Secrets Within the Estate

19

"Since you just can't listen, maybe if we take a finger or two away, you'll do your work correctly!"
"N-no, p-please! Don't! I'll keep w-working, I'll-"
"Do you think that empty apologies and begs will make me believe ya'? You're wrong. You're just a slave boy! No one cares what you have to say!"
"Please! Don't!"

"Two fingers should do, what do you think, huh?"
"Don't!"
"Shut yer yapper!"

ㅤㅤㅤ⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

Liam startled awake.

"Liam, relax. You're fine."

Liam turned to see Caspian sitting on the edge of the bed next to him with his hand on his shoulder.

"Wh-what-"
"You must've had a bad dream, you were tossing and turning."
"Wh-why did you wake me-"
"Because you looked like you were in pain. And you were crying."

Liam sat up and wiped his face with his sleeve. "I'm fine."
"Am I allowed to know what it was about?"
"..." Liam looked at Caspian silently for several seconds before asking, "Wh-why are you so interested in me and everything th-that I do?"

"Ah. Should I stop asking questions? I apologize." Caspian pulled away and looked at the floor.
"I asked wh-why."
Caspian looked back at Liam. "Would you be angry if I said it's because you're the only one who will talk to me without ulterior motives? You don't have to talk to me, though. Don't worry about-"

There's no harm in telling him a few things...

"My fingers."
"Your fingers? What?"
Liam held up his left hand to show the missing pinky and ring finger. "I dreamed of wh-when th-they got cut off."
"It must've been painful."

"I w-was 16, and part of my h-hand was cut off. Of c-course it was painful."
"..."
"Are you going to ask wh-why it was cut off next?"
"I-"
"B-because I couldn't peel th-the b-beans fast enough."

"Beans...?"
"Ah, I meant peas. Th-the ones th-that grow in a little pod."
"Snap peas?"
"Yeah."
"And they cut your fingers for that? How could they do something like that, you're a human just like-"

"Slaves aren't people."
"What are you-"
"Slaves aren't people. Th-they're treated like animals, objects, th-things. Not humans. Slave owners don't care if a slave loses a finger or two. As long as th-they keep working, it doesn't matter. In fact, in one of th-the places I worked, one of us got attacked b-by a b-bear. His leg h-had to b-be cut off. And wanna know wh-what happened after?"

"What happened...?"
"His new job was to scrub th-the floors. He couldn't walk, b-but he could crawl just fine. He worked himself to death. He was in th-the b-bed right next to mine. One day he was ordered to do twice as much work as usual, wh-which put more strain on his already injured and unhealed body. He went to b-bed th-that night and never woke up. He was my closest friend I had."

"Ah..."
"Even if you've had a tough life, you're still sheltered. I've had a hard life, and I've had to struggle for a home th-the past almost th-three years to provide for Lyra. I wasn't given a silver platter of food until I met you. I wasn't given utensils until I met you. I had never slept on a comfortable bed until I met you. I wasn't able to get food whenever I wanted until I met you. I never got proper medical t-treatment until I met you. I was never taught how to read or write until I met you. We're different. You p-p-pro-prob... a-ab... ly don't understand it, and I don't expect you to. B-but keep in mind th-that you and I grew up in different worlds. We don't see th-things th-the same way."

"You're right. There's a lot that I don't understand, and a lot of things that I'll never get the chance to understand. I'm sorry for-"
"Don't apologize for my past. I don't w-want pity."
"..."
Liam got off the bed and started to get onto his knees in front of Caspian, but he was stopped.
"What are you doing?"
"I w-was out of line..." Liam looked at the floor.