Chapter 1: Ignorance
Actions have consequences.
A new rule begins.
A contract is signed.
Christina's life has changed forever.
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Day 0
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I cursed at the thought of my family, living somewhere in friendly territory, still maintaining their life of luxury and nobility. I couldn’t believe that they left without even trying to contact me. I may have been halfway across the kingdom, but they could have waited, or left me something to be able to join them! I hadn't the faintest idea where they were, and now here I was left behind, completely at the mercy of these northern invaders.
The government office felt cramped; I’m pretty sure it was an event hall before the new rule came in and destroyed everything. I remembered attending different parties in here; birthdays and weddings, ceremonies, and balls, both recently as an adult and earlier in my childhood. But now there were simple wooden desks everywhere, papers piled high on them, both with normal books and what looked like some sort of. . . magic scrolls? They glowed a little bit and when I saw the workers grab them they kind of floated on air a little bit. . . but for all I know it could have just been some new fancy type of glowing paper. I wasn’t entirely convinced magic was real.
Most people coming into the room were free to go wherever they liked, but I was a bit of an exception. There was one of these new guards standing right behind my chair, his presence looming over me. After they had come to my apartment declared all my belongings to be “forfeit” and escorted me back here, it was clear I wasn’t free to move around as I pleased.
I crossed my arms and started an impatient foot tapping while sitting down. The worker in front of me was reading some sort of papers, writing things down, looking at his fancy glowing scroll, and then repeating the process. I had no idea what he was doing but I had to assume he was finding some accommodation for me since they had decided to take my new apartment and all my newly acquired belongings. This entire system was dumb. I have no idea why they couldn’t just pay the loans for me and let me keep my stuff; seems much simpler in the long run. After all I was Christina Revallia. I wasn’t some peasant to be kept with the lower class! They knew that right?
After what seemed like an eternity, the worker singled out a single document from the large group of papers around him as well as a very large stamp. He then looked up from his desk to finally address me. “Miss? You amassed a debt of over fifty thousand Silencian notes over just two weeks. In case you’re unaware that’s around two-hundred thousand units of Crevicil copper. Which you are currently able to pay back exactly none. After records and inspection, we estimate that we would only able to recover about a third of that amount from the seizure of your possessions.” He looked genuinely impressed of what I had done. Two-hundred thousand units of Crevicil copper didn't seem like a large amount, at least compared to what my family used to spend on luxuries on a regular occurrence. Though the man was looking at me as if I was insane for even coming close to that number in just two weeks. His features slowly softened as he continued going about his business “This is considered a major financial Crime under this new arm of the Silencian government.” As he spoke I still wasn’t paying much attention to him. I knew that he was going to tell me that this would be a problem for others, and they would take care of it for me. I really just wanted them to get to the part where they let me go.
“And for this, you’ll be sentenced to ten years in prison.” he said, slamming his large stamp on top of the last document he was still holding. The thud was heavy, resonated through the desk and reverberating up my chair and settling in my bones.
His statement sent me spiraling, suddenly I felt short of breath. “P-Prison?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, there had to be some mistake, some sort of error, a mix up. Maybe he read the rules wrong? I had barely been denied anything in my entire life, and now they were sending me to prison over some financial error, did this foreigner forget who I was?
“You know I’m a Revallia right? I’m part of a noble family, I’m not supposed to go to prison, that’s for the those . . .other people!” My words just poured out of me as I leaned forward in my seat grabbing the desk. This wasn’t real, this couldn’t be real, there was a way out of this surely.
“Miss Revallia, I can see from our records this was explained to you weeks ago. Under this transitionary government the old aristocracy of Crevicil no longer holds any power. You are now just as much nobility as any other person in this kingdom. You get no special treatment.” Even as his words rang in my head I couldn't even begin to grasp the reality of them. There was no possible way I was just as important as any old peasant on the street, I couldn’t live like them! And I certainly couldn’t go to prison like them. Grappling with the situation, a set of guards approached me from behind.
I stood up from the chair, and I started to move away from both the guard behind me and the worker in front of me. “No, you can’t throw me in prison . . .” My voice quivering with fear and disbelief, growing more and more desperate. Despite trying to find the right way out of this, the thought of losing everything had caused a lump to take residence in my throat, and I could scarcely get out any more words. The two brutish guards looked at me like I needed to be subdued, and kept pace with me as I moved, but I still kept slowly backing away from the both of them. My mind was locked at the mere idea of losing even the few things I had left, it was completely unthinkable, and completely terrifying.
The worker then stood up and tried to reason with me, but his attempts only worked to make me more terrified. “Miss Christina, please settle down, we don’t want to have to have you restrained, this can go peacefully.” But his words fell on deaf ears, for as soon I heard the word restrained, I went into full panic.
