12.13.07
3: Jace’s Life
Jace had no delusions that he was free, of course. It wasn’t any kind of secret that was kept from him. More people knew him as “Prit’s boy” than by his given name, and he knew that this was not due to any imagined bond of family between them. Physically, the two could not have resembled each other any less.
Jace’s body was wiry, almost lithe, and covered with sleek gray fur. The fur was in two layers, and it kept the water out and the warmth in when he went down to the shore for an early morning swim. He had a second pair of eyelids, hidden behind the first, which were transparent and kept the salt water from his clear blue eyes. The boy was such a powerful natural swimmer that he would have felt more at home in the ocean than on land, if he’d ever given his place in life a second thought.
He fully knew that Prit had bought him off a passing sailor when he had been just old enough to retain some half-formed memories of the event and a few scattered recollections from the time before. They weren’t particularly pleasant memories, so he did not often dwell overlong upon them. Cold, dark, wet… a sensation of bouncing and tumbling. Children crying in the darkness.
Before that, bright flashes like fire. Somebody screaming.
Not pleasant memories.
Was it any wonder his life of moderate servitude seemed pleasant to him?
In the end, it wasn’t that Jace was ignorant… it was simply that his mind never made the connection between Prit’s apparent ownership of him as a person and the idea of “slavery.” That might seem strange, but consider: he was not put in fetters or locked up at night; he never put the theory to a rigorous test, but it seemed to him as though he could come and go as he pleased.
He saw slaves, from time to time, either accompanying their masters through town, being put up for auction on the rude platform in the town square, or else at work on the decks of ships in the harbor.
They were usually chained, and always unhappy. They certainly weren’t given the run of the island and they never got to take the morning off to swim. How could their lot in life possibly have anything in common with his?
Jace had seen slaves, to be sure, and never given them a second thought, much less a second glance. Still, it was the sight of a slave—one particular slave—which brought about both the awareness within him of his own state of slavery, and the eventual termination of that condition.
The slave who would prove to be the catalyst for his awakening and liberation was, in some ways, the same as the others: bound in iron and miserable. There was one important difference, however… or at least, there was one difference which struck a young man of Jace’s age and disposition as being important.
She was beautiful.
Alderin said,
December 13, 2007 at 3:33 am
First! lol
Error: “They weren’t pleasant particularly pleasant memories”
Loving it so far, and as always wishing for more at the end of each chapter.
*HUGS*
The Cloaked Stranger said,
December 13, 2007 at 8:17 am
“She was beautiful.”
Yeah, that does tend to change things.
This is only three chapters so far, and it’s made of WIN. I would find it disturbing just how engrossing I find your imagination, if not for the fact that I’ve been trying to find good writers for a few years now. And the beauty of your stuff over “traditional” writers, is that they’re constrained by mainstream expectations and the slow process of publishing.
You can write it and publish it the same day, and addict us all the faster.
TSchniede said,
December 13, 2007 at 9:24 am
Jace isn’t human!
Until today I haven’t found anything that couldn’t have been in some pseudo-historical story.
Akedhi said,
December 13, 2007 at 9:31 am
Prit isn’t human either - I don’t think anyone in the story is.
lerronatris said,
December 13, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Actually from the initial outline of this story A.E. gave I would be very surprised if ANYONE in this story was human. I seem to recall her saying something about the fact that racism doesn’t exist here simply because there is so much variation in appearance from on individual to the next.
Diabolical Furby said,
December 13, 2007 at 5:20 pm
An absolutely lovely story so far Ms. Erin. I find myself wishing there were just a few pages more at the end of each chapter. Keep up the wonderful work as I hope to see many more exquisitely crafted concoctions in the future.
meh said,
December 13, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Now that there is enough material to comment on I feel safe to say that I like this style of writing just fine.
Ada Kerman said,
December 13, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Prit was clearly not human based on the first chapter.
SamuraiLapin said,
December 14, 2007 at 4:32 am
First Time posting a comment to this wonderful person’s work!
Okies, here goes. Just a thought, sounds to me Mr Jace could be a seal
just a thought mind ….
K.C. said,
December 16, 2007 at 4:15 pm
We shall put that theroy to the test. Gathere a large beachball to balance, a trumpet to blow, a bycical horn to honk, and a Fish he may catch while preferably 6 feet above the water and going through a rubber hoop.
Silromen said,
June 27, 2008 at 11:11 am
I have to admit that I had trouble getting into this story the first time I tried it (several months ago), but now I’m interested in reading more. The different style threw me, but the little twists at the end of each chapter do well to draw one in.