"Not her..Please not her!, she is only 7" her mothers screams kept ringing in her head the whole night.
"She will become a beauty, worth waiting for" the shrill laughter of men made her shrink into the corner.
"No, sari..." her mothers cries were muffled by two men, holding her tight on the cold ground. The anger burned her deep and in a moment of fit she reached for the burning rod that her mother kept in the fireplace to flip the bread, but all she found was cold floor.
"Ah.." her blistered hand scrap over rusted wall, she is still stuck inside two by eight cellar since yesterday, her punishment for not cleaning the bathrooms of Grover's main hall on Thursday, not to mention it was him who put her on Shasha's guard duty, which means she came late night when he was sleeping like a pig. But everyone in Pandora mist knows well of reminding him of his mistake, it would make matters worse, it's better to take the first punishment coming on the way.
The loud screech of the cellar door made her wince, as bright light entered, she covered her eyes to adjust her view, a dirty, worn blanket thrown on her face.
"Get up and come out before Grover comes back" Erich's voice came dragging behind the door as he closed it as soon as it was opened. Right! He knew I don't have a single piece of clothing on me, as grover enjoys snatching girls' clothes on every excuse of punishment he throws on them. Practically leaving them naked!...but such shame doesn't survive under the pressure of life.
Staying for the whole day under burning sun and then whole night in a chilly wind inside the metal cellar makes it harsher than anyone can imagine. By now her body was already burning in fever, better not waste any extra time here. She covered herself swiftly as she has experienced this thousands of times before. Knocking on the door, which barely lies four feet over her head, she lifted one hand for Erich to pull her out.
"Drink it, and get in, or we'll be late "handing her the warm pitcher, he just turned and left. We are all the same when it comes to affection, they never received enough to spare any.
She leaned back on cellar for a moment before drinking the warm soup. Erich, Allen, Ruby, Pamela and she have been together for almost ten years and even after such a long time, she can't exactly call them her friends... as time can betray them at any moment. Being emotional would only hurt more.
Still they are the closest to a family she has got.
Slowly she crossed the yard breathing in the soothing morning sun, another day has passed, another day has begun, and she's still far from her goal.
"Ruby it's my turn.." Allen shouted.
"I told Erich already, I'm next" Ruby replied calmly, her patience was remarkable as ever.
"No one is going in till Daria changes herself" Erich announced Daria's arrival in silence.
Giving her a glance, slowly everyone turned away and started doing something.. just to get themselves busy, a silent support and privacy, given beneath the shared roof. And she was extremely glad for the absence of all pitiful eyes. As in such situations, this is the moment she hated most.
We've all seen our fair share of punishments from time to time and we tried our best to make it easy for each other, but when one has barely eaten in days, a smile doesn't come to the face that easily and other's pain becomes dull compared to their own. Though time has changed and we can at least support each other to some extent, still...this is just enough.
After cleaning up, she changed herself in her usual knight's uniform.
Yes! Knights, they are called Dark knights, but their work is nowhere near noble. The name was given only because of the type of jobs required to be done in the dark. Though it's still allowed by authorities or precisely done for the authorities on their demand, hence the word Knight. Their lower quality uniform is the proof of their mocking profession, brown worn out leather, most probably second hand or made by thrown away material, in contrast to those dashing polished leather costumes, royal knights wore. She is still thankful for the job, it's much better than other options available for the orphan girls in the kingdom.
Her burned back and blistered hands protested the rough fabric of gloves and poking metal of the armor, another drawback of harsh cellar punishment. Not wanting to push herself any further she decided to leave both of them.
They all left to follow the tavern girl carriage to the Hatt market.