1.
Sixteen Years of Confinement
Nami leaned against the spotless window pane, gazing outside at the immaculate and beautiful garden, full of flowers which were organized into designs which were created by spending hours of intensive thinking, planning, and concentration, followed by hours of sweat and perseverance taken into planting them. She sighed and let her eyes flit from one flower bed to the next. To an outsider the garden would look beautiful and breathtaking, but to Nami it was boring and confining to her eyes for the sight of the garden never allowed her to forget where she was; in a mansion, filled with servants and maids, endless stairs and huge chandeliers.
Her only moments of imaginative peace were when her eyes were closed, but they would always be interrupted by the bustle of activity constantly going on in the huge castle-like house, gentlemen and businessman almost always occupied the house to meet and hold conferences with her father, an important lawyer who almost never had time for his only daughter.
“Ms. Elswooth.” Said a calm voice. Nami turned her head towards the voice and saw her personal maid standing in the doorway of her room.
“Helena!” She whined. “How many times do I have to ask you not to call me that? It makes me feel like an old hag.” She grumbled. The maid walked in and bowed her head the slightest bit.
“Ms. Elswooth.” She said meaningfully with the slightest bit of strain in her voice.
“What I do, I do for you. You must have gotten used to it by now.” She hurried over to Nami’s red gold-laced wardrobe and singled out a well pressed white blouse, matched with a pair of grey pants from the jumble of frilled and puffed dresses. Simple and not too fancy was how Nami liked it, and her maid knew it. Helena had been her maid ever since she was little. She knew what she liked and what she disliked and she would constantly take care of her schedule, which she was almost always oblivious to and at the ripe old age of forty, Helena was almost like Nami’s mother, whom she regrettably never knew. Her father told her that she disappeared when she went on a trip to the mountains and he never saw her again and news of her mother never came back. Search teams had been sent out to look for her but they came back with empty hands and no news.
“It’s time for you to go out on your daily ride.” She said, placing the clothes on her bed while smoothing the covers out at the same time. Nami slid her feet off the window seat and stood up. She thanked Helena and went towards the bed. Her bed was a simple bed unlike the many others in the house. She had gotten the better of her father and convinced him to buy her a plain wooden bed instead of a fancy four poster bed made of purple velvet and cherry oak bed frames which he had wanted to get her. She pulled her gown over her head and let it drop on the floor, which her maid swiped up off the ground the minute it fell and held it in her hand to take it to the laundry later. Nami then quickly slipped into her clothes.
At sixteen, Nami was quite tall. She was the tallest one of all her friends. She had inherited bluish green eyes from her father but otherwise everything else was like her mother. She knew because they had a painting of her when she had lived with them. She was holding a tiny baby which was Nami with her father standing next to him, with his arm around her mother’s shoulders. Nami had auburn hair and high cheekbones with a large smile, but thin lips. Her hair was long and straight but with the slightest hint of curls at the bottom.
“You’re lunch will be ready when you come back.” Helena asked.
“Alright. I’ll probably take a while so don’t make it too early.” Leaving her room and going towards the front door took her at least two minutes for it included walking at least two flights of hand-carved-special-made-stairs, three hallways full of portraits and plants in glass vases, then proceeding through a living room full of wooden benches with velvet covers and cushions and paintings which were designed exquisitely for them. And this was all if she was going at a run, which her father deeply disapproved of for a girl at the age of sixteen, the age of becoming a lady, to be running through the house, but disregarding her father had become a nonchalant hobby.
Nami bashed through the front door, running all the way to the stables which were right next to her mansion-like home. The stables held five horses, all specially bred and kept in top shape by a handful of groomers. The stable itself could house a maximum of ten horses with enough space to house a foal in each stall along with the horse. As it was always being swept clean and taken care of, the stable was the grandest in the county. The walls were a soft red with white pillars. The smell was not of horses, but of fresh hay, and the horses themselves were of peak performance and descended from only the best of the bloodline.
When she arrived at the stables her bay stallion was already all tacked up and waiting for her by the entrance of the stable. The large and glossy horse greeted her with knickers and snorts. She gave him a large kiss on the nose and patted his neck. After untying him she jumped up onto his back and led him away from her house towards the road which was lined with green trees, planted their for privacy. Nami gave her horse a gentle squeeze and he took off. They galloped off from the house towards a large meadow which was some ways away from her house.
Their house was in an almost rural area of Stronghold. It was surrounded by forests and lush green plains and their closest neighbors were five minutes away by horse. Not many travelers came by their house but when they did they stared at the great white mansion in awe which only intensified the feeling of being a fish in a somewhat minimally spaced bowl.
