The Colonial Heart ✓ (Editing)

Chapter 40

                              A M A

"Good morning Jenny." I greeted while granting her a warm smile. "Good morning Am-...Uh.. we cannot call you by your native name anymore, Commander Spencer told us to address you as Sally henceforth."

"Sally!, who gave him the rights to change my name." I asked confused.

"Hush Sally or they might overhear you."Jenny cried while pressing her finger to her lips I'm a desperate attempt to quiet me down.

"Don't call me Sally." I retorted and  she groaned in irritation before saying "I'm not trying to upset you, but Commander Spencer has expressed a dislike for our native names-."

"And whose fault is that? Most certainly not mine, if he isn't fond of our names then he can pack his bags and leave our lands!"

The air grew thick with tension and an uncomfortable silence settled between us. I regretted lashing out at Jenny, she was merely the messanger, not the architect of this name changing situation.

I took a deep breath, composing myself. "Fine, Jenny, call me Sally, only when that bastard of a man is present but otherwise I'm Ama, understood." I said before turning my attention to the matter at hand.
"Have you any idea where Sir Micheal resides?"

"I have never been to Sir Micheals manor before but I heard there is a section where only the knights reside and I suppose I could take you to the neighborhood." She replied.

"Excellent then, shall we take our leave." I said while soothing my skirts.
"Now?" She asked and I nodded.

"I have to see someone, as a matter of urgency, now would you please lead the way." I said feeling impatient and she sighed before gesturing me to follow her.

"We cannot leave and come as we please through the main entrance, it is mainly used by... themselves, we leave through these gates." She said while pointing at a gate at the back of the manor. The gate was old and rusty and looking like it would fall off if it was to be pushed with too much force.

"These people are so full of themselves aren't they, they put a nice fancy gate for themselves and for us they decide no let us not waste our lovely money, pathetic." I said while clicking my tongue and Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Get used to it." She said while opening the gate and walking ahead.

"Never." I retorted before following her. The sound of wind dancing through the trees filled my ears. I took deep breaths of the wind, feeling refreshed with every breath.

The warm sunshine hugged me, making me feel a sense of embrace, a sense of peace. I closed my eyes taking in the lovely feeling of warmth on my body. I always loved the great outdoors, it always put a smile on my face and I could not imagine all of this getting taken away from me.

The sound of shovels hitting the sand caught my attention and my eyes snapped open. My breath hitched as I watched in horror at the scene that was set before me.

Our local men and boys, looking tattered and beaten. Their clothes ragged and their bodies bruised. They
worked in unison, trying to get the job done as quickly as possible. My heart ached for the little boys that were carrying loads that seemed too heavy for their small frames.

They were under the watch of one of those ruthless soldiers, I wanted to do something about it, anything, but I couldn't, not yet.

"Come on now, the more you watch the more your heart will break, just ignore it." Jenny spoke softly and I took a deep breath composing myself before continuing our journey to sir Micheal's manor.

"You remember that good man you were telling me about." I began and Jenny nodded. "How come he does not help the men as well?" I asked.

"He tried, he even sent a letter to his father but they said that they needed the man power and I suppose he could not do anything about it, you see he holds a very high position in his native lands but you see, he does not control most of everything, it is sad." She said and I wondered who this man was.

"Who is he?" I asked and she shrugged. "I don't know, but...his very handsome though, I was delighted to see such a handsome man having such a beautiful heart, it is amazing, but he is departing today at noon, I hate to see him go." She said while shaking her head.

"Might you know his name?" I asked and she shook her head. "No but I'm sure the others know, I will ask for you, and oh would you look at that we have arrived at their knights manors." She said while stopping and I looked up and I was surprised to see nothing extravagant. The manors...could they even be called a manor?

Their houses looked rather small and plain, with not that much yard space.
There weren't even any ornamental flowers to make the yard look lovely in a way. They looked sad and depressing.

"I guess they don't care much about their soldiers either, well good for them." I said while walking towards a house and placing a knock on the front door.

A young native girl opened the door looking scared and my heart broke at the sight. I knelt to her height and smiled at her and the look of fear slowly departed from her.
"Morning my lovely, does Sir Micheal reside here?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No but he resides in the last house on the street.", she spoke, her voice soft and sweet. I gazed into her eyes and kissed her cheek before whispering.

"It'll be okay, I promise you will get everything you had and more back." I said and she smiled but I could see it was not natural. "They took my family." She whispered, her voice slightly cracking.

"And we will take their lives." I whispered. I smiled at her reassuringly before standing up and walking to the last house at the end of the street. It was just as ugly and unkept as the other ones.

I placed three knocks on the door and waited patiently and a silhouette came into view before the door opened. Thema's frame came into view and I enveloped her in a tight hug feeling overjoyed at the fact that she was okay.

"Oh Thema, I hate you but I missed you so." I spoke while loosening my grip and looking up at her. "I hate you too and I didn't miss you." She said, her voice playful and I smiled. I gestured to Jenny that she could leave and she smiled before waving to me and taking off.

I could not help but notice something different about her, she seemed skinnier and I couldn't quite place what the other difference was. I gave her a confused look, demanding an answer to why she looked like a sight for soar eyes.

Her smile broke and she threw her arms around me before  sobbing hysterically into my shoulder and I stumbled back at the sudden act but regained my composure. "You'll tell me what is vexing your soul in the house alright?" I asked and I felt her nodding in my shoulder. She lifted her head and her arms loosened around me and we began walking into the house.

A strong pungent smell filled my nostrils and I gagged. "What ever is that smell." I asked and Thema's lips pressed into a thin line. I took in the environment and almost threw up the content that was in my stomach.

The place was upside down, with green and red stains all over the wall. The cabinets were broken and pieces of glass laid all over the floor. Red stains did not go unnoticed to be , on the carpet and a bit on the floor.

I gazed at Thema who was visibly shaking, her eyes brimming with tears and her breath was shaky. She took in a deep breath before taking my hand and leading me down a small corridor . My nose coiled as the smell became more pungent, a community of flies buzzed around the corridors, making it seem like something was rooting.

As we made our way deeper down the corridors, the air became thick with that ungodly smell making me feel short of breath. Apart from the smell, something else lingered in the air, something more sinister.

She opened a door and the smell hit me like a punch in the gut, making me gag  once more. I instantly closed my eyes due to the fact it seemed like the smell was pricking my eyelids. I gathered myself before opening my eyes. I gasped at the sight, unable to process what I was looking at.

"What in the world did you do Thema!?"

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