No peasant, no lowlife soldier, no idiot had ever physically overpowered me. I spun around wildly, and attempted to run. Not even getting a full foot away the guard lunged forward to grab my arm, proving himself much stronger than I was. Once I felt his firm and painful grip on my wrist the lump in my throat dislodged “No! Let go of me, no!” I pulled on my own wrist attempting to get away, but to no avail. It felt like the man was a statue that could not be moved.
The worker continued to try to calm me, but I could barely hear him. My face was hot and the blood rushing into my ears made understanding the nonsense that he was saying to me nearly impossible. I chose instead to focus on his hand movements and trying to understand his face. Even as I did, the only thing that I saw was that he was infuriatingly devoid of emotion, like my plight didn't matter to him one small amount.
As my own words were silenced again by a new lump in my throat, my situation bared down on me, and my own eyes started to tear up and wet my cheeks. It took everything I had to keep myself from full on sobbing and screaming, I could barely even think.
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Though it seemed nobody was listening to her words, there was seated nearby in the large open layout office space a woman sitting at a desk, not handling work with other citizens but quietly working by herself, took notice of the commotion. She was around her mid-thirties, long brown hair, wearing brown oval frame glasses. She was clearly a Silencian by her simple sleek clothing; button down shirt, straight fitting skirt, and long elbow length gloves for her work. She saw Christina and was a witness to her breakdown. Something about the situation compelled her to take closer notice, and she pulled out one of her magical scrolls to find more information on this young girl who seemed extremely in over her head. As the woman read her information from the ever-changing scroll, a smile formed on the tip of her lips.
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I was still trying my hardest to find any way out of the situation I had been forced into. How dare they? I couldn't understand how this new rule could be so cruel as to lock me away over something so minor, it was barbaric! I had seen prisoners before, they were sad pathetic lot, some of them animals even. Was I now going to be thrown in among them?
A gentle tapping on my shoulder briefly shook me from my train of thought, but instead of focusing on the distraction I returned immediately to trying to understand what kind of government was so cruel as to do this to me. I quickly realized that the worker was no longer looking at me but instead looking behind me. Another set of taps, more persistent then the last, arrived on my shoulder. “Excuse me you two, I couldn’t help but overhear, and I think there may be a solution to all of this.”
Upon hearing another voice enter the conversation, I twisted my body around as much as I was able to while still being restrained by this goon holding onto my arm. As I did the woman nodded to guard, and he promptly released his iron grip. I looked up at the woman who had called them both off. She was taller than me by a significant margin, and she gazed down with a look I couldn’t fully understand but had some kind of distinct, yet unknown quality. She opened her mouth to speak directly to me and moved to wipe away a tear from my cheek. “Oh, no need for tears sweetheart, it will be okay.”
Suddenly my entire perspective shifted a moment ago I had been in complete survival mode, but now it seemed like there was some kind of hope. While her gentle reaction of wiping my tears caught me completely off guard, but I wasn’t able to do anything but ignore it for the situation at hand. She looked exactly like the type of woman who was in charge and knew precisely what she was doing. Was she going to help me escape this nightmare? Suddenly, with the idea of everything being as it should be in mind, I stepped to a position of safety slightly behind her, “Yes! I knew there must be something, please continue.” The joy in my voice was palpable. "Pleasure to meet you. Christina Revallia. In Grace." I said, formally greeting my would be saviour.
The worker looked a little surprised but was clearly familiar with the woman as he addressed her. “Mrs. Southgard, is there something special I should know about this case?” He was clearly confused, but that just told me that this worker was incompetent, which I also could have told you considering what he had been about to put me through.
The woman spoke full of confidence in explaining the situation “As you are aware, my husband Rowan and I are currently working on a series of new social programs to help acclimate all of us to this new society under Silencian rule. I have a feeling that young Christina here is a perfect fit for one of the social adjustment programs we've brought down from Silencia.” She said, turning to me and holding my hand as she spoke my name.
It was clear to see that this woman commanded authority over the workers here, that and her clear intention to set things right filled me with such ease that I let her hold my palm without complaint. The desk worker, clearly submitting to his betters, gave a gruff nod. “I see. I completely understand Mrs. Southgard, is there anything you need from us?”
This Mrs. Southgard gave a smile and started leading me away by the hand and motioning the two men behind us to follow. I very eagerly kept in step with her, being very impatient to leave this place. “Yes, thank you Stephen. If you could please gather your documents and come with me, I’ll need to arrange the proper paperwork with you, and quickly review this with my husband, after which of course we’ll need to get young Christina here to agree to the entire proposition.”
