Ch. IV | Slip

Time was a funny thing down inside of The Turret. For one reason or another, the days seemed to go by quickly while I was at home. I spent time cooking, taking other jobs darning socks or mending pieces of fabric. I even assisted in making a dress for a young girl's blessing ceremony. It did not seem like I had enough time to get it all done.

While down under ground in The Turret, on the other hand, time stood still. Time passed slowly while I was deep beneath the ground in the caverns beneath The Turret. The Lock flew down the column of darkness and the barrels grew lighter and lighter every day I moved them. It wasn't until I was in the chamber that time crawled by like the sap of a tapped tree in the cold.

Each day, I glanced at the Orion before retreating behind the iron door. He was a man of few words, but, without fail, he uttered the same word – Bromidian. Sometimes he dared to speak a few other words in what I assumed was his language which I couldn't understand; not that I wasn't trying. There were times I found myself recognizing fragments of words or elements of his phrasing but had nothing to compare them to and nothing to say in return. The words he spoke were lost on me like a great many other things.

It was another day. Evening had not yet begun to crest over the distant hills, but I was already out and about walking through the streets to The Turret. There was a promising chill in the air reminding me of the changing of seasons. The frosts would be coming soon, but that was still moons away. The streets were beginning to slow as families and friends gathered for their evening meals. Each stone producing a muffled click as my shoes hit them. I passed by window after window and thought of the families inside.

Deep down, my heart ached desperately for my daughter. I knew I had a duty, a job, which I had managed to cling to for all this time without incident. A smile tugged onto my face remembering a conversation I overheard from the guards not too long ago about how I was the longest serving Factotum. I had only been there for a handful of moons, but that didn't stop that fragment of something sparking in me – pride. I needed to make time to see my daughter, but there was an odd satisfaction in performing my duties, even if the Orion's presence still left me uneasy.

One day, I entered The Turret and advanced to the Lock when I noticed the usual guards were not there to torment me. Another thing I noticed was the Lock had already descended. Odd I thought to myself as I pulled the lever to make the odd mechanism ascend. The wheels squealed in protest, their need of repair eminent, and finally clacked into place as the platform leveled with the ground. Once more, it shrieked as I flipped the lever and let the platform lower me into the darkness.

I loaded the necessary barrels onto the Lock and descended again. Everything in my body seemed to be on edge. What was going on? There was a tension in the air. I could feel it like an incoming thunderstorm. In fact, I could've sworn I just heard thunder; but it wasn't. It grew louder and the moment the Lock came to a halt I knew what the sound was – Steele.

The door to the cavernous chamber was already open and the torches were lit from earlier. I felt my jaw clench, though I wasn't sure why until I heard a menacing growl which raised the hair on my arms followed by a familiar pair of snickering laughter coming from the platform.

Something, somewhere inside me, protested to the laughter. I had half a mind to go into the chamber where Steele was being held and scold whoever was tormenting him. I had done so a few times in the past when my daughter was being tormented by some of the children in the towns we lived in. Instead, I reined myself in and focused on my task.

It wasn't my place.

It wasn't my position.

It wasn't my job, but I felt like it should be.

Another growl followed by the strange dialect only Steele knew. It sounded like he was spitting out the words in frustration. I had not heard him use this tone before. There was no denying it. He was angry about something; and it was most likely because of whatever the guards were doing.

I began the process of rolling the barrels into the chamber. A flicker of shame welled over me as I attempted to go unnoticed, but I didn't want to bring the guards' torment onto myself either. Both of them were standing on the ridge near the place I was to deposit the supplies for Steele.

As fortune would have it, the first two barrels went unnoticed by the guards even though Steele's eyes captured my form immediately. That flickering pride I felt in my work melted into that same timid person I had been all my life. Shameful scolded that little voice in the back of my head. At least Steele isn't growling and spitting anymore.

It wasn't until the third barrel when Izett and Gervis took note of me.

"Ah! Factotum! Glad you could join us. We were just discussing how we think these chains on the Orion are far too tight. What say you? Should we loosen them? Give this monster a bit of breathing room? It's left you alone so far, right?" asked Gervis, approaching me and pointing at Steele with the end of his spear.

"Whatever you deem best Ser," I muttered and lowered my head, shoulders pulling in and forward in submission. Coward. The opinion of the small voice in my mind was only confirmed a moment later by another low growl from the Orion whose violet eyes seemed particularly spiteful today. I shuddered, knees weakened at the thought of me being the cause for the giant's frustration and anger.

"Aw! Come now! You have to have an opinion. Come on." Izett, suddenly at my other side, grabbed my forearm and shoulder and began forcefully pushing me to the edge.

