My Name

Walking up the stairs, the slave arrived at the entrance room to what she now knew was an inn, whatever that was, and looked around for the Zafreen Brigella or what Brigella told her to call her, Mam.

The slave didn't see Mam in the room she first met them, although there was another Zafreen behind the desk who looked at them curiously as she stepped into the room. The Zafreen sported brightly multi-coloured scales in patterns not as intense as Mam's but still a little nauseating to look at for too long. Keeping her head bowed and eyes averted, she asked in a subdued voice. "Excuse me, sir, I was told to find Brigella by my Master Markus. Can you please tell me where to find her?"

The Zafreen looked down at her, puzzled for a few moments, then declared, "You mus' be da slav' tha' she mention', me nam's Jorka and Mam be me birf' moth'r, ya git a nam' slav'?" Again, the slave was a little taken back by the accent the Zafreen spoke with and spent a few moments thinking about what they were asking.

Realising he was asking for her name, she shook her head, "Master never saw fit to give me a name, sir." She bowed a little deeper, hoping this would not anger them. In her experience with Markus and his cronies in the caravan, not getting something or receiving a negative response from her never ended well.

The Zafreen's response confused her as he just snorted derisively but not at her and she think he might have even muttered under his breath, "Frigin' Markus, typi'cl o dat ol' bastard." Then he looked down at her and said, "Nev'r mind, I'm sur' Mam'll tak' care o' that, follo' me the'n." He then opened the gap in the desk where Mam had previously and waved at her to follow. She walked through the gap, noting the mechanism of gears, levers, and pullies that caused the hidden part of the desk to open and followed Jorka as he closed the desk behind her and led her up the same stairs Mam had used earlier when she had first arrived.

The stairs led up to a hallway well decorated with colourful paintings, carpets, and ornaments that seemed more a personal residence than a business, not that the slave had seen inside many homes in past being relegated to staying mostly in the stables with the Boruun when travelling. Jorka led her around the corner and down another hallway and up another set of stairs and eventually stopped outside a door that had a sign on it that the slave couldn't read as Markus never saw any need in a slave that could read. Jorka knocked on the door, and Mam's voice called out from within, "Com' in!".

Jorka opened the door and waved the slave through while saying, " Go on wit' ya, I ne'd to go bac' to the fron't desk."

The slave walked through the door into a nicely furnished room the most of which was taken up by a huge ornate wooden desk, behind which Mam lounged in a huge comfortable looking leather chair that appeared to swing back and forth as the Zafreen stared at her without talking for a long time with a very contemplative look on their eyes.

When the atmosphere in the room for the slave had gotten so uncomfortable, she was almost ready to speak before spoken to when Mam exclaimed in a sudden loud voice, " Megan!"

The slave looked at Mam in wonder. What was this word Mam had said?

She looked up into the eyes of Mam, a question in her expression. Mam looked triumphant when she said something that the slave would never forget and would change the rest of her life from now on. "You'r nam' littl' un, I'v decid'd you'r nam' noe wil' be Megan."

The newly named Megan stared at Mam with intensity, her sense of self undergoing a qualitative change, her very soul singing inside her inner core. MY NAME IS MEGAN. Megan nodded her head in excitement, her lips smiling broadly for the first time in a very long time.

Mam slapped her palms against each other in a loud clap and jumped up from the chair and practically skipped around the desk and hugged Megan tightly and announced, "Rig't noe lets go'in git ya cle'n an' git so' prop' cloth's for ye an the'n sho' ya to a room tha' is you'r whil' ye here'."

Mam grabbed Megan's hand and practically dragged her out the door and down the hall. She was taken around so many corners and stairs that she became disorientated and lost her sense of direction.

Mam brought her to a room lined in stone and with multiple tubs and strange what looked like cabinets lining one side of the room and learned from Mam the cabinets were called lockers and she was shown how to operate the lock and store her clothes and gave her a uniform to wear that she remembered the Zafreen she met in the stable wearing.

Megan was shown what the multiple tubs in the room were for and how to use a faucet on the wall to pour hot or cold water. There were tubs, baths, basins and soaps, shampoos, and detergents. So many new things were shown to her and by time she had been washed, rinsed, and dried, dressed in new clothes and fed a meal of meat stew and even a mug of some kind sweet drink her mind was whirling with all the new sensations and attention.

Mam brought her hallway with many doors on either side, leading down to a large window at the end so she could see they were up above the door that led to the entrance room. All through the afternoon, Mam had been talking and explaining everything around whether or not Megan asked any questions or not, and she was starting to understand the accent Mam had a lot better, the words being said now being understood, clear as day. "So this hallway is for everyone who resides and works here. While you are here, you will have your own room, and it is your responsibility to keep it clean and tidy. No customers who stay at the inn should be in here as the residence and rooms where customers stay are not connected." Mam was saying to Megan as she led her to a door closest to the window at the end of the hall.

Mam brought out a small key from a pocket on a leather cord and used the key in the lock on the door. She then passed the key to a surprised Megan who looked at her questioningly. "Yes dear, the key is yours while you stay here and you must keep it safe. No one can enter your room without you giving permission, not even me, understand?"

Megan looked into Mam's eyes, and Mam nodded to her, grabbed her hand, and placed the key in it. Mam then turned around and, while walking down the hall, she called out after her, "Sleep well dear, get lots of rest as it's going to be a big day tomorrow." Mam finished as she walked around the corner and out of sight.

