At war

[shadowoftheheart]

Sara smiled. She hoped the Queen gave them permission to keep studying. She liked being with Ken. She felt like she was with an equal. The Queen said she wanted to respect her, treat her well, but she was still the queen, and she had to remain in control of Sara. Ken, he was not required to act to Sara in any given way: He could feel how he wanted about her.

"Weeks? Oh, I hope the Queen won't mind. I know it won't bother me, to study with you for weeks."

Her face reddened, and she quickly looked away from Ken, to look at drawings of many beautiful dresses.

 

[Kensuke]

"It wouldn't bother me either." Ken smiled.

He turned the page and saw a red dress. He pointed at it. "That would look good on you, don't you think?"

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"That is pretty. Oh, yes I think it would be lovely."

She smiled, looked up at Ken, and then felt heat return to her face. Her smile faded, and she turned back down to the catalog.

"Um.. that one looks nice too...."

It was the same style of dress, but colored blue.

 

[Kensuke]

"Yeah it is." Ken said, smiling, and looking at Sara. "I'd love to see you in that." He said.

He turned the page.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"That one!"

She pointed at a lovely dress that, in the painted illustration, was green with yellow trim. It was cut similar to the other dresses, but had more ruffle. It was also made of silk, and quite expensive. She didn't understand numbers any better than letters, so the printing below the illustration meant nothing to her.

"I want that one."

 

[Kensuke]

Ken looked over at it. "It's beautiful." He said. He looked down at the price. It was expensive... But the queen was buying this. This was 15 gold pieces. To the queen, it would be a single copper piece in a Merchant's hand.

I took an inked feather on the table and a paper. I wrote down the name of the dress and the price. "Now, let's look for the others."

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"Okay. I guess that's a fancy-dress? Umm, so I need one more comfortable. Oh, and she said to find some work dresses too. Well, she said to find that for the other slaves, and I don't think I'm gonna be immune to working."

She looked up at Ken, amazed as he made symbols on the parchment, so easily. To her, it looked like magic, as he made the same symbols she had seen in the catalog.

 

[Kensuke]

He looked at Sara watching him write, and he smiled gently at her. "Pretty soon, you'll be able to do this as well." He said.

"Choose the next one, and we'll see if you can write down the next one." He said, smiling.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Her eyes went wide.

"Um.. okay..."

She nervously flipped through the catalog, looking for a simple, casual dress. It took a few minutes, but she found a big page with plain dresses not unlike the one she was wearing now.

"That one, and that one."

They were long-sleeved tunic dresses, one was red cotton, the other blue cotton. They would be nice to wear around the castle when she didn't have to work, or look really nice.

 

[Kensuke]

"Alright." Ken said. He brought the parchment and the feather in front of her. He took her left hand, and helped her hold the feather.

"Hold it." He put it in her hand. "Like that." His hand was over her own. "Now, try to copy the symbols under the images."

 

[therufus]

His kiss was gentle, yet still burned her lips. Her whole body was shaking in his arms."...welcome" she whispered not sure he even heard her.

He felt the need to kiss her again...so he did. This time his lips lingered on hers.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"Alright." Ken said. He brought the parchment and the feather in front of her. He took her left hand, and helped her hold the feather.

"Hold it." He put it in her hand. "Like that." His hand was over her own. "Now, try to copy the symbols under the images."

She quietly gasped at the touch of his hand, and her breathing deepend. She focused on how he set her hand, how he was telling her to hold the feather.

She looked into Ken's eyes for a moment, with a thin but uncomfortable smile.

"I .. will try. But I don't really know what symbols to copy."

She looked back at the picture.

c -- u -- t -- t -- t -- u -- n -- d -- r -- a -- s -- s -- r -- a -- o -- 2 -- g -- p

She lifted the feather. Her symbols were scrawls, scratchy, and she now saw some of them looked very different from the ones on the page.

She frowned. She had no idea what she had written, if it was right, or anything else.

"Ken ... I don't think ... I don't think I can write yet. I don't know what I am writing. I don't know what I just put on the paper. Did I do it right?"

She liked the feeling of his hand, still on hers. She liked being near him. But, she didn't like this feeling of inadequacy. How could she write without knowing how to read? It didn't make any sense, and she was sure it was her fault.

 

[Kensuke]

"I just wanted to try something. You'll need some work before writing. If the queen allows me to, I will borrow some books from here to help you read. We'll of course start with identifying each symbol." He said, giving the same gentle smile.

"For now, let's finish our given task." He said, correcting her writing on the parchment.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"Okay," she said uncertainly.

She watched him correct what she wrote, and her face burned red again. She made so many mistakes. She wondered how she'd be able to learn anything.

"Don't forget that one," she said pointing to the blue one.

She shifted uneasily in her seat.

 

[Kensuke]

"Alright." He wrote down the other. Ken noticed Sara's face turning red. "Don't be ashamed Sara." He said.

"Alot of people are unable to read and write. I'm here to help. You'll be reading whole novels in no time. Alright?"

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"I guess so...."

She smiled lightly, but felt a little better.

"I guess we should find work clothes right? Um.. I thought I saw some in the back of the catalog."

She flipped until she found them. They looked very plain and simple, and looked like they would be easy to move around in. She saw that both men's and women's outfits were on the same pages, next to one another. Each pair had on clothes that were similar, just with skirts for the women and pants for the men.

 

[Kensuke]

He wrote down the pair on the parchement. The amount of them needed would be written later. "Is that all we need?" Ken asked, seemingly eager to start teaching Sara.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"Umm.. for now. Well, I guess you should find nice things for you. I guess those work clothes will be good for all the slaves? Umm.. but she said every slave should have some nice things, and casual clothes. Oh ... she said I should pick out some makeup, and things for me to make me pretty ...."

She blushed. She wanted to look pretty for the Queen, but knew nothing about makeup. She had never worn any, and didn't know how to wear it.

 

[Kensuke]

"If I can borrow the books, I can ask at the slave quarters tonight." Ken said.

"Unfortunetly, I know nothing about make-up. But you seem pretty as you are." He said. Quickly, he turned and faced the other way with nervousness.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

She blushed lightly at Ken's words.

"Um... sure. You can ... borrow them. Umm... I guess ... we can start ... with the lessons."

 

[Kensuke]

Taking a new parchment in front of Sara, he wrote down each symbol alphabetical and numeral in front of her, while stating what it is, and how each is supposed to sound.

"And so, a word would obviously be a combination of several alphabetical symbols. Got it so far?"

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"Umm.. I think so. But ... there are so many. It will .. take some time to memorize them all..."

She looked over at Ken again. She was able to keep her eyes on him without blushing, and smiled softly.

 

[Kensuke]

"Don't worry. I'll help you the whole way." He said, smiling, with his eyes still on the parchment.

"Of course, you'll have to learn the symbols. Keep this parchment, and look over it when you can. Ok?"

 

[shadowoftheheart]

She looked back to the parchment.

"Okay Ken. And ... thank you."

She paused a moment, then without entirely thinking it through, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek."

She blushed deeply after that, and shifted uncomfortably.

 

[Kensuke]

"Any..." His hand touched his cheek. "...Time." He said, smiling.

"Let's go show the queen the things we picked out, alright?"