"Jahaka eemonspit yer?" Steele's voice echoed and rumbled the cavern walls. A sick knot twisted itself through my gut as Izett and Garvis both began guiding me to the ledge. "Ipusum itari."

My breath took a life of its own as my chest began heaving instinctually. I tried only for a moment to resist, but my struggle ended as soon as it began. There was no way I could fight against the guards, and I dared not lose my position for a minor inconvenience. They let go of my arms the moment my toes grazed the ledge. A stuttering thought caught in my throat, preventing the instinctual scream that positioned itself in the wings as I stared down into the consuming black beneath me.

"Just take a quick look and see. What do you think? Should we loosen the beast's chains? He's been on such good behavior. How long have you been here? And no complaints?" Izett's taunting remark barely registered as I stood on the ledge. I wondered how far the darkness descended.

What did finally register, only a moment too late, was the forceful clap on the shoulder I received from behind from both guards at the same time. It brought my shoulders forward and threw me off balance. I heard Izett shout something and a gasp of surprise that snuck out of me.

I was falling, quickly.

My feet slipped off of the slick ledge of the damp stone. Izett and Gervis both lunged to catch my hands, but they were too late.

The air rushed past my ears, a quiet and chilled breeze that whispered my inevitable crash into the ground. My insides lurched as they were left behind. No sound emitted from my lips though every part of me cried out in panic. Every nerve – every fiber of my being – was charged like a lightning storm.

I was going to collide with the ground, consumed by the darkness. There was no way around it. I was plummeting quickly. My body would crumple on the ground the moment I made contact with the cavernous floor. Bones would shatter. Insides would collapse.

I was going to die.

My eyes stung with salted tears as I shut my eyes, thinking only of my daughter. What would become of her? How could I have left her alone?

I fell faster and faster.

No.

Please don't let me end like this.

A sound like an avalanche careening down the mountain face in a monstrous clap of thunder. I impacted. For a moment, I thought the sound was the cracking of my bones breaking.

The ground gave under me and knocked the wind from my body. My lungs instinctually gasped for air but clung to the breathlessness for many agonizing seconds. The impact was dull and solid, but oddly forgiving.

My body took in a breath, which surprised me. Why was I breathing?

I dared to open my eyes when the pain didn't seize my body. They refused to focus on anything but shadows and light. When they did focus, I found my body was far from my control as it began to tremble and shake as it did in the frigid cold.

The cavern chill was now gone and replaced with a subtle warmth carried on a rapid, rhythmic pulse. The shadows had taken shape against the light in the form of five tall columns.

I came to the mortifying realization after several long moments after my breath came back to me and I had coughed up the acid that had risen in my throat. I wheezed uncontrollably as I begged my body to take in air. How could I not come to the realization after turning my head and seeing those violet eyes wide with shock and panic?

He caught me.

Steele had caught me in mid-air.

The Orion was holding me – all of me – effortlessly in his hand.

He was still holding me.

His fingers towered over me like close-knit trees spreading over me like a canopy of winter trees. It was just as the guards had said that first day so long ago. If he were to close his hand, none would be the wiser on where I went. The difference between us was never more pronounced. When he was a shape in the dark, it was easy to pretend he wasn't as immense as he was. Now was not one of those times.

My arms instinctually wrapped around me as my body refused to stop trembling. My fingers felt along my body, checking to make sure I was in one piece. As my eyes focused, I could see now that it wasn't my bones that had crashed, and it wasn't my imagination that had created the sound.

The chains had nearly been pulled completely from the walls. Steele had nearly pulled the chains free. The metal barely clung to the wall where it once appeared secured and immovable.

It was the strangest sensation. Perhaps it was the fall that had my nerves as frayed as they were or perhaps being in close proximity to him had me on edge. Whatever the case, being cupped, surrounded on nearly all sides, was like being a cornered animal whose demise was already fated because of what it was.

It took all of my willpower and strength to sit up and turn to face him, keeping my back to his fingers. Instinctually, I leaned back on my forearms, not having the ability to concentrate long enough to tuck my legs into my chest.

Every impulse commanded me to scream, but I couldn't. My throat was dry and there was something else that I realized. The ground beneath me – Steele's hand – was almost imperceptibly trembling. I looked around at the hand around me. There was no question. There was a tremble to his hand. My eyes trailed up past the palm to his forearm up to his face to finally lock eyes with the Orion.

All of the fear I felt in that moment of falling and being kept in the hand of a chained and sentient being was reflected in those violet eyes. He was afraid; just like me. It was hard to imagine, but it was true. He was just as terrified as I was. But why?