Megan stared down at the key in her hand for a while, thoughts twirling and spinning in her mind. As she looked up, she startled as her eyes drew even the eyes of the young Zafreen from the stable she had met earlier.

The young Zafreen smiled at her, sharpened teeth showing briefly before they brought a hand up to their mouth, saying, "Sorry, Mam tells me not to bare me' teeth when I smile, some don't like it or something like that." He looked her up and down, "You clean up well don' ya?" He paused, and she considered how to answer this question when they asked, "So you have a name yet?" and she nodded at them.

She waited as they stared at her and as the moment stretched out between them she realised what he was asking and answered, "My name is Megan, what is yours?"

They pulled themselves up straight and announced, "I be Tau," they slapped their hand to their chest and bowed, "At your service."

Tau looked around conspiratorially and asked her, "You wanna see something amazing?"

Megan stared at them, uncomprehendingly and with a little bit of concern, should she trust this Zafreen or not, she thought.

Making a decision and nodding with a smile, Tau grabbed her hand and grinned mischievously, "Follow me then." He then turned toward the large window. Now that Megan was closer she noticed the window was made up of two panels of glass bordered by a thick wooden casement with hinges on one side and a latch in the middle allowing one side of the window to open in and giving access to the lowest roof of the building.

Tau opened the window and jumped up onto the sill, and when Megan realised they meant to take her through the window onto the roof, she hesitated, not sure if this was such a good idea. Tau tugged on her hand and said, "Don't worry, there not be any danger and just follow me close, I promise it's safe." They said this as they carefully climbed out the window and set foot on the roof outside. "I'll warn ye not to tell Mam you went on the roof, Mam don't appreciate me need for excitement and adventure in this boring place." Megan was slightly confused as she just had the most exciting day she ever remembered but didn't voice her thoughts out loud. Megan allowed them to lead her out of the window, and they turned and started to climb up some handholds that were hidden behind the frame around the window and higher up the roof. Tau and Megan eventually arrived at a small flat area between the second and third storey that had an excellent view out into the hole that decended in the middle of the city. Reaching into a small overhang made by the roof Tau brought out a small box and opening it Tau then pulled out a rough spun blanket that he then laid out onto the roof and two pairs of what appeared to be large round goggles that she had once seen the Zafreen Blue from the caravan use in a dust storm while travelling. Tau also pulled out a small paper bag that, when opened, showed a few boiled sweets Megan had seen before but never had been fortunate enough to try.

Passing one of the sweets to her, Tau sat on the blanket and patted a spot next to him. Megan looked around suspiciously but, in the end, shrugged, placing the sweet into her mouth and closing her eyes, enjoying the blast of

flavour that assaulted her taste buds. Sucking on the sweet, she sat down on the blanket next to Tau, and they passed the goggles to her while saying, "Put these on and keep looking out there until you see one."

Megan looked at them curiously, "One what?"

"You'll know when you see it." was all the answer she was going to get about that, apparently.

Megan examined the goggles seeing a pair of large, round dark tinted lenses within chunky metallic frames that was surrounded by pliant leather that would shut out all light from entering once they were placed on the face and a leather cord that went around the back of the head, securing them in place.

Megan tied the goggles around her face and over her eyes and found her vision only slightly impaired and everything now had a bluish glow that appeared to be brightest when she stared at objects she could see around her.

Megan and Tau sat in companionable silence for a while, with Tau occasionally asking questions about the most inane topics that Megan tried to answer as best she could. Not too much time had passed until Tau went abnormally still and pointed out into the open area in the hole that decended down into the ground.

Megan was not sure what she was looking as she stared out into the darkness until she saw a blue outline of... something descending silently from the sky! She quickly lifted the goggles from her face and the object disappeared completely so she quickly dragged the goggles back down over eyes and again she could see the outline of a box like object with strange protrusions sticking out of it at odd angles. The object was slowly descending down past her view and she realised it was causing a slight breeze which she could faintly feel and if she wasn't seeing the object as it drifted by she probably wouldn't even consider that wind as being caused by such a thing. In fact, this object was just so beyond her understanding that all she could do was just stare at it, her mouth agape as it past her and Tau and continued into the depths slowly fading out of sight.

A few minutes went by until Tau said, "Incredible, ain't it?" Tau took off the goggles and held his hand out until Megan passed the goggles she had been using back to him and started packing everything away as he said, "Don't ask what those things are as I has no idea and when I asked Mam she told me to never mention them to anyone." He eyed me with trepidation, "You won't tell her I showed you, right?"

Megan shook her head and answered, "I don't even know what it was I was seeing, let alone want to get in trouble for seeing it. It's obvious to me that thing was trying not to be seen and in my experience things that don't wish to be seen can get quite nasty when they get spotted by someone who is not supposed to see them."

Tau pondered this for a few moments and then nodded, "Right you are Megan, let's keep this between us then, alright?"

Megan nodded fervently and took Tau's hand again as he led her back down to the window and back into the inn. Looking at her, Tau said, "You look buggered Megan, so I think it's time for you to get some sleep as he pushed her toward her room. Megan nodded absently and walked through the door into the first place she could call her own. If Mam was to be believed.

She looked around dazedly and smiled, seeing a small room with a bed, drawers, cabinet, and a desk with a chair as well as a small chest at the bottom of the bed.

Megan didn't even have the energy to do more than take off her shoes before jumping onto the soft mattress and falling asleep before her head felt the pillow.