Eltia's Redeemer
by Elita Marchant


Green eyes opened alertly in the pre-dawn darkness. Any minute now teh bell would ring to summon them to the morning exercises, and there would be no peace and quiet. 
Eltia pulled back the heavy fabric that encompassed her bed, and slipped on her stockings. She quickly and quietly drew teh curtains from the 19 other similarly garbed beds in teh long, narrow room and then hummed a bit to warm up her voice.

"Monrning dew already bows down
the heavy-blossomed stalks of Spring.
Morning wings already flown down
from the rafters of the
king.
Morning rays already shine down
from the skies all new-washed
clean.
Rise my children, from the night--
rise my angels, pure and bright.
Rourse from slumber, dreary-eyed,
and let teh day steal from the night
the sleeping children first to light,
the sleeping children pure and bright."

One by one, the 19   s woke from their work-induced slumber and sat up bleary-eyed in bed. Every morning Eltia sang them awake, rather than let the nastily loud bell wake them in a fright. Somehow she always knew to wake up before the tolling and sing them awake. And for that they loved her.
Eltia slid open the heating vent between the building's   s quarters to the boys quarters. They d isliked the bells as much as she, and liked to be awoken byher melodies, rather than the beaten, iron one that was customarily delivered.
She stuck herself out through the vent up to her hips and sang another son, more suited to male prefereance than dew and sunbeams. As the last note echoed inteh room, the clanking bell tolled and everyone rose from their sleepy sitting positions to get dressed in their uniform appareal for the day ahead.
Eltia popped back into her own room and shut the vent covering. She got dressed quickly in the knee-length breeches and thigh-length skirt made of a dull brown material that all the   s wore in Spring. She strapped on the leather sandals and donned an elbow-length tunic that pinned at the shoulder and waist. 
They filed rather disorderly into the dining hall, and took seats, spooning themselves generous portions of the brown-sugar-speckled porridge that was their daily breakfast rations.
The hall doors were suddenly flung wide and a small processional of people cam ein. The Headwoman, a medim-sized, gray-haired lady,was second in the group. The first was a tall man with black hair and a traveling cloak. This he tore off and handed to the Headwoman, stalking angrily around the tables.
He appeared to be searching for something, but not one of the 200 boys and   s in that room could guess what. The clothes he wore indicated he was a noble or rich craftsman, and the way he carried himself pointed more towards the former than the latter.
He reached Eltia's table and even picked up a fork from the table. He inspected it carefully and the nput it back down. He turned back to the Headwoman, who had paused at the dor.
"Well, my compliments to you, Headwoman Telghan. You are the first slave camp to pass inspection."



(There's more of the story, but my hand is cramping up)

---

I've decided to put a link to Elita's Oddities here. I'm not sure what I'm going to put there yet, but go ahead and check it out.