His mouth opened and in the lowest, softest voice I had ever heard him use, he uttered yet another phrase I now wished I understood. "Viyoo-en rhonor?"

The fingers uncurled so his fingers no longer loomed over me. Despite the relentless trembling, there was something in his eyes, something reassuring, that seemingly soothed my frayed nerves. My heart which pounded endlessly in my chest began to slow. My coughing and wheezing to regain the air slowed as my chest heaved.

Steele uttered again in that strange, low tone I had never heard before. "Viyoo-en rhonor?" Everything under me shifted as Steele, who was leaning forward slightly, began to pull back. His other hand came up and cradled the hand I was on from the underneath, seemingly providing a more stable base.

Viyoo-en rhonor? What is that? What does that mean? What is he trying to say? Viyoo-en rhonor?

"HEY! BEAST! LET HER GO! PUT HER DOWN RIGHT NOW! THAT'S AN ORDER!" The two guards from up above began shouting to get Steele's attention. Gervis ran out of the room while Izett continued to shout. "RELEASE HER! PLACE HER BACK ON THE PLATFORM NOW!" Izett reared back and let the spear from her hand fly. I watched as the wooden spear flew effortlessly in the air and embedded itself into Steele's cheek.

He recoiled immediately. The force of his growl rising deep in his chest reverberated in his chest and down his arm, making his hand shake. The force of his recoil threw me onto my side. Before I could push myself back up, I watched darkness eclipse my body as Steele's fingers curled and began to enclose my body while the other hand crested over his fingers and created an odd dome. He pulled his hand closer to his body, and me along with it. I couldn't gain my balance in Steele's hand as Steele spoke again in a firmer, roaring tone.

"Zhanth! Gaveen deeyantur!" Steele's voice returned to its immense presence. The thunderous roll left my bones shaking. Instinctually, my hands flew up to my ears to mute the sound. My eyes began to water as my voice hitched in my throat. What is going on? What do you want? Please just let me go. Put me back on the platform. I could hear bells chiming and the familiar sound of the Lock ascending the shaft.

I don't know what happened in that moment. Perhaps it was the enclosing space and the heat of his palm around me. Maybe it was the guards and the Orion shouting at one another. All I knew was I needed to be put down and had no way telling him what I wanted. Some fragment of me clutched onto the thought that had been possessing my mind and the itching question I held since that first day he spoke directly to me.

It occurred to me only now that I was alright. I was safe. I was uninjured. If he wanted to hurt me, he could have. Instead, he protected me. He kept me from falling to my undoubtable end and kept the spear from striking me by covering me.

Were my suspicious correct? I had to know.

I shivered involuntarily as I forced myself to crawl across Steele's palm, feeling the ridges of his skin against my fingers, until I could peer out of the partial dome created by his hands.

"Steele!" I surprised myself at the volume I was able to achieve. I prided myself in being soft spoken and knowing my place, both of which were utterly abandoned as I shouted at the Orion who held me in his clutches. His eyes immediately flicked to mine, obviously surprised at the shout from his palm. There was a moment – a fraction of a moment – where the mixed emotions and tension came to a head, and I did the only thing that I could think to do.

"Bromidian." I said it as loudly and sincerely as I could muster between being completely flustered and tongue tied. I propped myself up a little more as I stared into his violet eyes. There was every possibility this was some sort of curse. There was every possibility I was insulting him. One thing for certain was that I was utterly butchering the pronunciation of this word. I watched, heart skipping a beat each time, as Steele's eyes widened, and his body tensed.

"Do you understand me?" I asked, mostly to myself than to him. I called out to him again. "Bromidian, Steele." Steele's breath hitched and he held impossibly still as he looked at me, through me. The air quieted between us. I could hear the Lock whirring into action again. This needed to end quickly. I needed to be anywhere other than his hands for his sake and for my own. Even as I spoke, my head was swirling and vision around the edges blackening.

"Steele? Could you… please… put me down? Do you understand? Put me down? Over there?" I felt like I was talking to my daughter again when she was very young as I used hand gestures and overexaggerated movements to direct Steele's attention to the platform.

There was a hesitance in his movements, and a tenderness as well, as Steele's eyes narrowed at me followed by the subtlest of nods. I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen or what even was going to happen. All I know, to this day, is that he listened.

There was a platform, closer than where I placed the barrels, that was usually shrouded in darkness which I hadn't noticed before. With the utmost care, his hands glided through the air, unfurled, and tilted so I could easily roll off.

