Lunar Gaze

Chapter 24

The cold metal of the shackles against her ankles and wrists contrasted the warm, humid air of the Tortugan night. She looked up at the sky, and the moon reflected in her dark eyes as she was guided into a wooden wagon attached to a coach. A quick prayer left her lips as she begged for forgiveness for whatever may have led her to this point.

She stumbled as she was pushed forward, and before her eyes could adjust to the dark atmosphere, they were suddenly covered with a cloth tied behind her head. She shuffled her hands around in the miscellaneous array of items in the wagon, unable to identify the crunchy substance beneath her. Was it hay? Leaves? Tree branches? She couldn't tell.

The ride was long and tiresome. She tried to lay down and sleep, but she could hardly find comfort with her wrists and ankles shackled and bound. Being the slave of such a powerful judge? Josephine was certain that this was her new fate. After all, he was the law.

Miles away, Kidd walked into a bar. His dark hair was disheveled from the night he'd spent in a Saint-Domingue cell. He sat at a bar and rubbed the two coins together, which he'd just swiped out of Simone's pocket. And there he got himself a drink. Sitting next to another man, he decided to make conversation.

With his forearms firmly rested on the crafty wooden bar, his fingers wrapped around a cup, Kidd leaned toward the man beside him. "You wouldn't know where the residence of Juge Nicolas-Gabriel Laureau is, would you?"

Josephine felt as though her entire body was on fire as it suddenly began to rain. She wiggled in the wagon she laid down in, trying to somehow find shelter from the heavy drops. But she could not see a thing, for they kept the blindfold on her. Then suddenly the wagon came to a stop, and Josephine had been helped out of it. In one swift motion, her blindfold was lifted above her head.

The judge surprisingly lived in a townhouse in the city, a far cry from the sprawling Spanish mansion she just fled from not even a week prior. She had a chance to get a peek at the street she was on for a moment, and realized his house blended in with all the others. There was also no plaque indicating whose residence it was. There is no way Kidd is finding me here.

Josephine was helped into a side entrance. Once inside, was instructed to bathe. Unlike the prior time she had access to a proper washing, she was not helped by maids or servants. Not even a tub. She was only given a bucket, an old and used rag and some water with a questionable color.

As she struggled to remove her multiple layers of clothes, she looked around the room. It was dark, and didn't have much furniture or decor. The floor was wooden, the walls stucco. The ceiling seemed to slightly squeak as people on the upper floor walked. With her garments finally lowered to her waist, she began her process of scrubbing. Her breasts squeezed together underneath the pressure of her forearm, as her hand moved under her armpit. She brought the rag under each breast, then proceeded to remove the rest of her clothing around her waist.

A slave around her age helped her upstairs. She was fair skinned, a beautiful girl. Her curls were large and bountiful, wrapped up in an updo. Her eyes were blue. And her clothing seemed to be far better than all of the other slaves whom resided in the house. Holding a simple candle, she followed her up the steep servant stairs.

Upon entering a corridor, there were very few rooms in the tight townhouse. But it was decorated with great excellence, one who beheld it could tell the owner held great wealth. And there Josephine was led to French doors at the end of the corridor, which opened to a room that was so large, it seemed to occupy the entire side of the townhouse.

At the end of the room was a fireplace which flickered in the dim of the candlelit area. And then Josephine felt a shove in the small of her back by the other slave.

"Sophie." A voice emerged from the chair that faced the fire. "Is she finally ready?"

"Yes." Sophie answered. Josephine looked to Sophie, who hadn't spoken a word beside instructions since she'd arrived. Josephine was in front of the chair, where the judge sat. The old man was very bald without his wig, and his more than large body was no longer hidden by a robe.

"Wonderful." His eyes said with delight upon laying on Josephine. He out-held a hand and Josephine neared him. Suddenly Josephine felt as though she could not breathe. He took at look at what she wore, which was only a chemise.

"Where is the dress I requested you to provide her with?" Asked the judge as he looked toward Sophie.

"My dress, you mean?" Sophie asked. "I simply forgot to give it to her."

"Then it shall be laid out beside her sleeping cot by the morning." The judge argued. "Do you hear me?"

Sophie rolled her eyes, and excited the bedroom with the flick of the judge's hand. The judge whispered underneath his breath. "She always becomes jealous of newcomers. Come child."

His hand was sweaty, the apples of his cheeks were unflatteringly red and filled with large pores, and his overall appearance was greasy. Josephine now stood right beside him, looking at him with sorrow in her eyes.

"Do no give me that glum look." The judge said with a sense of untrue empathy. "Come, sit on my lap."

Josephine complied, but as her bottom touched the old man's lap her eyes squeezed shut and tears streamed down her face. He wiped away her tears. "Do not fear, child. I only intend to treat you as one would a princess."

Josephine naturally doubted that. The judge went on, "Where is it that you come from, again?"

"Jamaica." Josephine shyly replied.

"Where the brazen slaves reside." Said the judge. "I see. When you were in my court room, you appeared to have perfect posture. Were you educated?"

"I was." Answered Josephine.

"Interesting." The judge mumbled. "It will be even more difficult to get you into shape. Well, well, all great things require work." He said in a contrastingly warm tone, lightly tapping on her thigh as she sat on his lap. "I intend for us to be very close. You will come whenever I call you, do you understand?"

Josephine nodded.

"And don't worry about that old shabby pirate, he has been taken off your hands." The judge told Josephine, which caused tears to develop in her eyes.

The judge hiked up her dress and placed a hand on her knee, but when he saw how shaken up Josephine was, he once again covered her legs. "When you learn to look as though you enjoy my company, you shall reap my reward. Until then, off to bed you go."