The Accidental Slave (Aya's story Part 1) (17 page)

Aya followed him. “Kato.”

He stopped and turned.

“Would you mind if I save the dress for tomorrow
and sleep in one of your t-shirts?”

He looked away. “Suit yourself… you know where
they are.”

Aya wanted to ask him what his problem was but
she was tired and upset.

“What?” he asked

“Nothing… are you coming to bed?”

“In a while,” he answered and turned away.

Aya went to his room and picked out a clean
t-shirt; this one was gray and bore a company logo. She climbed
into bed and found that she missed the comfort of lying close to
him. She wondered what he was doing in the living room. There was
no TV or radio and from what she could see, no books of interest.
The only plausible explanation would be that he wanted to avoid
her.

Aya didn’t know how long she had been sleeping
when gunshots woke her up. They were far away and Kato was already
awake. He sat quietly against the wall watching her with big eyes.
“It’s okay. They’re not close to us,” Kato comforted her, but she
could see fright and sadness in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.

He didn’t answer but just sat there with a heavy
head. Clearly a year in a war had given him scars not only
physically but emotionally too. Aya felt herself reach for him. She
was a nurse and it was her natural instinct to care for someone in
pain. “Come,” she said, and despite his initial resistance he
allowed her to pull him into her arms. Aya started humming to block
out the distant shootings, and then she kissed him soothingly on
the top of his head like she imagined his mother once did when he
was a young boy. She could feel him relaxing and after a while the
shooting could no longer be heard.

“Thank you” he whispered but he didn’t move
away. She kept humming until his breathing became heavy and she was
sure he was sleeping.

Aya

The next day Kato woke Aya up. He was already
dressed and had made her a cup of tea.

“Do you have to go?” she asked, dreading one
more day boxed up in this sad place with nothing for her to do all
day.
Except read the last two letters
, her inner voice
reminded her, and she blushed with shame.

“I have to get to the headquarters. I’m expected
there,” Kato answered with a shrug.

Aya felt desperate. He was her only link to the
outside world. She put down her tea and moved closer to him,
touching his arm. “Kato, please help me get home. Please.” Her eyes
were begging.

Kato frowned but he didn’t get mad, as she had
feared he would.

“It’s not that simple, Aya,” he said slowly.

“I know they will punish you, but we could go
together. Don’t you miss England? You don’t belong here, Kato.
Please…”

“The Masi fighters kill anyone who tries to
escape. Both slaves and warriors. Even if we got away from them we
would need money and false ID papers to get out of the
country.”

Aya was bubbling inside with adrenaline. At
least now they were talking about it. That was a huge step in the
right direction. “We just need to get back to the refugee camp,
then they can help us,” she exclaimed but Kato shook his head.

“Not me, I’m a Masi fighter. They are obliged to
hand me over to the government and I’d be executed within a week. I
can’t go near that place.”

Aya realized that she had never met a Masi
fighter in the refugee camp. She had never considered that for a
Masi fighter there was nowhere to run.

“Then where will you go?”

“Who said I was going?” he asked. “I don’t want
to talk about it, Aya. Leaving would be suicide.”

“But… we can’t just stay here, Kato. This is not
a life.”

His lips pressed into a fine line. “It’s the
only alternative to death right now,” he hissed.

Aya wanted to shake him and remind him of all
the wonders of the world. “No, Kato, you are wrong. I want to see
mountains again, ride a horse again, hear birds singing, row a
boat, and laugh with my friends. Hug my parents and go to the
movies. Don’t settle for this, Kato. They don’t own you. You are
not a slave and neither am I.”

Kato blinked and then he looked deep into her
eyes. “And what would you do if you got out of here, Aya?”

“I would go home to Norway,” she said in a soft
dreamy voice. “What would you do?”

He took his time before he spoke. “I would go
back to England. Officially I’m not here. I traveled across Hunish
and crossed the border to Spirima undetected by car.” Kato looked
grave. “Jonul failed to do the same and he was denied entry when he
tried to return home three years ago. They even took away his
citizenship because they had evidence of his being a Masi
fighter.”

“Jonul was from England too?” Aya was
surprised.

“Yes.”

“But he always spoke Spiri, even to you.”

“He had been here for five years and he avoided
anything that reminded him of England. I think he was devastated
when he lost his citizenship.

“Can they do that?”

“Yes, when you join a terror organization like
the Masi fighters, they can.”

“But I thought you said it’s impossible to leave
for a Masi warrior; why would they let Jonul go three years
ago?”

“I’m not sure… I wasn’t here back then, but he
was very close to the general, so maybe he convinced him.”

”And you, Kato, if you aren’t here officially,
then where are you?”

“In Hunish, working with computers and getting
over the loss of my fiancée. But if I ever get out of this place,
I’ll have to be careful and re-enter the same way I left.”

“Not
if
, Kato. It’s
when
you get
out! We need to go back!” Her voice was full of hope and
pleading.

Kato’s eyes gave him away; he was homesick too
but still uncomfortable discussing escape.

Aya didn’t want to let it go. “I could show you
Norway... it’s so lush and beautiful… Do you ski?”

Kato broke out in a chuckle. “Do I ski – what
kind of question is that?”

“I could teach you,” Aya tempted with a
smile.