I hit the ground and immediately staggered to my feet, eyes wide and the growing, anxious nausea overtaking all of senses. I felt the acid in the back of my throat, and it took every ounce of my being to refuse my body's request to hurl the contents of my stomach onto the stone beneath me.

"Youl-heiris," he said softly. I looked up into his eyes again, finding the same sincerity I had in times past. The rest was a complete blur accompanied by shouts and growls, questioning guards and countless reassurances. I don't remember what I said for the most part, but one thing I do remember saying over and over again was to not hurt him.

"Don't hurt him. He saved me." Over and over. I prayed the guards would listen. I prayed for mercy on him as I was practically carried out of the chamber.

What just happened? Did the Orion just nearly pull free from his chains? Did he save my life instinctually or by choice? Did he understand me? He must have, right? He responded. What did he say? What did he mean? And what are they going to do to him now that he's shown he could break the chains from the walls and escape if he wanted to?

~~~~~

They had come to torment me. They came to spit their vile words and to laugh. I was being curt and, admittedly, loud; however, I managed to maintain myself when she arrived – the Factotum. None of the others fascinated me the way she did, not that it was my intention to scare the others away with my questions and conversational moments.

The guards shuffled her over to the ledge, for what purpose I couldn't know. All I knew was I blinked and the next moment she was falling. They were staring down at her, the guards were, obviously horrified at what had just happened.

This sweet, gentle woman who offered me glances and kindness was in danger.

She was beyond the reach of the guards, but she was not beyond my reach.

I braced myself and lunged. The chains tugged and dug into my flesh. They clattered and crashed around me, their weight vanishing in this spurt of energy I had forgotten I possessed. The bolts and plates crashed and yanked away from the cavern walls, my hand shattering the limits that were placed on me for so long.

I timed her fall and outstretched my hand. There was an almost imperceptible weight in my hand as I caught her in mid-air.

I reached her in time.

I dropped my hand so the fall was more gradual, but I could hear her gasping for air. Evidently, the wind must've been knocked from her.

She weighed nothing at all, barely a breath in my hand. It was like cradling a butterfly. There was obvious contact between us and, suddenly, I realized what a delicate being she was. My nerves began to get the better of me as I began shaking. Based on the look she gave me and the tremors in my palm, she undoubtedly felt the same. Still, I couldn't image what she was going through. It was probably something out of her worst nightmare.

"Are you alright?" It was all I could utter over and over. I only received a look of bewilderment and confusion. No. Of course not. Why would she be alright? She nearly fell to her death because of her own people and was now sitting in my hand. It was obvious she had never been held before, not that I had vast experience in the matter. Still, it didn't stop me from staying as steady as I could, even though I was on edge and shaking from the experience just as she was.

I heard those two pesky guards shouting again in that dialect I wished I could understand. If only I had studied their language in my homeland. Their voices were piercing and, quite frankly, annoying. I looked up in time to see one of them hurl a spear at me.

Instinctually, I recoiled as it imbedded itself in my cheek. Hadn't they done enough for one day? I growled and shouted, somewhat foolishly, at the pair of guards who were responsible for nearly sending this woman to an early grave.

"Stop! I'm trying to help!" I began to back away, remembering their wrath came in the form of pricks and slashes and lashes. My fingers instinctually curled, and my other hand came up to shield her from the onslaught of spears as I shook my head and let the spear fall from my skin.

I felt shifting in my hand. It was an odd, squirming sensation which sent chills up my spine. I braced myself for a scream of anguish or aid. I braced myself for the spears that would accentuate the lines on my already marked face.

"Steele!" My name cut through the room and through the rising sense of urgency and panic. It was her. I looked her purely out of instinct just as she said the one thing I would never have predicted.

"Thank you."

My heart stopped.

It was my language. My tongue. Regardless of circumstance, my heart lifted.

It was finally a word I understood.

I latched onto this fragment and watched her repeat herself a few times, uttering the same words I knew, before pointing to a nearby platform. Did… she want me to put her down? Undoubtedly. She didn't want to be held another second and, frankly, I was too terrified I might accidentally twitch and harm her to refuse.

I brought my hand over to the ledge and tilted my palm, ensuring she could stand. Could she understand me this entire time? Unlikely. Her pronunciation was that of a foreigner. Still, perhaps I could exchange a courtesy.

"You're welcome." She was ushered away quickly by the others, and I knew instantly my punishment for breaking the chains would be severe. Still, to hear a single word I understood, and have it mean what it was intended for made my spirits lift. Regardless of what they were about to do, I could endure knowing that one person tried, and succeeded, to connect with me.