Nami hated the way she lived her life. When she was young she was oblivious to all that she was missing out on. She had acted like all the others, wanting her first pony, the best pink dresses, hosting the best garden tea parties and being able to throw her clothes around when she goes out but having them all in their original places when she gets back. The age of fourteen was the turning point in her life for her. It was the age where she realized everything she had been missing out on and all the useless and worthless things she had been indulging and wasting her time on for the past thirteen years. She came to realize how childish she had acted and how childish she had continued to act even when she should have grown some sense.
At the age of fourteen she would walk around and she would be shocked at the sight of full grown women eyeballing men who had no interest in them whatsoever. It was the age when she came to hate a lot of things and want many things which were the complete opposite of what she once desired. She hated her dad’s job and she hated the gentlemen who always kept him up. She hated the white washed walls for being so darn clean and she hated the giant windows for being so clear and spotless, the small amount of friends she had for all leading the same boring life as she was which they actually enjoyed and acted so immature whenever they were in the sight of boys. She hated how they could never agree on the aspect of something and how they all enjoyed different things which was a large contribution to the fact that she had almost no friends. She hated the garden which her room had a bird’s eye view of for being so perfect and organized and she hated all the parties that she was forced to attend in puffy and uncomfortably tight dresses, the extremely good tasting food that the cooks made which is now only like dust to her taste buds, and she hated how everyone was always so polite to her. She wished that for once, just once, one of the maids would come and scream at her for being so messy and untidy, for being so reckless and breaking things all the time. No matter how hard she tried at being rude and vulgar, the maids would never even raise their voice a note higher or change their expression the slightest bit, but her efforts had soon died away at a young age leaving a completely boring personality-less girl who was always kept holed up in a prison of polite people and rules of fashion and boundaries of unruliness which only exceeded up to slouching at the table or lying spread eagled on the floor. Her want for other things had slowly died away as well and she had surrendered to the processes of everyday life.
What she wanted were things she had never had the chance to experience. She wanted to learn how to wax the floors, do the laundry, know which fruits are the ones to buy and which ones to avoid, and learn how to cook. She wanted to learn how to grow her own food supply, clean her own home, tack her own horse, and how to make clothes of her own. She wanted to learn how to play games which children younger than her of the village would play everyday. She wanted to have neighbors to go to when she was in trouble. She wanted to learn how to do so many things which she was so utterly deprived of.
Her only escape would be going into the nearby villages which her father always restricted her to do, but since there was nobody to watch over her she felt free to do it. But even within these villages, surrounded by complete strangers who cleaned their own houses, made their own food, went and did their own shopping, memoirs of her house never eluded her. Her clothes for one, stood out amongst all the other workers and children, her horse which was so different from all the others for her horse was glossy clean and muscular from nutritious food and lots of exercise. And the fact that all these people were constantly doing things which she never learned to do, games she never learned to play.
There was only one friend whom she had discovered who could lift her depression and makes her forget who she was, where she came from, and be able to treat her like a regular commoner. Except for a few times when he liked to joke about it. This was the person whom she would always come and meet when she came out on her daily rides. The friend’s name was Thomas. She had met him while she was riding her stallion through the meadows. He had been lying on the ground and staring up at the sky when her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to ask him what he was doing.
As Nami raced through the pebbly road and the sound of the horseshoes clopped across the ground, she closed her eyes and let her stallion lead her for he knew where to go. The wind pressed her clothes tightly onto her body and the speed and power of the horse which she was astride was exhilarating. She had to admit though that this was one of the upsides of being part of a rich family, she got to have her own time like this on a horse which was one of the best in Stronghold. They galloped off the road and into the endless expanse of green meadows. Small pansy flowers in various hues of red and yellow dotted small grass hedges like spots and clouds scattered across the endless expanse of blue sky. The heart-throbbing sound of the village clock carried by the wind could be heard in the distance. It was the forever ringing chime to remind everyone of days gone past and moments which never lasted.
She finally slowed her spirited stallion down and stopped. While dismounting she noticed something up in a tree and to no surprise she recognized it as Thomas. She waved wildly to him and he waved back enthusiastically. He dropped from the tree with a plunk and came towards her. Nami did so as well after she had tied her stallion up to a tree to allow him free grazing. At the age of nineteen and black hair with a wide smile, Thomas was one of the best looking in all of Stronghold. There were many superstitions passing through the ears of people who thought that he was spending time with a rich girl’s daughter perhaps to be able to marry her and then inherit the money when so many other girls of the town favored him, but Nami knew better than to trust rumors such as that.
“Nami!” He cried out after giving her a hug which she returned gladly. “How have you been?”
“As good as could be expected. I take it that you’re doing good right?” Thomas nodded. They sat down on the grass.