As the conversation progressed we approached the other side of the room. There was an empty desk that I could only assume belonged to Mrs. Southgard, a door that led to the backrooms and a small, cushioned waiting bench. Mrs. Southgard motioned me over to take a seat on the bench, and without even needing to be asked I sat down. But upon hearing her talk about my permission I spoke back up. “Oh, that’s not necessary! I understand and completely agree.” It felt strange being referred to as ‘young Christina’, but this woman clearly knew what she was doing handling these two subordinates, and ultimately the only thing on my mind was getting out of here as soon as possible.
The woman smiled down at me, and now I was sitting the height disparity was so much that I had to tilt my head completely up just to keep eye contact with her, and she gazed down at me again with a look I couldn’t quite place. “I’m very glad my dear, but we still need to get everything officially in order and will need your signature. It will only take a short amount of time. Be a good girl and stay here okay? We’ll fix everything.” She then turned and addressed the two men waiting behind her. “Stephen, Richard, you can both come with me, I believe we can trust Miss Revallia not to run off.”
I was taken aback by both her insistence of securing this paperwork as well as her referring to me in such a childlike manner, but with my heart racing and my head struggled to keep up with every new detail the three of them were already walking through the door into the backrooms before I could finish processing. “Wait, but-!” The words hadn’t finished leaving my lips as the door closed behind them, and I was alone, or at least as alone as one could be in a massive space like this with so many other workers and civilians going about.
I sat up, crossed my arms and legs, and waited. Surely, she would be right back. She was going to fix all of this for me just as it should be, all I had to do was wait. I started to look around the room once more. I was far enough back to be afforded as much privacy as could reasonably be expected, but despite the isolation, the assurance from this woman, and the comfortable seat for me to wait, I couldn’t help that I felt safer when she was next to me. Almost as if new guards might appear and drag me away.
As I waited for her to return, I thought back now with a less scattered mind. The looks she had first given me led me to believe she had my best interests at heart. She looked at me like she knew exactly what should be happening, and I could tell she was going to make things right. I then thought about her speaking to me in such a childlike way, asking me to be a ‘good girl’ but also properly referred to me as Miss Revallia just a moment after. She was clearly a foreigner from Silencia, that much was obvious. Perhaps this was just a product of her culture?
Another thing started to unnerve me. The glance she had given me mere moments ago, that looked almost like a look of satisfaction, surely it was only that she was relieved to have stopped such an injustice from being committed by those two fools, wasn't it? Hopefully they both got what was deserved of them.
I was starting to realize just how much adrenaline was pumping through my body. My own thoughts were sporadic, and I was having trouble properly keeping track of them. I started to impatiently tap my foot against the floor. No doubt that it was taking so long because that fool worker, Stephen was keeping her from coming back to release me and make things as they should be again. My waiting continued, minutes turned into more than an hour, and my frustration only continued to grow. Yet all I could do was wait.
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After quite some more time had gone by and she had finished her own paperwork, Mrs. Southgard looked down upon Christina, spying from one of the balconies that still overlooked the converted ballroom. She had been in the middle of a conversation with her husband using a magical crystal embedded in her bracelet to make an audible connection from far away. “She’s going to be a handful. I want to be honest with you.” She relayed into her artifact. “But we could really help her, and she could become exactly what we’ve always wanted, as long as we do it right.” The crystal then produced its own harmonic sounds, mimicking the voice of her husband miles away. “I trust you Lena, but are you sure? Of everything?” She smiled and looked back down to Christina who was folding her arms, tapping her foot, and looking extremely impatient. “She’s perfect Rowan. She has no concept of life outside her privileged upbringing and is desperate to escape incarceration. I already had her holding my hand and following my guidance!” She held her other hand up to cover her mouth as her smile grew brighter thinking of how adorable the situation was. “She’ll accept, I know she will. And then, we can take her in, and we can make her ours.” She held her smile and gazed over the young girl, hopelessly in over her own head. Thinking about all the different plans she had in store for her.
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As I continued to wait, my impatience slowly crept into worry over the situation. Why was this taking so long? Mrs. Southgard was supposed to be fixing this for me. She had said that she and her husband were diplomats or some other kind of official, surely they weren't so inept that they were causing things to go so slowly. But still there must have been a reason she was being forced to wait so long for something that should have been so simple.
I was just about nearing my wits end when at long last the door the opened once more and Mrs. Southgard and the worker Stephen walked out. There was no sign of the brute of a guard which satisfied me greatly. I hated that he was allowed to lay his hands on me, and I could still feel where his iron grip had fastened around my wrist. “Finally! What took you both so long? I’ve been waiting for hours.” I exclaimed, my tone obviously demonstrating my dissatisfaction at them both, standing up as they approached.