Kato shook his head, grinning. “Nice try, Aya,
but we both know that you just want to get me onto the highest
mountain to push me over the highest cliff.”

Aya’s raised her brows and pretended to be
offended. “I thought you said you saw goodness in my eyes, and now
you are accusing me of contemplating your murder?” She felt a bit
of sunshine in her heart from this light and playful interaction.
It gave her hope that they could bring back the connection between
them.

“Are you a good teacher?” Kato asked with a sly
smile.

“The best… you’ll be in safe and competent
hands. I’m a certified instructor, you know!” Aya felt energized
talking about a happy future. It gave her a needed break from her
reality.

“I’m not sure I can afford that level of
competence, sounds expensive,” Kato jested.

Aya moved closer again and bored deep into his
eyes with such intensity that they widened. “I’ll make you a deal,
Kato. If you can get me home then you can have as many ski lessons
as you want.”

Kato pulled back and narrowed his eyes.
“Tempting, but in your current situation I think you would promise
me anything to get what you want.”

Aya’s heart was pounding. The conversation had
shifted and she sensed this was now a real negotiation – one she
couldn’t afford to lose. She needed him to say yes. “You are right.
So tell me, Kato, what is your price?”

Kato frowned and shook his head.

“What do you want, Kato… money?”

He snorted, offended. “No, I don’t want money,
it was never about money.”

“Then what can I give you to make you help me
escape?”

There was pain written in his eyes and she saw
sweat on his forehead when he turned away from her with a hiss.
“Stop messing with my mind, Aya… I have to go to work.”

Aya fell back in the bed when she heard the
front door slam.

“So close and so far away,” she murmured and
then an inner voice encouraged her.
Don’t give up, keep planting
seeds and push him. Kato wants it too; you just have to be
patient.

She sighed and thought about what he had said.
We both know that you just want to get me onto the highest
mountain to push me over the highest cliff.
Aya closed her eyes
and took a long breath. It wasn’t true! Aya felt connected to Kato
and grateful that he had saved her from Jonul. She didn’t want to
hurt him, and if she could she would make him go back to England
and give up being a Masi warrior. It wasn’t his fight to begin
with.

The scar on her shoulder was starting to itch
and she pinched her arm to distract herself from the need to
scratch with her fingers. She hated that she had been branded.

And then she remembered the letters. It made her
jump up and go to Kato’s closet, where she was surprised to find
not five letters but six. One had been added since yesterday.

This is wrong, Aya
, her inner voice
warned her, but she was determined to learn everything she could
about Kato and opened the fourth letter.

Diana,

We never said goodbye.

Maybe you worry about me. I don’t know.

But if I die here and you get this letter
then I want you to know these facts about me.

I never lied to you.

I never cheated on you.

I worked hard because I wanted to give you
everything.

You were my first love and I thought we were
happy.

Your betrayal tore me apart and left me
doubting not only you, but myself as well.

I suppose you already know these things but
now you have them in writing.

If you find love again, I hope you will
treat it with the respect it deserves.

Kato

Aya read it twice and noticed that Kato didn’t
address Diana as dear and didn’t sign with love like he had in his
other letters; he didn’t even wish her all the best. This was a
letter from a bitter person and she wondered when he had written
it. When he first arrived or recently?

Aya opened the other letter and started
reading.

To Oliver,

I was very angry with you. Now less so.

To be angry at you, you would have to matter
to me.

You don’t!

Friendship is a peculiar thing and trust is
fragile.

I know that now.

I wish I could tell you I forgive you for
sleeping with my fiancée, but I don’t.

These are my final words to you, my
childhood friend. And yet I find I have none.

No wishes for your future.

No sweet memories to share.

It’s all gone… and so am I.

Kato

Wow. Just wow
, Aya thought and turned the
letter over. Not that Oliver and Diana deserved any better, but the
level of resentment in these letters were dramatic. Aya was happy
Kato had explained what happened with Diana. If she had read the
letters without knowing who Diana and Oliver were, she would have
probably thought of Kato as cold and unkind. Now at least she knew
why.

The letters had given her an insight into his
mind. A hardworking, loving guy who had been brutally stripped of
all trust in love and had made some poor choices that he was now
paying a high price for.

Aya put the two letters down on the bed and
turned her attention to the last letter, which hadn’t been there
yesterday. The envelope had a darker color and on the envelope it
said
To Kato.

Aya opened it.

Dear Kato,

I was never good at writing letters and this
one in particular is difficult to write. I pray you will never get
to read it because if you do, it means I’m dead.

Even though I’m twelve years older than you,
you seem superior to me in many ways. I’ll never admit it to your
face, I wouldn’t want you getting cocky or anything, but the way
you so effortlessly simplify the most complicated things around you
is unique.

I used to tease you about being a nerd, you
know, with your passion for computers and all, but you are no nerd,
just a smart guy. I envy you for having something you get so
excited about and enjoy so much. You even made your hobby your job.
I wish that was me, but I never found my “gift,” if I even have
one.

Did you know I tried to hook up with Diana
before you knew her? She wouldn’t even look my way, of course –
maybe I was too old for her or maybe she was already in love with
you like all other beautiful girls seem to be. I don’t know how you
do it, but you are everything I wish I could be. Kind and clever,
successful and handsome.