The Uncrucified [ALPHA] - Ch.3 - Breakable Dolls

RATING: PG-13

- Slavery
- Violence

          A month passed, then another and another until Kalara had spent the better part of a year in the service of Cynis Varia and his wife.  Her life had become a numbing repetition revolving around Sana’s wants and needs.  She prepared her tea.  She cleaned her chambers.  She emptied her chamber pots.  She did whatever errand was demanded of her.  

          When Sana was pleased with her, Kalara would sometimes be allowed to venture alone into the markets where she would have her only respite from the household.  She spent many evenings staring towards the horizon to Gem.  Sometimes she’d gaze towards Paragon, where a slave could be truly freed of their obligations by the city’s oath of fealty. 

           Such things were fantasy, however.  She was never allowed to stay away long enough to think too long, to ever forget who owned her destiny, lest she get a lashing when she returned home or sold off to a worse fate than a household slave’s.

            The temperate winds of Ascending Wood signaled the harvest festivals and marked the fact Kalara had been in the Cynis household for almost a year.  The hot climes were much more tolerable in Chiaroscuro than Gem, giving the citizens a respite from the desert heat.  Dazzling gold and green streamers were hung across alleyways, while statues of the small gods were paraded around town.  Such colorful scenery did little to improve Kalara’s outlook on life.  So what if the gods made the dates grow?  They did little to help anyone else’s lot in life.  The more disillusioned she grew as Sana’s servant, the more she felt dead inside. 

The joyful laughter during festival days in the market didn’t reach her like it used to in Gem.  Kalara felt like some kind of wind-up doll that did whatever her mistress required.  This would be her life forever.  The thought made her days run together in a numb blur.  She hoped that numbness would last until she reached the end of her days.  Then, finally, she could be reborn in her next life.  Kalara was willing to take the gamble that her next life would be better. She clearly envisioned her soul running headlong into the rivers of the underworld, eager to wipe away the memories of this time in Creation.

            The shell of this endless repetition shattered one day while Kalara was in the market helping Sana shop for some other pointless thing they didn’t need.  She followed behind her mistress carrying a basket of goods while Sana fussed at how they couldn’t give her the price she wanted at the last stall.  They suddenly found their way in the small side street that led back home blocked by three men.

One of the men stepped out in front. He wore a strange robe dyed half black on one side and half dark red on the other, the ensemble split down the middle as if made from two different robes.

The design of a snake dyed into the cloth curled from his shoulder downward across both red and black uniting each hemisphere with its coils. The snake's body encircled the High Realm symbol for serenity. He almost looked like a salesman, if not for the strange eyes that seemed the reverse of his clothing, one dark eye on the red side and one light blue eye on the black side. White hair spiked wildly behind his head and he smiled to them with perfect white teeth. Kalara noted his Realm accent as he addressed her mistress.

“Good day! Cynis Sana, I presume?” Sana barely had time to respond as he took one of her hands and bowed in a gentlemanly fashion, planting a kiss on her delicate hand. “Such a lovely lady of the Realm so far from home!”

Sana only appeared off guard a few moments before she briskly responded. “Who might you be? You are quite rude, sir!” She tried to withdraw her hand but found it held in his against her will. Sana’s eyes darted to his in fear. "Release me or I'll call the guards!"  Sana snapped.

Kalara looked around. The city guards were nowhere within earshot on this particular street.

Sana's offended reaction seemed to amuse the ruffian greatly. He chuckled to himself and stared at her with his disturbing mismatched eyes. When he finally released her hand, he’d left a silken handkerchief crumpled in her palm.

“Give my husband your regards and tell him the Serene Viper wishes him well.” At that, he made a clicking noise with his tongue and the three men casually continued on their way.

Kalara watched them as they left, her past experience as a slave of gambling men giving her an inkling of what had just occurred. Debt collectors were not subtle men.

Shaken, Sana fearfully unfurled the familiar bit of cloth, realizing it was her husband’s.

It was stained with blood, several of Varia’s rings enclosed inside!

Kalara could barely keep up as Sana took off towards their home, abandoning her baskets in a panic to rush back to their home.  What would they find?  Would he be dead?  What would happen to her then?  Would Sana sell her?  She couldn’t imagine what Sana would be like if Varia were dead!  He had always seemed to be the one thing that could calm her.  Kalara surprised herself with what little compassion she felt at the thought of his death.  He was neither kind nor cruel, but at least tolerable. Such callousness only went to show how miserable Sana made her that she almost wished the debt collectors would kill her too and hurry along this cycle of life that featured Sana so prominently.

They would return home to find Varia cursing in the kitchen while a doctor treated his broken fingers and bleeding nose.  It looked as if he'd taken a few punches to the face with the swollen state of his eye and nose.

Sana flung herself into his arms, her face streaming with tears. “Oh, Varia!  I feared the worst!”  Uncontrollable sobs marred the rest of her words.

“Shhhh…”  Varia did his best to comfort her, even as he winced at the pain of his freshly splinted fingers.  He embraced her shaking form, regardless.  “I’m fine.  I’m fine.”  He cooed as he usually did when she threw her tantrums.  “This was only a warning.  I’ve almost paid the balance.  They won’t be back.  You’ll see!”

Kalara could only stare on, dumbfounded at this display of emotion from her mistress.  So she was human after all, at least for the moment.  A twinge of something that felt like pity uncurled somewhere deep within Kalara as she watched the two.  If these two hopelessly ignorant mortals could feel this kind of love, maybe there was still some hope in the world?


Varia fell silent when Sana returned to him his silk handkerchief and rings that the Viper had left in her possession.  The message had been received loud and clear - the Serene Viper knew where they were and how to find them.  The unspoken threat that the collector might also harm his wife did not go unheeded either, whether it was merely intimidation or no.

To her credit, Sana spent that night tending Varia herself, letting the servants do as they would around the house.  She barely knew how to heat tea or prepare food, but she did it all herself, regardless. 

Kalara watched them from afar, still fascinated by a tenderness that didn’t seem possible.  If the gods were watching this, she gathered they had the most odd sense of humor.  Eventually, Sana would leave Varia asleep, his breathing heavy with the opiates she’d  given him for the pain.

Sana said nothing as Kalara helped her disrobe and dip into the bath that had been prepared with lavender oil and water.  Kalara moved to leave her, as she usually did, but found her wrist caught by Sana’s hand.  

 “Wait…” Sana’s voice commanded, but it had lost its usual steel edge. “Please stay…I don’t want to be alone.”  

 Aghast, Kalara could barely respond, only nodding as she knelt beside her mistress’ bath.  Kalara stared on silently as Sana curled into a ball, tightening her knees to her chest and hugging them as she cried silently.  Her unadorned black hair flowed all around her white skin.  How strange and unexpected it was for Kalara that even Sana seemed so like a doll, herself.