Mrs. Southgard was clearly prepared for my reaction and barely skipped a beat in responding. “Just over a single hour, and it takes time to make such an arrangement for situations as unusual and volatile as yours." Her tone cut through me in a way that caught me off guard, and I couldn't even muster a stammer as she continued Though luckily because of my husband’s position we were able to expedite getting the records of yours that we needed, and now it’s ready. We just need a little something from you to make things official.”
As she spoke and explained to me, she put her hand on my upper back and guided me gently back to her desk, where the worker Stephen procured a scroll and laid it out flat, revealing what looked like a long contract, with a line at the bottom that was for me to sign. The worker abruptly spoke out. “Miss Revallia, what’s here is a contract that you may enter into of your own free will or decline of your own volition.” As he started to drone on I rolled my eyes and started to lose focus. This was all just legal talk for setting me free. “By signing this agreement, you will be released from your prison sentence of ten years and will instead be administered as a ward of the kingdom, placed under direct supervision of-.”
Once I heard the mention of being released from my prison sentence, I interrupted him, not caring to listen more. “Yes I understand. Now please shut up and let me sign.”
The worker was taken aback, further showing his own incompetence. He opened his mouth to speak again but Mrs. Southgard put her hand up for him to pause. She then smiled at me, handed me a small writing quill, and then held my wrist, directing my hand to the dotted line at the bottom of the scroll. I leaned over and started to sign.
As I started my writing the idiot worker behind me continued to try to object to my freedom. “Miss Revallia, I must insist! This is no ordinary contract!” I had no patience for him anymore and without even looking behind me I waved my hand to dismiss his annoyance of a speech.
“Shush, I heard you.”
I could imagine that my remark likely irked the worker, but I didn’t much care. I wasn’t going to let a fool stop me from getting what I deserved.
As I finished signing my name, I placed the quill down on the desk and turned around to face both individuals behind me. I was extremely ready to be out of here, my excitement to be back to where I belonged making my heart rate rise. “So, can I go home now? Will that be the living quarters I recently got for myself, or will you be returning my family’s estate to me?” I asked, my question directed at Mrs. Southgard, who clearly knew better than the inept worker next to her.
As I asked my simple question, the worker raised his palm to his face, covering his eyes in clear exasperation. Seeing his disrespect brought a frown to my lips, but at nearly the same time, Mrs. Southgard placed her arm around the back of my neck and her free hand my opposite shoulder to guided me towards the doors I had entered through hours before. “Come Christina, let’s get you home.” She said, smiling warmly.
As she guided me away, I looked back toward Stephen, giving him a disrespectful nod to further point out his uselessness to me. He continued to stare back at me through one hand coving his face, having nothing else to say. I turned back around, content at the fact I could now forget about his very existence. I was escorted out of the front doors into the street where an unusual Silencian carriage was already waiting to escort me home. Where I was used to seeing an open space for the driver to sit exposed to the elements, there was just a second door leading to the inside of a smaller cabin, the reins leading seamlessly inside that cabin presumably for the driver to continue to control. On top of that the wheels to the carriage were much taller than I usually expected, making the cabin much higher up as well.
As we approached, the man standing next to the carriage, who I could only assume to be the driver, opened the regular cabin doors for me. Thankfully there was a small step attached under the cabin door that compensated for the elevated height. I was very accustomed to this level of treatment, and other than finding my footing on the foot steps, I slipped inside without any issue. I presumed that Mrs. Southgard would be joining me in the back but as I sat down and looked for her to enter after me, she instead poked her head in to address me. “The trip won’t be long dear. Just try to make yourself comfortable and we’ll be home in no time.”
I furrowed my brow at the remark. She wasn’t getting with me, was she going to sit with the driver? That seemed unseemly for someone who I assumed was of higher status, and the fact she said 'we’ll be home' confused me. It was my home not hers. But I once again dismissed it as silly cultural shortcomings of her homeland. I nodded to her and got myself comfortable in the carriage. She smiled at me once more, looking incredibly pleased with herself as she stepped back from the cabin and addressed the driver who was still holding the door. “If you don’t mind the company, I think I’ll ride up front with you today, Veric. I have so much to tell you.”
As the driver, Veric, closed the door I could hear him respond, “Of course, Lena. I always enjoy our talks.” It was confusing to me that she would consort with her driver like this, and I also realized that this was the first time I had heard her first name, Lena Southgard.
A moment later the carriage started to move forward. As we rode off I watched through the window, looking at all the different peoples and places going by. I watched out at them, thinking and smiling about how I would soon be in my proper place, comfortably far away from all of this dirt and grime. I lounged back in my seat and smiled brightly at the idea, closing my eyes to finally relax.
