Candlelight illuminated Ruhya's face, casting a warm glow on her skin. She sat on a large bed with tapestry hanging from above.
Ruhya rubbed her eyes and let out a sigh. It had been about a day and a half since she arrived in Balbadd. It was hard to tell time from the room Peli had put her in, the windows were sealed shut and she wasn't allowed to leave.
Peli had told her that the men who lived in the building and made up what he called The Fog Troupe were dangerous. It was for her own safety that she wasn't allowed to leave the room. All her meals were brought up by Peli.
A soft knock caught Ruhya's attention. She quickly stood up and went over to the door.
"Peli, thank goodness. It was getting really lonely." Ruhya awkwardly chuckled. Peli gave her a big smile and wrapped her up in a warm hug.
"Ah, it's so good to see you. It's been a stressful day." Peli sighed as he leaned down and rested his forehead on Ruhya's shoulder.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, nothing really. Just some politics stuff my brother is concerned about. ... Also, I guess I'm a bit weary of the people around here, a lot of them don't really like me." Peli admitted.
He walked deeper into the room and closed the door behind him. He flopped down on the bed and spread his arms out. Ruhya walked over and sat next to him, she looked at him with a compassionate smile.
"Must be rough for a 16-year-old."
Peli snapped his eyes open and quickly sat up. Ruhya flinched with surprise at his sudden movements.
"I may be 16, but I am a man you know. Don't look at me like a child." Peli stated as he grabbed Ruhya's hands, an intense look in his eyes.
"Peli, I uh-"
"I've already made my feelings for you known. Now all I need to hear is your response. Please tell me you feel the same." Peli said as he looked deep into Ruhya's eyes.
Ruhya blinked in surprise and then looked away, suddenly feeling very vulnerable without her blindfold. Slowly she pulled her hands away.
"Peli, you're a very special person to me, but I don't know if our feelings are the same-"
"Shh, don't say that. You're just confused. I know we feel the same way, why else would you run away with me?"
"Wait-"
"It's okay, I know you still must be tired from the long trip. Just rest and we can talk about this later." Peli interrupted as he gently cupped Ruhya's face. His fingers felt like ice on her skin.
He stood and walked over to the door, looking back as Ruhya called for him.
"Can I go outside tomorrow?"
"No, it's dangerous out there. You're safer in here."
With that Peli walked out, shutting the door firmly behind him. Ruhya stared at the closed door, a strange feeling brewing in the pit of her stomach.
Time seemed to tick by slowly as Ruhya sat in the room alone. She paced back and forth, deep in thought.
Was Peli right? Was she actually in love with him? Why did she leave with him?
As Ruhya turned in her pacing a small flutter of movement caught her eye. She turned toward the door and saw a folded paper being quickly pushed under it. Ruhya quickly ran over and grabbed the note. She unfolded it and walked over to the candle so she could read it.
You are being deceived. The man named Peleus is not what he seems. He is dangerous.
Ruhya frowned in confusion, the note must have been slipped under by mistake. She didn't know anyone named Peleus. She carefully scanned the note, making sure she wasn't misreading anything.
Shaking her head, she folded the paper up again and stuffed it under the mattress. With a sigh she slumped down on the bed as a sudden wave of exhaustion hit her.
Ruhya closed her eyes and waited for sleep to take her.
The clinking of chains rang in Ruhya's ears as she slowly walked behind the man named Ravoi. He held her hand and gently guided her through a busy place. Strange sounds came from everywhere, there were people talking and what might be animals. Ruhya turned her head around toward the noises despite not being able to see anything through the coarse cotton blindfold over her eyes.
"Don't worry, little birdy, we're almost to the tent."
Ruhya tensed up at the man's words. Fear coursed through her veins as she began to imagine what her new owner would do to her.
Would it hurt? Sometimes she could hear her mother- no, Big Sister- scream when she was with an Uncle.
Ravoi pulled on her hand as she dragged her feet, hoping to stall going into the tent alone with him. Finally, the two entered the tent and Ravoi picked Ruhya up, setting her down on the low bed.
Ruhya pursed her lips and squeezed her eyes tightly as Ravoi fumbled with the bottom of her dress. She flinched as his warm hands touched her thin legs.
"No, wait! Please don't!" Ruhya screamed as she pushed at Ravoi's sturdy shoulders. Dark water stains appeared on her blindfold as tears flowed from her eyes. A painful hiccup racked her body as she started to cry harder.
"What's wrong? Are you in pain?" Ravoi exclaimed as he quickly backed up from the sobbing girl. He let her cry and cry, not wanting to scare her even more than he already had. Eventually Ruhya calmed down and quieted down her cries to occasional hiccups.
"I'll dance, but please- please don't make me- don't make- me..." Ruhya managed to huff out in between hiccups.
"What? Oh, no! No, sweet birdy. You don't have to worry about that. I run a circus, you can dance if you want but no man is ever going to put his hands on you. You're Ravoi's child now, I'll protect you from everything."
"P-promise?"
"I promise. Now, can I finish taking those chains off?"
Ruhya carefully stuck her hands under the blindfold and wiped her face. She sniffled a few more times before nodding her head.
Ruhya's eyes snapped open, she could feel someone's eyes on her. A chill went down her spine, the candle had gone out and the room was completely dark.
"Judar?"
Ruhya gasped as someone chuckled from the corner of the room. She pulled her legs close to her and grabbed a pillow as footsteps came closer to her.
"How strange. He claims to have your heart, yet here you are calling out the name of another man. Why is that?"
"Who are you?" Ruhya roughly asked, slightly relieved that the voice didn't seem to be male.
