The Moon Dancer

Chapter 4

Ruhya laid in her bed. Her eyes still stung from the night before, so she didn't want to leave the cool darkness of her tent. It had been a long time since her eyes had been exposed to direct light, so the pain seemed to be lingering longer than it usually did.

Making sure her blindfold was on tight, Ruhya finally exited her tent. The morning sunshine warmed her skin and gave her a new sense of happiness. Sunlight hurt her eyes more than anything, but she still loved to feel the warmth on her skin.

Despite it already being noon, the campsite was unusually quiet. Most likely the members were sleeping off their hangovers. Empty bottles of alcohol lay scattered around the dining tables, the remnants of a celebratory party. No doubt that Ruhya would be the only one up for a while.

The clanging of iron chains followed Ruhya as she walked around the camp. The chains around her ankles had been her constant companions for years, and soon she would never have to see them again. Her heart leaped with joy as she imagined being able to walk around without them and not having to deal with the disdain most people looked at her with because she belonged to another person. 

Ruhya stopped walking. She wasn't quite sure where she was. The usual sounds from the camp were her markers; if there were the roars of lions then she was by the south edge of the camp, loud laughter and talking usually meant she was by the dining area, music meant she was by the musician tents in the back of the camp, and swinging chimes meant she was by her tent in the center of the camp. However, there was no noise at all. It seemed like the entire camp was asleep. A small amount of panic crept up her spine. Even though she was constantly blindfolded, Ruhya never really felt like she was unable to see. Her ears and hands acted as her eyes, but now she was completely blind.

Ruhya's breathing quickened and her palms became sweaty. There was only one option for her to take. She would have to take off her blindfold and open her eyes in the sunlight. The mere thought of exposing her eyes to sunlight brought a tingling in the back of her eyes. With a hesitant sigh, Ruhya reached up and tugged at her blindfold. She braced herself for burning pain as a slight breeze shifted her hair.

There was a slight chime to the left of Ruhya and her hands froze. She strained her ears to hear the soft sounds of the chime by her tent. Once again the breeze tickled by and the chimes rang, giving Ruhya a sense of where she was. She sighed with relief and made her way back to her tent.   

Ruhya sat down on her bed unsure of what to do when she heard a loud rumbling noise. She also heard the sound of horses approaching. Quickly she stood up and tripped over her chains. Ruhya landed on the ground with a thud.

"Ow, stupid chains."

Slowly Ruhya picked herself up and walked over to the sound of the horses. It had been a few hours since Ravoi left, but Ruhya hadn't expected him to return until even later. She figured the legal process would take a while, and then Ravoi would probably do some shopping for odd trinkets like he always did. Something didn't quite seem right, but Ruhya ignored the feeling in her gut and continued to walk towards the noise.

Ruhya coughed as a cloud of dust hit her face. Something was definitely wrong, Ravoi would not arrive with a whole entourage of horses. 

"Ravoi, is that you?" Ruhya called out.

There was shuffling of feet, and Ruhya could distinguish that there were about 4 people. More dust was kicked up and Ruhya began to get worried. She quickly turned and bumped into a soft stomach. Familiar hands grabbed Ruhya and she relaxed. Ravoi had her, she was safe.

"Ravoi, thank goodness you came back. Everyone is asleep, and these strangers came. I have to admit I was kinda freaking out." Ruhya said as she grabbed onto Ravoi's shoulders.