The Song of Gaál - Two

*** Warning ***

Sensitive situations

Violence; Nudity;

Hard R Rating

Please do not read if you are easily disturbed.

(All characters, places and events reside solely in my imagination.)

*****

The Song of Gaál

…....... Two ….......

Malika Katarina Tolvaj, the Mistress of Castle Sotete, adored her boy.  She was enamoured with Cassava's olive coloured skin and dark, dark eyes, so unlike Levente.  She doted on the boy and kept him near her always.  

Cassava had little interaction with the household of the castle.  He rarely saw the other children and remained with Malika from dawn to dawn, each and every day, not allowed his own space or bed.  Only when Levente visited her chambers would Cassava be allowed to rest on the bench in the anteroom, but he was told to stay there, never to leave the small room just outside Malika's chambers.

Malika smothered Cassava's body in lotions and creams, pinching and prodding with her long, thin fingers as often as she desired.  When she pinched a bit too strongly or rubbed a bit too vigorously, she quickly apologised to her boy with a smile.  While Malika's smile was said to be angelic and innocent, bringing peace to the room, for Cassava, Malika's smile forced bile to climb in his throat where it burned and made his eyes water.  The smile she wore when she bade him wash her in the bath forged ice at the bottom of his gut.  The smile she wore when she bathed Cassava left his mind numb with despair.  Cassava learned quickly to obey Mistress' commands, or suffer the punishment.

As a five year old, a six year old, a seven year old, Cassava obeyed.  During the three years, Malika's hold on him relaxed slightly, allowing him time to visit the stable, sit in the kitchen to supper with the castle staff, or sit alone to read a book.  Levente glowered at Cassava whenever he saw him.  Although there was a modicum of freedom, Cassava was not allowed, ever, to leave the castle grounds.

   

In Cassava's eighth year, marking his third year at the castle, his life changed. Cassava found a scrawny cat huddled on the stoop outside the scullery. With the cat under his shirt and his arms wrapped around himself to contain and hide the cat, he stole downstairs to the cellars. 

Cassava knew of the storage area in the cellar and that Master and Mistress did not venture to the room. The room was full of dust covered trunks, broken pottery and cobwebs, he doubted anyone remembered the room was there. Cassava piled rags to create a warm place for the cat to stay. He supplied it with water to drink and scraps to eat and he assured it that it could have as many mice as it could catch. Cassava would steal away from Mistress at times and visit the cat, petting and hugging his feline friend and letting the cat chase his fingertips along the floor.  

During one of his trips to the cellar room, Cassava found the kitchen girl, Beata, peeking into the room where the cat stayed. Cassava walked silently closer to Beata. Once he reached her and could stretch out a hand to touch her, he asked in a low voice what she was doing. Having not heard Cassava's approach, Beata squealed and spun around, looking at Cassava with wide, frightened eyes. Cassava placed his hand over Beata's mouth, motioning her quiet with his other hand.   

He listened raptly for three heartbeats... four....five... and hearing no sounds other than Beata's rapid breaths and the cat shuffling on the bed of rags, Cassava repeated his question. The shy little blonde girl told him in a whisper that she was sent on an errand by Ursula, the housemaid, to bring back bedding for a guest. With her blue eyes twinkling and her cheeks flushed, Beata told Cassava that she heard mewling and discovered the cat behind the closed door. 


Beata quickly promised to keep the cat a secret between herself and Cassava. In the following weeks, Cassava encounters Beata in the cellar when he can leave Malika's side. They talk quietly when they meet and share their laps with the cat.