getting fully dressed into your evening wear, and a brief washing up for bed. You can do these things at your own pace at the end of the night, so long as they are done before that deadline.”

After taking in the last set of instructions I couldn’t hold back my dissatisfaction. “In bed at nine?!” I blurted out to those around me.

Lena looked at me patiently, and calmly responded back “Yes, nine ‘o’clock sharp.” Despite how calm and patient she was being it was clear there was no room for my input on the matter. Beyond that Cynthia was looking directly at me, her eyes daring me to keep pushing back. Frankly I didn’t want to see what would happen if I obliged.

Instead I rolled my eyes back and pressed a different question “Fine. Okay well this is the lounge here isn’t it?” If this was the lounge, it would be boring but at least I might be able to help myself to one of the drinks on the liquor cart before or after the stated ‘social time’.

This time it was Cynthia who spoke up. “No, this is just our sitting room, the lounge is above us on the second floor. It’s filled with bookshelves, and a fireplace. Though, you shouldn’t have trouble finding it as myself or Lena will be with you most of the time.” Wonderful, I’d have to find a different way to get a drink.

“Anymore questions?” Rowan asked. If I was completely honest with myself, I had a lot of questions. So many of these ideas seemed so foreign to me but asking for clarification only felt more like it was becoming a reality, so I kept to myself.

“I’m good thanks.” I answered.

Rowan nodded back at me and sighed deeply, clearly signaling his feelings on the conversation. I assumed that would be the end of it and they would let me go on my own for the rest of the day, but as I was about to collect myself to leave Rowan interjected once more. “Good. Now that that’s settled, we need to deal with your actions in the garden today.” I suddenly realised that Rowan was looking at me far more sternly this time. This had been the first time I had seen him like this, and I was worried all his previous exhaustion and patience with me was only fueling what was about to happen.

“Wait, what do you mean-” I started to interject. But I was simply ignored and even worse, spoken over.

Rowan once again looked over his shoulder to Cynthia, seemingly cutting me out from the conversation. “Cynthia, you were the only one there to witness the outburst so as long as Lena agrees, could you decide on a proper course of action?” Cynthia respectfully looked over to Lena first, who looked at me with a tiny tinge of pity before looking back and giving an approving nod.

Cynthia barely skipped a beat before she redirected her gaze back to me. If before her eyes were daring me to act out then this was the natural progression of that, telling me that she was about to enjoy putting me in my place. “Well, we gave Christina the freedom to wander the grounds as she wished, and she used that freedom to harass and belittle. So, I think its only fair if she’s sent to her room for the remainder of the day, so she appreciates those privileges more next time.”

“Wait, what?” I blurted out at the trio in front of me. We were back here, and they were now actually punishing me for simply stating the truth to that worker? “How is this fair! I didn’t say anything untrue, and you hadn’t even told me the rules yet!”

“The fact that you think you need to be told specifically not to speak like that to anyone is an exact example why you need to be taught in this way, miss.” Cynthia placed particular emphasis on the word ‘miss’ yet again, almost as if mocking me for my previous outbursts regarding my title.

I rolled my eyes in response to the clear insult and slumped back on the couch “So what, you’re going to send me to my own personal space where I won’t have to deal with you three or any disrespectful staff? Fine by me.” It was clear that Cynthia wanted to enjoy the power over me she was currently exerting, so I was going to try to make it was as much of a hallow victory as possible.

Despite my retort Cynthia simply cracked a pleasant smile, though her eyes were still glaring at me. Rowan spoke up next to confirm everything “Then its settled. Cynthia if you wouldn’t mind escorting Christina to her room.” He said before turning back to me. “And Christina, we’ll both see you tomorrow, be sure to remember your routines and chores, and for tonight dinner will be brought up to you.”

Upon hearing that Cynthia would again be ‘escorting’ me, I leapt out of my seat. “Sounds Fine by me!” I started to walk away from them and as I started walking away I gave a mock salute to the Southgard’s who were still sitting.

Cynthia walked over to me as I was leaving. She attempted to grab at my wrist again, clearly prepared to have some hold of me as we traveled back to my room, but as her hand made contact I quickly and forcefully recoiled, making it clear that I would not be walking back encumbered by her. Thankfully she didn’t attempt to reach for me again.

I walked ahead of her for the entire trek back and we did so in silence, thankfully it wasn’t to long of a walk and this time I made no mistake in which door was my own. Though as we approached Cynthia finally broke our silence. “Oh I suppose we forgot to mention, we had some clothes put in your wardrobe, as well as a clock to tell the time. Depending on your need we’ll update your quarters as needed. You’re not to attempt to rearrange or change anything in your room without express permission.”

I pretended to ignore what Cynthia was saying as I approached my door. It was good information to have but still slightly unnerving that again I had very little control over even my own bedroom. This point was demonstrated even more by the fact that when I attempted to turn the handle on the door, like all the others in the house it would not budge.

A rush of anger hit me upon realizing that I had been lied to about my door staying unlocked. I spun around to confront Cynthia about it “You said I would always be able to open my door!”

She simply held her signature look and responded very calmly. “That was before you were being restricted to your room.” She very easily stepped in front and opened my door for me as if it had never been locked, almost knocking me to the side in the process, before stepping away holding her arm out to guide me to my quarters.

After today my confusion at the doorknob situation was all but confirmed to have been magic. It hurt my brain to think about, but at least it was some sort of an answer I could assume on my own. I let out an exasperated groan as I walked into my room, but as I walked through the doorframe something else occurred to me. I quickly turned around “Wait, but if the door is locked then what happens when I need to use the bathroom?”

The look Cynthia gave told me that I was just now starting to figure it out. “Like I said, this will make you appreciate the privilege you’ve currently lost. Now I hope you’ll remember this next time you’re about to act out. Goodnight, Christina.”

“Wait-wait!” I yelled, desperately trying to make a last-ditch attempt to stop the door from shutting as she closed it right in front of me, but to no avail. It clicked shut and as soon as I reached to desperately try to turn the knob which refused to budge, I knew that I wasn’t getting out.

With nothing else to do but accept my reality I turned around to see that sure enough there was now a clock sitting upon the dresser. The time was just after one ‘o’clock, so I would be here for a long while. Mentally exhausted I threw myself over to my bed and stared up at the celling. After a few moments I looked around, there really wasn’t much else to do other than lie down or maybe sit by the window. I did notice that there was a small laundry basket sitting next to my dresser, at least that would make it easier to do my ‘chores’. Despite how I had played it off I didn’t know if this would actually be better just because it was away from them. But even if it was worse, I wouldn’t let them beat me.