Ruhya turned sharply as the rough sound of a match being struck. A small flame sparked as whoever was in her room lit the candle by the bed.
A female that seemed to be her age stared down at Ruhya with green eyes. The candlelight danced over her dark skin and seemed to make her eyes shine. The strange female dragged over a wooden chair and sat down, keeping her eyes on Ruhya.
"Who are you?" Ruhya asked again.
"That's what I want to know. Who is this mysterious woman that he's brought in and locked away only to be seen by him?" The female responded with a mockingly whimsical tone and twirl of her hand.
" My name is Ruhya, and I am not locked in here. Peli says that it's dangerous outside, so it's better for me to stay in here." Ruhya said. The green-eyed female raised her eyebrows, before glancing down at a ring on her hand.
"Okay, it seems like you're telling the truth. My name's Ikala, I'm a member of the Fog Troupe."
Ruhya hummed with surprise, the girl seemed to completely change. At first, Ikala had a slightly hostile feeling to her, but now she was smiling and much more friendly.
The two girls chatted, slowly warming up to each other. Ruhya felt happy to finally have someone to talk to. She didn't realize how lonely she had been until Ikala had shown up.
"Hey, who's Judar? Why did you call out his name earlier?" Ikala asked. Ruhya blinked with surprise before nervously rubbing the back of her neck.
"Umm, it's kind of complicated, I'm not sure how to explain it. We're friends, or at least we used to be. I found out that he did some bad things to people very close to me. I thought he had changed, but I guess I was wrong."
"From the way you're reacting, I think you two might've been closer than friends. After all, he was the first one you called out for when I snuck up on you. But what about Peli? He claims that there's something between you two."
"He says that we're in love, but-"
"But? Do you feel the same? Are you actually in love with him?" Ikala asked. Ruhya frowned, taking a few moments to think before responding.
"No. Peli is a special person to me, but I'm not in love with him."
Ikala smiled, before sharply turning her head toward the door. Her smile turned into a frown as she strained her ears to hear any approaching footsteps.
"I should go. I'm not actually supposed to be in here." Ikala said as she got up and hurried over to the door.
"Wait-"
"I really have to go, but I'll come back later." Ikala opened the door and slunk out, "Hey Ruhya, it's nice to have another girl around. It's a real sausage feast here."
Ruhya laughed as Ikala shut the door and disappeared. She laid back down on the bed, her thoughts wandering back to a certain black-haired man with ruby eyes.
The dark-skinned woman named Ikala quickly walked down the steps from the upper floor, hoping nobody had seen her coming out of Ruhya's room. She combed her fingers through her curly hair, pulling at a small tangle that had formed.
"Ikala? Where are you?" A husky voice called. Ikala smiled and followed the voice to the main room where most of the troupe would be eating dinner.
"Smells good, what's for dinner?" Ikala said as she walked into the main room. She didn't look at any of the other men sitting around low set tables, instead she walked directly to the main table were only a few men sat.
"It's not much, but it tastes good." Alibaba, the leader of the Fog Troupe, admitted as he scraped at his plate.
"Where have you been?" Asked a purple-haired man sitting next to Alibaba. Ikala walked behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"Oh, here and there. You know how I am Cassim." Ikala said evasively. Cassim grunted before bringing a thick cigar up to his lips. Ikala plucked the cigar from his fingers and took a quick puff before returning it. The smoke curled from her full lips as she slowly exhaled.
"Ugh, do you have to do that shit inside?" Complained a blonde male as he waved the smoke away. Cassim raised an eyebrow and took a long drag.
"Oh please, don't try to act like you're better than us, Peleus." Ikala snapped as she narrowed her eyes.
"You said it, not me." The blonde named Peleus said as he raised his cup to take a drink. The plates clattered as Ikala grabbed a dagger from her belt and slammed the point into the table. Her movements were almost too quick to follow but Peleus didn't flinch from her obvious threat.
"Don't think that I won't cut you. I've been hearing rumors around, what kind of person refers to themself as Boss? You're just a coward who likes to pick on the weak. Pathetic." Ikala spat out, her grip on the dagger tightening as her temper spiked. Peleus harshly stood up, his eyes ablaze with anger.
"Shut up, you fucking bitch."
"Want to know something else? I've heard the dancer you spent so much of our time and resources to kidnap has feelings for another. Oh, was I supposed to say that? Uh oh." Ikala said venomously with fake pity. She easily dodged as Peleus lunged for her from across the table. His fists landed heavily on the table as he growled in anger.
"Both of you, cut it out!" Alibaba shouted as he pulled out his dagger, pointing it at both Ikala and Peleus.
"Cassim, control your bitch." Peleus spat as he glared at Ikala. She stuck up both of her middle fingers in response.
"Enough! Ikala, stand down. Don't provoke him anymore. And Peleus, you should watch your tongue and your fists, they might just get you a knife to the throat." Cassim growled as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. Peleus scowled and stormed out of the room. Alibaba sighed before fallowing him.
Ikala growled and angrily yanked her dagger from the dagger, sheathing it as she plopped down onto a seat next to Cassim. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.
"Don't worry about him. Alibaba may let him do whatever he wants, but he knows I won't. I don't have time for lovesick brats."
"Just me, right?" Ikala asked with a sly smile.
"Yeah, just you." Cassim responded with a crooked smile.
Hello, Panama here! How are you liking the story so far?
Boss's real name has finally been revealed, as well as a new friend for Ruhya. First impressions about Ikala? This definitely won't be the last of her, so I hope you like her.
I'm excited about the next few chapters, hopefully I'll have the next one ready before Christmas break is over.