A story from Higgins World…
As she walked toward the rooms she and Megal shared, Sarita heard quiet sobbing from one of the older sleeping rooms of the harem. A woman was trying hard to keep her sadness from disturbing anyone or from being noticed. Sarita tapped on the frame of the curtained entrance.
“Sera, may I come in?”
“No, go away, Sera, go away!”
“Sera, you are sad and that is not good. Please, I want to help you.”
“You cannot, Sera, no one can help me.” Sarita lifted the curtain and entered the small room. It was sparsely furnished but lit by a simple oil lamp. A small, gray-haired woman was curled on a raised sleeping platform. She raised her head when Sarita entered.
“Go away.”
Her eyes were red from crying and her face flushed. She wore the common sack dress, but it was worn and full of holes. Espie chose that moment to burp and make a soft coo of pleasure. The woman raised up and crawled off the bed.
“I know who you are. That is the child. She should not be the leader. This is not right. You will destroy us. I do not want to go out. I will be raped. I will be killed.” She crouched at Sarita’s feet. “You are the reason, Sera. You must stop this. It is evil. The Three will punish us all.”
“Sera, please, no one will hurt you. We will not allow that,” Sarita said as she bent down and stroked the bent bony back of the woman. She sat on the floor and let Espie turn in her sling. The older woman looked up, smiled and reached out to stroke Espie’s hair.
“My Evita had this hair. She was sister to the Overlord. She joined with a Leon, but she is with the ancestors.”
Sarita sat with the woman until she could sense her depression was easing. Sarita sensed she was dehydrated and had not eaten recently. Mentally, Sarita had shared what she had found with Megal and his father. Francos remembered his much older sister but was certain she was not dead. They passed the information on to Marta.
“Sera Aldonza, where have you been?” Marta arrived with two of the younger servants. She sent one to get a tray of food and the other to the clothing storage for a new dress.
“She had not been in the common for meals and we thought she had gone to her daughter’s hacienda,” Marta said to Sarita. “Tia, we didn’t know you were still here.”
“I will not leave. I remember what happens to women who go out of the harem. I am too old for this. This is wrong.” The elderly woman’s eyes filled with tears, and she began to tremble.
“Sera Aldonza, no one is going to force you to leave. Ser Francos had been clear. No one will be forced and anyone who hurts another will be punished.” Sarita said. “We are making changes, but we are a people of laws. Everyone must be protected.”
The girl returned with the tray of food and the other with a clean dress. They found a small table and helped the woman sit to eat. She was obviously very hungry.
“I won’t put on that clean dress on my dirty self. I must bathe.”
Sarita could sense that the elderly woman was feeling better, so she smiled to Marta and cradling Espie, slipped out of the room. She wondered how many other women were unhappy and depressed among the harems? Mentally, she shared her concern with Megal, and he agreed. Another thing that needed to be investigated.
***
“Marta, how is Sera Aldonza?” Sarita asked as they gathered after first meal.
“She is doing well. We contacted her daughter at Hacienda Leon, and she wants her to come. Tia Donza is frightened of going but when she saw the new covered wagons, she decided that was going to be an adventure.”
“That is more like the auntie I knew as a child,” Francos said, “I have not ridden in one yet, but it is an interesting idea. Pedro Barra said his daughter and new son-in-law came up with it. It is just a freight wagon with seats pulled by oxen. It saves fuel and even if it takes more time, it carries more than an air car.”
“Another idea born of mixing,” Megal said. “His son-in-law is a Roques, a nephew of Ser Valentino.”
“And a good use for some of those huge oxen my cousin is raising,” Sarita said.
Espie was awake and trying hard to turn around and see everyone. Marta came and took her out of the sling. She wanted to take her out to the patio because the sun was warm and the other two infants close to her age were enjoying the sun. She claimed they needed to bond because they would be in the same age group for schooling. Sarita suspected it had more to do with showing off the only grandchild with whom she had a relationship. Her two daughters rarely came to the city and her sons were with the ancestors.
“My mother says she needs sun on her skin because she is dark haired,” Sarita said. “There is something about the chemicals that make her dark, but you would have to talk to mother. Espie is trying to roll over and crawl so keep an eye on her.” Marta laughed as she gathered the baby up and went out to the open rooftop area.