“The shop has been doing better than ever. Here, I brought you some.” He said as he handed her a roll of sweet bread which was one of Nami’s favorites.
“Thanks!” She bit off pieces of the bread slowly. “So anything new?”
“Not much really, Nami I’m going on a trip to Rovenhold to expand our shop, I’m supposed to go alone but that’s no fun, so I was wondering if you would want to come with me. Interested?”
“Yes!” Name beamed, almost jumping on him. “I would love to!”
“Great.” Thomas smiled back. “I’m leaving next month. The trip will take a week at the latest. But how are you going to convince your dad to let you go with me?”
“Oh that’s easy.” She grinned. “He doesn’t much pay attention to me so going will be no problem. I’ll just tell him that I’m needed in Rovenhold because of an old childhood friend. And I won’t tell him about the length of time which I will be gone.”
“You sure it’ll work?” He asked uncertainly.
“Of course it will. He’s always busy with other things all the time anyways.” Her smile turned into a scowl when she mentioned her father’s negligence of her. Thomas patted her on the back to comfort her.
“I’m sorry Nami.” He said quietly. She sighed loudly.
“About what? You have nothing to be sorry about.” She lied down on the grass and folded her hands on top of her stomach. Thomas did the same. Nothing was said for awhile. All that could be heard were the chitter chatter of a nest of nearby raccoons. These were her few moments of peace, where she could imagine herself as anybody in the world.
“Thomas?”
“Hmm?” He replied sleepily.
“Do you think that they’re really people who travel the world and go on adventures?”
“Not many I think… but I’m sure they’re a few who would do so.”
“Do you think I could?”
“What?” He asked turning to her. “As in run away?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged.
“Well… If you’re planning on running away, please come visit me.” He said in a careless tone. Nami laughed.
“Well then, if I do run away going on wild adventures then I’m not sure whether I will have time to visit you!” She grinned.
“Ha! You have to. You don’t have a choice.” He said back.
“That’s what you think.” They heard the clatter of steel horse shoes running up the road. Both sat up to see who it was. They could see the road from here for it was right in front of them. Nami spotted a woman that looked peculiarly like her maid on horseback, riding at an incredibly fast speed. She watched with amusement at the small woman on horseback, but then realized with a shock that it was her maid. When she spotted them she turned her horse into the meadow. By now Thomas had realized that Helena was coming and he stood up. Nami stood up as well. The image of Helena came closer and Nami saw lines of worry creasing the usually gentle face.
“Nami!” She yelled. She stopped the horse next to them who was jumpy with excitement.
“What is it?” Nami asked coming towards her.
“You’re father knows, he’s extremely angry. He said that he’s going to send some of his people over so I got here first. We must make haste and return to the mansion before his men even start saddling up!”
“What?! What does he know?” Nami asked, starting to panic.
“The boy! Thomas! He knows about Thomas!” Helena was the only maid who knew that Nami was spending her mornings with Thomas. She was the only one who Nami could entrust her secrets to and Helena kept the secret safe. Nami knew how much her father hated her spending time with commoners, especially boys for he was always trying to match her up with rich gentlemen.
“How?” Nami asked shocked.
“I don’t know dear but we must hurry!”
“Thomas!” She said turning to him. “I have to go! I don’t think I’ll be able to meet you again anytime soon!” She gave him one last hug and said, “I’ll keep your offer in mind!” She yelled as she ran towards her horse, quickly untying him and mounting him.
“What offer?” Helena asked confused. “Nami talk to me.” She said anxiously.
“I’ll explain later.” Nami said as she turned her surprised horse around and dug her heels into his side and the horse reared up slightly before galloping off with Helena quickly behind her, leaving a dumbstruck Thomas watching them go before he realized what was going on and sped off to his house.
Nami and Helena made record breaking time and had unsaddled their horses in almost no time at all at the stables. And to her respite she saw her father’s men just beginning to saddle up their horses. She sighed in relief and let her groom take the two horses. Helena quickly ducked out of sight and ran up top the house. When her father’s men saw her they looked at her quizzically before one of them finally came up to her and asked her where she had been.
“I was on my daily ride.” She said as if it was obvious.
“Ms. Elswooth, er, may I ask why you brought two horses in?”
“What?” Nami asked looking confused. She looked at her horse and sure enough the groom was handling two of them. She quickly thought of an explanation. “That horse? I don’t know that horse. Must be someone else’s.” She dusted her pants off before saying, “Well, please excuse me, I must go now.” She tried to still her furiously beating heart but she wasn’t able to until she was a good ten meters away from the men, who slowly walked back to the house as well still muttering to themselves, no doubt to inform her father of her daughter’s presence.
