!!Warning!!

!!Themes of enslavement!!

(Y/N POV)

'Here it is!'

At the top of the staircase on the second floor of the home, Martha pointed to the room directly in front of us, coated almost entirely in blue.

'This will be your room for now.'

'We have to share it?' asked Emily.

'Yes, my husband thought that it would be best to keep you both together. A method of support.'

I nodded. 'That's a nice idea.'

Not only would I be able to keep my eye on Emily but I would be able to help her with her nightmare. We would be in closer proximity compared to the Hamilton home, where I had to constantly make sure not to wake Frances and Angelica whenever Emily appeared startled. At least now, things would work out much easier for the both of us.

Being the first to wander inside, I was met by three blue chairs lined in front of me and another three to my left against the wall. A wooden dresser was situated beside them and a fireplace embedded into the right corner of the room. Blue walls, a blue bed for two and a blue rug: blue, everywhere. On the bed was our luggage, four bags placed accordingly down for us.

I shuffled aside to allow Martha and Emily to enter together. Peering back towards the dresser, I recognised two windows looking out onto the field, the same one that those men were working on. It took barely any time at all for me to turn my head away.

The dinner had been difficult enough. I hadn't looked up from my plate, even when one of the family members tried addressing me. It was ignorant - I understood that, and so did Emily - but the knowledge of what was happening here with my powerlessness against it all was mortifying.

'Blue,' Emily muttered quietly.

Martha chuckled. 'Quite. It was once two rooms, combined with the one to our right, but my husband split them to make for more room.'

'It's nice.' I came over to the bedside and patted it down.

'One of the finest rooms in the house, I would say.' Martha stood in admiration for a short while whilst Emily joined my side. 'Would you like some assistance with getting you both settled in?'

'I think we'll be alright, thanks.'

'Please, I insist! Caroline!'

Footsteps began to emerge from the staircase. I knew instantly what was about to happen and I was in no way prepared. Again, I shunned my head down and put my focus onto the luggage.

As soon as the footsteps ended at the doorway, I shuddered.

'This is Caroline,' said Martha. 'She will be tending to your daily needs.'

'Nice to... to meet you,' Emily stammered.

Martha clicked her fingers. 'Help these girls unload and get a fire going.'

'Yes, Lady Washington,' obeyed the presumed 'Caroline'.

I did not step away from the bed, but once I'd heard that Martha had left, I took a glimpse to the lady. Upsettingly, she appeared no different than the others, the dark tone to her skin and the frailness of her body. I did not want to look, of course I didn't, but by not looking, she might have assumed that I was being ignorant because of her status in comparison to mine. Therefore, I kept my head held up and forced on a smile.

'Nice to meet you,' I repeated from Emily. 'I don't think we need any help, um - we can do it ourselves, it's alright.'

Caroline shook her head. 'It is my duty to serve.' 

'But you don't - you don't have to, not if we can do it -'

'I must do as the Mistress of the House commands. Please.'

Emily and I exchanged looks.

'Can we help?' Emily resorted to asking.

'You... really shouldn't, it is I who -'

'We'll help,' I finalised, interrupting her, 'then we can say that we compromised.'

Caroline's eyes widened. 'To whom?'

'We'll keep it between us.' I smiled again but did not receive anything back, just an anxious glance around the room. 'How about you start the fire and we unload the bags? I don't think either of us know how to start a fire, anyway.'

Emily sniggered. 'No,' - She grabbed the closest bag in reach - 'but I went on this camping trip at school once and we tried.'

'And failed, I presume.'

'No! Well - I failed.'

I was hoping to hear something from Caroline, anything that would reassure me that she felt welcomed. But still, nothing. She concentrated on the matter at hand: lighting that fire.

~

An hour had passed and I was settled into the bed. Caroline hadn't spoken another word at the time that she was present; after she had successfully ignited a fire, she sought no other option but to help us unpack. I tried to find anything that I could offer it to her but I had nothing available to me. I assured myself that, if she was going to visit us regularly, I would find something to gift to her, preferably some better food than whatever it was that she was receiving.

Twenty minutes in and we were finished. Caroline had reported to Martha to inform her that she had been of assistance to us. She was dismissed and Martha soon after beckoned us to sleep at last.

We could not.

Emily had been staring out of those windows for endless minutes. We did not speak. Not until a half hour had gone by.

'Why would they do this?' she asked. 'They're people.'

'It's different here.'

'Well, when do things start changing?'

With my limited knowledge of American history coming now as a flaw to me, I shrugged. 'Nineteenth Century?'

She grunted. 'We'll be dead by then. I don't think we'll make it past the seventeenth.'

'We're in the eighteenth.'

'Oh.' Hauling herself back up from her hunched-over position against the window sill, she faced me. 'I'd rather be around Alexander than be here.'

I tapped the side of the bed, encouraging her to finally rest. 'We're much safer here.  It might not be... very pleasant to see all of this, but at least we know that change will happen.'

'Why can't we make it happen sooner?' Emily relaxed her head against my arm.

'In theory, we could. It'd be pretty difficult, though, considering that a lot of people think we're witches.'

'But some of them believe us. What if we got them on our side?'

I sank further beneath the quilt. The Washingtons were good people but to break their trust and protest against this would not only break Washington's trust in us, but Alexander's, too. I wanted to take my revenge on Alexander for everything that he did, yes, but tossing a bomb continuously back and forth between us would soon end in an explosion, an outbreak of defiance or even execution, something that we had already come close to.

I'd decided that, eventually, I would find the right time to discuss this with them. By mentioning the abolition of slavery that was yet to come in the future, that would do little to nothing. But by questioning their morality on the matter, I hoped that something could be done, that an impact could be made.

'Then we could use our collective values to challenge this.

Once everything has died down, then we can strike.'

~~~~~~~~~~

I would just like to reiterate that if anyone feels uncomfortable at any point in this section of the story, do not feel that you must read it. I will put up a notice once it is safe for you to read again, should you decide to stop, and I will make a little summary of events that have occurred in the section that you have missed out on. But if you don't want to read that either, that's okay, too!

I hope that everyone is having a lovely day today.

Stay safe :)